Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the canon characters. Miyako, Cleo, Lia, Harper, and Owen, as well as a few others, are only figments that have escaped from my imagination.
Chapter Six: Friends and Enemies
Andrew had insisted on keeping his distance, but his reasons were two-fold. By having Knight Aethyr lay low, any enemy would suspect their plot to be working, if that plot did indeed exist. (And if it didn't, Knight Aethyr would remain an unknown, a tactical advantage). But, it would also delay the inevitable explosion from Lia. In fact, aside from Miyako and the wolves, only two others knew about Andrew's power upgrade. Naturally, Miyako had informed Usagi upon her arrival home that night. Lizzie had found out by accident when Andrew came back from a late night, solo patrol.
And when Lia did find out? There was already a plan in place. Andrew's new upgrade was due to being reintroduced to Phantasm. The black wolf had already agreed to cover for them. In fact, it had even been his idea, when Miyako and Andrew had returned to the tower to discuss it with him and Rosebud.
Hopefully, Lia would receive her upgrade before they had to reveal Andrew's. Her reaction to learning Usagi had gotten a power upgrade had been bad enough.
"I swear, that girl's worse than Raye," grumbled Usagi.
On the other end of the phone, Darien laughed. "I'm not sure about that, Sere."
"Oh, I am. Part of me wants to lock both of them in a room and see who walks out. Of course, that would mean I'd have to see Raye again."
"So, how goes the fighting?"
After several weeks of keeping Darien and the Shitennou in the dark, Cleo had slipped up during a phone call to Kyle. The following confrontations hadn't been pleasant, and it had taken quite a bit from Miyako and Usagi to convince Darien to finish searching for Zoicite before returning to Terrarose.
"We've got everything under control," she assured him. "Koan hasn't show her face in over a week. The other girl's shown up a few times, still no name for her, though. There's been a few monsters, but Miyako and I have dealt with them, no problem."
"You promise you've got everything under control?"
"I swear on the ruins of the Silver Millennium."
"And your trio of charges?"
"All as good as gold."
"Alright. If anything changes…"
"We'll call you straight away."
Under control and good as gold, her left foot! Miyako, Usagi, and Isolde had taken the girls to the mall, after the two blondes had gotten off work. It had been fine, until they'd gone to the toy store. Usagi had, with Trista's permission, promised each of the girls one toy. Which had been alright, until Rini and Takara had started fighting over the same toy.
It wasn't even a cute doll, in Miyako's opinion. Especially with its squashed and rather buggy-eyed face.
"Enough," snapped Usagi. "Behave or neither one of you will get a toy. Now, both of you, find something else!"
And, of course, it was at that moment, that an older boy shoved the quiet Aki into a display case. Never, in this life or in her past one as Tranquility, had Miyako ever heard such a shrill scream.
A symbol flickered to life on Aki's forehead, but the white light was too bright to discern anything. Shoving Rini towards Isolde and Takara towards Miyako, Usagi flew to the tiny ebon-haired girl.
"I've got you, Aki. I've got you," soothed the blonde.
Aki sobbed. "I w-want m-my M-mama!"
Usagi hugged her close and stroked her hair, trying to get her to calm down.
"Oh, look! Here she is! The little Hedgehog!"
The girl in the blue bathing suit was back, clapping her hands in delight. "Oh, the Rabbit and the Flower, too! Oh, Rubeus is going to be so happy with me!"
"Or not!"
Sailor Air and Knight Metal came running up.
"Just the two of you? No problem. Not for Berthier!" She giggled and jumped up and down. "Oh, this is going to be fun!"
Another giggle accompanied a finger snap, which summoned a droid, this one made from a lipstick tube.
"More make-up," groaned Knight Metal, summoning his battle-axe.
Taking Rini and Aki by the hands, Isolde fled towards the exit, Usagi right behind her with the still sobbing Aki cradled in her arms.
Darting behind a display, Miyako prepared to transform, the toy store now all but abandoned. But the droid got to her first, sending her brooch flying.
It was only then that Berthier joined in as well, with control over water, just as they'd seen Koan use fire. Between her and the droid, Sailor Air and Knight Metal were trapped, double-teamed at every turn. And, even as great a team as Air and Metal were, they weren't powerful enough to do damage to either one of them. Even the sharp edge of Metal's axe couldn't dent the droid, and it couldn't land a blow on Berthier.
A lucky blow from the droid sent Metal tumbling to the ground. He struggled to get back up, but the droid knocked him back down, and he didn't move.
"No!" Air screamed, throwing herself between the droid and her fallen partner.
The droid launched a barrage of missiles, all shaped like miniature lipstick tubes. But the attack didn't land. A bright yellow light surrounded Sailor Air. Winds swirled around her, pushing back both the droid and Berthier.
When the light and wind died away, Sailor Air pulled herself up to her full height, her uniform altered. The knee-high boots had been replaced by yellow, low-heeled shoes with a single strap around each ankle and thigh-high pale yellow stockings. Her leotard now had a mock turtleneck, replacing her choker, and snug sleeves down to the wrists of her now glove-less hands. Gone, too, were her back bow and her tiara. And her skirt was now narrow and pleated, with a tie in front, falling just short of the tops of her stockings. The yellow gem in the center of the bow on her chest had become a round, multi-faceted crystal.
Even the orb in her hands had changed. The glassy surface now had a definite yellow tint to it, and the grey clouds were suspended within, once fluffy and cotton-like, were now fractal, crystalline shapes.
"Now you're going to learn why you don't anger the Air." Everyone was taken aback by the way she snarled out the words. "For the Garden of the Elements, I am Crystal Sailor Air!"
She drew a deep breath, her heels snapping together, right foot pointed forward and left out to the side. Lifting the orb high above her head with her right hand, she flung her left out behind her.
"Eastern Charmed Cyclone!"
A yellow whirlwind of energy, glittering with tiny crystal fragments, emerged from the orb, surrounding her. She lowered the orb, her hand pointing towards the droid. The winds flew towards the creature, trapping it. It barely managed a shriek, as it was picked up and spun around, crumbling into dust, leaving only its stone behind.
Sailor Air dropped to her knees, her transformation fading. Miyako fled to her side, even as Knight Metal began to stir, once more. Isolde and Usagi slowly emerged from their hiding place, all sign of Berthier gone as well.
Realizing the threat had passed, Knight Metal released his transformation. He dropped down beside Molly, wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm alright," she insisted. "But I don't think I'll be using that attack again anytime soon."
"Agreed," commented Miyako, scooping up her brooch.
Lizzie ran towards the training barn, already late. Thanks to her aunt and uncle, she was back in gymnastics classes and next week she'd be joining Isolde in the rhythm gymnastics class, too. It felt great to be back out on the mat and the beam. It was something she'd missed more than she'd admitted to her parents.
Still, she was now often the last person to the meetings. Not always, but more than she'd like. And she was expected to fill Andrew in, as well. Sure, she understood her brother's decision to hang back, but that didn't mean she had to agree with it.
At least Lia was a little more bearable. With Andrew essentially out of the picture, she'd taken on the role of leader, second only to Miyako. Half the time, she only answered to Usagi because Miyako had ordered her to do so. But not everything had changed.
"What took you so long?" Lia snapped, the moment the red-head stepped through the door. "You were supposed to be here half an hour ago!"
"Sorry. Gymnastics practice ran over. A couple of kids in the earlier class were goofing off, so we started late."
"Excuses, excuses," replied the other girl, waving a hand, dismissively.
Lizzie grimaced but she didn't answer. There wasn't much point. Dropping her bag by the door, she joined the others in the small sitting room off the training area. It wasn't often it was used, since most meetings were held during training exercises, which meant either sitting on the floor, standing, or stretching while talking.
"Anything new?" Lizzie asked, dropping down next to Isolde.
Isolde shook her head, fiddling with her transformation pendant. Then, Lizzie took a second look at it. The raindrop was gone. Now, it was a crystal drop, almost like a tiny crystal seed, with something small trapped inside. It was a transparent, watery blue in color, just slightly lighter than the raindrop had been.
And there, around Molly's neck, as well. The grey cloud was gone, replaced by another crystal seed, though hers was a pale yellow.
Lia turned and caught sight of the changed pendant around Isolde's neck.
"How? When?" She screeched.
"Yesterday," admitted Isolde. "Dad and I were out, you know, one of his rare days off. And we got into one of our fights about how he's never around, and how he never should have agreed to let Zander go off to Oxford, and the usual, when Koan showed up with a droid. I had to step in to save Dad, and my pendent changed. New uniform, too."
Lia stormed out of the room in a whirl of fiery flames.
"Well, might as well wait a while, until she calms down," sighed Miyako, grabbing her book bag out from under her chair.
"Great, just great," grumbled Sailor Fire.
She leapt over the head of the droid, who appeared to be an enormous perfume bottle. She was really getting tired of all these cosmetics themed monsters. And, of course, she was the only one available right now.
Usagi, Miyako, and Molly were all at that new manga club, after school. Isolde was at dance and Lizzie at gymnastics. Melvin had science club, Cleo had the girls. She had no idea where Owen was, and Trista was most likely at the Time Gate, as usual.
Was it too much to ask for someone to be available to help her out? Okay, admittedly, even if Andrew wasn't working at the café, she still wouldn't call him. She didn't need his help.
She'd much rather just get her upgraded powers. But even that didn't seem likely to happen any time soon. It had been weeks since Miyako and Usagi had gotten stronger, over a week since Isolde and Molly had gotten theirs, as well. Not to mention the secrets Miyako, Usagi, and Lizzie were keeping. If there was one thing Lia hated more than being weak, it was being kept out of the loop.
"Molten Inferno!"
She screamed her attack with all her frustration, slamming it into the droid, which cracked but didn't crumble. Instead, one arm shot forward and a glassy hand wrapped around Sailor Fire's neck, slamming her back against the brick wall. One gloved hand clawing at the droid, she summoned her saber with the other. But the droid's other hand caught hers and pinned it to the wall behind her.
Black clouded the edges of her vision. This was it. This was how she was going to die, again. Never reunited with her past self's brother, her mission to her princess unfulfilled. She'd lose to Motoki's reincarnation after all. Maybe it was for the best. They didn't need her anyway. Not anymore.
Suddenly, the droid was gone. Her lungs burned as she gasped for air. Who had shown up?
A pair of burnt orange boots entered her line of sight, too slender and with too high a heel to belong to Knight Metal. A tad too red, too. Looking up, however, all she could see was a blinding white light.
"And you call yourself a warrior?" An unfamiliar female voice scoffed. "Trying to do everything on your own. No friends. No allies. You're pathetic."
"And you're better than me?" Sailor Fire's voice was raspy, and her arms trembled, but she forced herself to maintain her transformation.
The unknown woman laughed. "I have allies. I have friends. But it looks like you don't."
The blonde struggled to lift her saber or at least get to her feet, but the stranger was already gone.
"And that's everything?" Miyako demanded. "She destroyed the droid, scolded you, and left?"
Lia's gaze dropped to the wooden floor and the tips of her ears reddened at the word 'scolded.'
"Don't you think, maybe, she was right?" Lizzie demanded.
Lia whirled to glare at her, but the red-head continued. "You do. You act like you can take on everything yourself. That you don't need us. You never call for backup. You charge in without thinking, even when Cleo and Melvin have figured out the best way to take the droid down. You never listen to any of us. You never have. You don't like my brother because of what happened in the past, because he was chosen to stand closer to Tranquility. Because he happened to have more power and better innate control of his power, despite being the last of us to be chosen. And that irritated you. You were so used to being the one in charge, to leading, that you've never learned to follow. In this life and the last, you've hated my brother because of things he didn't choose, couldn't change. And you always take it out on me for being his little sister." Lizzie stepped closer to Lia with each statement, her fists clenched and her voice rising. "And I have had it! I'm not going to be your little whipping girl any longer!"
Then, just as Andrew's watch had done, Lizzie's butterfly pendant blazed with light. When the glow faded, it resembled Molly's and Isolde's new pendants, a seed-like crystal with a tiny object trapped within. Though, like her uniform colors, it was a pale brown.
Lia's face paled. "Why?"
The redhead lifted her pendant, shocked.
"Lizzie too?" Cleo asked as she, Molly, Melvin, and Isolde stepped into the barn. "Just three of us left, then?"
"Three?" The blonde fire warrior shrieked. "Who?"
"It shouldn't surprise you," remarked Melvin. He twisted his sunglasses, still metal framed but the lenses, once bronze-tinted glass, were now copper crystals and tiny crystals covered both ear pieces.
"And you got yours how?" Lia demanded.
"After a private conversation, the contents of which will remain private," explained the younger knight.
"Meaning it had something to do with his and Molly's relationship," whispered Usagi, sneaking up behind Miyako.
"Usagi! How long have you been here?" Miyako demanded.
"Got here before you did, actually. Trista's got the girls for the day." The former moon princess shrugged.
"So it's a race," mused the Garden Princess. "Between Cleo and Lia."
Usagi nodded. "Though I'm wondering about Lia's rescuer. A blinding white light?"
"You think it's whoever you've been sensing at the last few battles?"
"It might be. I won't know unless I can see her, face to face. But, even though she helped Lia, it doesn't mean she's an ally."
"You used to be more trusting, Srenty." It wasn't often that Miyako used her old nickname for the moon princess.
Blue eyes blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Used to be you looked for the good in everyone. Even when we first heard the rumors about Beryl, you thought she could still be redeemed. Now, now, it's like you don't trust anyone. I know your scouts hurt you, but you aren't letting any of us really get close." She tilted her head slightly to the right. "Not even Endimon. Look at how long it took for you to tell him about this new enemy or our new house guests."
Usagi wrapped her arms around herself. "It's kind of hard to explain."
"Well, try."
Just then, the alarms went off. Melvin ran to the console, Cleo on his heels.
"Droid in downtown, just running up and down the street," he called out. "There's another at the mall, and a third at the library."
"Three droids?" Molly paled, slightly.
Melvin nodded. "Looks like."
"Okay, as Usagi and I are the only ones, currently, who can destroy these things, I'll head for the one at the library. Usagi, you head for the mall. The rest of you, contain the one downtown."
"But you can't go to face them alone!" Lia yelled. "What if it's a trap?"
"I'll call Andrew and have him help me out," explained the ebon-haired girl.
"I can destroy a droid." Molly reminded them, hesitantly.
Miyako shook her head. "Not without losing your transformation. We can't risk you exposing your civilian identity unless we have no other choice."
"Lizzie, why don't you come with me, to watch my back?" Usagi asked, knowing she couldn't split up Molly and Melvin, and neither Lia or Cleo would be strong enough to back her up, if need be.
The red-head nodded, wrapping her hand around her altered pendant.
Usagi smiled and lifted her fisted right hand over her heart.
"Serene Star Power!"
"Rising Soul of the Void!"
"Soul of Fire!"
"Soul of Earth!"
"Crystal Soul of Wood!"
"Crystal Soul of Air!"
"Crystal Soul of Metal!"
"Crystal Soul of Water!"
Sailor Wood spun in place, admiring her new uniform. She'd lost both of her bows, though her hair remained pulled back. Instead of in the middle of a bow, her multi-faceted round, light brown crystal rested at the base of her collar, appearing to hold the ends together. Her skirt hadn't changed, but the rest of her outfit differed greatly. Her left arm was covered from shoulder to fingertip with a sleeve and a glove combined into a single piece, though the dark brown v-shaped band remained around her wrist. Her right arm was encased in a brown sleeve that was tucked inside an opera-length glove with only two bands on the cuff, the top one dark brown and the other one the same light brown that her bows used to be. The v-shaped band around her right wrist was also the same light brown color. But the strangest part was that her boots were gone, replaced with a pair of pale brown tights. But other than that, she was barefoot!
"Oh, this is much better," applauded Sailor Water.
Like Sailor Air, her leotard now had a mock turtleneck, but she had no sleeves, now. The bands were gone from around her wrists, and she only had two bands around the top of her gloves, a slightly lighter blue than they had been, before. Her collar, which had previously only had one stripe, now had three. Like the others, her back bow had vanished, which worked well with the light blue tutu that flared out around her. The bow on her chest had darkened, now the same color as the bands on the tops of her gloves, with the blue crystal in the middle. But what really seemed to have her approval was the ballet slippers that laced two-thirds of the way up her calves, replacing her boots. She spun in place, a huge grin on her face.
Knight Metal fiddled with the bronze goggles that now covered his face, though his hair was still as messy as ever. A long white labcoat billowed around him, revealing a bronze-colored t-shirt and coppery jeans, with black boots on his feet, covered by his jeans. He folded his arms, waiting for the others to quit admiring the new outfits.
"We've got droids to take care of," he reminded them.
It still surprised her to see his new uniform. That was what ran through Sailor Element's head as she spotted Knight Aethyr waiting for her. Gone was the chainmail and surcoat. The older uniform had been replaced by black jeans, a black t-shirt with a black and dark-grey plaid shirt thrown, unbuttoned, over the top of that. Black sneakers covered his feet, instead of the black boots she'd gotten used to. A black ball cap rested on his head, low enough to make it hard for anyone to see his face, and black fingerless gloves covered his hands.
Then again, she reminded herself, I've only seen it a few times. The old uniform had been the same in two lifetimes.
"Thought we agreed I'd keep a low profile." He grinned as she joined him.
She shrugged. "Only Lia and Cleo left."
"Lizzie?"
"Just before the alarms went off. I'll give you the full story later, but let's just say it involved her tearing into Lia. We've got three droids attacking. We need all the help we can get."
As they talked, they leapt across the rooftops towards the library. The screaming civilians could already be heard.
An older woman fell to the ground in front of the droid, revealing the group of children she'd been protecting. Sailor Element would recognize that grey-streaked chestnut hair anywhere.
"Marilyn!" Sailor Element screamed. She'd spent so many volunteer hours working with the older woman.
"Aethyr Sanctuary!"
Broadsword in hand, Knight Aethyr dropped down next to the group, a cage of black lightning now separating the children and Marilyn from the droid. Sliding one lightning bolt aside, he created a small opening in the cage.
"Come on. This way." He called out, ushering the children away from the battle.
Sailor Element had already drawn her Rainbow Rose Sword, striking out at the droid, distracting it as he evacuated the civilians.
Only when all the children and Marilyn, escorted by a co-worker, were safely away, did Knight Aethyr drop his cage and raise his sword once more.
Even that had changed with his upgrade. The blade was now longer than he was tall, though the wings and hilt hadn't changed much. The black orb was now transparent, revealing a round, black crystal in the middle of the orb, suspended within the center. And, now, runes ran a fourth of the way up the sides of the blade, though he wasn't sure exactly what they said. It wasn't a language he was familiar with.
Seeing him lift his blade, Sailor Element dropped out of the way.
"Energy Meditation!"
The black energy, magnified by being focused through his sword, sent the droid reeling.
"Elemental Rose Tempest!"
The flurry of rose petals finished off the droid, and the two of them leapt upward, heading towards downtown.
But, when they arrived, the droid was already gone. A figure, in reddish orange boots and with long white hair, was leaping away, across the rooftops, fleeing to their right. Without a word, the pair turned to follow her.
She seemed to sense them, whirling to face them as they landed on the roof of a local bank.
The new fighter wore skin-tight red-orange boots that came to mid-thigh, with a short pleated skirt of the same color only a couple inches shy of brushing the tops of the boots. The leotard underneath appeared to be the same color, though it was hard to see. A white belt wrapped around the top of her skirt, but everything else was hidden by the jacket she wore, slightly more orange than her boots and skirt, with bubble sleeves around her shoulders, with white trimming the cuffs and the edges of the jacket. A red-orange sailor color, with no stripes, was barely visible under the white hair that tumbled almost to her knees. Part of her hair fell forward, partially covering her face.
"What do you want?" The stranger snapped.
"To know who you are. If you are friend or foe." Sailor Element stated. "I know you helped one of my warriors the other day. I wanted to thank you for that, as well."
"Sardonyx. The name's Sailor Sardonyx. We'll see if we are friends or enemies. This fight isn't really your concern. This fight concerns only those of the planet Nemesis."
"But the fight has been brought to our town, to our friends. We are involved, whether you like it or not," replied Knight Aethyr, folding his arms and leaning back against the bank's A/C unit.
Sailor Sardonyx arched an eyebrow. "I have given you my name. Who are you?"
"Crystal Sailor Element, ruler of the Garden of the Elements. My companion is Crystal Knight Aethyr," explained the ebon-haired scout. "The other day you saved Sailor Fire."
"The Elemental Warriors?" Sardonyx asked, her voice bland.
"You've heard of us?"
"Perhaps."
A crow flew towards them, perching on Sardonyx's quickly outstretched arm.
"We must be going." She turned and leapt off the edge of the building.
By the time Element and Aethyr reached the side, there was no sign of girl or bird.
"You have got to be kidding me!"
Aethyr paled as the pair turned back around. Standing just on the edge of the rooftop, blue eyes blazing, was Sailor Fire.
Cliffhanger‼‼ Okay, so, hopefully, I can get the rest of this done before November. (Crosses fingers) I'd rather not have this hanging over my head during NaNoWriMo this year. But, I make no guarantees. I went back to school this semester, so my time's a little more limited than before. At least this chapter is longer than normal!
Oh, if you want to see the outfits of the Elemental Warriors (except Knight Metal and Knight Aethyr), head over to DeviantArt and check out my account over there, where I'm known as MiyakoShields. I've got a picture of the Elemental Warriors and Sailor Serene Star, as well as a few others over there. Also, for a better idea of Sailor Sardonyx, check out the cover for this fanfic. That's her, in the red-orange and white. Cause I'm sure a few of you were wondering what that cover was all about.
See you in the next chapter!
Bookworm0913