Chapter 20: Jolly Roger Bay

Rei Hino and Parallax Katzenjammer found themselves on a small sandy beach. Before them lay a wide expanse of water, as well as a very old-looking ship that was parked out in the water near some docks.

"Parallax, you've got the Second Sight too, right? Would you like to come work at the shrine sometimes?" Rei offered, seemingly out of the blue, though it was something she had been considering before they were teleported to this place.

"Possibly. I'm Jewish by family inheritence, though the mythology was one of the things I was looking forward to about living in Japan," Parallax shrugged. Rei smiled at the girl.

"Come by the shrine then. We can always use help; it's often busy work running a family business," she said. Rei and her husband Daisuke ran a kimono shop out of the shrine.

"To help with selling things, or with the psychic fortunetelling? I can't really control when my visions come like you do. Maybe I will come so I can learn that," Parallax mused.

"So do you want to explore this area? I don't just want to sit here and wait to see if something happens," Rei said, standing up.

"The water looks very deep. We could die."

"Die?! Parallax, if we die here, then we'll probably just end up back in our own world! This is probably some other world, and I bet my prophecy might come true for us too!" Rei exclaimed.

"Then we have the dilemma of knowledge versus safety."

"I choose knowledge," Rei quickly decided, taking a leap into the water. She then resurfaced, giggling. Parallax jumped in too, making sure she didn't land on Rei. She then had an idea.

"Cinnamon Power, Make Up!" she called. Her orange Senshi outfit appeared on her and then she ducked under the water. "Mrs. Hino, I think I can breathe underwater in my Senshi form," came her burbly-sounding voice. Rei looked under with her.

"I see what looks like an underwater cavern down there. Do you want to explore it?" she asked. Sailor Cinnamon nodded, still submerged. She and Rei dove into the depths, the latter being glad to find the many air bubbles that were in the form of small gold coins. They found that when they reached the cavern, it was a tunnel that led to an underground area that was above water so they both could breathe freely.

"How come the water doesn't just seep in here and fill it up?" Sailor Cinnamon asked as she stood on the rocky ground, her Senshi outfit dripping wet.

"I'm not sure why, though it looks like this part is high enough above the water level. We had to swim up to get here, remember?" Rei pointed out. Then they noticed what looked like treasure chests further down into the cave. They were about to check them out when one of the chests began to glow a green color.

"It's the aura of a Magic Knight," said Rei, and Sailor Cinnamon agreed. What neither of them were prepared for, however, was that when the chest opened, Zelda the hyrax flew out. She crashed into Sailor Cinnamon and landed in her lap. Following her was Fuu, who stepped out more gracefully, holding her sword.

"Luckily for you, I did not kill your pet. She is a strange animal, though. Is she a kind of large hamster?" the Magic Knight inquired.

"No, she's a hyrax," Rei answered, "But what were you doing with her?"

"I do not know. She appeared in my hands as I emerged from this box," Fuu answered, "She bit me and then I threw her."

"Do you know how to escape this world?" Sailor Cinnamon ventured to ask.

"No, I do not, and I prefer not to. My mission from Clef is to destroy you evil Sailor Senshi," Fuu stated, pointing her sword towards Rei and Sailor Cinnamon, who suddenly detransformed.

"What did she do to you?! What kind of powers does she have that she can make you lose your powers?!" Rei exclaimed, frightened and nearly forgetting her own prophecy.

"I shall test the truth of what you saw in your dream, Mrs. Hino. If it is true, then killing me here would only send me back to my own world. If it is not true, then my sacrifice may teach Fuu a lesson about letting herself be tricked by fakers," Parallax said, closing her eyes shut. She mostly sounded calm, but Rei noticed that she was starting to cry.

"You're not going to attack me? This must be a trick! But..." Fuu stopped, sword stuck in mid-swing. She threw it to the ground and watched Parallax, wondering what the girl with the navy blue pigtails was going to do.

"Oh, Fuu! Can't you see that we're only trying to save you and your friends from that evil one who captured you? I'm sure...I'm sure that if we kill you, then you'll go back to your world safe and sound!" Rei pleaded. Fuu picked her sword back up and pointed it at Rei this time, but the priestess was ready and she kicked Fuu in the arm, sending the sword flying. It landed in the water with a splash and began to sink down into the depths. Fuu looked behind her and started to chase after it, but then she turned back to the two psychics.

"Perhaps you cannot decide what to do? You seem like part of you wants to kill us, but you also want to believe what we're saying," Parallax said. Fuu's eyes then fell on Zelda.

"A test of that prophecy is in order. The hyrax can be the subject." Parallax suddenly panicked.

"Cinnamon Power, Make Up!" she yelled, jumping in front of Zelda, who was actually rather surprised that someone would protect her.

"Parallax, let Fuu do it. I need to know if that prophecy is true anyway," Rei said in protest, but it was a half-hearted one. She, too, did not want to see that cutely gloomy ungulate perish at the hands of the Wind Knight.

"Fire..."

"Emerald..."

"Soul!"

"Typhoon!" The two attacks collided in a swirling mass of wind and flames that threatened to hit both girls. Rei quickly yanked Sailor Cinnamon out of the way but the small firestorm began to spread. Zelda was its first victim; it burned her small body to a crisp. In a flash of green, she disappeared from the mysterious dimension they were stuck in, proving the prophecy correct. Fuu stared in shock--how could that be? Was it possible that her enemies were telling the truth? That if she let them attack her, she would get to go home?

"Let us jump into the flames. Like Zelda, we can be taken back to our own world," declared Rei. She stepped forward into the spreading ring of fire, disappearing like Zelda in the same green light. But when it was time for Parallax and Fuu to do the same, the ring hit the edge of the cave and fizzled out on the rocks and the water, creating steam. Fuu raced forward and plunged into the depths.

"So she's taking drowning as the way to die," whispered Sailor Cinnamon to herself before she detransformed and followed the blond Knight.

"Come on in! The water's fine!" Fuu called before diving under again. Parallax leaped in, startled at first that it was harder for her to breathe under the water. This must be what it was like for Rei, she thought.

"I can't drown! Please help me!" cried Fuu--her magic aura was protecting her as Sailor Cinnamon's had. Parallax swam down to where the green-clad girl was floating and took ahold of her sword too. It became extremely heavy and she fell rapidly to the bottom, pulling Fuu with her. At the bottom, she moved so that Fuu was underneath her and the sword cut through Fuu's neck, slicing her head neatly off.

Parallax then nearly screamed, choking on more water, as a giant purple eel headed for her--no, it wanted Fuu's blood, although it wouldn't get any because Fuu was fading away in the green aura. Parallax struggled to swim to the surface, but then all she could see was green.

"Come back to us..." Was that the Queen's voice?

"Your hyrax will return," Parallax whispered.

"That's good," responded an unfamiliar voice.

"Who is it?" Parallax asked.

"Akane..."