Chapter Ten: Aries: The Fiery Ram:
The monsters came in great numbers charging at the group. The ugly creatures were blocking everyone's view on Rini but they knew that the little girl was not just an innocent little girl anymore. She did something to cause Rini to fall over. They just needed to know what she did. But only Yume knew the cause.
"I'll get Rini," Tammy said taking on the role of second in command as she released her wings. "These monsters are just trying to delay us from getting to our location on time. So we cut through as many as we can then we escape got it?" The others nodded then pulled out their transformation wands to transform.
After Yume transformed she ran up to Tammy. "Wait I need to go too. I know what happened to Rini. Maybe I can break it somehow," Neo Saturn said. Tammy nodded and transformed into Sailor Neo Venus. She started glowing faintly as she picked up Yume with her arms then started to fly over to Rini. The monsters, however, noticed this and began trying to attack the pair.
"You guys! I can't dodge all these attacks!" Neo Venus yelled to the group below. They were trying to distract the monsters and getting them to focus on the group instead. So far their efforts were in vain. Two monsters released wings of their own and began flying towards Tammy and Yume with their claws extended.
Orion Knight drew out his sword and spun it once. His sword evolved into two individual blade-like objects. Since his kingdom was about hunting, his sword was able to transform into any sort of weapon by simply commanding it or spinning it once or twice. Kaji threw the two blades at the monsters and they sliced the monsters in half with exact precision.
His hand lit on fire as he pumped his hand into the air. "Rain of Fire," Kaji called out then the fire he created turned into burning ashes and fell on most of the monsters. The others attacked the monsters that dodged Kaji's attack. This gave Tammy and Yume enough time to fly over to the other side where the odd girl was still standing over Rini.
"Step away from Rini," Yume said while her hand was out towards the girl.
The girl turned around to face the two with that sly grin. She began circling them slowly. As she did, Yume swore her age appearance changed from a little kid who looked about six to a girl who looked about their age. Yume blinked and found the girl still looking the way she was before. 'I think I'm going crazy. Or she's taunting me' Yume thought. "You put a sleeping spell on Rini. You're working with the Dark Senshi aren't you?"
The girl giggled and spun around in a circle as black smoke engulfed her and she disappeared. Tammy and Yume looked at each other then approached the sleeping Rini. They heard some growling behind them and turned to come into eye contact with three hideous monsters. The monsters swiped their hands towards them and they both leaped out of the way. Yume used her levitation powers to bring Rini closer to them again.
"Yume do you think you can break the spell?" Tammy asked, still keeping an eye on the approaching monsters.
"I can try but it might take awhile for the cure to actually take effect. We might not have the time," Yume said.
"Try then. I'll hold these three off while you do," Tammy said. Yume nodded as she kneeled down beside Rini.
Tammy leaped back towards the monsters and cried out, "Venus Shining Shockwave!" The monsters were temporarily blinded as the hearts came into contact with their bodies though only two of them exploded into dust. The other dashed forward and tried to grab Tammy while she ducked and kicked behind the monster.
"How much time do we have?" Neo Jupiter asked frantically after slicing a monster in half with her razor sharp leaves.
Neo Mercury looked at the now dark sky with the moon out and calculated the approximate time remaining. "Half an hour!" Ariel called back. She then stabbed a monster in the neck with an ice shard. "We have to leave or we'll have no chance of making it in time!"
"I need a bit more time!" Yume told the others. She hovered her glowing hand up and down Rini's body as fast as she could but that was all she could do to make the process go a bit faster.
"How much then?" Sir Venus asked.
"I don't know! Just hold them off a little bit more OK?" Yume answered with an edge. She was annoyed by the fact that she was trying her best yet her friends were still expecting more from her. Yume took a deep breath and continued her curing spell on Rini.
"She's doing the best she can so just leave her!" Sir Mars snapped at Aeneas.
"I'm just saying that we have to go!" Aeneas shot back at Kenzo.
"Stop your fighting!" Sir Jupiter growled at the two. He then heard Yume calling out to them saying that they could go now. But when Yume stood up with Rini in her arms, several monsters blocked her way to the two vehicles and the others. Maxy raised his sledge hammer high and called out, "Jupiter Thundering Destruction." His lightning bolts cleared the monsters out of Yume's way. He ran forward to meet Yume and took Rini from her arms easily.
Tammy, who was still in the air fighting, saw the three ready to go. "Tsunami! Hiroshi! Start the cars!" she ordered them from above. They nodded their heads and after finishing off a couple of more monsters, they both dived into their respective cars and turned on the engines. The others began making their way to the cars as well while still attacking the monsters that were left. Tammy landed on the ground and ran behind Maxy and Yume to defend them if any monsters tried to do anything sneaky.
Maxy laid Rini down in the girls' car before running off to the boys' car. Yume went in after Rini was in the car. Tammy was the only one remaining. "Tammy get in!" Neo Neptune called out through the window.
"Just a minute!" Tammy told her as she neared the front of the car. She turned around to face the monsters with her hands out. "Venus Heart Whips Encircle!" The two golden whips shot out of her two hands and wrapped around the remaining monsters. She quickly jumped into the backseat of the girls' car and Tsunami quickly put the gearshift to drive.
Both cars accelerated at maximum speed at the monsters and ran them over, crushing them in the process. They only slowed down a little bit after they were long gone from the clearing but they were still speeding in order to get to the destination in time.
The girls looked over at Rini who was still sleeping but now she was glowing white faintly. "What did you do to her Yume?" Neo Mars asked.
"I put a curing spell on her. Since it's my first time doing this it might take a while for Rini to actually wake up. But right now the magic I used is breaking down the spell that little girl used on her so at least it's working," Yume explained to them.
Tammy nodded and then leaned forward to the front where Tsunami was driving and Ariel was in the passenger seat. "Do you think we'll be able to still make it on time?" Tammy asked Ariel.
"It's a tough call. The speed we're going at now is good but it might not be enough to get there on time," Ariel answered.
Yume overheard this and sat forward from the backseat. "I can make the car go faster," she said. "But I can only control this car from inside. If you'll just let me go on the roof of this car, I can control both..."
"Are you crazy? You'll fall!" Tsunami said while still focusing on the road.
"Just trust me. If we don't get on the pathway tonight we'll waste time waiting for the next day." Yume pointed out as she leaned forward to the front. She pressed a button on the dashboard and the glass panel covering the roof of the car slid open. "Give me some kind of signal to tell me when to stop," Yume reminded them. She then propped herself up through the hole and kneeled down on the roof trying to keep her balance.
Kenzo's face appeared on the video screen in the girls' car. "What in the name of Mars does Yume think she's doing?" he demanded.
"She's going to speed up the cars so we can get there on time," Ariel said calmly. She trusted in Yume's powers and knew Yume was beginning to be more careful with them. Otherwise they wouldn't take the risk.
"But she might fall off," Kaji said.
"Don't you think we know that? Yume said to trust her so that's what we'll do," Maxine told them.
Meanwhile on the roof of the girls' car, Yume managed to stand on her feet. She secured her feet on the roof with a spell to make sure she wouldn't fall off. 'I wonder if my magic is even strong enough to do a spell like this' Yume thought.
"Oh they are. Your dark energy is one of the most powerful in the solar system. Maybe even the most powerful," a voice in her head told her. Yume stood still, wondering where the voice came from. Eventually she just shrugged and started thinking about a spell. She aimed her open right hand at the boys' car and kept her left hand facing down at the roof of the girls' car.
"Accelerari," Yume said simply. A faint purple light surrounding the two cars and they suddenly jerked forward in speed. The girls shrieked by the sudden speed boost while Tsunami and Hiroshi tried to keep the steering under control. Yume kept muttering the same word over and over in order to keep increasing the speed of the cars. Soon the surrounding scenery was a blur.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Maxine groaned, holding her stomach.
"We're nearing the destination! Someone tell Yume that she could stop now," Ariel said.
Kimiko pointed her finger upwards where the roof was opened. She sent a trail of fire that burst into bigger flames once it was outside just ahead of Yume. They waited for a while but the purple glow was still surrounding the two cars, making them go even faster.
"Why isn't she stopping?" Sir Mercury asked frantically through the video screen.
"I don't know! Maybe she didn't see the signal?" Tsunami guessed.
"How wouldn't she see a big burst of flames in front of her?" Kimiko said.
Kenzo rolled down the window on his side to be greeted by a blast of wind. He looked out the window to see the same little girl from before holding her hand in front of Yume's face. Kenzo could tell the girl was doing something to Yume so that she couldn't stop the cars from speeding. He rolled up the window again and then slid the glass panel on the roof open.
"What do you think you're doing Kenzo?" Takemara asked.
"That little girl from before is doing something to Yume. I need to stop her," Kenzo answered. "Hiroshi get closer to the girls' car," he ordered. Hiroshi nodded as Kenzo pulled himself up onto the roof. He had to hold onto the sides of the car to prevent him from losing his balance and falling off the fast moving cars.
His hair was moving wildly all over the place. Kenzo took a deep breath then jumped over to the other car, rolling on the roof on impact. Once he steadied himself Kenzo knelt on his knees and held onto the hole in the roof. "Get away from her or else," he warned the little girl.
The little girl dropped her hand and turned around to face Kenzo. She cocked her head to the side. Slowly she began growing taller as her hair extended past her shoulders. A white hooded cape covered most of her face and most of her body. Kenzo did see part of her skirt though. It looked oddly familiar to a Senshi's skirt. She seemed to be studying Kenzo carefully before smirking.
"You're a fire being right? That means you like fire?" the girl spoke. Her voice sounded tough but still feminine. Kenzo stared at the girl in silence as the cars continued speeding. Yume was still stuck in her position, her hand still glowing. The hooded figure snapped her fingers and the road underneath lit up in black flames. "Shall we play a little game? You try to stop me from controlling your friend and I throw you into the flames. Sounds good?"
"Just leave Yume alone," Kenzo growled.
"It doesn't matter what you do. She'll eventually evolve to her true potential. She'll eventually become one of us and destroy you all without a second thought," the girl said. Kenzo knew she was trying to tempt him to attack or make a move but he couldn't help but get angry by her words. "You won't be able to change the fact that she doesn't belong with you guys. She belongs with us."
Kenzo pulled out his nunchucks from the air and pointed them at the girl. "Mars Scorching Fireballs!" he called out. A line of fireballs shot towards the girl.
The girl simply laughed and held out her hand. The fireballs were all cancelled out by the black energy beam that came out of her palm. She then started moving her hand in a circling motion and Kenzo was lifted up from the roof. The hooded figure flicked her hand to the side and Kenzo went flying backwards and towards the fiery road behind them.
"Yume! Snap out of it! Yume!" Kenzo called out her name. He tried to grab her hand as he was falling off. He merely touched her fingertips before he fell off the car.
Something seemed to stir in Yume when Kenzo's fingers came in contact with her own. She blinked and turned around just in time to see Kenzo fall. "Kenzo!" Yume shouted.
In the mere second Yume was distracted, the girl moved her hands forward in a sweeping motion and knocked Yume back into the fire as well. The girl then let black smoke engulf her and she vanished.
"What's going on out there?" Tammy wondered once she heard several bumps and noises from inside. Kimiko quickly poked her head through the hole on the roof in the girls' car while Maximillian did the same in the boys' car. They both saw no one.
"They're not there anymore!" Maximillian said once he brought his head back down.
"What?" Ariel shouted. "How could they not be there?"
"That little girl must have done something to them! We need to go back," Uratoh told them.
"I would but I don't have any control over the car anymore!" Tsunami informed them, turning her steering wheel frantically.
"Same here!" Hiroshi was also trying to regain control over his car. The two cars kept speeding until a fallen tree appeared on the dirt road they were on. The cars both flipped over the trunk and kept flipping until they both stopped.
Tammy crawled out of the broken window of the girls' car coughing and moaning. She wasn't feeling too good and one of her wings didn't feel so right but other than that, she seemed fine. She struggled up onto her knees and took a look of the things around her. Her friends were spread out all over the area and all out of their transformations. Most of them seemed much worse than she was which was not a good thing at all.
They were waking up now, groaning and coughing like she was earlier. Some had cuts and bruises while others looked like they couldn't even move that much. Tammy had no idea what to do.
"Is everyone alright?" Tammy asked. Immediately she knew that was a stupid question. Before someone could speak up with a smart remark she said, "Alright forget that earlier question."
Uratoh was healing himself in the meantime. Kaji was doing the same. Soon they both felt better and walked over to Tammy. "We can heal everyone but probably to a certain degree," Kaji told her.
"That's good enough," Tammy assured him as Uratoh healed her left wing. Once he was finished she got up from the ground and stretched. "Thank you Uratoh. I'm going to see if I can find the first aid kit," she said and went over to the wrecked cars. Uratoh and Kaji went over to the others and healed the ones with minor injuries first.
After Arcturus was healed, he walked over to Rini who was still in her sleeping state. He noticed that there wasn't even a single scratch on her body. "Hey Tammy come here for a second," Arcturus called her over. Tammy walked over to Arcturus' side. "Rini was untouched by the crash," he told her.
"That's pretty remarkable," Tammy agreed. "But she's still sleeping. What should we do?" Arcturus shrugged as the two continued to look at Rini.
/*/*/*/
'Where am I?' Rini thought as she walked down a white cloud path. She had no idea where she was going and seemed to be walking down this path for a very long time now. The bright light that she saw before was still in front of her. Rini had been following it the whole time trying to find a way out.
She finally reached a large golden iron gate. It was unlocked so she pushed it open and walked inside. There she found a large fountain with clear water flowing out of the statue spout. Rini leaned forward and looked at her reflection in the water. It slowly began to dissolve into a silhouette of a young woman. Soon the young woman in the water was fully revealed. She had white flowing hair and lilac eyes.
"Welcome Rini. I've been expecting you," the woman said softly.
"Who are you? And where am I?" Rini asked her.
"Those two questions are of little importance. But right now I understand that you need help and so do your friends," the woman said.
"Yeah where are my friends?"
"Don't worry they're safe. You're all on the right track but you still have a very long way to go. You need as much help as you can get. Search the waters until you find a ring," the woman instructed Rini. She did as she was told and started searching. Soon she found a ring with a diamond and crescent moons engraved in the band of the ring. Small pink gemstones and pearls were also encrusted into the band.
"Alright I found it." Rini showed the ring to the reflection.
"Good. Rini this is the Awakening Ring. It has great awakening powers. When used correctly, it can wake people up from deep slumber," the woman explained.
"Okay...but how do I use it? And why do I need it anyway?" Rini wondered why this strange woman in the water was trying to help her.
"That is for you to figure out when the time comes my child. I promise you it will be useful throughout your journey," the woman said as she began fading. "Now wake Rini."
"Wake? I'm sleeping? Is this a dream?" Rini kept rambling off questions as the figure faded away.
/*/*/*/
"Hey she's waking up! Rini? Rini can you hear me?" Arcturus asked shaking her gently.
Rini's eyes soon flickered up as she sat up. "What's going on? Where are we? And why does my head hurt so much?"
"Yeah...we kinda got into a crash after our escape from some monsters. Ariel's trying to figure out where we are," Arcturus briefly explained. Rini nodded as she rubbed her head. She figured the crash was the reason behind her massive headache. Then Rini remembered the woman in the water and brought her hand down to examine her finger. There, on her middle finger, was the Awakening Ring. Tammy followed her friend's gaze and saw the ring.
"Hey that's pretty! I didn't see you wearing that before. Where did you get it?" Tammy asked.
"In my dream..." Rini trailed off. She honestly thought the woman in the water was just a figment of her imagination and she'd been dreaming the whole time. But now she knew that the dream had a real purpose behind it. Rini looked up and saw Arcturus and Tammy giving her strange looks. "I'll explain later. Right now we need to find Mou," Rini said as she stood up. Tammy and Arcturus followed Rini over to where Ariel was. "Hey Ariel. Do you have any news for us?"
"Oh hey Rini! Glad to see Yume's spell worked. Anyway the sad thing is my brand new top of the line tablet my mom gave me for Christmas got destroyed in the crash," Ariel said with a frown. She showed them the broken tablet.
Arcturus rolled his eyes. "You know mom is just going to give you a replacement once you tell her what happened," he told her.
"Yeah but still, it's sad," Ariel pouted. "Luckily I still had the Sailor Mercury hand-held that your mother gave me Rini. And with it I discovered that we made onto the pathway. We must have crossed into the path when we were flipping in the cars," she said.
"That is good news. Now we just have to travel down this road until we find Mou," Rini said. She glanced over to where everyone else was getting treatment for their injuries. But she noticed that it seemed like there were people missing. Rini then realized Kenzo and Yume were the ones who were missing. "Hey where is Yume? And Kenzo?" Rini asked.
"They kinda got...separated from us," Tammy answered slowly. She wanted to answer in a way that Rini wouldn't get too worried about them.
"What? And you guys just left them?" Rini asked in disbelief.
"We honestly didn't have a choice. We ran into some Dark Senshi problems and they enchanted the cars so we lost control and couldn't turn back," Arcturus informed her.
"Well did you try contacting them?"
Ariel nodded, "The transmission went flat. All we got was static." Rini sighed and put her hand to her forehead in exasperation. The sudden news seemed to worsen her headache.
"I guess we have no choice but to go on without them and hope they're okay," Rini finally decided. The other three nodded in agreement as the others joined them. "It's too bad that we have to travel by foot now."
"Especially with all these injuries," Hiroshi added in.
Rini shrugged and the group began their walk. During that time, everyone filled Rini in about everything that happened from the moment Rini fell over in sleep. Rini told them about her strange and the Awakening Ring in return. The moon was shining brighter each second as they travelled on.
Maxine yawned, "I'm a bit tired. What time do you think it is?"
Ariel gazed up at the moon. "Just passed midnight," Ariel replied.
"Do you think we'll be able to find Mou around this time?" Rini asked.
"I don't know. Mou could be anywhere. The myth said something about how adventurers would walk down this path for an endless amount of time. We can walk down this road for a week and still not find her," Ariel told them all.
"We still have to try," Kaji reasoned. "They didn't put us on this mission just to have us lose hope."
"Kaji's right. We have to keep searching," Tammy agreed. After that the group continued to walk in silence. Rini stayed at Arcturus' side while she kept inspecting the ring on her finger. She still wanted to know who the woman was and how she was supposed to use the ring. The woman's appearance resembled her grandmother's, Queen Serenity, but Rini knew it wasn't her. The woman's eyes had distinctive dark purple flecks in them and her hair wasn't in the signature bun style that Rini's grandmother and mother wore. She thought about this for a while, wondering who the mysterious woman could be.
Kimiko was walking with Aeneas when she suddenly stopped walking. Aeneas stopped as well and raised an eyebrow up at her. "What's wrong?"
"Something doesn't feel right," Kimiko muttered. She stood still for a second before her eyes widened. "Duck!" she shouted. Everyone immediately dropped to the ground as a blaze of black flames flew over their heads. They looked up to see two giant black birds breathing fire out at them.
Tsunami was the first one to transform. Once she did she drew back her hands and thrust them forward. "Neptune Aquatic Typhoon Crash!" she called out to counteract the black fire. During this brief moment everyone else transformed as well and began attacking the two giant birds.
'I bet we're close. That's why the birds starting attacking. We must be really close to Mou' Rini thought. She stared out into the distance and saw something sparkle in the moonlight. Without hesitation she began running towards the sparkle, leaving her friends behind.
"Rini!" Arcturus called out to her but Rini ignored him as she continued to run. A third giant bird swooped down from the sky and began closing in down at Rini. "Rini watch out!"
Rini heard this warning and turned around to see the bird soaring down towards her. In the spilt second Rini blinked, a large animal leaped in front of her and breathed out flames of white and orange fire at the bird until it was merely a pile of ashes. Rini and the others found themselves staring at the animal...and the people who were on it.
"Yume! Kenzo!" Rini exclaimed as a big grin overtook her face. Kenzo, still in his Knight form, saluted Rini with a laugh while Yume gripped the back of his uniform tightly, her knuckles ghost white. Then Rini realized the bigger picture; they were riding on Aries the Ram.
A large cry erupted from the Ram as he stopped his hooves. He then charged forward at the other two giant birds. He leaped into the air while Yume screamed her head off and breathed out more fire at the two enemy birds. They burnt into nothing in less than two seconds. Aries landed on the ground again, trotting back to Rini. Once he stopped, Yume jumped down from the giant ram's back, literally shaking. But Kenzo stayed put on the Ram sitting up proud and strong.
"Yume! I'm so glad you're safe!" Rini ran forward to give her friend a hug. "I heard you're the one who helped me wake up. Thank you."
"No problem," Yume smiled.
"So I'm guessing Aries was the one who found you guys?" Ariel asked.
"Yes! It was so surreal. Just as we were about to fall into the fire he came out of nowhere and caught us," Yume told her.
"He explained to us that since Aries descended down from Mars, he could sense when a royal of Aries or Mars is in trouble and that's how he found us. Well he could have found us even without this sense because he's a deity and all," Kenzo added in. "Now he says he feels the power of an Aries royal just ahead."
Rini nodded, "Let's go then!" She and the others began running towards the sparkle Rini saw earlier with Kenzo riding on Aries behind them. Then they saw it. A black force field crackled with electric currents while Mou was trapped in dark crystal still in her Senshi form and standing up. Her eyes were closed but Rini could tell her face showed barely visible signs of life.
Takemara stabbed his staff into the force field where it crackled and didn't break. He brought his staff back in. "How are we supposed to get through this thing?"
Rini sighed. She knew this wasn't going to be easy but she really wanted to try and save Mou with little problems. "Rini..." a voice said. Rini stood still to hear the voice. "Rini this is a chance to use the ring. Use it to break through the force field and awaken Kyoumou Aries," the voice instructed.
"How am I supposed to do that though?" Rini asked. Her friends turned to stare at her wondering who she was talking about.
"Just set your mind on saving her and your body will follow," the voice told her. Rini waited for more instructions but she couldn't hear the voice anymore. Rini looked down at the ring which was now beginning to shine. 'Set your mind and your body will follow' Rini thought. She subconsciously took her brooch off the bow on her uniform and raised her hand with the Awakening Ring on it. Rini lined the ring with the pink jewel in the middle of her brooch and the ring shined brighter than before.
"Moon Awakening!" Rini cried out. Two bright lights, one pink and the other white, shot out of the ring and the brooch and wrapped around Rini's body. The lights burst into sparkles and there Rini stood in a short light pink dress that substituted the usual shirt and skirt of the Senshi uniform. Her boots, collar, bows and gloves were now pure white. Rini was no longer wearing a tiara but instead her crescent moon symbol showed. She took a minute to study herself before walking right up to the force field.
Rini raised the brooch again and slid her hand with the ring in front of it. As she did, a small silver knife-like object formed. She grabbed the object and realized it was a dagger. The hilt of the dagger was engraved with moon crescents and swirling lines. Rini gripped the dagger and dragged the blade down the side of the force field. She then punctured it and the entire force field broke apart.
"Whoa that was pretty cool," Uratoh admitted.
"I have no idea how I did that," Rini told her friends. She started approaching the dark crystal Mou was encased in while her friends followed closely behind. The dagger disappeared from her fingers and her brooch rested itself back on the bow of her dress. The ring was still glowing brightly. Rini stopped her friends from going any further and climbed up to the exact crystal Mou was in. She closed her eyes and swiped the ring along the surface of the crystal. She rested her palm on the surface then whispered, "Holy Moonlight Awakening."
Sudden white beams of light started seeping out of the crystal and eventually the crystal shattered into pieces. Rini had to shield her face from getting hit by the shards. When she uncovered her face, she found Mou standing there blinking and looking around confused.
"Where the hell am I?" Mou wondered. She finally noticed Rini and the others. "Rini? What are you guys doing here? And what's going on?" she asked.
Rini smiled softly and took Mou's hand. "Don't worry, we'll explain. Right now we need to go," she said. Mou slowly nodded and Rini started guiding Mou back down to their friends.
A/N: Man I missed the monthly mark again :( I'm very sorry with the lateness again. I had absolutely no time to type this up until this weekend. Some parts I had to write down on paper first before typing which I really don't like to do but it actually helped me in a way. Rini's new "form" is kinda the equivalent to Sailor Moon's Crisis form if you were wondering. This is a pretty long chapter though :/ Anyway I'm going to try to start the next chapter as soon as possible but I still don't know what exactly I'm going to focus on for that chapter. So yeah please leave a nice little review for me! Thanks!