ESCAPE
Akumu awoke to find herself in a hopeless situation. She was chained to a tree, her arms tightly bound behind her while the iron circled her body, in the middle of the enemy encampment. Around her, hundreds of monsters of all shapes and sizes were lounging in idleness before the next attack, sleeping or eating to pass the time.
She was still tired, her hated powers having taken all her energy in an effort to save her. She was also very thirsty and she licked her dry lips. For the first time, she noticed the taste of blood on them.
"So, you're alive," a voice beside her said.
Akumu turned her head painfully to see who had spoken. It was the purple haired woman again. She held a glass of water in one hand and sipped at it daintily. Akumu strained against her bonds to try and reach the glass, the rope that tied her wrists cutting deeply into her skin.
The woman walked around the tree to stand in front of the prisoner. She sipped from the glass again and held it out to Akumu. As the purple haired woman tipped the contents of the glass into Akumu's mouth, she gulped it down greedily as if she had never tasted water before. When it was empty, the woman threw the glass over her shoulder and out of sight.
"A pretty performance you put on," the woman continued. "For someone who hates their power and would do anything to be rid of it, you do use it quite often."
"That is never my choice," Akumu replied.
"An instinct?" the woman asked. "How curious. That would explain why you senshi are so hard to kill."
"I'm not a senshi," Akumu told her.
"Is that so?" the woman asked. "I offered you a place by my side and you attacked me, dressed as a senshi."
"It is not my choice," Akumu repeated. "The power controls me and does what it will."
The woman leaned forward until her face was inches away from Akumu's. Although still weak, the senshi power inside her began to flare up again.
"I offer you the choice again, then," she said softly. "Join me and I will teach you to use your gift in a way no senshi would dare. Refuse me, and you will die chained to this tree."
"I may not be a senshi," Akumu said through clenched teeth, "but I will not allow my city to be destroyed."
For the first time, Akumu released the power herself. The chains melted away as Akumu began to glow white. With a frown, the woman disappeared but her army of monsters noticed the escape.
In her weakened state, Akumu could not fight off the dozens of creatures who charged at her. She managed to destroy several before her power left her, feeble and defenseless, and she sank to the ground and into unconsciousness once more.
*******
The next time Akumu awoke, she was lying on her back next to a small fire. Her wrists had been bandaged where the ropes had cut her and a thin blanket covered her body. It was night and the crescent moon shone high in the starless sky. Akumu pushed herself into a sitting position, feeling her strength return and looked around for her saviour.
On the other side of the fire, staring her right in the eyes, was Sailor Uranus. The elder senshi had a few cuts and bruises on her arms and face but remained silent.
"You saved me," Akumu said, her voice the only sound in the still night. "Thank you."
Sailor Uranus waved the compliment aside. "Nevermind that. What did Abyss say to you?"
"Abyss?" Akumu asked.
"The woman you were talking to."
Akumu nodded. "She told me to join her or die. I refused."
Uranus said nothing. Akumu bit her lip in the awkwardness of the silence and prepared herself to lie down to sleep when Uranus spoke again.
"Why do you hate the senshi?"
Akumu sat up again and a sardonic smiled formed on her mouth.
"You of all people should not have to ask that," Akumu said. "You have hunted me and others like me my entire life. You are the reason we starve or freeze or rot in jail."
"I try to keep order in the city," Uranus said in her own defense. "You break that order."
"What do you know about order?" Akumu demanded.
Uranus lowered her head slightly. "Plenty," she replied. "I have been fighting since I was sixteen years old. In all that time, I never questioned my mission, my destiny. I was proud to be a senshi and to fight evil in all its forms."
"You think I'm evil?" Akumu asked.
Uranus shook her head. "You steal, but only to survive. There are a few others like you, who steal only what they need, but there are far more living in Old Tokyo who steal because they like to. For them, it's not about survival. Those are the thieves that I send to rot in jail."
Akumu blinked as the fire spat noisily. She knew the senshi were not bad people, but she could not overcome her prejudice that easily.
"My first memory," Akumu said finally, breaking the silence, "is of a senshi coming into the house I was living in and taking away the woman who was feeding me."
Sailor Uranus lifted her head in surprise. She had never heard of a senshi breaking into a house to take a criminal away.
"I told Lady Mercury I had no memories of anyone caring for me when I was a child," Akumu continued. "I lied incase it had been her that night long ago. I was only four or five years old when it happened, so I don't remember that much. Karasu Sentou never did anything to deserve it."
"No senshi has done such a thing in Tokyo," Uranus assured her. "I would have known."
Akumu brushed aside the reassurance. "I know. I don't want to became that senshi, the one who forced me to live on the streets."
Sailor Uranus was silent for a few minutes. "Being a senshi is a great honour and responsibility. It's up to you how you use the gifts you've been given. Whoever took your guardian abused their right to wear the senshi uniform."
Akumu nodded, suddenly tired from the day's activities. She bid Uranus good night and lay down. The senshi stayed awake, however, pondering the strange tale she had been told.
*******
The sun was cresting the horizon when Akumu next opened her eyes. With a refreshing stretch, she sat up and looked around the lightened landscape.
Sailor Uranus had carried her far from the enemy camp, and far from the city as well. They were in the foothills of the mountains that circled Crystal Tokyo and, as Akumu rose to her feet, she could see the city below her. She turned back to the campsite and noticed for the first time that Sailor Uranus was nowhere to be seen. The small fire that had warmed them last night was reduced to ash and the only trace of the elder senshi was a flattened area of grass where she had slept.
An explosion sounded below her and Akumu turned her attention back to Crystal Tokyo. A tall pillar of smoke rose into the morning air and the thief's keen eyesight could make out the hundreds of black demons that destroyed her city. A tear came to her eye. Tokyo was her city as much as anyone's and she could not stand to watch it be demolished. As she turned her back to the scene, she saw Sailor Uranus standing by the cold fire.
"You would rather stand idly by and let Crystal Tokyo be reduced to dust?" Uranus asked. "Are you so afraid of yourself that you'd let your home be destroyed."
Akumu bowed her head. Uranus walked up to her and turned her roughly to face the city once more. Akumu kept her head down, concentrating on the grass beneath her feet.
"Look," Uranus ordered.
Slowly, Akumu raised her head. She could almost hear the screams of the innocent people as Abyss' army ripped apart their homes. The Shield that covered the palace shimmered almost beautifully in the morning light, but the carnage of the attacks was everywhere else.
"I . . . can't," Akumu said, turning away again.
"You have the power to stop this!" Uranus almost yelled. "What would your guardian think of you if she saw you like this, too afraid to know yourself, running away from something inside you."
Akumu bit her lip, tears running freely down her cheeks. "I want to help," she cried softly, "but I'm afraid of what I'll become."
Uranus softened. She was bad at moments like this, usually leaving them to her counterpart. She wished Neptune was beside her, holding her hand and soothing Akumu with gentle words. Swallowing her pride, Uranus put her hand on Akumu's shoulder.
"You will only become what you want to," Uranus told her. "The other senshi will always be here for you, too. You have nothing to fear from us, and you have nothing to fear from me."
Akumu looked up into Uranus' eyes and saw the truth reflected there. She remembered her dream of the end of the Moon Kingdom and saw the senshi dying to protect their home. She remembered Lucis and her words of responsibility and destiny. Finally, Akumu knew she could run no longer. She nodded slowly.
"I will become a senshi," she said.
Uranus smiled. Before the older woman could speak, Akumu began to glow white again. This time, the thief didn't fight the power, but let it consume her, becoming a second skin. Uranus stepped back as the glow increased and was forced to look away as it approached blinding intensity.
When Sailor Uranus looked back again, Akumu was gone.
*******
King Endymion slammed his fist on the desk in disgust. The battle had been raging around them for nearly four days and the combined armies of the Crystal Kingdom were failing. They had already taken far more casualties than they should have and without Lady Mercury's expert touch, many were taking too long to heal.
"What does she want?" Endymion whispered, staring at the map of Tokyo where all the monsters had been sighted.
Queen Serenity stood next to her husband, her hands clasped in front of her in worry. As Guardian of the Earth, the weight of the attack fell most heavily on his shoulders and there was little she could do to comfort him.
She turned her head to stare at her four immobile friends, their life energy pouring into the Shield that protected them. They were like statues, chins up, eyes closed, and hands joined together. Serenity thought back to the days of their youth, laughing and fighting together. She sometimes wished she had never passed her role as Sailor Moon to her daughter.
"We need to drive them from the city," Endymion murmured.
Serenity put her hand gently on Endymion's. He looked up at her.
"I could use the Grail," she said.
Endymion looked at her in shock and Luna and Artemis broke off their private conversation at the other end of the table.
"Don't be silly, Usagi-chan," Luna said. "Using the Grail will probably kill you and the main force of the monsters still hasn't attacked."
Endymion took his wife's hand into his own and smiled into her eyes. "Luna's right, Usako. Don't risk your life unless it's absolutely necessary."
Serenity sighed. "You're right, Mamo-chan, but I hate sitting here doing nothing while my people fight."
"You are doing something," Artemis reminded her. "Your strength keeps the city strong."
"And don't forget that Michiru-san is coming with Chibiusa and Hotaru," Luna said. "You have to make a rip in the Shield to let them in."
Serenity nodded. She straightened and squeezed Endymion's hand. "I won't give up."
The other three smiled.
"Great," Artemis said. "Now, help us figure out where to put the reserve troops that were just sent from the outer border."
As the four poured over the map, a soldier burst into the room and told the royal couple that Princess Usagi had been sighted.
*******
Sailor Neptune carried the injured princess in one arm while Sailor Saturn stumbled along behind, exhausted. The main gates were in sight and in a few minutes, Neptune could leave the two girls in safety and search for Sailor Uranus. The tiny kitten Diana was the only one who seemed unaffected by the recent battles and perched on Saturn's shoulder as a lookout for more demons.
Their last fight had been brutal. It had started out with Neptune facing three creatures alone and safely hiding Chibiusa and Hotaru in an alley. While Neptune had been battling, a nearby explosion caused the buildings on either side of the alley to collapse, trapping the two girls inside. To make matters worse, as Neptune dug them out, they were attacked again. Hotaru was forced to transform and guard Neptune's back as she searched the rocks for the princess. The elder senshi was amazed that Diana had come out unharmed.
As the trio drew closer, Neptune could see Queen Serenity standing just inside the Shield, looking out with worry at her daughter and friends. Sailor Neptune tried to smile encouragingly when a dark shadow was cast over them. She looked up and saw the underbelly of an enormous black dragon. Quickly, Neptune ran to the nearest building for shelter, dragging Saturn behind her. They crouched in the doorway of the crystalline store and watched the dragon settled on a rooftop.
"People of Crystal Tokyo," the woman who rode on the dragon called. "Welcome to the dawn of a new dynasty!"
Serenity stared in surprise from the main gate at the woman with the purple hair. She looked back to where her daughter lay in Neptune's arms and wished she could join them.
"I am Abyss, rightful Queen of Crystal Tokyo," the woman continued. "I have come to reclaim my throne, which was taken from me by the one you call Serenity."
Serenity's eyes narrowed and she frowned in frustration. The Imperial Silver Crystal glowed in her hands. If Abyss saw her there, she took no notice as Serenity turned on her heel and headed back to the palace.
"Bow to your true Queen," Abyss ordered.
"I don't think so," a new voice said.
Abyss looked down and saw two senshi standing in defiance before her. Sailor Neptune smiled at Sailor Uranus for a split second, happy to know her partner was okay. Uranus squeezed Neptune's hand and the duo faced off against Abyss. From the doorway, Chibiusa and Saturn watched.
Abyss laughed. "The two invincible senshi. I have heard many stories about you."
Uranus flipped her hair and held up her hand. "World Shaking!"
The building the dragon perched on collapsed in the attack and the giant beast squawked in alarm as it fell. When the dust settled, the dragon was still alive and it lay on the ground. Abyss, however, had leapt free at the last moment and stood on a neighbouring rooftop.
"Deep Submerge!" Neptune called.
The water attack missed Abyss as she jumped again and landed in front of the two senshi. The three of them crouched in their defensive positions, each waiting for the other to strike first.
"Hold it right there!"
The two senshi and Abyss turned to the palace to see who had spoken. From the shadows of the main gate, a figure with two enormous wings stood silhouetted. As she stepped forward, she began to speak.
"No one has the right to demand the property of someone else. I am the Sailor of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon! On behalf of the Moon, I'll punish you!"
"Mama?" Chibiusa gasped.
Eternal Sailor Moon stepped free of the gate and Neptune and Uranus ran to her side.
"What are you doing?" Uranus hissed.
"Protecting my kingdom," Sailor Moon whispered back.
Abyss smiled. "So you're the infamous Sailor Moon. I thought you were a lot smaller."
Eternal Sailor Moon glared at her enemy. "Go home, Abyss."
Abyss opened her arms and smiled. "I am home."
The purple haired woman opened her feather fan and smiled wickedly. Spinning around, she used the fan to hurl sharp, purple spikes at the tree senshi before her. They managed to dodge them, but one ripped through Eternal Sailor Moon's wing.
"Try avoiding this," Uranus muttered, drawing out her talisman. "Space Sword Blaster!"
Abyss did avoid it, but the dragon behind her wasn't so lucky. It screamed as the attack hit its nose, but did little damage through the thick scales. Sailor Moon drew out her scepter.
"Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" she cried.
The attack struck true and Abyss doubled over in pain. The trio waited for a second while their enemy was bent over and Sailor Neptune drew out her mirror.
"Submarine Reflection!" she yelled.
Abyss looked up and was instantly lost within the depths of the mirror. She straightened, still looking ahead and Neptune prepared the final blow. At the last minute, Abyss snapped out of it and fell to the ground as the attack soared above her. The purple haired woman laughed.
"Why bother?" she asked. "Even as we fight, my minions are destroying the Crystal Points. Soon, the Shield will fall and Tokyo will be mine."
Eternal Sailor Moon's eyes widened in horror. If the points were destroyed, the life energy of the four senshi who created the Shield would be suddenly ripped from them. They would most likely die.
Abyss laughed as the shadows lengthened and the sun sank below the horizon. Uranus yelled in rage and charged at the woman, hitting her with her bare fists. From their hiding place, Chibiusa and Saturn cried openly, tears streaming down their faces. The Shield behind them began to flicker and fade.
"No!" Eternal Sailor Moon screamed.
Between Abyss and the three senshi, a small glowing spark of white light appeared. It hovered a foot in the air, bobbing up and down impatiently as the sun set. When the sky had turned a deep purple, the white spark expanded, stretching up and down until it was roughly the size of a person. The senshi and Abyss stared in confusion as the white line expanded sideways and took the form of a senshi. The whiteness then faded into colour and the light disappeared and Akumu in her gray senshi uniform remained.
"Guardian of the Mind, I am Sailor Nyx, the Senshi of Dreams," Akumu announced, her eyes still closed. "By the darkness of the night, I'll punish you!"
She opened her brown eyes and stared at Abyss. The purple haired woman stared back, unafraid of the girl who had appeared before her. The gray senshi turned to Eternal Sailor Moon and the two outer senshi and bowed respectfully. As she straightened, all the colour had disappeared from her brown eyes and she looked back at Abyss.
The white eyes narrowed. "Nightmare Revelation!" she called.
The whispers began. Hundreds of them from all corners of the city. For every black demon of Abyss there were a hundred white shadows. They danced around their prey, pointing and whispering, advancing slowly until the monsters gave into their fear and the white shadows pounced. The cries of the devoured demons echoed through the city and, as Abyss' own shadows converged on her, she fled to her dragon and urged him into the sky. The injured beast obeyed and they flew into the night sky as the shadows disappeared.
Behind them, the Shield fell and Sailor Moon gasped. The Points had fallen. Sailor Nyx lifted her arms above her head and closed her white eyes. A thick surge of white light descended upon her from above and spread out in a circle through the entire city, passing through objects as if they were not there. The monsters it touched were incinerated while the common people and senshi remained unharmed. The city purged of Abyss' evil army, the gray senshi blinked and her eyes resumed their brown colour.
"The Shield," Sailor Moon whispered.
She turned and ran into the palace, followed by Uranus and the floating Sailor Nyx. Neptune quickly retrieved Chibiusa and Saturn before following them.
*******
The new dawn shined down on the shell of Crystal Tokyo. Most of the buildings had been demolished by the attack and the survivors stumbled out of hiding to rebuild. Details of soldiers were sent as well to help with the construction and to clean up any other messes.
In the palace, the infirmary was packed with injured soldiers. The crew normally lead by Lady Mercury scrambled to help everyone with her patient guidance. Deeper still, four woman lay sleeping encased in crystal in the heart of the palace.
Queen Serenity stood with her daughter and husband in the Shield room, looking at the four peaceful faces of her friends. When Ami had designed this crystal, she had made Serenity put in a defense mechanism. Should the lives of the inner senshi be at risk, the crystal itself would save them from harm. Serenity had not known at the time what her friend had meant, but had agreed, trusting Ami to make the right decision. Now, as her closest and most precious friends stood in their crystal tombs, she wondered how she could free them.
Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Saturn, and Sailor Nyx stood behind the royal family. There had been no time for sleep after the annihilation of Abyss' army and the discovery of the crystallized inner senshi. Serenity had been inconsolable all night. With the dawning of a new day, Serenity had pushed aside her grief to help her city rebuild, but she still stood on the verge of collapse as she looked at her friends.
Hours later, Endymion dismissed the four remaining senshi and they went together to Haruka and Michiru's rooms to eat. They looked at the brown eyed gray senshi curiously and finally, Uranus spoke.
"So, Akumu," she said. "What happened to you?"
The thief swallowed. "I'm not sure. As soon as I agreed to be a senshi, you disappeared."
Uranus laughed. "No, you disappeared. Where did you go?"
Nyx shrugged. "I don't remember. It was very beautiful, though. Fountains, gardens, things like that."
"You could be describing almost anywhere in Crystal Tokyo," Saturn said.
Nyx shrugged. Neptune sipped daintily at her tea and put the cup down.
"One mystery is solved, at least," she said. "You are Sailor Nyx, guardian of the Mind and the senshi of Dreams."
"Interesting title," Uranus remarked.
"Makes sense, I think," Saturn added. "Kuusou does mean 'daydream' after all."
Yes, Uranus thought to herself, but Akumu means 'nightmare'.
Neptune looked at her partner sharply as Nyx nodded and wiped her mouth on her napkin. She sat back, pulling down on her short skirt and raised her eyes to try and see her tiara.
"I just have one question," she said. "How do I change back?"
The other senshi laughed.
*******
In the northern mountains, on a peak overlooking the city of Crystal Tokyo, Abyss sat in silent contemplation. Her first attempt to seize the city had failed and a new senshi had been discovered. She squeezed her hand into a fist and slammed it on the windowsill in frustration. Kuusou Akumu should have joined her. The senshi who hates senshi should have been an easy target, but she had failed.
"No matter," she told herself. "The battle may be lost, but the war rages on. There will be another chance. There is always another chance."