Disclaimer: The live action series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon does not belong to me. It belongs to TOEI.
After tossing and turning in bed as hours ticked by, the doctor understood that sleep wasn't possible tonight despite her tiredness. Ami went to make herself tea in the kitchen instead, not pleased to see the clock on the oven monitor displaying 3:08.
As she retrieved a cup from the cupboard, she was harshly reminded of the dream of the family dinner she had earlier that day—a full family with her two parents rather than just one.
The chilling grasp of loneliness wrapped around her and she shivered.
The florist giggled softly in bed listening to her husband's soft snores, mumbling something about "Kamekichi" in his sleep.
Makoto flopped onto her right side, her eyes tracing Motoki's sleeping feature. She raised her left hand to poke the sleeping man on the cheek lightly, giggling even more. Her expression turned somber though, when she saw the Jewelry Star Bracelet on her wrist.
The sound of an explosion and her own pained holler echoed at the back of her mind.
She snuggled closer to her husband and squeezed her eyes shut.
Waking up with a start, the idol twisted her body quickly still under the futon's cover, letting out a relieved sigh to see the white plush cat sleeping soundly on a fluffy cushion. She shook off the three screams ringing in her mind, her hand reaching out to scratch Artemis on the head as if to reassure her that her little guardian was not a golem.
Minako then turned to her right, finding the futon empty. She looked at the small red clock near her, frowning seeing the clock read 3:27AM.
"We are ready whenever you are, Mio-sama."
The giant crystal glowed in delight hearing the Venusian's announcement, its purple light reflected onto Danburite, Rubellite, Azurite and Hematite's figures, all standing closely in an arc.
"Well then, on my count to three!"
"1!"
The men held their arms up in front of them, hands glowing in their elementary colour.
"2!"
The power of the purple crystal intensified.
"3!"
Streams of pure energy shot out of the four men's hands, adding into the burst of pinkish-purple light that had complete enveloped the gigantic crystal.
"What the hell?" Hematite exclaimed as the green light stream in his hands intensified, surging forward. "My power's out of control!"
"It's Mio-sama! She's sucking out our energies into herself!" Azurite winced as he felt the same pull.
"What a glutton," Danburite choked out a painful laugh, his muscles protesting against the energy exertion.
Then power of the crystal intensified to a point that it resembled a beacon of purple light, shining throughout the surrounding forest. It climaxed and exploded into gusts of wind mixed with black rose petals, the impact knocking the four men off their feet, landing onto the ground in boneless heaps as most of their power abandoned them.
"Oops! My bad. I got a bit greedy," Mio giggled.
Rubellite, Azurite and Hematite lifted their heads to see a woman, wearing a sleeveless black dress with lace designs stepping onto the ground covered with black rose petals mixed dry leaves. Beside the woman was a wolf-like golem.
In the Secret Base—
"Serenity wanted you to attack us?!" Makoto exclaimed in shock.
Usagi nodded meekly, hands clutched to her lap under the table. "And it wasn't me who triggered the Ginzuisho's power at first. It was her."
"So that's what Danburite was talking about, that Serenity was the one stopping the Senshi from regaining their power," Shiroi breathed out, chin resting on his joined hands propped on the table.
"Well, it's not exactly a bad thing," Minako broke the heavy trend of the conversation. "Serenity might've been more aggressive than we liked, but it is true that regaining our power also gave Danburite's gang access to more power, and that is trouble. In that sense, at least we can say that our interests align."
"I agree," Artemis voiced from his spot on the table with Luna. "I don't think we need to be too alarmed by Princess Serenity's action for now. The situation with waking the Senshi power had been a tricky one all along. We knew without it, we lack sufficient power to counter and up our hand, yet regaining it had also been Danburite's intention all along. We had a disadvantage one way or another."
"I like to think that we have better advantage than before though," the idol reasoned. "Danburite may have gained power, but even with Kuroki Mio, they only have five people. We, however, have ten. The Shitennou and the Sailor Senshi were basically equals in the past life, the main difference between us being the Shitennou's Terran energy based power versus our elemental based powers. The balance may have been thrown off the last time because of the Dark Kingdom's influence and us Senshi being amateurs with borrowed powers, but now that we are all ourselves, we doubled our hand." She shot a glance at her Shitennou counterpart.
Kuroi understood and affirmed quickly enough. "And rest assured that we have no problems with you ladies and your powers, whatsoever – not even with the Ginzuishou, now that Metalia is gone. But you must understand when I say that we do not intend to trust Princess Serenity, given the amount of power and ruthlessness she displayed in the past. With what Usagi revealed just now, can we trust Serenity to not take over Sailor Moon again?"
"Also, with all the hints our enemy had dropped about wanting their princesses back, it's hard to not think that you girls will remain targeted," Shiroi followed.
"That is true," Luna agreed, distraught. She turned to the four guardians of the Moon again. "You girls have no idea why they want to wake your past selves?"
The Senshi leader stole a glance at her teammates before shaking her head negative, having acted as the spokesperson of her immediate team the whole time.
"I've been wondering though," Ami drew everyone's attention, "why is it that only we have this risk of being taken over by our past life selves? The Shitennou and Mamoru-kun all have a past life too."
The men in question looked at each other.
"Maybe we've already been taken over," Mamoru finally said casually with a lopsided smile before taking his wife's hand, chuckling at the confused look Usagi was giving him.
"It's just a theory of mine," the pianist leaned forth, arms on the table. "The possible reasons are: first, given we were Terrans and reborn as humans, our powers and memories conflict less biologically; and second, and most importantly, is the method of our wakening. Unlike you all, when we were wakened, our previous lives as a normal humans was wiped clean, so we are like a continuation of our past life."
Kuroi turned to the odango-head. "Usagi, you remember Shin right? The guy you and Mamoru met who picked up Kamekichi. I was him, before Beryl summoned me."
"EH?!" Usagi squealed, much to Mamoru and Kuroi's amusement and everyone else's confusion. "Wait, actually, I had wondered about that after meeting you when we came back from our honeymoon. I just thought you and him were doppelgangers."
Kuroi shook his head before elaborating to the others. "Unlike the others, I was summoned last to join the Dark Kingdom. I retained bare minimum of my ex-present life memory as a guy named Shin, who suffered from amnesia. The only thing that influenced me was the fact that I love and seem to have skills in taking care of plants," he grinned at his co-worker/employer. "While I do have a love for nature's beauty in the past life, I've never had the skill or the time to take care of plants on my own – at least, not advanced enough to be working with a florist."
Kuroi shrugged. "With me being aware of that, we have talked and thought that maybe our lack of remembrance of this life before being summoned as the Shitennou made the difference. In that sense, our past lives had taken over these reincarnated bodies already."
"But Nephrite and Jadeite don't remember the past life," the genius remarked, turning to her boyfriend.
Akai reached for his girlfriend's hand. "No, I don't. And I don't care."
"But with the lack of our normal human memory, there is also nothing to hold us back from embracing what was in front of us and our innate knowledge of being trained warriors. That could also explain why Neph and I were more loyal to Beryl than Zoisite and Kunzite had been," Kiiroi reasoned.
"So our experiences this time around separate us from the past life, huh?" Makoto summarized, before turning to the medical researcher. "But Mamoru, you do have memory of being Tuxedo Kamen and growing up with your adoptive family."
The prince nodded. "But I had no memory of before being adopted and had always been aware of the emptiness. The reason I became Tuxedo Kamen was to find myself, having dreams about the Maboroshi no Ginzuishou as a clue to my past. So when I recovered the past life, I accepted it completely. My lack of attachment made it easy for me to abort my old personality, if there were any huge differences."
"There was," his wife chimed in. "You stopped being a jerk to me! At least, less of a jerk."
Mamoru rolled his eyes with an endearing grin.
"But it's not only our prior experiences that made a difference. Our experiences now continue to influence us. We may be continuations of the Shitennou in the past life, but right now, it's safe to say that we are also different to who we were. For one, I was saved from Mio's hypnosis because of my memory of this life." Kiiroi gave a gentle smile to his prince and princess before turning to look at Rei.
As if knowing what the young man was thinking, the priestess shrugged dismissively, before turning to frown at another man. Kiiroi didn't follow Rei's gaze, already feeling his leader's scrutinizing glare burning the back of his head.
"So the conflict between Serenity and Usagi-chan last time was because Usagi-chan's mind and value conflicts that of Serenity?" Ami inquired.
"It's reasonable. Despite the same soul, Usagi-chan was raised differently in a loving family. Princess Serenity was also loved, for sure, but was raised as royalty. In that sense, it is understandable how Serenity seemed more narrow-sighted and ruthless in her pursuit for Endymion, while Usagi-chan had always displayed a much bigger heart that allowed her to love many more than just her prince," Luna grinned.
Everyone smiled at the woman being discussed, thinking of their respective first encounter with Usagi that flipped their world upside-down for the better.
"Stop staring at me!" Usagi blushed under the attention and hid her face in Mamoru's arm, triggering a round of warm laughter.
"But if Serenity and Usagi's view don't align again, then there is a risk of Usagi being taken over after all?" Makoto said solemnly.
"And maybe even… us," Ami noted, looking at Makoto, Minako and Rei.
"We can agree then, that it is essential we don't let the enemy wake the princesses. And we need to keep an eye on Usagi in case Serenity surfaces again," Kuroi concluded.
"Serenity isn't our problem this time."
Surprised, everyone turned to the priestess who had remained silent in the meeting until this point.
"Rei?" Minako called tentatively, noting her best friend's dark gaze and distant look.
"Serenity is the least of our worry among the princesses; their wakening might already be unavoidable."
"A premonition? Did you see something?" Artemis approached.
Rei shook her head and closed her eyes. "Just a feeling."
But everyone knew better than to doubt the Fire Senshi.
"Makoto, I'll see you at work later," Kuroi said as he ascended the stairs.
Makoto waved before slumping into the sofa, having moved after the meeting ended. Mamoru, Akai, Kiiroi and Kuroi had left first. "Luna, I think you should switch the soda machines for a coffeemaker. It's more beneficial for us and the meetings now."
Minako giggled. "I agree. I could really use a cup of mocha."
"Maybe. But then again, those are snacks and food that also existed in the Silver Millennium. I don't think we had coffee," Luna scratched her head with a paw.
"Speaking of which, you all looked really tired today. Are you girls alright?" Artemis asked.
"Didn't sleep well," Minako shrugged and the others nodded.
"Would you like to head out now and get coffee with me then?" Shiroi turned to the idol.
"Sure." Minako rose and Artemis jumped into her handbag. "You're going to see your manager after this too, right?"
"Yes."
"Super! Shachou told me to visit him too." Minako turned and said goodbye to the others.
"Which coffee shop would you like? I can treat you."
"Such a gentleman, Zoi! I can—"
The door clicked shut and the pianist and idol's voices faded.
"'Zoi?'"
Usagi, Ami and Makoto looked at each other. They turned to Rei.
The priestess noticed and shrugged. "She started calling him that sometime during the week when Shiroi guarded her from Danburite."
"You were keeping tabs?" the florist grinned suggestively.
"She talks about work a lot," Rei deadpanned.
"Hey, hey! Did you notice how Shiroi-kun looked at Minako-chan?" Usagi moved to get everyone's attention. "I think love is in the air!" she squealed loudly.
"Usagi!" the priestess huffed exasperatedly.
"Rei, you jealous?"
Ami raised her eyebrows at the florist.
"Why would I be?" Rei glared at Makoto. "I just don't think it's time to think about that."
"Rei-chan you are too wound up!" Usagi waved the priestess off, continuing before Rei could counter. "I wonder if my dream will come true," Usagi sighed wistfully, the thought of Minako with a boyfriend reminded her of the dream from the previous day.
"What dream?" Luna asked.
"The REALLY good dream I had before Serenity interrupted."
Ami, Rei and Makoto's flinch went unnoticed.
Thinking of Shiroi and Minako's interaction, Usagi perked up again. "Maybe it's a dream of the future!"
The loud screech of a chair's leg grating the floor took everyone by surprise.
"The dreams aren't our future. They can't be," Rei said impassively, standing. "I'm going back to meditate." She left without glancing back at her friends.
No one knew how to react to the priestess's sudden departure. A small pause later, Makoto too stood up.
"I agree with Rei this time. I don't know what exactly you dreamed of, but I know mine won't come true." Makoto offered a melancholic smile to Usagi before bidding everyone goodbye.
After the florist left, Ami followed her friend's example. "It was the enemy's trick after all," she said as explanation, smiling comfortingly to her dear friend before also leaving.
"Usagi-chan." Luna looked at her princess, saddened to see the woman looking pensive.
"So that's why you didn't want to come here with us!"
Minako, Shiroi, Sugao and the bedridden Hirai Yamato blinked at the abrupt interruption from their paperwork scattered on the hospital overbed table. They turned to see two men at the door; one with jet-black hair, holding a fruit basket, and the other with spiky brown hair.
"Kyoya, I swear…" Shiroi face-palmed at his friend's antics, understanding what was going on. Minako, who didn't understand, smiled amusedly at the pianist's reaction.
"Saitou-san, Aino-san." The man with jet-black hair nodded his head respectfully as he passed by, turning to offer the fruit basket to the Symphonic manager. "Yamato, this is from the whole orchestra crew. We all wish you a speedy recovery."
"Tell everyone 'thanks' for me, Yasunori! Just put it beside the flowers Shiroi and Minako-san brought me," Yamato grinned, gesturing to the bouquet placed at the other side of the hospital room.
"Shiroi bought the flowers with Minako-chan, huh?" The spiky-haired Kyoya joined the group and addressed his manager. "Yamato, just your luck to have collapsed at the stairs! We're super glad you're not badly hurt though! The orchestra needs their manager back."
"Don't worry, he'll be out soon. He can barely survive a day without paperwork," Shiroi chuckled, to which the bedridden man hushed him.
"I wonder if all managers are such workaholics," Minako remarked bemusedly, eyeing Sugao, who pointedly ignored her.
Kyoya and Yasunori shared a look before grinning teasingly at Shiroi, who noticed.
"What?" Shiroi's eyes squinted in annoyed suspicion.
"You tell us!" Kyoya folded his arms smugly.
The idol stopped the pianist's sigh of annoyance when she nudged him, peeking out from behind him so she could address the other two Symphonic members.
"Hi! I don't think we've been properly introduced," Minako smiled angelically.
The pianist smiled and stepped aside to give his three friends space. "Minako, meet my fellow performers from Symphonic – Akiyama Kyoya and Miyamoto Yasunori. Kyoya, Yasunori, meet Aino Minako."
Yasunori bowed his head. "Miyamoto Yasunori, violist."
"Pleasure to meet you! Just call me Minako." The idol offered to shake hands, which the violist took delightedly.
She then turned to Kyoya, who she noted had suddenly turned rigid.
"A-Akiyama Kyoya! Violinist!" They shook hands. "I—I'm a fan! I've been following your work since your debut!"
"I'm flattered! Glad to know I'm working with someone who knows my work. Thank you for your support!"
The violinist flushed red from neck to head. He coughed awkwardly and said "excuse me for a sec!" before dragging a surprised Shiroi out of the room with him.
Yasunori smiled helplessly as he also excused himself to join his two friends in the hallway.
"You lucky bastard!" Kyoya flailed. "God, she's so cute and gorgeous! Are you two dating?"
"No," Shiroi crossed his arms.
"But you two are close. You didn't even use honorific with her," Yasunori remarked calmly.
"Like I said, we're old friends."
"And you like her!" Kyoya pressed.
"It's not what you—"
"Come on! We've known you for over two years! We've seen how you went from the solemn, quiet, awkward piano geek to the popular, charming, enigmatic performer. And despite the changes, you've never laid an eye on a woman for over a minute. I swear you stare at expensive pianos more than you do humans! Yet there you were, making fun of Yamato and Saitou-san with her in sync!" Kyoya nearly shouted.
Shiroi rolled his eyes, making the violinist groan in frustration.
"Endou Shiroi, are we pals?" Kyoya's arms folded.
The pianist sighed. "Yes."
"Do you trust us?"
"Sometimes." The pianist smirked, to which Yasunori laughed at Kyoya's expense. The violinist scowled and placed his hands on the pianist's shoulders.
"Are you a man?"
Shiroi rolled his eyes again.
"Well?"
"Yes."
"Then you need to get your sorry arse inside and take Minako-chan on a date!"
"What—?!"
The violinist dragged the pianist back into the room this time, the violist following behind.
"Minako-chan! Are you done with work here?" Kyoya asked.
"We just finished. Why?"
"Shiroi said he wants to go—uh—get coffee! He was going to get coffee! And wanted company! Too bad Yasunori and I are busy. Can you go with him?"
Shiroi face-palmed again, and another amused smile danced on the idol's lips. "Sure!"
She turned to Sugao. "Shachou, I'll see you at the art center for rehearsal later. Is that okay?"
Sugao nodded, looking at his charge skeptically.
"Sweet! Hirai-san, hope to see you soon!"
"Thank you for the flowers again, Minako-san!"
Minako waved and left, and the pianist was shoved out of the room to follow. Sugao and Yamato looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
"Your friends are funny," Minako giggled, walking slowly beside the pianist.
"I'm sorry they are such pests."
"It's fine; gave me reason to skip work for a while. They care about you."
"They are my closest friends outside our circle."
Minako hummed her response.
"Do you have many friends besides the Senshi?" Shiroi looked at the idol.
Minako shook her head. "It's hard to meet sincere people in my line of work, and people come and go too quick to sustain relationships. I have Shachou and Amachachi – his assistant who does a lot of background work for us, but that's it." She shrugged. "I'm happy with what I have with the girls, and now also the Shitennou. Plus I always have Artemis."
To that, the idol opened her handbag and they peeked in. They grinned finding the white cat sound asleep.
Minako looked up to meet the Shitennou's gaze. "How did you get close to Kyoya-san and Yasunori-san? I don't think I've seen you interact as much with any of the other orchestra members."
"Kyoya's violinist seat is closest to the piano and I. He started chatting with me, and then dragged in his best friend Yasunori, claiming the two of us would make good friends, both falling under the category of 'quiet, mysterious, unreactive dudes'."
"Well, isn't he the matchmaker type," Minako smirked, to which the man chuckled.
"He means well, but his actions could be overwhelming sometimes."
"Kinda reminds me of Usagi."
They laughed.
"So, what do you want to do now? Your friends will be suspicious if we return too soon. I wouldn't mind another cup of coffee, but I don't think Artemis would appreciate a double-caffeinated me."
"I like what we're doing now."
"Okay. Well, I'm glad Hirai-san's alright," the idol said to continue conversation.
"Same."
"I guess I never thought much about other risks possible when people collapse from a Youma attack—or golems. I thought Usagi's power failed when Shachou told me your manager is still in hospital."
"Your first thought was the possible implication of people's extended hospitalization?" Shiroi raised an eyebrow.
The Senshi leader shrugged. "I'm not saying I don't care that someone I know was injured. But my first reaction was—"
"About our duty: the implications of our masters' possible failure and how it'd affect our responsibility," the Shitennou continued in understanding.
"Good thing our masters didn't fail then!" Minako winked.
"We, however, had failed to eliminate this threat."
The idol frowned when her companion suddenly stood still, his expression turned solemn. She was about to inquire when the pianist's hand grabbed hers, and a familiar tune rang in her mind.
"Change of Pace?" Minako uttered the name in distaste with her eyes shut. "Kuroki Mio! She's making a move!" She opened her eyes. "Zoi, this is your power?"
The pianist nodded and released his hold, cutting off the music the idol heard. "Magic using sound wave as medium is my forte. I can also spread it to people through my senses."
"Can you trace where it's coming from then?" Minako's stance tensed in preparation for battle.
The Shitennou nodded.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kiiroi frowned unsurely, looking up to Motoki and Akai, the three of them huddled over the proposal they were reading in the Crown's staff lounge.
"Yes. It would allow you two more freedom to head out and fight when needed," Motoki asserted.
"But it'll cause you huge financial pressure!"
"I know. Having an MBA degree doesn't mean your plan is foolproof," Motoki ran a hand through his spiky hair. "I wanted to move you two back into the main store so you can attend your secret meetings easily, and I can sub in whenever you need to save the world."
"But I'm the manager for Crown-South," Akai frowned.
"I know. That's another source of headache."
"Does Makoto know? That you also want to hire more people for her shop?" Kiiroi asked.
"She hasn't seen my plan yet, but I brought up the idea once; she didn't like it. I just want more of you to be able to fight to be safe; for her to be safe."
"Jupiter is stronger than you think. You worry too much," Akai grunted, flipping through the papers again.
"Akai, put yourself in Motoki's place and Ami as Makoto!" Kiiroi glared at his insensitive friend.
Akai's comeback was interrupted by a static noise coming from the radio that had been playing softly in the background.
"Hello Tokyo! I'm baaaaccccckkkk!"
The two Shitennou bolted up recognizing the voice.
"Mio!" Akai hissed.
"Motoki, we gotta go!" Kiiroi ran out with Akai.
"Keep Mako-chan safe!"
"Miss me, everyone? It's your beloved Queen Mio!"
On a busy shopping district, Usagi stared at the public overhead TV screen in horror, an unpleasant sense of déjà vu invading her mind hearing Change of Pace being played in the background of the ex-idol's announcement.
"Stop staring at the television when the real deal's right in front of you!"
Usagi turned to the pouty voice, shocked to see the self-proclaimed queen standing only steps away from her in a black lacy dress, contradictive to the black and pink vibrant outfit Mio on the television donned.
"Mio-chan?!"
"Hello! Usagi-chan!" the woman waved.
A scream shot out from a pedestrian as people noticed and recognized Mio's presence. Panic and mayhem quickly followed.
"So troublesome! On your knees already!"
"Stop!"
But Mio had already pointed a finger to the floor, and suddenly people collapsed to the ground around them, their life energy sucked out.
"Now no one's in our way! How are you, Usagi-chan?" Mio smiled.
"Stop hurting people already! Moon Prism Power, make up!"
In a bright pink flash, Sailor Moon replaced Usagi's appearance. But the dark queen stood unfazed and continued speaking.
"I see you don't have your blue plushie today. Too bad, I was going to introduce her to Choppi!" She held up a brown stuffed dog, playing and petting it with her hands. "Oh I know, maybe we should have a tea party some time!"
Sailor Moon remained silent in alarmed confusion, unsure how to react to the falsely friendly and talkative woman.
"Usagi!"
She turned to see Endymion, Nephrite, Jadeite, Kunzite with Sailor Jupiter, and Zoisite with Sailor Venus appearing behind her.
"Stay away from her!" Venus swung out her Love-Me Chain, glowing and stretching at the enemy like a whip.
"Choppi! Go!" Mio let go of her stuffed toy, and its black beady eye glowed purple before taking life, transforming into a large wolf-like golem with a masquerade-mask over its eyes above its nose, the rest of its body as black as night.
The golem leapt over Sailor Moon and bit the golden Senshi's chain, deflecting the attack. The moment it landed on the ground, normal looking golems rose from the ground and attacked the group, prompting a heated battle with mixture of metal clangs of weapons and cracklings of Jupiter's lighting. The warriors fought fiercely but diligently, avoiding harming the fallen civilians around them.
Sailor Moon disregarded the ex-idol and turned to join in the fray, but the golems avoided her assault and paid her no attention. She stared in confusion as the monsters all fled away from her and her attack range, assaulting her comrades menacingly instead.
"Usagi-chan. This is not your fight."
Mio snapped her fingers and all the golems suddenly zeroed in on the Terran prince.
"Mamoru!"
"Master!"
The Shitennou inserted them between their master and the golems, forcing them to fight in a tight circle. When the three Senshi attempted to relieve the men's pressure, the golems shifted their position and expose the Shitennou in the Senshi's line of fire instead.
The wolf-like golem – Choppi growled then, as a sinister purple surrounded it and it doubled in size. It pounced at Sailor Moon, who instantly dodged to the side. The fiend didn't slow down, but instead turned it head and its mouth captured the back of Sailor Moon's blue collar, dragging her with it as it ran and jumped. On the way passing by its master, Mio hopped onto the golem's back and left with it, giggling at Sailor Moon's struggling form.
"Sailor Moon!" Sailor Venus pulled her chain and sliced the golem she and Zoisite was fighting in half, immediately pursuing after her princess.
"Shit!" Jupiter growled as she tried to fight off the golems attacking her and Kunzite, while watching her leader almost disappearing in view.
"Makoto! Go after Usagi! The golems are targeting me only!" Endymion shouted as he continued to battle. The Thunder Senshi nodded and decked the creature nearest to her, running out of the mess.
"Let go of me!" Sailor Moon grunted, stabbing Choppi with her Moon Tiara Boomerang to no avail, unable to aim for the mask in her position.
She noticed Mio's smirk widened though and turned her attention to the front.
"Ami-chan! Rei-chan!"
The sky-blue and red form of Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars zoomed into view as Choppi ran past the streets and into a park.
"Let go of Usagi-chan!"
Sailor Mercury charged a calculative blow with her Mercury Sword, slashing Choppi in half by the torso, making it dissolve. Sailor Moon dropped into Sailor Mars' waiting arms.
"Mars! Mercury!" Sailor Venus caught up with Jupiter right behind her. The five Senshi instantly regrouped in preparation for battle.
Mercury's blow had not destroyed Choppi's mask; it floated back to its master with a dark purple halo, retaking the form of a harmless-looking plush in the queen's arms.
"Finally! No more disturbances to our reunion!" Mio brushed the dust off her dress casually. "Let's start this over again. Long-time no see, Ami-chan, Mako-chan, Rei-chan, Minako-senpai!" she smiled.
"Don't screw with us!" Jupiter barked.
"I don't remember ever being on such friendly terms with you, much less acknowledging you as an idol," Venus sneered.
"Ouch! That hurts!" Mio put her hand over her heart.
"Your acting is as bad it had always been," the golden Senshi smirked. "Why are you back from the dead? Back for Mamoru-kun again?"
"Psshh! I'm not interested in a married man!" The queen waved. "Actually, I'm here to make friends this time."
Mio started to pace and the five Senshi frowned.
"You see, I decided to take a page from my enemy's book. I want to make friends like Usagi-chan did. So I got myself Dan-kun and the others, and I liked what I have so far! They are sooooo helpful, you know. And then I thought, 'Hey, I should make even more friends!' "
The woman's aura intensified as she rambled on. The Senshi felt it, but simply continued observing cautiously as nothing obvious was happening, almost expecting some sort of trap to jump out at them any second.
Mars flinched when she found black threads of smoke suddenly appearing around her that seemed to sink into her skin. She turned to her left to find the same thing happening to all her comrades but Sailor Moon.
Her eyes snapped open when she felt a hand on her gloved forearm, turning to find Venus looking at her with alarmed concern. Mars looked around and found no smoke, realizing she just had a vision.
"Usagi-chan. This is my challenge to you!" Mio's voice lowered significantly as her index finger pointed at the Senshi of Love and Justice in declaration. "By the end of this, your Senshi will be mine! I will destroy your happiness!"
The woman's threatening behavior swiftly disappeared as her tone lightened again. "Actually, let's just make things easier! Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, join me!" She outstretched her hand in invitation with a big smile.
"Like hell we'd join! I've had enough with this bullshit," Jupiter spat, summoning her tambourine that became the Jupiter Spear. "We've defeated you before, we'll do it again! You are getting nowhere near Usagi!"
She lunged forth and swung her weapon down fiercely.
"Eh?!"
Her assault was forced to a halt when the thunderbolt blade clashed with a shield that only appeared in front of the dark queen at impact, the two forces zapping and sizzling loudly.
"It's no use, Mako-chan. We will become comrades eventually, it wouldn't do for us to hurt one another now, right?" Mio smiled wickedly.
"Eat this instead!" Sailor Mars appeared at the ex-idol's left, a blast of flame shooting out of her outstretched hands.
Jupiter backed off as the fire hit the shield, spreading on the surface to reveal a transparent black dome that protected its target.
"Mio's not protected from the bottom! We can shatter the barrier there," Mercury reported her analysis.
"Jupiter, provoke! Mercury, immobilize! Mars, with me!" Venus ordered as she and Mercury already dashed forward.
The Thunder Senshi slammed her gloved palms flat to the ground, sending sizzling green lightning towards Mio that bypassed the shield and forced the woman to jump up. The Water Senshi instantly followed with a Mercury Aqua Blizzard, creating frost on the shield that limited Mio's vision and the gust of blizzard held her in air.
The Senshi leader and second-in-command leapt upwards then, their respective orange and red dagger in their hand, slashing out in sync.
The self-proclaimed queen squeaked and raised her arms as a golden-red shockwave hit her, shattering the shield and sending her flying. Choppi retook its golem form and cushioned the woman's fall by letting her land on its back.
"Hey! That's not nice!" Mio growled and glared at the four guardians. "Just wait and see! You will join me! Humph!" They teleported away in swirls of black rose petals.
"Ha! Not so tough now is she!" Jupiter gloated as she and Mars high-fived, then turned to give Mercury a pat on the back as the shorter Senshi grinned.
Mars turned to her leader with a triumphant grin, only to frown when she saw the woman's blank expression. "Venus?"
"What was that?" Sailor Moon yelled in awe as she joined the quartet, redirecting everyone's attention. "That was amazing! It happened so quick I couldn't even react!" she flailed her arms.
It was then that Mercury, Mars and Jupiter blinked at each other.
"Now thinking about it, that was our quickest and most cohesive fight yet!" Mercury looked impressed.
"And it felt different. I wasn't even thinking, I just knew what to do even with Venus' brief commands… Like I've done it before!" Jupiter noted.
"Except we haven't, not in this life," Mercury stated.
"Past life?" Mars turned to her leader, who nodded.
"You're kidding! We used a past life strategy? Awesome!" Jupiter grinned.
"Ehhhhhhh?! But I didn't fight in the past life! Don't start leaving me out of battles!" Sailor Moon wailed as the others laughed to their princess's dismay.
"Was she trying to kill us?" Rubellite growled. He and his comrades were finally able to sit up, still out of breath from the energy exertion. "How can we trust her?"
"I'm with Rubellite this time," Hematite drawled.
"Mio-sama's action is indeed hard to understand," Azurite sighed, eyeing the Venusian expecting for answer. Danburite simply shrugged and waited to catch his breath.
"Dan-kun! Can't you say something to defend me?" Mio appeared within a swirl of black petals. "You all can trust me because I am about to apologize with this."
The woman waved her arm and sent purple energy flying into the four men, restoring their strength.
"I went to test out my strength and to gather energy for you. I'm sorry, I didn't know I'd take so much energy from you," she smiled cutely.
"Action's better than words, right? I was expecting you to do something like this, so I didn't bother saying anything," Danburite smirked as he stood up. "I've never doubted you, milady."
"So much flattery," Mio waved the Venusian off with a grin before addressing the three other men who had all stood up before her.
"Rubellite-kun, Azurite-kun, Hematite-kun, thank you for helping me with restoring my powers and my body. As this is the first time you three have seen me in this form, allow me to re-introduce myself: I am Queen Kuroki Mio." She bent her knees in a curtsey. "You have fulfilled your bargain in helping me, and now I'll help you. There shall be no more secrecy from me, you will know the full plan I have in helping you regain the princesses you've lost. I hope that we can all work well together to achieve our individual goals. Is that good enough for all of you?"
The raven-haired, brunet and blunet shared a look before they all bowed their heads at the ex-idol.
"You have our alliances, Queen Mio-sama," Rubellite finally said gruffly.
"No need for formalities. I rather we work together as friends."
The signature Cheshire grin stretched across Kuroki Mio's face.
"Dammit! We're totally late for rehearsal!" Minako strode in quickly the moment she and Zoisite appeared near the entrance of the art center, their arrival delayed after battle due to Sailor Moon needing to regroup with Endymion before waking collapsed civilians.
"Venus," he called now as Shiroi, walking only a step behind the woman.
"Yeah?" she answered without turning or slowing.
"Let's go on a date."
The woman skidded to a stop and turned.
"What?!" Minako blinked.
"Let's go on a date."
"Seriously? Because your friends told you to ask me?"
"No. Because I want to. You know I'm sincere. Feel my emotions if you have to."
As if the Shitennou dropped his usual guard around his senses, the idol felts clear emotions slipping into her empathy, the man's bluish-white aura suddenly intensifying in her mind's eye.
"Zoi—"
"Minako, I like you."
"This is hardly the time for relationships with the mess at hand," Minako frowned.
Shiroi shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Venus, you and I, we understand each other; you might even understand me better than the Shitennou. I have faith that if we end up being a couple, our interest will not clash with our sense of duty. Besides, do you not find the idea of being with someone who you do not have to hide your identity to liberating? Was that not why you were never attached to the flings you had the past few years?"
The idol was speechless.
"This is merely a suggestion. Think about it."
Shiroi made to move then, but stopped as if he remembered something.
"One more thing. Even after agreeing to our first date, I will not force you into anything. Tell me what you want when you are ready. I'll be waiting."
And then he left, leaving the stunned idol in the middle of the hallway with the pianist's red face imprinted in her mind. It was only when Sugao came to fetch her that she shook off her stupor.
Settling in front of the sacred fire, Rei let the sight of dancing red-orange flame fill her mind and center herself.
She had felt it; her spiritual senses had heightened again after regaining her transformation. It was a double edge-sword – harder to reign down the intensity, but may prompt clearer visions. With everything happening now, she definitely intended to put her power to use.
She let out a deep breath and closed her eyes.
A torn stuffed dog.
Purple halo of a restored stuff dog.
Black smoke.
Mio's laugh.
Light and darkness.
A man howling in front of a burning castle.
An abandoned building.
A Sailor Senshi sinking into darkness.
A woman's sob.
A blade plunging through a body.
Rei jerked to a wake, panting and her skin clammy from the sweat that was beginning to soak through her priestess robes. Hissing in frustration, she slammed her eyes shut again.
Diving back into the spiritual world of heatless flames, her incorporeal hand reached for threads of possible answers.
"You're forcing it too much."
'What—who?!'
"You're dumber than I think if you can't recognize my voice."
The voice sounded like hers, but was not her… 'You've got to be kidding me!'
"I don't joke, much like you."
'Mars.' she groaned.
"Miss me?"
'Thought you said you don't joke. Kami… I sound crazy having a conversation in my head!'
"Get used to it, Rei. Because I have many things I need to show you."
'Show me?'
"The answers you seek cannot be discerned without knowing the past."
The usual fiery orange of the spiritual world turned glowing white before images and emotions rushed at her.
Sorrow. Anger. Betrayal.
The Mars Kingdom.
The Lunarian court.
The Sailor Senshi.
Princess Serenity.
Earth Kingdom.
The Sailor Senshi.
Soft skin. Sweet moans.
Attraction. Love. Comfort.
"Stop!"
The imaged stopped and she was left breathless in the middle of pure whiteness.
"You must go back!"
Rei frowned as she realized this was not Mars' voice.
"Get out of our way!" Mars snarled.
"Go back! This is not your place!"
The deep voice was familiar, distantly familiar…
"Rei! Watch out!"
The Lunarian symbol appeared before her in the middle of the whiteness.
'Queen Serenity!' she gasped in recognition.
Silver light blinded her and she was forced out of the whiteness, pushed back, and fell into pitch blackness until sounds and images of battles invaded her.
The idol exhaled heavily as she hiked up the stairs leading to Hikawa Shrine.
"Mina, you okay?" Artemis asked, his head sticking out of the handbag.
"Yeah, just a lot on my mind."
"Because of Zoisite?"
"Tell me what you want when you are ready. I'll be waiting."
Minako frowned. "Actually, I wasn't thinking about that. Thank you for reminding me."
"Oh. Oops?"
The mentee sighed at her mentor. "Whatever."
"Then what is on your mind?"
"Our fight today against Mio, you saw it from where you hid, right? Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. What do you think of their performance?"
"Well trained, cohesive, natural. They looked like the three Senshi I remember from the past life fighting alongside Venus. I was impressed," Artemis answered honestly.
"My thought exactly," Minako returned flatly.
"Then what's wrong? Isn't that a good thing? It's a bit late, but that's what we've always hoped for six years ago. If they regain their memories and their training, our collective strength will definitely increase."
"I'm not worried about that."
"Then what are you worried about?"
"I…" she shook her head. "I'm not sure."
Artemis looked up at his charge worriedly, seeing the pained expression. "Stop thinking about it, maybe you'll figure it out after a good sleep. You had a long day."
"Yeah."
She arrived at her best friend's living quarters on autopilot, her thoughts plagued despite what her little guardian said.
She slid the pocket door open to Rei's room, frowning when she found the priestess missing instead of already sleeping despite the time being past midnight.
"Reiko?" Minako called softly, barely sliding the door open, knowing the priestess never liked to be disturbed during her mediation. She peeked in, and as expected, saw the Shinto sitting seiza style in front of the sacred fire.
"Reiko," she tried again, but no response came.
Knowing how unusual it was for her friend to still be meditating this late, Minako decided to head in, thinking her concern was more than enough reason to disregard the strict woman's rule.
"Rei!"
She kneeled down by the priestess's side with a worried frown. Even in zero distance, Rei made no sign registering the idol's arrival. Rei's head was slightly bowed, her long hair shielding her face from Minako's view. The idol observed the Shinto's hunch shoulders, rigid pose, and noticed the stiffly straightened arms that could only be telltale signs of the tightly balled fist on her lap.
Most worrisome of all, was the silence in Rei's emotions and aura.
She had seen this before; not this life, but the past life. Venus in Minako recognized the signs of the seer's consciousness being buried deep in her spiritual senses.
Minako's chest tightened when she leaned in to find the tortured expression on Rei's face, and instantly knew Rei was at the mercy of whatever vision she was submerged in.
Cautiously, she placed a hand on the priestess's shoulder, attempting to shake Rei out of her trance.
The palace crumbled.
Countless corpses – fiends and humans, soldiers and civilians alike, covered the barren ground, charred, bloodied, tattered and broken.
"Burning Mandala!"
"Mars!"
Venus' wild, haunted face zoomed into view as Mars opened her eyes to face her commander one last time.
Minako sucked in a breath as she fell onto the tatami ground on her back, her contact with Rei released.
'She's remembering the end!'
She looked to her second-in-command with horror, her heart sunk.
"Rei! That's enough! Come back!" Minako pulled herself together, scrambling to her feet.
She stood between the fire and the priestess, which was not a lot of space, but it was enough. Looking down at the woman, her thoughts and emotions raced.
Artemis was right. Wasn't remembering supposed to be a good thing? Was that not what she always wanted, for the others to remember the past life like she had? For Rei to remember?
Yet this very second, she found herself strongly wishing her friend to not be subjected to the horror and despair she was forced to experience six years ago. If possible, she wished her friends would never have to.
Resolved, she kneeled on one knee to the priestess's eye-level again.
"Rei, wake up! Stop remembering!"
No response.
"Please wake up… Please come back," she whispered, hands reaching for the Shinto's clammy pale cheeks that looked healthy in the glow of the flames. Minako ignored all images flooding into her senses coming from her contact with Rei, following her instinct.
"Please come back to me."
She closed her eyes as her lips met the priestess's.
One second. Two, and three.
She felt the pull from Rei's power weakening, so she released contact and leaned back, anticipating the priestess's wakening.
Rei's tired eyes finally flew open and her body toppled to the side. The idol caught her, shifted and rested the priestess' head on her lap, breathing out loudly in relief once settled.
"Minako?"
The idol winced at the hoarseness of her friend's voice. "Hey," she looked down with a wistful smile.
"Why are you in the fire room?" Rei frowned in subdued irritation, her exhaustion obviously winning over the usual kneejerk reactions.
"I came to check on you. I was worried. It's frigging 1am!"
"Oh."
"You overdid it, idiot!"
Rei wanted to sit up, but Minako's arm shot forth and held her down.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not!"
They glared at each other.
"You scared me, Rei."
"Like I said, I'm fine," the priestess sighed. "You, on the other hand."
"What?"
"What were you thinking, touching me when I'm meditating? You scared me when I felt you join me in the spiritual world!"
"I had to do something! You wouldn't respond!"
The priestess sighed again.
They fell silent, the crackling of the sacred fire being the only sound present.
"I remember."
The idol didn't need elaboration. "I know."
"I know you know."
"And this just got ridiculous," Minako chanced a smirk, but Rei's eyes, despite being hazed by exhaustion, pierced through her façade sharply.
"I'm sorry."
The idol flinched hearing the quiet words.
"I'm sorry you had to remember the end alone for so long."
"It's okay. I had Artemis."
"But it's different. He was never at the front."
Minako could only nod.
"Minako—"
"Don't." The idol gritted her teeth, her arms cradling Rei's head, holding her in place as the priestess tried to sit up again. "Please, don't."
She wasn't sure why she was feeling like this, but suddenly she felt a heavy pressure on her chest, the back of her eyes stung. She closed her eyes and bowed her head, wishing the pain away to no avail.
Minutes later, Rei finally sat up and Minako let her.
The priestess turned around and wrapped her arms around the idol's neck. She was so exhausted that her body barely had any strength, so she rested her arms on the idol's shoulders, her weight leaning onto Minako for support as she closed her eyes.
In the embrace, Minako brought her hands up around Rei's waist and rest on the back, clutching onto the soaked shrine robes. She leaned her forehead on Rei's shoulders, never opening her eyes.
Minako was not crying. Rei was not resting.
Author's note:
TODAY MARKS THE 4TH YEAR SINCE I POSTED MY FIRST CHAPTER OF ECHOES OF TIME! WHATTTTT?! Thank you everyone for your ongoing support, your reviews and feedback means a lot and makes this story what it is! Special thanks to SailorCopperOwl and Atashi Desu for being amazing betas!
Just a heads up for later chapters: I know a lot of stories write the past life Sailor Senshi having very similar personalities to the present Senshi, almost as if the present Senshi are continuation of the past. I know I've read many stories where Minako and Rei fell in love because they remember Mars and Venus were in love.
My portrayal of the past Senshi will be different – there are similarities, but the present Senshi and the past Senshi are different people. This is drawn from PGSM's approach with Serenity, who is very different to Usagi.
I just want to make that clear before things get MESSY! ;)
Also, for previous readers, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE re-read chapter 5 if you haven't since I refined it on June 23rd!
Announcement:
I'm going to start a series of theme-less one-shots/drabbles soon under the story name: Everyday life. It follows EoT timeline, from pre-EoT to post-EoT (without spoilers, of course). It will contain friendship bonding, fluffs and romance. It will of course include Reinako, but will not be limited to it. I may include one-shots of any character from EoT, the Shitennou being one I am also excited to write about, another being Rei's grandfather.
The initial reason for me to start this is because of my worries for the slow romance development in EoT – as one of my dear readers kept telling me *cough* I am the Queen of Fire *cough*. That led me to rethink a lot of my writing progress, and explore the list of random, cute scenes I wanted to be a part of EoT but never got to fit them in for various reasons. I'm just going to write them out anyway and post them as it comes as long as it spoils nothing for EoT. As everyone knows, Rei and Minako WILL end up together at the end of EoT (because let's be honest, we all knew Mamoru and Usagi ends up together even in Act 1 of PGSM), so with that reasoning, I see no problem teasing readers with post-EoT stories. :P
I am the Queen of Fire, the first Reinako one-shot will be dedicated you. ;)