"... You're such a slow driver," Eudial complained. "If I was the one driving, we'd already be there."

Uranus, who was behind the wheel, glanced at Eudial through the mirror, the latter sitting in the back between Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter.

"If you were driving, we might crash into something," Uranus replied.

"Haha, very funny," Eudial shrugged. "This is my car- I don't get why I have to let you drive it…"

"Because we don't exactly trust you to bring us to our destination," Neptune, who was sitting next to Uranus, replied

"Tsk… Whatever."

Eudial sank back in her seat, arms crossed.

"I'm still surprised you agreed to do this," Mars said.

"Huh? Do what?" Eudial asked.

"You realized if we retrieve your heart crystal, the only way to save you will be to purify you," Mars replied. "Which means… you'll be human again. You won't have your daemon powers anymore."

This comment left Eudial pondering for a moment.

"It's that or death," she finally answered. "If I could, I would remain the witch Eudial, but given this isn't a viable option anymore… I guess being the human Arimura Yuuko ain't so bad. But…"

Eudial let out a sigh.

"I still struggle to imagine myself as a human. I don't remember anything from my previous life after all. What kind of person Arimura Yuuko- the old me, was? Can we technically be viewed as the same individual? Or is my true self this daemon egg? Will I stop to exist once I'm purified? If so, then no matter what I choose, I'm condemned…"

"You shouldn't see it that way," Neptune suddenly interjected. "At best, your previous self is corrupted- at worst, it's parasited. Either way, the daemon egg isn't a person by itself, it has to draw from its host in order to exist and create its sense of identity from it. So who you are right now is a twisted version of who you used to be. Getting purified won't kill you, it will merely bring you back to your true self."

"Anyway, it's not like you actually have a choice," Uranus said more coldly. "If you don't choose this, we will make the choice for you."

Eudial scuffed.

"Of course. Not that I ever really had a choice, to begin with," Eudial said. "So obviously, I'd 'agree' with it- I don't have a choice."

Mars was tempted to add something but decided it would be wiser to stay quiet. Obviously, this was a sore subject for Eudial and it was pointless to continue- she wasn't going to fight back and had resolved herself to be purified. Better to not push her around too much and get hers and Mimete's heart crystals as soon as possible.

Upon reaching their destination, Uranus stopped the car. In front of her were a bunch of ruins- the remaining of Mugen Academy.

"We're here," Uranus.

"Yeah, I'm not blind," Eudial replied.

"..."

Eudial had managed to locate their missing crystal hearts where Mugen Academy once stood, just like she had suspected. They all exited the car, looking around at the now wasteland that used to be the prestige academy.

"I still wonder why your heart would be here," Jupiter said.

"I assume that since the Witches 5 used to be students here, we have to be turned into daemons on the school ground," Eudial replied. "As for why our heart crystals are still here, my safest guess is that they were fed to the Messiah of Silence to start her awakening. If Mistress 9 was defeated here, then it makes sense whatever hearts she still had in her would be where she was vanquished."

The group looked around at the vast ruins.

"It'll be like finding a needle in a haystack," Jupiter complained.

"Yes, if you mean by that that you can use a magnet to find the needle," Eudial replied.

"Eh? What's that supposed to me?"

"Allow me to enlighten you."

As she said that Eudial opened the trunk of her car, taking out a machine that looked like a metal detector.

"... I don't think the metaphor was that accurate that you can find the heart crystals with a metal detector," Jupiter said.

"This isn't an actual metal detector but one of my inventions," Eudial corrected. "If we want to be more accurate, I'd call it 'heart detector'- I built it to be able to detect any crystal hearts it came close to."

"Woah- that seems pretty overpowered!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"Why haven't you used such a useful device during your hunt for the talismans then?" Mars asked.

"Because this-"

Eudial suddenly turned on the device, which immediately started beeping.

"It's completely useless to actually detect any specific heart crystals in an area with anyone in since all humans have one," Eudial explained. "So it would just end up reacting to anyone it comes across. But, in an area with no one but buried heart crystals, it might finally be useful…"

"So we can't stay near you while you're searching?" Uranus asked, suspicious.

"Don't worry, you can still keep an eye on me," Eudial scoffed. "Just don't be like, at least at five meters from me. Or else, the device will only detect your crystal heart."

"Fair enough," Neptune replied.

"But if you try anything dubious-" Uranus began.

"I know, I know. I won't. I actually do want to survive."

Uranus glared at her for a moment before glancing at Neptune, who nodded.

"Fine. But we're watching you," Uranus said.

Eudial scoffed once again before starting to look for the missing hearts, under the surveillance of the senshi.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The heart monitor continued beeping, showing cardiac activities in Mimete's body. The latter was lying down in a bed, plugged into various machines to keep her alive. Ami was keeping a close check on her, Mimete being in a comatose state and on the bridge of death. She was technically already dead, her body only being preserved artificially and kept in a vegetative state.

"How is she doing?" Minako asked.

"Her body is stable, for now," Ami replied. "But it won't bring her back. She needs her heart crystal."

"Haruka-san just called," Usagi suddenly said. "They arrived at the old site of Mugen Academy and are now looking for Mimete and Eudial's crystal hearts."

Minako sighed.

"Hopefully they can fit her heart soon," Minako said.

"If Mimete and Eudial's crystal hearts are at the same place, then so should be Tellu and Viluy's, right?" Ami said. "Will there be a way to bring them back too?"

"Without a body, it's doubtful," Setsuna replied.

"I'm sure there is a way," Usagi said.

"Still, I'm wondering what their crystal hearts are doing there…" Minako commented.

"Mistress 9's awakening was made in more than one step," Hotaru began to explain. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Witches 5's heart crystals were the first used in order to begin her resurrection. But it wasn't enough, so the Death Busters started looking for the talismans and later, a pure heart crystal to fully awake her."

"So not only did the Death Busters corrupt the Witches 5, they used their hearts as sacrifices!? That's horrible!" Usagi exclaimed.

"The Death Busters were callous, they didn't care about the causality to achieve their goals," Setsuna said.

"I wonder… was Kaolinite a human before?" Usagi suddenly said. "Was she too, like the Witches 5, corrupted and turned into a humanoid daemon?"

As she said that she glanced at Hotaru.

"Kaori-san… I don't know," Hotaru replied. "I knew her since I was a kid. She was my father's assistant, even before my accident. So I suppose… she did use to be human at some point."

Hotaru didn't seem comfortable talking about Kaolinite.

"Hotaru-chan… you didn't get along with her, right?" Usagi asked.

"It's… more complicated than that. When I was a kid I didn't really know her, but after my mom… passed away, she started to be there more often, with my father… And it annoyed me. But she wasn't mean to me or anything, not until… I started antagonizing her more openly. I don't know if at that point, she was still Kaori-san or if she was already Kaolinite, and if she actually shared my dislikes… But regardless of whether the woman who acted as my guardian was Kaori-san or Kaolinite, I never accepted her as such."

Usagi wasn't sure what to add to this. She only really knew Kaolinite as their enemy, but she could feel that Hotaru had a different experience with her. Setsuna put a comforting hand on her surrogate daughter's shoulder.

"Let's focus on the two we can save for now," Setsuna said. "This should all be over soon once you purify them."

Usagi nodded at this, hopeful.

"Yeah."

"This is starting to get long," Jupiter complained.

Eudial was still scavenging around, only briefly raising her head to look at Jupiter.

"Well, yeah. There's a lot of ground to cover after all," Eudial shrugged, focusing back on her task.

"Are you sure you're not just buying yourself time?" Uranus accused.

"Buying time for what? My imminent doom?"

"I mean for your buddies to show up and ambush us or something. The other witches."

Eudial posed for a moment, perplexed.

"You mean Tellu, Viluy and Cyprine? I meant to ask you this, what happened with those three?"

"Do you really don't know, or are you just playing us?" Uranus asked.

"I wasn't around for a while. You know, after Mimete sabotaged my car and made me fall down a cliff."

"Speaking of that, why haven't you come back? If you survived the fall, why let Mimete get away with this for so long?" Neptune suddenly asked.

"Let's just say, after what she pulled on me and the fact the others were on her side, it didn't really make me want to come back," Eudial replied. "Who'd want to go back to a toxic work environment?"

"So you just laid low all this time and randomly decided to strike back now?" Uranus asked.

"Yep. Pretty much. I would have gladly minded my own business if it wasn't for Mimete coming back. But I guess it doesn't matter now. This revenge of mine was fated to fail anyway."

"That still doesn't answer my question. What about the other three?" Uranus insisted.

"I told you, I don't know. You should know better than me. All I know is that Tellu trapped Mimete in my device."

"Viluy was killed by her own nanomachines," Neptune said. "I believe Tellu and Cyprine suffered similar fates."

"I can confirm that we defeated Cyprine and her twin Ptilol," Mars said. "Sailor Moon did mention Tellu being killed by her how plant."

"Hm, I see," Eudial said, still searching with her heart detector. "So I guess we won't see them again huh. Not that I care. If Mimete didn't betray me, one of them would have backstabbed me anyway."

"Why do I have the feeling we will actually see them again and this is all an elaborate trap by you," Jupiter said.

"Me? Luring you into a trap? No way!" Eudial smirked.

"You literally made me fall down a trapdoor not even two hours ago!" Jupiter explained.

"Please, if I actually wanted to lure you into a trap, you'd be already dead by now. Ask those two," Eudial replied, glancing at Uranus and Neptune.

"You-" Uranus began.

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep!

"I found something!" Eudial exclaimed.

She dropped the beeping detector and started digging in the ground, quickly helped by the senshi. Then, a shining light radiated from the hole they dug.

"This is…!?" Neptune gasped.

In the hole were four heart crystals.

"This brightness… those aren't regular heart crystals- they are Pure Heart Crystal!" Neptune exclaimed.

"The Witches 5 used to be pure heart holders all along?!" Uranus added.

Eudial's attention seemed to be focused on one heart crystal in particular. She reached for it, holding it in her hand.

"I think… this one used to be mine," she whispered.

Eudial grinned for a split second.

"Eudial…?" Mars worried.

The red witch suddenly collapsed to the ground, inert.

"Eudial!?" Mars exclaimed.

"She's probably at her limit," Neptune said. "Let's bring her and the pure heart crystals back to Sailor Moon before it's too late!"

Uranus nodded, putting the unconscious Eudial on her shoulder.

"But those are… Pure Heart Crystal!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed.

Uranus laid down Eudial on a nearby table while Neptune handed the crystal hearts to Sailor Moon.

"Mimete and the others were pure heart holders?!" Venus let out.

"The Death Busters… they stole away innocent girls' pure hearts and turned them into daemons," Mercury said with contempt.

"This makes more sense now," Saturn began to say. "They wouldn't have feed Mistress 9 with regular crystal hearts. They had to be pure hearts."

"There's no more time to lose!" Mars suddenly said. "Mimete is already passed her limit and I don't think Eudial has much time left either…"

Sailor Moon nodded. Neptune pointed to one heart in particular.

"The mirror showed me, this one belonged to Hanyuu Mimi," Neptune said.

"Okay!"

Sailor Moon got closer to Mimete, holding her crystal heart near her chest.

"Hopefully this work…"

Gently, Sailor Moon pushed the crystal until it find its way inside Mimete's body, in its rightful place. Immediately, her skin seemed like it was less pale and her pulse got faster on the monitor. Mercury unplugged Mimete, confirming that her body was doing fine on its own. She was fully alive.

"It worked," Sailor Moon mumbled.

Venus sighed with relief. Neptune then pointed to another heart.

"This one should be Eudial's."

"Alright. Let's do this!"

Sailor Moon went by Eudial's side, repeating the same process. But as she started pushing the crystal heart, the red witch suddenly opened her eyes, startling the senshi.

"Eudial…!?"

Eudial suddenly grabbed Sailor Moon's wrist, stopping her from proceeding.

"What are you doing!? I'm trying to save you! You're going to die otherwise!"

"You guys really thought those were the two options huh," Eudial snickered. "I'm sorry to tell you that I'm choosing the third option…!"

Eudial pushed Sailor Moon away, making her drop the heart crystals she was holding.

"Sailor Moon!" Mercury exclaimed. "Eudial, what are you doing!?"

Eudial sneered, taking back the heart crystals, lifting hers more specifically.

"I don't want to die, but I don't want you to purify me either. So I'm going for the third way."

Then, much to everyone's shock, Eudial brought her own Pure Heart Crystal to her mouth… and swallowed it whole.

"What the…!?" Uranus exclaimed.

"This is… just like with Mistress 9!" Neptune added.

A powerful aura surrounded Eudial's body like it ignited, while her eyes flashed bright red. A black star appeared on her forehead, this time seeming to remain there permanently.

"Sailor Jupiter, you were right," Eudial grinned. "This was a trap. Uranus and Neptune were right to be suspicious of me. But even so, everything went according to plan!"

"What!? You deceived us since the beginning!?" Jupiter exclaimed.

"Well yeah, duh! You'd really think I would ever ally myself with you? I'd rather die! As if I would ever let you 'purify' me and strip me from my powers! I used you to get back my heart- and used Mimete too to push you to help me."

"You… it's your fault if Mimete was in such a bad state!?" Venus accused.

"But of course. I drained her of her life force so she'd die quicker… I knew it would be the right button to push you to save her- and me. Honestly, everything went even more smoothly than I expected. You were all so perfectly gullible until the end!"

"You…! Why!?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Because we are enemies. And I stated my intentions very clearly since the beginning," Eudial replied. "This is all for the sake of my revenge! Against all of you!"

"As if we will let you! Sailor Moon, purify her!" Jupiter said.

"You really think after everything I've done, I'll let you?" Eudial scoffed.

"You're alone against all of us, and you don't have any of your fancy toys," Mars taunted.

"You really think I need those anymore?"

Eudial raised both hands towards the senshis.

"DEATH BLASTER!"

A powerful blast of burning energy sent the group flying, violently landing a few meters away on the floor.

"That level of power… I could get addicted to this," Eudial sneered.

She then focused her attention on Mimete, her grin turning even more sinister.

"Well, time to get done with the first person I need to get revenge on…"

She walked towards the still unconscious Mimete, conjuring fire in her hand.

"Mimete, no…!" Venus exclaimed, weakly getting up.

But before she could reach Eudial, a wall of flames blocked her way.

"You'll get your turn soon enough," Eudial mocked.

The red witch finally reached Mimete's side and grabbed her by the collar.

"Wakey wakey, Mimete. This is retribution's time."

Mimete weakly opened her eyes, but her gaze seemed vacant like she was still half-asleep.

"W-What…?"

"What a shame. For you to be brought back to the land of the living, only to be sent back to hell as soon as you revived. But I really wanted to finish you off myself…"

Mimete looked like she only heard half of what Eudial said. Much to her surprise, she smiled.

"... Yuuko… senpai… you're alright. I'm glad… that you're safe…"

After mumbling those words Mimete fell back unconscious. Eudial remained quiet for a moment before releasing her collar.

"Tsk! What's that supposed to mean!? Who do you think I am!? And who are you…? No… you… aren't Mimete anymore… And am I… Arimura Yuuko?"

Eudial suddenly gasped in pain, seizing her head.

"What are those… memories…? No… NO! I'm not Arimura Yuuko! I am the witch Eudial! Arghh….!"

The wall of flames suddenly disappeared, but so did Eudial, bringing with her the remaining two Pure Heart Crystals. Venus immediately rushed towards Mimete, worried. She was relieved to see that she was just unconscious.

"What was that?" Mars asked. "What happened to Eudial?"

"I don't know," Sailor Moon replied. "but I doubt this is the last we've seen of her…"

Eudial arrived in a dark room weakly lightened by candles. She kneeled and bowed respectfully to a dark figure hidden in the shadow.

"You were right," Eudial began. "I just needed to get back my heart crystal in order to gain an infinite source of life force for my daemon egg. Now, I truly am a perfect daemon- a true witch! And it's all thanks to your guidance, my master."

The dark figure came out from the shadow, under the dim light of the candle, looking down on Eudial.

"Now that you have achieved your true form, there's nothing stopping you from accomplishing our goal- our ultimate revenge against all of those who wronged us," her master said.

Eudial raised her head, a satisfied smirk on her face as she looked at her master, who smiled back at her.

"Yes, Kaolinite-sama!"

And this concludes the first arc of this fic- no, it's far from being over. Eudial was deceiving them all along and was actually working with Kaolinite!? Who would have thought!?

Please check out the AO3 version to see this chapter with arts.