13 - Meanwhile, on Earth…
The sun shone down on Tokyo as if it were any other afternoon. However for a certain group of people (and three cats) the warm weather didn't even raise a smile. Serena, Rei, Amy, Lita, Mina, Caliban, Luna, Artemis and Estrella all came out of Alexia's home slowly, each of them looking as solemn as the other.
"I'm glad Mirage's good at what she does." Lita remarked.
"At least we know that Alexia's parents aren't worrying about her absence." Amy sighed.
After Alexia's departure the night before the group had locked up the dance school (Caliban had agreed to return the keys and tell Ms. Yakamori that Alexia wasn't feeling too well); then gone to Florizel's ship to explain everything to Caliban. He had been distraught to hear about his father's condition and had apologised about a thousand times for letting Lucilius control him for so long and of course for everything he had done. Also, at the meeting, Mirage had volunteered to disguise herself as Alexia. She was now lying in Alexia's bed, pretending to be sick. Fortunately not only could she morph herself into looking like anyone or anything she liked but she could mimic any illness too. Caliban had been very quiet all the way through their visit to the shape-shifter; his grey eyes were troubled and anyone who looked at him could see how broken he was.
"You look exhausted, Caliban." Luna remarked. The prince looked at her and sighed.
"I couldn't sleep," he admitted. "I couldn't stop thinking about how I let her go…it should've been me… " his voice caught in his throat. Serena placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Stop beating yourself up," she advised. "Alexia would have gone no matter what we did, it's her nature."
"What's done is done, Caliban." Amy said wisely. "You should concentrate on the here and now, it's much more important."
"She's right, you know." Darien said as he joined them. "What's going on?"
"We've just been to check up on Mirage," Lita explained. "She's doing a great job. I just hope that we get the real Alexia back before Miaka and Alfredo start to get suspicious…"
"We will get her back soon," Mina suddenly blurted out. "We have to! Or else…" she burst into tears. "Oh, Alexia!" she wailed as Serena wrapped her arms around her.
"It's alright to cry, Mina." she said soothingly, tears flashed in her own eyes as she closed them before any could escape. Soon Lita and Amy were also hugging the two blondes, and all Rei could do was stare; her head spinning with a mixture of sorrow and anger. Finally it all got too much for her, and there was only one thing she could do - turn and run away. She ran and ran from the group, holding back the tears fiercely.
"Rei! Don't hide your feelings!" Mina yelled after her, then sniffled. "I bet she's exhausted, she was trying to contact Alexia through telepathy all last night, but it was no use." The girls had all stayed at the temple the night before, comforting one another and collectively praying for their friend's safety.
"I heard her crying. You know how stubborn she can be, she just prefers to keep her feelings to herself." Amy said sadly. "I know she would never admit it but I am sure she misses Alexia more than any of us…" her eyes fell on Caliban. "Well, more than most of us, anyway…" the other girls and Darien nodded.
"Look guys, I need some time alone." Caliban spoke up, and they all noticed how weary he looked. "Shall we meet up again later?"
"Yes, the temple in three hours?" Luna suggested, they all nodded in agreement.
"Try and get some rest, okay?" Serena said kindly.
"I'll try. See you all later." the prince vanished.
"Poor guy, it finally looks like he and Alexia can be happy then this happens." Darien commented.
"Yeah," Serena sighed. "I can't help but feel slightly guilty because I have you right here…" she hugged the youth tightly. "I can remember how I felt when Queen Beryl captured you, and then when you lost all your memories, and…" she sobbed. "Poor, poor Caliban."
"It's so weird, going from hating to feeling bad for him." Lita remarked.
"Actually, right now I can't recall how much I disliked him before, his good heart has totally destroyed those feelings." Amy said; the group fell silent.
"I'm going to the temple, to keep Rei company." Estrella announced.
"I'll go with you, right now being alone is the last thing she needs." Amy picked up the ginger kitten and began to walk away.
"Bye, Amy, Estrella." Mina called, then quite unexpectedly began to cry again.
"Come on, let's get her inside." Lita instructed as she opened the gate to the distraught girl's house.
x x x x x
Meanwhile, thousands of miles above them, a small spaceship was orbiting the Earth. Inside were Florizel and Nerissa, working ceaselessly on the computers, trying to locate Lucilius's ship. As she worked Nerissa couldn't help but smile slightly.
"You know, in a few days' time we will be home and everything will be just right." she said out loud, rubbing her injured wrist.
"Ever the optimist, Nerissa." Florizel remarked, leaning back in his chair as he took a break from staring at the monitors before him. "I'm glad someone can look on the bright side."
"You mean, you can't?" she looked over at him for a moment, her fingers never leaving the keyboard.
"No, I'm sorry, I can't." he sighed, swivelling his seat around so he was facing away from the computer. "Caliban will refuse to go back until we rescue Sailor Charon, and at this rate it could take months to locate Lucilius. Even years perhaps."
"What did Caius say, by the way?" the orange-haired woman inquired, fighting the urge to laugh. She, just like Florizel, was very good at keeping secrets. Now just to send out the signal…she thought, pressing one last key then smiling with satisfaction Florizel's going to be so annoyed that he didn't think about doing this himself!
"He was overjoyed to hear about Caliban's return; however he was saddened to hear of Charon's sacrifice. He assured me that he will be praying for her safety."
"I see…" Nerissa commented, then went quiet for a moment. "Florizel, I can't help but worry about something…the project was on schedule before I left to go to Earth with Caliban; the deadline was today…" she said thoughtfully, a finger to her lips. "You do realise that the Scouts could be putting their lives in more danger than they expect," she looked at him with stern, green eyes. "Don't you?" Florizel turned away from her and shrugged.
"If they want to rescue their team mate then it is a risk they will have to take." Nerissa shook her head, even after all this time she still couldn't believe how harsh her colleague could be sometimes.
"Florizel, if Lucilius…" she exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"He won't, trust me." Florizel responded in an even tone. "Everything is fitting into place, Nerissa; even better than we had anticipated. Now all we have to do is track him down…" he turned back to his monitors and sighed. Nerissa's stony expression brightened as a beeping sound caught her attention.
"Already done." she announced, and Florizel look at her in confusion.
"Excuse me?" Nerissa grinned at him.
"I left Lucilius a little present while I was on the ship…" she explained. "The smallest tracking device in the universe." Florizel leapt out of his seat, walked over to where his partner was sat and peered at the small green dot Nerissa was pointing at on the Galactic Map before her.
"Have I ever told you what a genius you are?" he remarked, more as statement than question, as he kissed her on the top of her head.
"Not recently." Nerissa replied, her cheeks burning.
x x x x x
"She's exhausted, but she's not going to stop, is she?" Amy murmured to Estrella, who sighed as she walked out of the room and clambered into the girl's lap. They had been at the Hino Shrine for about an hour, sitting out in the sunshine while Rei was inside once again trying to get in touch with Alexia. First the Scout of Mercury and then ginger cat had been in to try and persuade her to stop, however she had just ignored them. Just as Estrella got herself comfortable she heard the door to Amy's back slide closed; it was clear - Rei did not want to be disturbed again.
"She's going to drive herself crazy if she doesn't." Estrella said worriedly. "Did you manage to get in touch with Mina?" Whilst the cat had been indoors with Rei Amy had decided to see how their other friend was getting on.
"Serena answered her communicator - she and Darien are still there comforting her."
"Oh, poor thing." Estrella sniffled and Amy tilted her head. At last it was too much for Estrella to take. "Oh, Amy, I've failed her!" she wept. Amy gently stroked her back.
"That's right Estrella, let it all out." she murmured soothingly as the cat continued to sob.
"I promised myself after she first became Sailor Charon that I would never leave her side again, yet I'm here and she's not! And I'm so tired but I can't bring myself to sleep knowing that she's out there with him…I mean, who knows what's happening to her?!"
"Oh Estrella, not sleeping isn't going to help anyone! I wish we could've stopped her from going, we all do, but you know as well as I that once Alexia's mind's made up there's no going back." Amy said firmly. "Now, sleep. If anything happens I shall wake you up and inform you."
"You promise?" Estrella murmured, her eyes already clouding over from weariness.
"Yes, I promise." the Mercurian told her, and continued to run her fingers through the soft, thick orange fur on the kitten's back. Estrella's eyelids grew heavier by the second as she finally allowed herself to succumb to the exhaustion that she'd been trying to fight all day, until at last she could no longer keep them open. Amy watched her with fond eyes as she slipped further and further away from the conscious world. "That's it now sweetheart, I hope nothing but good dreams find you." she murmured. Suddenly she became aware of the clattering sound of the shrine bell and then footsteps, which grew louder along the wooden walkway as whoever it was got closer.
"Oh, hi Amy." It was Lita. "She looks so peaceful." she remarked, gazing at Estrella. "How is she?"
"Not good, she's been too worried to sleep; she was totally worn out, poor thing." Amy responded. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, I guess. I just said a prayer for Ale…" her voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed angrily. "She's such a fool, causing us all to worry like this! Does she seriously think he's going to let her go alive?"
"Shhh…" Amy hushed her, concerned that Estrella may stir from her slumber.
"Where's Rei?" the Scout of Jupiter decided she should change the subject. Her blue-haired friend sighed and turned to look at the sliding door behind her. One could just make out the orange-red glow of the fire within through the paper.
"She's been in there since we got back from the Risoltos'." she informed her.
"Still no luck contacting Alexia then." Lita's green eyes dropped to look at the ground as she spoke, a downcast expression on her face. However at the same time she was shuffling slightly from one foot to the other, as if she were desperately wanting to say something but at the same time not.
"Lita? Would you like to talk about something?" the Mercurian inquired, and her friend nodded quickly. Carefully lifting Estrella into her arms, Amy placed her down in a patch of sunlight which hit the wooden walkway and then stood up. The two girls walked at a steady pace towards the steps which led up to the shrine in silence; Lita's face thoughtful as she tried to come up with the right words to express what she wanted to tell her friend.
"You were right!" was all she managed to think of in the end, and Amy's blue eyes looked curiously at her.
"Pardon?" she responded in her polite manner.
"I said, you were right! About why I was so angry at Alexia." The brunette let out a loud sigh and sat down on the topmost step, her chin resting in her hands. "I was just too damn proud to admit it, plus it was totally pathetic of me." Amy simply nodded understandingly, sat down, and waited for her to continue. "It's just not fair! Serena has Darien, you have Fargo-" Amy almost choked.
"Excuse me?!" she squeaked. "I do not 'have' Fargo, as you put it! There is nothing between us!" she felt her cheeks start to burn as Lita waved her hand dismissively.
"Sure, sure, whatever you wanna believe, Aims. Anyway, I just hoped that maybe I'd be the next one to have some luck and have some handsome prince or knight or whatever come along and sweep me off my feet. But no, it has to be the newcomer! It ain't easy being me, y'know? Guys are too scared to ask me out on dates because of the stupid rumours that go around school."
"But Lita, you do have a rather…overwhelming personality." Amy pointed out, hoping she wouldn't offend her.
"Aren't guys supposed to like tough chicks?!" Lita leapt to her feet and exclaimed loudly, either choosing to ignore the last comment or not hearing it at all. Finally she sighed dismally, sat back down and rested her chin back in her hands. "All I want is a bit of romance, is that too much to ask for?"
"Not at all, Lita." Amy told her comfortingly. "I'm sure you'll find the right person soon enough."
"God, I sure hope so." the brunette looked at Amy. "Anyway, that's enough of that. Let's go check on Rei and Estrella."
"Good idea." the Mercurian agreed and with that the two girls helped each other up and walked back towards the temple.
When they got back to where they left Estrella they found she wasn't alone. Nerissa was sat beside her, just observing the cat as she slept. She stood up slowly, holding onto her injured side, as she saw the two girls approaching.
"Greetings, Lita, Amy." she said quietly out of respect for Estrella.
"Nerissa!" Amy exclaimed just as softly. "What are you doing here?" the smile on the Reimo Guardian's lips broadened.
"I guessed that one of you would be here, although I could not find Rei. I have some good news for you." she announced. "We have located Lucilius's ship."
"What?!" Lita remarked in amazement. "That's not good news - that's fantastic news! I'll contact the others and tell them!" she pressed a button on her communicator and began to speak into it excitedly. Amy looked down at the peacefully sleeping cat.
"I feel terrible, but I just can't bring myself to wake her up." she commented guiltily.
Ignorant to the excitement outside, Rei stood up. She had finally given up on contacting Alexia telepathically. She wiped her brow and sighed as she looked into a mirror at herself - there were shadows under her eyes and her face was pale. Just like Estrella she hadn't slept at all the night before, choosing to either try and contact Alexia or to cry as terrible thoughts of what Lucilius might be doing to her friend haunted her. She had also felt sure that wherever Alexia was she wouldn't be asleep, and so felt that if she stayed awake too then the girl wouldn't be alone.
There was one more reason why she couldn't sleep.
Sailor Charon's final words, delivered telepathically as she'd ran up the steps to Lucilius, had not left her since she'd first heard them in her mind:
Rei, I know I lied to you, and it hurt me as soon I realised I'd done it. I forgive you for ignoring me today, I just hope that you can forgive me too. I shall always consider you my best friend, no matter what.
She shuddered, and tears sprung to her eyes as a feeling of pain and misery swept over her body - could it be a sign of what Alexia was feeling at that moment?
"Alexia…" she whispered. "I'm sorry - sorry for hitting you; sorry for not talking to you; sorry for not saying sorry when I had the chance! And I forgive you for lying, I understand why you did it! I want so much to see you, to tell you face to face how I feel and that you'll always be my best friend!" She sat down and sobbed hard, finally letting the pent-up feelings within herself go. As she cried Amy ran in.
"Rei! Re…" she froze as the black-haired girl turned her head quickly, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Oh Rei," Amy smiled sympathetically as knelt to help the girl to her feet. "Everything is going to be fine."
"How can you be so upbeat all of a sudden?" the Martian muttered. Amy looked her in the eye and handed her a tissue which she happened to be carrying in her jacket pocket.
"Nerissa's here, they've found her." Rei took a step back, her eyes wide.
"What? You mean…?" Amy nodded. "They've found Alexia?" she exclaimed. Her friend nodded again. "I can't believe it, this is great!" she cried out joyfully.
"I've been in touch with the others, they're on their way." Amy informed her. "We're going to get her back!" Rei began to run out to see Nerissa when she suddenly stopped and grabbed hold of the doorframe, steadying herself. "Rei?"
"I…feel faint…" she murmured, and slumped to the ground.
"Rei!" Amy exclaimed loudly. Estrella, who had been woken up and informed of the news by Lita, ran in.
"What's happened?!" she asked.
"I don't know, I think she's gone into some kind of trance…" Amy murmured as she leant over the girl, whose eyes could be seen to be moving rapidly under her eyelids…
x x x x x
Caliban sighed for about the hundredth time that day, gazing sadly at the Charonian Ice Blossom, which was in his hand, as he lay on his bed. He inhaled its scent and closed his eyes.
"My Princess," he whispered into its petals. "Please be strong, don't let him break you down. I don't want to lose you again, I love you." He couldn't recall any other time when he'd felt so lost. He had allowed the one person in the universe who gave him a reason to continue to live to run into the arms of her mortal enemy. Instead of dragging her back and going himself, as he should have done, he'd kissed her then watched her climb the stairs to the spaceship. Now that he had been accepted by the Scouts, the cats and Tuxedo Mask (whom of course he now knew was Darien) all he wanted to do was be with Alexia and be completely happy, like he'd been in the Moon Kingdom when he'd first met Charon and the other princesses. Those days had been wonderful…
He carefully placed the flower back in the glass box he kept it in and continued to look at it. Its colour reminded him of Alexia's eyes - so cold in colour, yet somehow so warm - and so his desire to see her grew. "My Princess, my beloved Alexia, my beautiful Charon…" he said, his voice barely audible as a tear escaped from his eyes and rolled freely down his cheek. It didn't matter which name he used - they all belonged to her and were all equally perfect. More tears fell, but he didn't care - he was miserable; miserable, lost and afraid of what Lucilius was doing to Charon right at that moment.
He jumped off the bed after wiping his eyes, no longer able to stand just lying there doing nothing. He was contemplating leaving Earth to search for Lucilius himself when the ship's computer bleeped. Sitting down in the large swivelling chair in front of the console he pressed a button and Florizel appeared onscreen looking very pleased with himself.
"Why are you so happy?" Caliban muttered. Florizel continued to smile rather smugly as he spoke, without answering the prince's question.
"You must go to the temple now to meet the Sailor Scouts and Nerissa," the Royal Adviser informed. "I shall be there shortly."
"Why?" the blonde asked suspiciously.
"Well, you are going to rescue Sailor Charon, aren't you?" Caliban leapt up, joy quickly breaking through his melancholy like the sun through dark storm clouds.
"You've found her?" he exclaimed, his eyes bright.
"See you in a while, Your Highness." Florizel simply said as the screen went black.
x x x x x
…Rei opened her eyes, and found herself in a black room - black walls, black floor. Light seemed to radiate from her own body as she shuddered rather violently. She knew straight away that this place was one full of evil, a place where many a person had suffered and died alone. She screwed her eyes closed as she attempted to escape from this room, where she alone could hear the sobs and cries of agony of those who had gone before.
It was then that she felt something resting on the top of her legs, and realised she wasn't alone.
She looked down - and found Alexia there, lying on her back, her head in the black-haired girl's lap. Rei's heart leapt with joy, the evil she had felt forgotten in an instant - she'd finally got in touch with her!! Alexia seemed to be sleeping, a peaceful look on her face. An expression of relief crossed Rei's face as she only noticed very slight scratches on her companion's face, and she felt glad she was only seeing her through her mind. Physical injuries didn't show up in the mind, the scratches on Alexia's face were mental injuries and were fortunately extremely minor. It seemed she was holding up well psychologically…
"Alexia…Alexia?" She whispered her friend's name gently, she really didn't want to disturb her but she had no choice. Alexia's pale blue eyes flickered open and as she looked up she looked awestruck.
"Rei…" she murmured. "Are you really here?" Rei began to softly stroke her friend's fringe out of her eyes, avoid touching the scratches on her forehead.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm not." she told her. "I've been trying to contact you since you left, and now I'm so glad I finally have."
"I've been trying too, and I'm also glad." Alexia smiled rather weakly, however Rei could see how much she meant what she was saying from her eyes. The Martian cringed inwardly as she once again could hear the voices of tortured souls.
"How are you?" she finally asked. "I'm worried about you, this place frightens me - I keep sensing pain and suffering here." Alexia nodded, her eyes wide.
"Rei, I'm scared." she whispered, her voice trembling. She took hold of her friend's hand and Rei allowed her to hold onto it tightly.
"What of?" her stomach turned as she saw the panic in Alexia's face, and that the scratches were becoming more prominent. Her mind was obviously weakening quickly from fear and exhaustion.
"Of never seeing any of you again, of what Lucilius might do to you all…" the Charonian's voice dropped to a whisper. "But most of all fear that I am going to go insane…"
"No!" Rei said sharply. "Do not speak like that!" she felt her heart sink into her stomach as she saw the immense fear in Alexia's pale eyes.
"I'm sorry, it's just it's so difficult…Lucilius isn't being exactly nice to me…" Rei quickly placed a finger to her friend's lips, she couldn't bear to hear Alexia go on.
"Shhh, listen. We're coming for you, so don't be afraid." she said quietly.
"We? All you Scouts?" Alexia said nervously. It was Rei's turn to nod. "No, I don't want you guys in any danger. Leave me."
"Never Alexia, you're part of the team." Rei said firmly. "I'm not going to let you go, neither are the others…especially Caliban."
"Caliban is coming too?" the girl inquired, and Rei nodded again. "You guys… you're just too good to me." the Charonian sighed, defeated. "I guess I have no say in this, so I have all my faith in you."
"Thank you Alexia, just hold on for a little while longer." Alexia sat up and they hugged. "Be strong, we love and trust you. - all of us."
"Thank you, Rei." she whispered back, and then her eyebrows raised slightly, as if she recalled something. "Did you get my other message, the one I sent you before I got on the ship?" Rei couldn't help but smile as she remembered her friend's words to her.
Then, she suddenly heard another voice -
"Rei wake up!" it was Amy. She was being brought back to consciousness.
"Yes, I did." she spoke as quickly as she could, as she could feel herself waking up. "I wanted to tell you how sorry I was but…" her voice was getting quieter and quieter, and she felt Alexia's grip loosen as she started to melt into the darkness. Knowing there was nothing more she could do Rei just hoped the next time she saw Alexia she would still be alive…
"She's coming round!"
"Rei, are you feeling okay?" Serena asked gently as Rei sat up. The others had arrived fast as soon as the news had been spread.
"Yeah, fine," she got to her feet with the help of Lita and Caliban. "I…got in touch with Alexia…"
"You did?" Mina pushed past Lita and grabbed Rei's shoulders. "How is she? Is she safe?" Amy intervened quickly.
"Calm down Mina, give Rei time to collect her thoughts." Mina stepped back.
"I'm not going to lie to you about this," the raven-haired psychic began, "She's scared about never seeing us again; Lucilius is giving her a hard time, I think he might've hurt her badly…" the group began to talk all at once. "But," she raised her hands "I told her we're coming to get her. She's not happy about it because she feels she's putting us at risk but she says she has all her faith in us."
"Poor, poor Alexia." Nerissa murmured sadly.
"We can't wait around any longer - we've gotta get her outta there!" Lita declared, slamming her fist into her other hand. Mina nodded.
"If we wait around any longer we could be too late…"
"Mercury Star Power - Make Up!"
"Mars Star Power - Make Up!"
"Jupiter Star Power - Make Up!"
"Venus Star Power - Make Up!"
"Moon Crystal Power - Make Up!"
Caliban watched in silence as the girls transformed into the Sailor Scouts. His stomach was slightly queasy with nerves as he thought about having to board Lucilius's ship again…Sailor Moon walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Everything will be alright, Caliban." she smiled reassuringly. "Don't ask me how I know, I just have this feeling deep within my heart." he smiled back.
"I just hope you're right, Sailor Moon."
Nerissa was biting her lower lip as she looked at the group. She recalled her earlier conversation with Florizel and her anxiety over Lucilius's 'project' returned. She came to a firm conclusion in her mind - she couldn't send them onto Lucilius's ship without warning them what they may be facing.
"There's something I need to tell you - something Florizel and I ought to have told you right from the start." She suddenly spoke out, unable to look at any of their faces. "Apart from the Aathean Bottles…there was a second gift."
"What was it?" Caliban inquired on behalf of them all.
"Blueprints," she responded, still looking away. "Blueprints to a machine…"
"What type of machine?" Jupiter asked suspiciously.
"A machine that will reverse the spell you put him under all those centuries ago." She felt so ashamed - how could they have been so foolish as to even invent such a terrible contraption - let alone hand the blueprints to Lucilius? Yet Florizel was still confident that the machine would never get used…why? What was going to happen before then?
"WHAT?!" Luna spluttered, her eyes burning furiously at the news. "And you gave them to him?! Are you crazy?!" Mercury politely raised her hand.
"I am sorry, but if you don't mind me asking…how does this machine work exactly?" Nerissa looked at the blue-haired girl and was about to speak again when:
"It is quite an interesting process," Florizel walked in; the woman cringed - he must have overheard the whole thing. "Apart from the machine itself two things are needed to make the spell-reversal happen. Firstly, a special powder is needed, which you Sailor Scouts must become covered in order to for the machine to work. The powder would lie dormant in your systems, until a lever on the machine is pulled."
"Then what would happen?" Mars questioned.
"Then the dust will charge itself using your Planet Power and then suck it out of you." Nerissa answered. "That's when the second item comes into play."
"That second item is a medium, which all the Planet Power collects and combines." Florizel spoke again. "That medium is the Plutonian Sphere."
"So that's what Lucilius wants with Charon." Caliban remarked quietly, understanding at last and now being struck with terror at the thought of how desperate Lucilius must be to get hold of the Sphere.
"And now he's got Alexia…" Mercury murmured. "So there's nothing stopping him from using the machine…right?"
"But I don't remember getting covered in any powder…" Sailor Moon remarked. Florizel smiled knowingly.
"Even if you were to come into contact with the powder, it wouldn't matter." he smiled. "You see, and even Nerissa doesn't know this, when our engineers developed the machine we made sure that the settings on the blueprints were incorrect…and so when Lucilius attempts to use it all that will happen is - absolutely nothing." Florizel concluded.
"How come you didn't tell me about this!" Nerissa complained; however, Florizel continued to speak:
"And now that matter is out of the way…are you ready for your mission?"
"Yes, we are!" Venus declared.
"What is our strategy?" Mercury inquired.
"Myself and Nerissa will accompany you Scouts and Caliban to where Lucilius's ship is, and once we are in range you can teleport over, the rest is up to you." Florizel explained.
"I wish I could come with you." Nerissa remarked, looking down at her heavily bandaged wrist
"It's okay, Nerissa," Venus smiled reassuringly. "You just concentrate on getting better."
"Oh, Darien wanted me to tell you he's really sorry but he can't get out of work," Serena announced. "He's going to come here as soon as he's finished."
"Okay, so let's sort this out now - once we get on the ship I think we should split into two teams," Jupiter announced, taking charge. "I think three of us should try and find Charon while the others locate Lucilius and confront him."
"Good idea, Jupiter - I believe myself and Mars should try and find Charon," Sailor Mercury spoke up. "I can use my computer to pin-point her energy and Mars can use their telepathic bond."
"That sounds good to me," Jupiter agreed. "I wanna go after Lucilius and I think it'd be best if you came with me, Sailor Moon." The blonde nodded, slightly nervous about the idea but at the same time looking forward to being able to tell Lucilius exactly what she thought of him. She looked at Caliban, who looked like he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
"Caliban - do you want to go with Mercury and Mars?" She inquired and he looked at her grave eyes.
"No." He responded firmly. "As much as I want to find Charon - I need to confront Lucilius." He explained. "So I'll go with you and Sailor Jupiter."
"Alright, so, Venus, you're with us." Mars concluded.
"Okay, let's go rescue our friend!" Sailor Moon declared loudly, punching the air with her hand.
"Good luck, we'll be waiting here for you!" Luna called.
"Tell Charon we all love her!" Estrella said.
"We'll be praying for your quick return." Artemis added.
Suddenly, a voice spoke up.
"Not so fast."
The entire group turned to face Quintus and ugly looking creature. It was a mixture between a giant bird, some kind of lizard and a human. It was fiery red with massive black horns and claws and bright yellow eyes.
"Quintus!" Caliban exclaimed angrily.
"Lydria." Florizel said, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"Oh my…!" Nerissa gasped as she stared at the beast. "How did…?!"
"I must have got the Aathean Bottles mixed up somehow…" He muttered in reply.
"What's wrong?" Sailor Venus asked in confusion, her gaze switching between the old man and the beast and Florizel.
"Lydria is a fire beast from Zai, the fourth moon of Reimo, and one of our better warriors - Lucilius should not have received the Bottle with him in." The Royal Adviser told them.
"I hope you weren't planning on going anywhere." the usually docile Quintus said nastily. He was determined that he was going to succeed in stopping the group from boarding Florizel's ship. He would earn the praise of his master this time…
"It's no good, we're gonna have to fight, we have no other choice." Sailor Moon murmured. "Just hold on Charon…"