The next night Emily started noticing how troubled the Inner Neo-Senshi seemed and struggled with the choice if she should use Death Reborn Revolution or not. While Emily could not make such overkill decisions, it would solve any monsters this world had.
Around her friends, Emily is bright, lively, and outgoing, but left to worry, Emily could go through several negative emotions rapidly. For example, she went through frustration, fear, anger, sorrow, and depression while sitting on her bed.
"Emily?"
Startled out of her thoughts, Emily looked up to see a wide, concerned, purple eye peeking through the open crack of the door. Emily knew that eye anywhere. "You can come in, mom." Emily tried to bring out her usual smile.
Smiling softly, Hotaru sat down next to her daughter and hugged her. Emily sighed, relaxing into her mother's embrace; Hotaru always seemed to show up when Emily needed her most. Whether this had something to do with a "mother's intuition" or not, Emily did not know but is thankful her mother could sense whenever her daughter was stressed.
"Emily, what's wrong? You've been so quiet. I'm worried about you." Hotaru cooed.
"Mom, if you don't mind my asking, how did you decide not to use Death Reborn Revolution when you had so many chances to?" Emily knew her mother's traumatic past was something the queen of Saturn did not like to talk about, but Emily was going to need the answers from time to time.
"I did use it once after the Silver Millennium fell, but it was in the hopes that everyone would be reborn…." Hotaru stared at the ground, a bit ashamed of her past self's actions.
"What about…you know?" Emily, of course, was referring to the battle with Queen Nehelenia as she had bought this topic up before too.
"At that time, I had accepted my destiny, both good and bad, and I had friends. Chibiusa helped me to believe in our future queen and that I didn't need to repeat what happened on the Moon." Hotaru explained.
"Do you think I'll ever have to use the Death Reborn Revolution?" Emily asked, fearful of what fate might have in store for her.
"I hope you never have to. But, don't fret about it. Meet me in the Dining Hall in 10 minutes." Hotaru made to leave when Emily said, "OK."
Mealtimes were always pleasant as the girls could pick and choose to eat and drink whatever they wanted and however much they wanted. Suddenly, Emily began to cry and rub her temples, claiming an agonizing migraine! Oddly, she had never suffered a migraine before. Hotaru, Setsuna, Rei, Holly, Alexis, Trisha, and Christen got up to help Emily back to her room. No one noticed a set of glowing eyes peering through a window as they passed by!
Back in her room, Emily felt much better, but Hotaru and Setsuna insisted on helping her finish her meal and taking a couple of painkillers. Then, Holly and Trisha used their energy to help calm Emily's migraine further.
Alexis and Christen acted more as the cold/hot compress. Rei tried to use her natural abilities to see what had caused Emily's migraine as this was not normal in the young girl's circumstances.
As far as Rei could see in her flames, they should be alert and wise of a cold-hearted, complicated, spirited creature with a lot of energy to spare, who is a native of this land, but she could make out little else.
"Thanks, mom. We'll remain alert and wise, as always." Christen smiled softly at Rei as she knew exactly what the flames were warning them about: Wendigos!
Rei nodded.
"You girls, take it easy. Your friends will be by to check on you in an hour." Setsuna stated, and the adults left the room to give Emily some relaxing time with her closest teammates.
Of course, it is debatable how close she is with Christen, but the girl is still her teammate. Later, the other girls came in with tons of get-well cards and all kinds of sweets from everyone in the Crystal Palace, even the cats, which made Emily smile and tear up with joy, knowing she was cared about by so many people.
"Everyone, listen: I think Emily's migraine was caused by her Sailor Saturn powers warning her about a Wendigo, who was nearby," Christen explained.
"Whether it was or wasn't that, I'm too tired to care." Emily settled into sleep.
Though Emily was not the worst person to argue with, it still was not wise to butt heads with a girl, who controls death, so the girls dropped the subject for now. As it got as dark as it would get, Emily just felt she needed to hunt down a Wendigo herself while all her friends were deep asleep! What Christen had said kept nagging at the back of her mind: Emily did not recall Sailor Saturn's power or Wendigos being able to cause migraines. So, if she did this, would it help ease her troubled thoughts?
"Emily?"
Startled, Emily jumped and whirled around only to find her two friends, Holly and Alexis, standing there, Holly in her dark navy nightclothes and Alexis in her frilly, aqua-colored nightgown!
"What are you two doing up?" Emily hissed.
"Well, YOU woke me up when you opened the creaky door, and I roused my sister," Alexis admitted.
"You had an awful migraine earlier. You shouldn't be out of bed." Holly scolded.
"I feel 100% better now!" Emily knew her friends were probably right, but her migraine had not re-occurred.
"Well, WE'RE coming with you to make sure," Alexis said decisively.
"OK…" Emily sighed, unsure if this was a good idea.
Changing into more appropriate attire for walking around outside, the girls went to a spot in Shining Forest Alexis had previously found rather stunning: A pond, which seemed to emit its own light! But, of course, Ariel had correctly surmised it was only a bioluminescent alga as it was the only explanation. Also, this algae means this water is not safe to swim in.
It is the lit-tp lake that gives the forest its name. Emily and Holly seriously doubted a hideous creature like; a Wendigo would be in such a serene place, but there are trees, bushes, and a cave behind the waterfall, so there was no reason for a Wendigo NOT to be here.
Alexis gently manipulated the water's flow to make the algae light up. As Alexis smiled happily, Emily and Holly swore something was moving in the darkness around the cave. Then, as if nature hated them, it started to downpour!
"Great…" Alexis mumbled.
"Pedant Power! Make-Up!" Emily transformed. "Shield of Silence!" Neo-Sailor Saturn formed a barrier over them to keep them dry.
"We should have just brought an umbrella, though this is a cool way to keep dry…this rain isn't natural…." But, through Uranus's power, Holly could feel something strange in the atmosphere.
The night had been clear, not a cloud in sight earlier, no wind or cold stillness, and no reports of such a heavy rain coming. Nevertheless, Holly shared a concerned look with Alexis, and they transformed too, just in case.
"While this is cool, I don't think Emily should waste her power when there's a perfect dry cave over there we can use." Neo-Sailor Neptune pointed.
Neo-Sailor Uranus looked incredulously at Neo-Sailor Neptune: Did she not remember one of the Wendigos' territory is caves?! Neo-Sailor Saturn looked back around the cave but did not see anything dangerous anymore.
"I think it's safe. We'll stay just inside the opening and won't go in too deep." Neo-Sailor Saturn told Neo-Sailor Uranus.
Not having a real reason to argue, Neo-Sailor Uranus agreed. In her mind, Neo-Sailor Uranus reasoned that since they are 3 of the strongest Neo-Sailor Senshi, they should not have to worry if they are attacked. However, the weather got so bad that they were forced deeper into the cave!
"Deep Submerge!" Neo-Sailor Neptune cried from somewhere in the darkness as she was being attacked!
Not a moment later, Neo-Sailor Neptune screamed! Neo-Sailor Uranus rushed off to her rescue, but it was not long until Neo-Sailor Saturn heard the elder sister roar in agony! Another longer, louder roar sounded right after it, but not like any animal Neo-Sailor Saturn knew of. One thing Neo-Sailor Saturn knew for sure, though: Whatever had just attacked Neo-Sailor Neptune, and Neo-Sailor Uranus was closer and coming for her next! Neo-Sailor Saturn raised her glaive to defend herself, but it did not matter because she was knocked down and out-cold before she could re-summon her shield!
Neo-Sailor Saturn's transformation wore off, and she was dragged deeper into the shadows and, if the tales are true, she should have prayed she would not awaken to being eaten alive!