Almost two weeks had passed since the incident involving Eudial and Mimete. The former hadn't reappeared yet but the sailor senshi remained vigilant- they knew it was only a matter of time until Eudial would show back. The fiery witch couldn't have made her desire for revenge against the senshi any more clear.
Minako was nervously playing with her own fingers. She was waiting outside a hospital room with her friends. They had been called by the hospital staff to let them know that she had woken up.
Ever since she had been revived as a human, Hanyuu Mimi was left in a coma. Given her recent injuries caused by Eudial's car, the doctors were first left to believe it was the cause for her comatose state but realized later that she had no head trauma that could explain her current condition. They concluded instead that she must have received a serious shock from the near-death experience that could perhaps explain her coma- an explanation not so far from the truth.
Finally, a nurse exited the room. Like on cue, all the senshi rose up.
"She just woke up," the nurse explained. "It would be preferable if only one or two people visit her at once to not stress her out."
Usagi put a hand on Minako's shoulder.
"You should go see her, Minako-chan. We will wait right here for you."
Minako nodded.
"Thanks, Usagi-chan."
The outers exchange a glance between them like they had an issue with that. Hotaru then stepped forward.
"I'll go too, if you don't mind," Hotaru proposed.
"Oh, uh, sure," Minako replied. "Two people are alright after all."
The nurse promptly escorted them to the hospital room. There in the bed was laying Hanyuu Mimi- the human who used to be the daimon Mimete.
"Hanyuu-san…" Minako softly called.
Mimi's expression grew tense as she cocked her head.
"Uh… do I know you?"
Minako froze for a moment.
"It's… it's a joke, right? You're kidding me, Hanyuu-san…?"
"I'm afraid she isn't," the nurse replied. "She seems to suffer from amnesia. Rest assured, there are no signs of physical head trauma, so it's probably from a psychological cause. The doctor believed it was due to the trauma of a near-death experience, as a way to protect herself from that memory. There's no way to know when her memory will come back, but her life isn't at risk."
"That's good to know," Hotaru replied.
"I'll give you some time alone," the nurse said before excusing herself.
Once she left the room, Minako stepped closer to Mimi.
"Do you really… don't remember me?"
"I… no. Sorry…"
Mimi seemed genuinely apologetic.
"Ah, no, there's no need to apologize! It's not your fault," Minako reassured.
"You called me 'Hanyuu'... Is that my name?"
"Y-Yes! Hanyuu Mimi! You don't remember that either?"
Mimi rubbed her chin, pondering.
"It does sound familiar…"
She then looked at both Minako and Hotaru.
"Were we… friends?"
Minako exchanged a glance with Hotaru.
"...Yes, we were," Minako replied.
There was no need to mention they once tried to kill one another and were sworn enemies.
"I see… I really can't remember. Sorry…"
"That's alright! Then let me reintroduce myself, okay? I'm Aino Minako, nice to meet you again, Hanyuu-san!"
"I'm Tomoe Hotaru. Nice to re-meet you again."
Mimi looked uncertain at first before she smiled softly.
"Nice to meet you too, Aino-san, Tomoe-san."
As Eudial was finishing typing something on her computer, she heard footsteps entering the laboratory. Eudial smiled to herself and rose up, turning back to face her visitor.
"Good morning to you. Slept well?"
Viluy was now wearing her own lab coat. She didn't seem amused by Eudial's comment. She continued to walk forward until she reached Eudial and, much the to latter's surprise, grabbed her by the collar and pushed her against the wall.
"... agh…!?"
"What have you done to me!?" Viluy exclaimed.
"W-What…? I brought you back to life, that's what I did to you!" Eudial retorted. "A simple 'thank you' would be appreciated… not this random assault!"
"... Urgh… then why do I… feel different… ?" Viluy asked with such contempt in her voice.
It was rare to see Viluy look so distressed… like the simple fact of admitting to feeling something was horrifying to her. Eudial felt like she had to tread on that carefully.
"This is merely a side effect of the method in which I resurrected you," Eudial began to explain. "I was able to reconstruct your body using the very nanomachines who dissolved it in the first place- your body was still there, although in billion of microscopic pieces…"
"You… you were able to use my nanomachines in such a way?" Viluy said, genuinely shocked.
She had always looked down on Eudial, thinking her mechanic skills were inferior to her knowledge in robotics. It felt good to see Viluy seem confused to learn she was capable to use her oh-so-prized nanomachine.
"But… how?" Viluy asked.
"I'm far from being the simpleton you paint me as, Viluy. I too, am quite skilled when it comes to machines."
"...tsk…!"
"All I had to do was figure out how to reprogram them to reconstruct your body instead of dissolving it. I had to use a significant amount of energy to do so, as well as your pure heart crystal in order for your body to remember its previous form."
"I see… way, my pure heart crystal!?"
Eudial grinned.
"Yep. News flash, we used to be humans- or rather, we are possessing human hosts. Bet you didn't know that."
"Actually. I did. That was quite obvious in fact."
"... huh?"
"Don't tell me… you didn't always know?" Viluy sneered.
"O-Of course I knew already, who do you think I am? Now get off of me!" Eudial replied as she pushed Viluy away.
The icy witch chuckled at her reaction while Eudial readjusted her lab coat.
"Anyway, all that to say, if you're having some unusual feelings, this is merely a side effect of gaining back your host pure heart crystal. A remnant of your past human self…"
"Pff, surely you jest. It doesn't matter if I'm a witch or a human, I don't do 'feelings'. This is something I had in common with Bidou Yui. Me and my host actually would agree on a lot of things."
"If you say so."
"So, why did you bother to bring me back? Why me specifically?"
"Can't you just be grateful that I brought you back to life?"
"Do not insult my intelligence, Eudial. I know very well that if you went to such lengths to resurrect me, it's because you need me. So what do you expect from me?"
As expected, Viluy was no fool- it was no use trying to outsmart her by trying to deceive her. But there was a much better way to manipulate her.
"I guess I can't hide anything from you," Eudial said in a tone of defeat.
"Obviously," Viluy said with a cocky attitude.
"I do need your help. I thought I could do it on my own, but it turns out things are more complicated than I anticipated… Among all our fallen comrades, I thought you'd be the most suited to assist me in my goal."
"Hmm… I see. So I'm useful to you. You brought me back to use me. You must be pretty desperate for my expertise for you to go to such lengths to understand my nanomachines and use them… I can respect that. Using people is only the rational thing to do- I'm even flattered you'd learn how my nanomachines work."
If outsmarting Viluy was not an option for now, using her ego certainly was.
"Alright, state your case, and I shall decide if I wish to lend you a hand or not."
"So, Hanyuu Mimi doesn't remember anything?" Michiru asked.
After their visit to the hospital, the outers regrouped at their house to discuss the recent event.
"This is what it looks like," Hotaru replied. "The doctor seems to believe she was the victim of an accident related to the destruction of Mugen Academy and her amnesia is the result of a near-death experience shock response…"
"Hmmm, that could indeed make sense… But are you sure she's not faking it?" Haruka asked.
"I can't see why she would… she's a regular human now. And even if she was, she's not a threat anymore," Hotaru replied.
"I suppose this is true… we should still keep an eye on her, simply because of Eudial. She might come back to finish off Hanyuu-san," Haruka added.
"So Eudial remains our main target," Michiru concluded.
"Still, if Hanyuu-san ever recovered her memories, I can't help but wonder… will she only remember her life as a human, or also the time she spent as Mimete?" Setsuna said.
"I suppose only time will tell," Michiru replied. "But, since she's back to being human and no longer influenced by a daimon egg, she shouldn't be a problem anymore regardless."
"Our priority thus remains Eudial," Haruka said.
The others nodded.
"Whatever she's up to," Haruka began, "we will stop her."
Holding her red Sorceress Stone, Eudial had finished explaining everything that had happened to her so far- minus a few details.
"I see. Now that the Taioron Crystal is no more, we have no other choice but to feed on our pure heart crystal in order to stay alive," Viluy began. "But if we reignite each fractured piece of the crystal with the magic of a different witch, we could rebuild it."
"You got it l. A fragment of the Taioron Crystal which was reignited by a witch would look like this, my Sorceress Stone. With each witch stone, we shall bring back our sacred crystal."
"Hm, I see. That explains why you need me. Not only do you need me to reignite one of the fragments, but I assume to bring back the others too."
"This is a more complicated task than I anticipated. Both Tellu and Cyprine bodies were completely destroyed- But we do need them back in order to rebuild the Taioron Crystal."
As she said that, Eudial pointed to a particular flower plant in a pot.
"Is that…?" Viluy began to ask.
"Yes. A Tellun. The only one that remains. Good thing those flowers don't need water or sun in order to survive, that explains how it lived that long. Tellu left one behind, probably in case of emergency. This should prove to be quite useful."
"Hm, indeed. One of her rare moments of cleverness."
Viluy reached for the flower, softly playing with its petals.
"What about Mimete? You said she lost her daimon egg and was back to being human again."
"We'll still need her. I'll deal with her when the time comes."
"Alright. I still wonder though, how do you know all of this?"
"Kaolinite told me, way before she first died. I kept it for myself because I didn't trust any of you. But now that Kaolinite is gone for good, you're the only one I can rely on with this information."
Viluy chuckled at that, clearly feeling an ego boost.
"Well well, Kaolinite did bite the dust a second time after all… good riddance. She was nothing more than a nuisance, unfit for leadership and slave to her own feelings. You chose the right person to assist you, Eudial. I see I might have underestimated your judgment. But you do still need me after all, hehe…"
Eudial had to gather ungodly restraint to not snap at Viluy. This was the detail she omitted to tell her: Kaolinite's survival. And she had no intention to tell her.
"Laugh all you want, Viluy, but as soon as you're no use for me… I'll get rid of you. You won't get away after looking down on me for so long- none of you will."
Minako left the hospital with her friends. She had once more visited Mimi who, like last time, was still suffering from amnesia. But other than that, the former witch seemed perfectly fine.
"The doctor still thinks the near-death experience caused her memory loss," Rei said.
"I mean, she did nearly died back then," Makoto added.
"It's not only that," Ami suddenly interjected. "For months she no longer had her heart crystal. This is similar to a near-death experience. And on top of that, her body and mind were corrupted by an alien parasite… Amnesia caused by shock is usually a way for the brain to protect itself from trauma too intense for the person to deal with themselves. What Hanyuu-san went through… is beyond what humans usually can go through."
"Hanyuu-san… poor her," Usagi said sadly.
"Then it's probably the same for Eudial," Minako suddenly said. "That might be why she can't let go of her witch self."
The others nodded.
"You are right," Usagi agreed. "And there's only one way to save her. I'll have to purify her."
She was stuck in pitch-black darkness. No matter how much she ran, she couldn't escape. And yet, she could see a feeble light far away, a single hope she was trying to grasp. She rushed towards it but before she could seize it, she ran into something.
It felt like a glass wall.
On the other side was the weak light she saw, coming from a pinkish crystal. A blond-haired girl was holding it. Next to her was another girl whom she couldn't see the face of, hiding menacingly in the shadow, holding a wire.
"...N-No, please, don't do that! I'm sorry!" She pleaded desperately. "Don't pull the plug on me!"
The woman sneered.
"Farewell, fool."
She cruelly pulled on the wire and everything went darker than black.
Mimi woke up in a jolt.
It was a nightmare. Again. She had no idea what those were supposed to symbolize. Memories she had forgotten perhaps? But none of those dreams seemed to make sense.
This blonde girl in her dream looked strangely similar to Minako. The latter came to visit her today too. Mimi felt bad that she couldn't remember the girl, especially since she claimed they were friends. Maybe this was why she had this nightmare, out of guilt…
Mimi then noticed she wasn't alone in her hospital room. Near the window was another girl, her figure standing right in the sunlight. She seemed to be putting a pot of flowers, humming to herself.
"Who… who are you?" Mimi called.
"Oh, I see you are awake. Don't mind me, I just thought some flowers would cheer you up," the girl replied. "So it's true what they said. You really lost your memory. So you don't remember me, do you?"
"I… I'm sorry, I don't…"
"Don't fret yourself over that. Let's just say, I understand what you're going through… After all, we were both caught in the same accident."
"Same accident… Do you mean, regarding that school? Mugen Academy? Were we… classmates?" Mimi asked.
"Indeed, we were. Friends, even."
The girl turned around so she would fully face Mimi, sunlight reflecting in her green hair as she smiled warmly.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Teruno Lulu. Nice to meet you again, Mimi."