DISCLAIMERS:
All canon characters are (C) 1992 - whatever year it is Naoko Takeuchi and all other related parties. The Shadow senshi are (C) Wild Nature 2006. This is a fanfic based upon the anime version and all written work that this consists of is (C) 2006 Wild Nature.
Elements are righted as the group wearily returns. But a few things are cleared up and some new things are discovered, as well as a new trouble. The girls can no longer transform AND the Solar Cross has gone missing.
Episode Twenty: Prelude
Eizou stood in a crowd, the noise deafening. She thought the people were shouting but they were cheering.
She looked around and spotted the others dotted over the crowd, looking as stunned as she did.
A voice came out, ringing with rhythm. A lone woman sang her heart out, in a language that Eizou couldn't decipher. She recognized her this time.
"It's Queen Nehellenia.." Eizou breathed. She began to push forward as the young girl sang to her people, the melody haunting and yet, people cheered, their voice raised in happiness.
Queen Nehellenia's eyes opened, the soft cerulean eyes glittered with unshed tears as she held her hand out in offering. Eizou reached out, her fingers just barely touching the other.
She was filled with an emotion that she couldn't explain. It was as if all that she had ever felt meshed together and filled her until she was overfilled. Nehellenia's hand pulled away as Eizou's stretched fingers began to shimmer in silver light. It spread backwards, shedding her clothes and color like layers until she was pure energy.
'What do you want most in the world?' Nehellenia asked, her voice distant.
Eizou was quiet. What did she want when she lost the person most important to her?
'Love is endless, it exists in all forms..' Nehellenia whispered gently, soothingly. 'It's never gone..'
Eizou blinked slowly. She saw her family, her friends, her allies in her mind's eye and she breathed in deeply. "I'm not ready to go..." She told the absent Queen. "Not yet.."
'Until we meet again..' Nehellenia's voice faded out as she was sucked downward like a funnel, darkness claiming her.
"Clear!" Voices echoed in her head, her eyes refusing to open. "Hang on!"
The ambulance never had an experience like this. In nine different locations over Tokyo, nine girls were found in the same state. Drained of energy, body functions barely present, and all close to death's door. It took a week for all of them to recover enough to go home.
Eizou lay in her bed, wrapped in blankets. She hadn't seen Jaro or Apple around which cut through her badly. Kakushi, however, pranced in and out her room with school work, stories of his day, and anything that he could relate to her.
"For the last time.." Eizou began wearily. "Leave me alone!"
Kakushi frowned. "I'm doing this out the kindness of my heart," he began lightly but his eyes were worried. She was starting to hate that. Everyone in her family was like that, right down to her little brothers and she didn't know how to explain it to them all.
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"My lady, forgive me for my leave of absence," Jaro knelt down on one knee. "But I felt I could be of no help here."
"The things you must have seen," Duchess Nerthus smiled warmly. "You must regal me sometime."
"To be honest, I had no desire to return, my Lady," he looked out of the corner of his eyes, worried he may have insulted unwanted.
"So why did you return?" She leaned forward carefully in her pristine chair, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"Because I felt it again.. the call of Void. I knew that the present holder wouldn't last much longer and.."
"You wanted to try again?" She asked very softly. "Jaro, why do you want to be Void?"
"I want to work with Eizou.. the girls, I mean."
She smiled sadly. "But you've seen what it does..." She sighed tiredly. "Besides, I don't know how to test you."
"If I can suggest," Jaro began.
"No..." Her gaze caught her glass window across the long room, a frown deepening. "This time the one who is Void will discover it in himself. I cannot give the test anymore."
"There was.. another reason why I came," Jaro began haltingly.
Duchess Nerthus's head moved slowly back to him. "Yes?"
"My lady! My Lady! Duchess Nerthus!" Njord came barreling in, panting. "It's a disaster! It's been stolen! Missing! Something, for God's sake!"
"What is it Njord!?" Duchess Nerthus and Jaro stood up rapidly. "Oh.. no.." She picked up the billowing skirts of her dress and rustled out of the room, nearly running.
She flew the door open to the room that held the Solar Cross. But all she was a shadowed room, where the pedestal stood in the center, empty of the precious artifact.
"Oh no.." She fell to her knees. "Where has it gone to?" She wailed. "My people.. forgive me!"
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"Where have you been?!" Eizou nearly screamed at Apple who looked down at his paws.
"I was figuring things out. I thought I might get in the way.. or something," he finished lamely.
"Of all the stupid ideas! I've been pulling my hair out; I thought you deserted me!"
Apple's tail ruffled. "I would never!"
"Good!" Eizou crossed her arms and slouched in the armchair. Her parents were out with the twins, leaving Kakushi to watch over her. She was glad that her parents stopped pestering her as she still didn't know what to tell them.
"Henshou..." Eizou reached into her oversized blouse, pulling the gem out. But as she held it, she felt nothing. "It's gone cold, Apple. Why did it go cold?"
Apple leaned over, resting his head on her thigh. "Perhaps you need something more," he answered finally.
"I can't transform... I was a Shadow," Eizou's fingers gripped the gem. "But it won't work anymore! I have the Triad Moon pieces! What am I doing wrong?"
"It could be your spirit is wavering. You think you want to resume fighting but your heart is still in pieces."
"Is this a choice, Apple? Can we go back to normal life?" She held her head in her free palm. "No, we can't. It was so fast and it still hurts, Apple. I don't want to hurt anyone else, I don't want to lose anyone. What am I supposed to do?"
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Pomona paced her room, pausing every once in a while to give a futile tug on the door. But to no avail, it wouldn't open.
"DAD!" Pomona shouted on the top of her lungs. "I swear I won't leave! So UNLOCK THE DAMN DOOR!"
"Pomona?" Duchess Nerthus's voice was muffled but Pomona caught the chuckle as she smirked.
"My lady, will you please let me out?" Pomona stayed away from the door as it swung open with a lingering creak.
"Why did he lock you in?"
"Something about not losing me whatsoever. It doesn't matter anyways.." Pomona reached into her front pocket. She offered the orange gem to Duchess Nerthus.
"It's cold.." She weighed it in her palm, studied it in the light, but for the life of her, could feel no lingering energy.
"And useless," Pomona said bitterly. "The Shadows are no more.."
"No, that's not possible," Duchess Nerthus was frowning. "However, I think there may be a link to this and the loss of the Solar Cross."
"Where do you think it went?" Pomona asked softly.
"I don't know, once the girls tapped into their elements, it was so bright.." Duchess Nerthus sighed tiredly. "The effects have yet to fade from the Realm but once they do, how will we continue?"
"We should go hunt for it! There must be some way to target it or something.."
"Unfortunally, no. It's always been here," Duchess Nerthus looked overly worried and Pomona had no way to make her feel better.
"There is another issue," Duchess Nerthus said carefully. "Jaro brought up a certain problem."
"Besides the whole no-Void thing?"
"Yes.." She sighed again, rubbing her eyes. "Another rogue has appeared on Earth."
"Uh..." Pomona scratched her hair. "Who?" She asked finally after thinking hard.
"Sigel.."
Pomona blinked. "Err, who is he?"
"She," Duchess Nerthus corrected. "Sailor Sigel."
"Uh huh.." The tone of Pomona's voice told Duchess Nerthus that the young girl knew nothing of this Sailor Sigel.
"She was a fortune teller who traveled the Sol System. She was an outsider who looked like us but yet, she wasn't us."
"Uh.."
"There was the theory that she's old, as old as the once glorious Silver Millennium. She certainly knows a great deal about it. She claimed to have known about the falling of the Silver Millennium."
"How is this a problem?" Pomona asked loudly, before Duchess Nerthus could go on.
"She also claimed to be the holder of the Solar Cross. Long before my time, she tried to take it from us but at the point, she wasn't a senshi. How she did this is beyond me."
"So is she a fake?"
"I don't think so. Nonetheless, we must find her," Duchess Nerthus said firmly.
"You think she took the Solar Cross?" Pomona asked suspiciously.
"No but maybe we can get her to say where it could be."
"So where is she?"
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Eizou walked out of the house with a long sigh. It had been a grueling few months of rest. She was no better off emotionally however. She felt sick every time she thought of Henshou and often was brooding or depressed. The others seemed to be on their feet. They hung out together often, despite that their abilities had disappeared.
Well, their senshi abilities. They were fast discovering new talents. Kaki learned to control fire. After discussing with Toki, she gave it a try on her stove and nearly blew the whole house down.
Nigori could make water into ice, which she loved to do while ice skating. If the water wasn't hard enough, she'd make it so. She said it would give her more time to practice on ice instead of waiting for the season to do it.
Kakure could grow things, making flowers blossom and cause trees to shoot up rapidly. She rarely did this though, as she believed it to be unnatural. But she could also guide it elsewhere, thus opening bushes and other barriers free from where she stepped.
Sora could already levitate. She couldn't be obvious about it, as she didn't want to be labeled as freak. But she did it on occasion to freak out younger children.
Kaiki developed the ability to breathe underwater but she couldn't communicate with the animals like she wanted to. She said she got too much confusion. It was an abliity she needed more time in, she told everyone.
Toki's abilities were still unnamed. She did get flashes of moments of the future, though most of it were just minutes ahead and not based in years. She usually ignored them unless they were very important.
Haimutsu, to the opposite of Kakure, could make things decay but not die. She said that the power of death was a step that many couldn't reach and she had no qualms about it. She didn't use this abilities as she saw no need. Everything eventually decayed, so why should she hurry the process?
And Eizou? She could 'generate' light. It was often unintended and based upon emotions. If she was angry or sad, the light around the area Eizou was in would be cold. If she were happy or delighted, it would be warm. Much like seasonal weather, it all depended on the dual nature of Eizou's emotions.
Which at the moment, weren't very happy. She was always cold now and wasn't interested in making it warm anytime soon. She thought she didn't deserve it.
"Eizou!" A loud and annoyed Apple barked extra loudly to get the other's attention. "Aye! I've been calling for you! Pomona has been wanting to see you."
"For what?" Eizou asked puzzled. Pomona had seemingly disappeared but she sent letters, painstaking written in Japanese. Pomona was a very good learner when it came to the written word. Duchess Nerthus often made cameos in the letters, adding advice or fun tidbits.
"She says there's a problem," Apple turned and waited as Eizou trudged after him.
"Hi, Pomona," Eizou studied the other girl. She had resumed her cheerfulness but wore her hair in long braids rather than up in the 'interesting' style. She also wore less bright clothes.
Pomona beamed, although Eizou noted it look a tad forced. "Hi!" Her voice came out high pitched and overly done. "Uh, I'm here with a message from Duchess Nerthus.."
"Yes?" Eizou crossed her arms carefully.
"Um, firstly, the Solar Cross has been missing."
Eizou's jaw dropped. "When?"
"Since Void," Pomona didn't quite meet her gaze. "Duchess Nerthus said that someone must have summoned it and well, there's a new problem."
"What can be worse?"
"Someone claiming to be the holder of the Solar Cross has appeared, according to Jaro. She was a fortune teller who is, apparently, a rogue senshi."
"So does she have it?"
"Duchess Nerthus doesn't think she is the holder. The Solar Cross has been in the Royal family and she thinks only royalty can use it."
"So then this rogue senshi?"
"Well, she's old," Pomona smiled weakly. "She's been around since before the Silver Millennium, traveling the universe."
"Uh huh.." Eizou raised an eyebrow. "So?"
"I looked into history books and there was mention of a Sailor Sigel. In her pursuit to retrieve the Solar Cross.." Pomona hesitated.
"Go on."
"She killed a third of the people in the Dead Moon Realm."
"Come again?"
"She's a murderer. Vicious, heartless, and bent on holding power; the book said that she sought to be the Queen of the Dead Moon Realm, claiming to be from the bloodline."
"But she didn't get the Solar Cross."
"She nearly did," Pomona said carefully. "But it.. refused her and marked her with burns on her hands."
"So she's not..."
"No but we, as in Duchess Nerthus and the council think she's returned and finally has the Solar Cross. So now for your part. You kind of, well, need to find her."
"A rogue senshi who murders people and I have to find her WITHOUT my senshi abilities?"
"Well, we think we have a solution to that but we're going to need additional help."
"Who?"
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In a lone hill, where the wind blew coldly and the skies were dark, stood a lone figure dressed in a strange outfit. Remotely like the fuku of a Sol Senshi, it was extravagant to say at the least. She carried a ornamented hammer, cradling it in her hands as she studied the city with a careful eye.
"Finally, I can retrieve it," she said happily, her voice laced with malice. "Oh, how I've waited for this day. But first, I must take care of those foolish senshi."
And she moved backwards slowly, stepping into shadow and disappearing although. She thought she would have an easy time with the Sol Senshi but the true battle will begin. Problems have arisen - the loss of Void and the need to find his replacement, the strange disappearance of the Solar Cross and a murderous rogue appearing, claiming to be of the royal bloodline of the Dead Moon Realm and the true holder of the Solar Cross. Not to mention that the girls cannot transform.
But with this new battle, the heir will finally rise to line, the girls, including the inner Sol senshi, will power up, all to the battle to save the Dead Moon Realm. Find out what happens in the next season of BSSMShadows!