Raye: (shuffles up) Hey, the following chapter contains a warning of things taking a dark tone, because this guy. (She pulls Grell over)
Grell: Hey, unhand me woman! Only Will or my dear Bassy are permitted to touch me in that way! (He brushes his jacket and gets out his cue cards) Yes… this chapter will include some dark jokes, talk about murder and- why the hell are we doing this again?!
Raye: (sweatdrops irritably) It's in case someone who doesn't like that kind of thing sees it!
Grell: But why would they look at it if they didn't like that stuff? (Smirks, showing his pointy teeth) surely the end of the last chapter was warning enough! Now the story's finally starting to look like something I'd want to see!
Raye: (Sigh) Look it's just a protocol, someone might happen to read it by accident and be shocked. So if they decide to attack us for it, we can't say we didn't give the heads up!
Grell: But it's not even that bad! Compared to the usual exploits I've been involved with, it's rather tame! And how may I ask does one expect to have a good story with high stakes without some good old violent fight scenes? Honestly woman I have no idea why you're complaining…
Raye: (sweatdrop) Well you would think that wouldn't you? But as reactions to the end of the last chapter shows, not everyone likes a dark story, which is fine but the author wants to be able to write stories with darker tones- just like the stories she enjoyed reading! Anyway the author would also like to point out that she does not condone violence in real life but her stories will in fact have dark parts if necessary for the plot.
Grell: But it was only one death! It's hardly Attack on Titan! (Shakes his head and looks to the side) what that show lacks in decent fanservice it makes up for with some gorgeous red blood! (He snaps back to the present) Oh yes! One more thing, the story Wings of a Moon Princess is still primarily a fun comedy for all the family!
Raye: (looks troubled) Since when is anything involving you ever family friendly? (looks to audience with a large sweatdrop) please don't take anything he says seriously!
Grell: (continues as if she hasn't spoken) So even though some bits may be darker, more serious- (he whispers) and therefore more interesting in the opinion of yours truly- rest assured it will still be filled with fun, friendship Sailor-style and a bucketload of random references! (He finishes, striking a pose with gusto before turning to Raye). There! How did I do!
Raye: (sigh) well at least we've cleared things up now! What do you say we just wrap this up and be done with it!
Grell: Yes yes! Then I can go hunt down Bassy!
000
There was nowhere to run. Serena was trapped, standing as still as she possibly could behind a tree, her heart thumping underneath her shirt and her pink weapon clutched tightly in her hand.
Breathing deeply she edged over ever so slightly to hear more of the chaos unfolding on the beach. She knew if she were to go out there now she'd be running into pandemonium. Ever since it had started Lita had tried to take refuge in a high tree, but even her nature camouflage skills had not been able to save her. No one had even seen Ami and Luna, unwilling to be a part of such affairs had zipped herself into one of the tents.
Serena frowned, it had seemed like moments ago the beach had been full of shrieks, shouts and scuffles but now things had become suspiciously silent. However, turning around slowly her eyes widened at the sight of a gun being pointed at her face!
"Times up, Princess," The holder grinned.
"No no no," The blonde began frantically, waving her arms in front of her as she tried to back away, only to bump into the tree behind her. "I trusted you!"
SPLASHHH!
Before she could continue her face was splattered by a long stream of water that sprayed out of the gun's nozzle.
"I GOT THE MOON PRINCESS!" Mina yelled triumphantly, swinging her orange water pistol back and forth as she put her hands in the air. "DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU GET SERENA? DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MESS WITH THE WARRI-AARRGH!"
She flailed backwards as Serena took her revenge, aiming her own pistol with deadly accuracy.
"I'M WET!" She flapped around, swishing her soaking hair. "I'M HYSTERICAL AND I'M WET!"
"That's what she said!" Raye ran up to them with a grin. "Thanks for drawing attention to yourselves ladies!" She fired a burst of water in their direction. Mina leapt up.
"RUN PYRO RUN!"
They chased her out onto the beach to find Darien, Lita and Ami ready for them. In no time at all the water fight broke into an all out war, with Senshi spraying water left right and centre. It eventually ended with everyone leaping into the sea, dog piling Ami in the process. Afterwards they were pleasantly surprised to discover that Serena could dry their clothes with a simple spell, meaning that no one had to change. Most of them wanted to have a nice calming sit down in the sunshine after their fun, adrenaline fuelled game, though some had other ideas.
Mina held her water gun between her legs with a huge grin. "Hey guys! I'm taking a giant leak! OOOHHHH!" The water shot out from the pistol and sprayed over the sand in a large arch.
Serena and Lita snorted but Darien, Luna and Ami sweatdropped silently. Raye had got out her phone and had recorded the blonde's crude action for future blackmail.
"Excellent! Now that's one more embarrassing video I can use! Ooh," She gave a small shiver, rubbing her shoulders even though the temperature was still warm.
"Raye? Are you ok?" Serena looked at her with concern.
"I'm fine," Raye shook her head. "I just had a small feeling, that's all. I think I'm gonna go collect some of that fruit in those trees over there!" She pointed to the tall green trees with a smile. "Wanna come?"
"Sure!" Serena leapt to her feet and summoned a couple of baskets. "Let's go!"
"So what was that feeling?" The Moon Princess couldn't help asking once they had reached the trees. With a flick of her wrists she shrunk the stems of the plants down so that they could reach the pointy red fruits on top.
"I don't know," The raven-haired girl sighed, picking the first devil fruit. "I just know something's gonna happen, I can't tell whether it's good or bad..."
Whoosh!
She was suddenly interrupted as a flash of red swooped down from the sky and landed on top of her, knocking her into the ground and spraying Serena with sand.
When Serena had disintegrated the dust cloud she saw a flamboyant looking man, dressed in a smart Victorian style outfit. His hair (so unlike Bloom's) was the most beautiful shade of red and flowed silkily down his back, perfectly matching his long crimson coat.
"Ok you've got three seconds to get your heavy butt off of me or I'll make sure you're literally flaming!" Raye grumbled, sticking her head up from the sand.
"Aww aren't you pleased to see me little Mars?" The man- woman- person pouted, but swiftly separated from her anyway, allowing her to get up. "That's hardly any way to greet an old friend!"
"Grell?" What are you doing here?!" Serena asked in amazement.
"Oh just on my way back from a small errand and thought I'd pop in when Undertaker told me you lot were here!" The Grim reaper replied, flashing his sharp pointy teeth. "Wasn't my first selection for venue but Will just had to use that devilish commanding voice of his…" His green eyes sparkled from behind his glasses. "Damn that man and his sexy persuasion tactics!" He shuddered not out of disgust, before striking a pose with his black-gloved hands. "But as always I made sure to get it done right away! After all, what kind of reaper would I be if not deadly efficient!" He gave a sparkly wink to no one in particular.
"Who are you even talking to?" Raye looked at him oddly.
"So that mean's someone's just died…" Serena said slowly.
"You don't say!" Grell pulled his lower eyelids. "What else did you think I do for a living? Bring in laundry?"
"Who died?" Raye asked as Serena started picking a few Devil fruits off one of the trees.
"Whats with the interest all of a sudden?" Grell looked bemused. He leant back casually. "It's not anyone you would know about, just some spoiled little fairy princess trying to save her man, can't think why- I've had a look, definitely nothing to die for! In fact all of these places around here are barmy!"
"Why you poor thing!" Raye snorted, she could just imagine him walking down a street in Magix and being visibly traumatized by the lack of death or sophisticated clothing. "It's just a surprise is all, as much as I've heard them go on and on about defeating 'dark magic' they never mentioned if anyone died! Just how is that realistic?" She shrugged, shaking her head. She had seen many people, guilty and innocent, fall in her time as a Senshi yet the winx had seemed to get away from their scrapes scot-free. In her opinion it just wasn't natural.
"Well it's definitely easy to see why everyone at the office wants to avoid getting posted out here!" Grell shared her sentiments with a nod.
"Do you think if stuff does happen they just try to shove the souls back in and carry on like normal?" Raye whispered with a morbid sense of curiosity.
"What?! That's one of the most preposterous ideas I've ever heard!" Grell spat, insulted at the very notion of the idea, although his irritation wasn't directed at her. "Everybody knows that all souls must be harvested when their names appear on the list! It's only in extraordinary circumstances where the highest reapers have for some reason declared otherwise that a soul is given the slip!" He raised an eyebrow at the book in his arms. "And I can safely say that I don't think anyone's going to miss this one!"
"Since when have you been such a stickler for rules?" The princess of Mars smirked, amused.
Grell sweatdropped. "Alright alright, I just really don't want to get stuck with another probation mission- I don't think my poor eyeballs can stand the gaudy non-fashion sense! And I want my Deathscythe back!" He turned chibi as he pointed two fingers together with a pout. "Will confiscated it again! Said I'd made some kind of grievous error- all I did was kill the wrong target!"
"That doesn't make any sense, you've killed way more wrong people before!" She shook her head.
"I know! So what if I mixed up a few names on the to die list? It's not like I dropped a Death Note!" Raye quickly caught his ledger as he pulled out two pairs of tiny scissors with both hands. "You're just not the same," He pouted at them for a moment. "That's why I had to do this mission, as a punishment, why couldn't he do the punishing…"
Whack!
His dramatic performance was cut short as Raye whacked him over the head. "Drama queen," She muttered.
"Urgh you wouldn't believe how hard its been following this soul! She was supposed to die at 11pm in a fancy palace but when I caught up to her she was in a dingy wet cave talking to some arrogant fellow with a face like an elongated skull-"
"I thought for sure with the Victorian get-up he'd be your type!" Raye smirked.
Grell grimaced. "Ugh I don't usually discriminate but after being surrounded by the likes of Bassy and my Will I feel like I've been spoiled for choice! I mean, what a let down! He's not worthy to attempt to compete in Bassy's league! I can't even begin on his insipid colorless eyes- not like beautiful Bassy's shade of ruby red!" His own green gems glazed over, as he was lost in a fantasy with the alluring demon.
"Well it seems like you need a bit of a break, why don't you come back with us and you can tell us all about it! We were just about to take all this back!" Serena suggested, pointing to the red devil fruits in the tree plus the ones she had just picked.
Grell did a double take. "But you didn't think you would be able to get all that fruit all by yourselves did you?! You'd take forever!" In an instant he produced his two pairs of scissors. "These things should be best left to the professionals- you're no match for the queen of the fruits!" He determinedly leapt up to the trees, his small weapons primed and ready.
In a few flashes he had all the fruit neatly piled in the baskets and as a plus the trees' leaves were now trimmed in the shapes of two skulls. Serena stared with her mouth open while Raye just rolled her eyes and gently shut it for her. "Don't feed his ego," She advised.
"What can I say? My skills are to die for!" He posed proudly in between the baskets.
000
After Serena had given Raye some time to catch up with her scarlet friend, a few moments later the gang were sitting in a circle, giving Grell an update about their latest adventures while he in turn shared the story of reaping the soul of Madame De Pompadour, which involved clockwork robots and a time traveler. Grell had been very excited at the sight of Darien but after Serena's rather out of character methods of marking her territory he had grudgingly backed off.
"Wait a second, weren't you going to tell us who you had to reap in this dimension?" Ami asked, holding up her hands to backtrack. "It could have been someone we came across!"
"Ah, hopeful are we?" Grell enquired knowingly with a sly grin. "I see my dear friends and I have become quite the influence little Mercury! That's excellent!"
Raye whacked him over the head as Ami looked down, embarrassed. "Will you quit teasing her? It's none of your concern whether we care or not!" She fluffed her hair in a faux over the top manner and tried to look away with her nose in the air, but as soon as he caught the corner of her eyes she dissolved into giggles, making him laugh too.
"You are a riot Mars! But if you had known her, you would have appeared in her cinematic record!"
"Well then was anyone we'd know in the cinematic record?" Lita enquired. "Maybe if you give us some background info we could find a connection!" Darien suggested, feeling somewhat at ease from Serena's tight grip on his arms in the presence of the reaper.
"Let's see, let's see…" Grell opened his book and skimmed a few pages before finding the correct entry. "Ah here we are, a Princess Diarsepro- what a peculiar name! It sounds like one of those aspirins you use when you have a headache! … Used to be engaged to Prince Sky of Eraklon, bla bla bla involved in lovey dovey love triangle with no attractive men involved…"
"Sky? Wasn't that the ginger fairy's boyfriend?" Lita remembered.
"Yes! The Yugi imposter!" Mina answered for her instantly. "Holy crap, did he kill this princess? I didn't think he had it in him!" She placed her hand over her forehead. "This is heavy news, I definitely can't show my parodies in this dimension!"
"Oh you don't have to worry about him!" Grell reassured her in only he knows how. "Doesn't look like he could swat a fly that one, he was still quaking in his pretty little boots by the time I left!"
flashback
Sky is still standing there, traumatized. Grell sneaks in through the window ready to retrieve Diaspro's soul. His shoulders slump on noticing that Sky is still in the room.
Grell: Oh bother! Can't have a dummy watch me while I work! And I can't kill the witnesses because then I'll get landed with other probation task! (He dramatically sweeps a hand across his brow) Oh why oh why must these horrendous hindrances be forced upon me?
With a sigh he goes up to Sky.
Grell: Hellooo? Anyone at home? I say are you in there?
He does a few tricks like waving his gloved hands in front of the prince's eyes but Sky does not move. Grell eventually gives up and knocks him out with a nearby tray. He goes over to the body, notes down the details of the death and harvests Diaspro's cinematic record with his tiny scissors. When he is done he climbs out the window and turns to the unconscious body of Sky.
Grell: Don't forget to breathe will you, that could cause some nasty mix-ups!
With that he leaps out the window into the full moon, leaving the shouts of surprise in the palace behind.
End flashback
"Dayum, I mean I always wanted to see these guys reactions to the harsh reality of life but this is ridiculous!" Mina shook her head.
"Do you think we could have a look to see who did it?" Raye looked at the book in her hands. Grell wagged a finger and sharpishly took it back. "Sorry little Mars but that's a big no no- cinematic records are for the eyes of Reapers only!" He winked wickedly. " Besides there's no need, I can simply just tell you the juicy bits!" He leant in to whisper in her ear. "But I really shouldn't be doing this so make sure Will doesn't find out! I'm looking at you Mercury!" He narrowed his eyes at Ami, who gave a nervous squeak.
"Well pretty little princess here," He continued. "Was going to have a heart to heart with Prince wimpy- probably about their oh so sordid past affairs, they ended up having a little spat and then an insane witch appeared, impaled her then left." He finished the story, adjusting his glasses with a smirk. "Of course we knew that he wouldn't be in any danger- it was only her name written on the to die list!"
"Where did it happen?"
"That confounded castle of Herakylon," Grell shook his head in disgust. "You can't miss it, awfully messy business." He shook his head in disgust. "That building is an insult to the color red! Not to mention all that tacky wallpaper! The blood was spilled on the carpet, there was a clear difference in color!"
"…Shit!" Was all Mina could say.
"Ok we've gotta go and see the scene of the crime!" Raye said urgently. "Whose to say Valtor won't pull a stunt like this again?"
"Huh? Serena?" Mina had noticed that Serena had walked away from their circle and was now looking at the sand beneath her, but barely noticing the tiny waves that gently slipped over her feet.
"Serena!" She ran up to join her friend. However she was taken aback with the other blonde looked away.
Serena's eyes watered. "I could've done something, I knew we were more powerful than Valtor- I should've stopped him before anyone got hurt!" A few tears fell from her eyes and splashed into the sea as she squeezed them shut. "And now someone's dead because of me!"
"No." Darien placed both hands firmly on her shoulders. "No one knew this was going to happen, and don't forget these people had problems long before that are nothing to do with us! And even if we had, I don't think there was anything we could've done that wouldn't jeopardize your safety. But all we can do for her now is look forward and do our best to get rid of them so it doesn't happen to anyone else!"
"Ooh! Now there's a prince worth dying for!" Grell lit up; the others swore that they could see little pink hearts around his head. "OUCH! What was that for?!" He exclaimed angrily at Raye, who had just smacked him upside the head.
"Too soon Grell!" The Princess of Mars shook her head. "But Darien's right." She said seriously to Serena. "You should know that you're able to take down Valtor with the Silver Crystal!'
"And don't forget, we're all here too!" Lita added determinedly. "The slimeball won't know what hit him!"
"We have our powerful Sailor Henshins and the Water Stars!" Ami beamed. "He's certainly no match for our combined forces!"
"If anyone thinks they're gonna stop us they're gonna have a bad time!" Mina pumped a fist full of inner strength.
"I don't really understand why you're so upset over this but I think you can do it too!" Grell added his two cents.
"You guys!" Serena's eyes watered as she hugged Darien. Mina threw her arms around the Moon Princess's neck from behind her. Lita flung an arm around Ami with a grin as they laughed good-naturedly.
"What's her secret?" Grell pouted as he watched Serena with her handsome boyfriend. Raye sighed good-naturedly. "Come here." She put her arms around him. He struggled a bit at first but eventually gave in and patted her awkwardly on the back.
000
"Ok." Serena nodded determinedly over the campfire that evening. "We'll rest tonight, then tomorrow we go and investigate at that palace!"
"Good idea," Ami nodded. "We need to come up with a strategy on how to approach this. First we need to figure out what we're looking for. Then we should make a route that gets you around the area without being seen. Since the winx have seen our Senshi forms and they know Serena's secret identity, it wouldn't do for them to catch us."
"Whoa, we don't need to go that in depth do we?" Lita held up her hands to back track. "What's wrong with making some stuff up as you go?"
"Ami's right Lita," Serena said. "These things take time to get ready! If we went with a rushed plan that wasn't completely finished, the whole thing could be a disaster! I could never forgive myself knowing that I didn't spend proper time on something that wasn't my best!" She stared straight ahead with a meaningful expression.
"What are you looking at?" Raye peered at her oddly.
"Wait, what do you mean "we?" Grell looked suspicious. "As far as I'm concerned I'm finished with this wretched realm!"
Raye turned back to him. "We have to check this out or Valtor or Icy's gonna do this again! And that means you'll have more overtime!" She emphasized the last two words dramatically.
"Oh no anything but that!" Grell gasped dramatically. "Will's going to lock himself in his office with piles of boring paperwork and won't be able to spare any time to spend with me! You girls have to stop those foul murderers who think they can take Will out of my arms!"
"Maybe only a few of you should go," Luna voiced her opinion. "You won't need to be there for very long- and I doubt no one wants to be!"
"You got that right." Darien nodded.
"Well it's kinda obvious that one person needs to be me," Serena sighed. "Besides, I can summon you guys with my bracelets if necessary!"
"That's a good plan, that way we can still come and help if you need it!" Ami nodded.
"I'm going too!" Mina cut in quickly.
"Er Mina, I don't think it's a good idea since Vince Noir tagged you for his celebrity radar," Darien spoke up.
Elsewhere in a funky looking shop in Shoreditch people were queuing up in front of Vince Noir.
"Oh so you wanna find Sailor Venus? It says here she's on some distant beach planet with her mates!" Vince told the customer. "Seems pretty far from here though..."
"Damn, now I gotta persuade him into secrecy!" Mina cursed. "Just when did he tag me anyway?" However she turned back to the others, still not swayed. "Well in the meantime I'll just have to lump it 'cause I'm gonna protect Serena no matter what anyone says!" She folded her arms with finality.
"And I'll go with you!" Raye grabbed Serena's shoulder with a wink. "Who knows, might need to show someone how to use Firepower the right way! Besides," They all looked at Grell. "I can handle Madam Red!" She turned to the reaper with a determined grin. "Think you can get us in the castle?"
Grell struck a pose with his gloved hands. "But of course! And with deadly efficiency!"
000
The next day Sailor Moon stood before the palace of Eraklyon determinedly. "This is it!" She thought.
"Ouch! Watch where you're putting your sticky fingers woman!" Grell complained at the scarlet Sailor Scout on his back. "I hope you washed your hands before touching me!"
"I'm wearing gloves!" Sailor Mars deadpanned as she gave his hair another tug, her other arm wrapped around his collarbone.
"Well your weight appears to have increased since last time," Grell grumbled, slightly bending over forwards as he hoisted her up.
"What was that?!"
"Guys!" Moon shut them up. "We're here."
"Ooh." They both looked up at the castle. Grell grinned at one of the open windows.
"Well," His green eyes gleamed from behind his glasses. "First one up to the tower is a mouldy corpse!"
With that he leapt over to the building with Sailor Mars still on his back and ran up the wall. "See ya up there Sailor Moon!" She called.
"Hey!" Serena scowled indignantly. "What am I supposed to do?"
Fast forward to the room of the murder
"Shit, they must've already cleaned it up," Mars looked around the spacious would be crime scene, "I was hoping there would be something the killer left behind for us to inspect!"
"I have little doubt," Grell drawled as he inspected a mirror frame, pausing to check his appearance. "These folks are hardly ones to leave a corpse rotting for days, and this was bound to cause a celebrity scandal, their first move would be to sweep it under the rug!"
"Well we came here to look for clues, so that's what we'll do!" Moon produced a magnifying glass and tossed two red ones at Mars and Grell, who quickly caught them.
"What are we looking for exactly?" Mars asked, confused.
"Somehow I feel like Valtor was here somewhere at the time that it happened," Moon explained. "I can sense a lot of magical energy but there's also a faint trace of Valtor's too! I just can't figure out where!"
"Your energy sensing!" Raye exclaimed. "Maybe you can detect someone's magic trail they've left behind!"
"But let's think, it was Icy who killed her," Moon closed her eyes, trying to picture. "But not Valtor, so why do I still get the feeling he was here?"
"Another thing I don't get, they were both working for Valtor, why would Icy kill her? We have the culprit, the room and the weapon but no motive!" Raye added, confused. "Grell what was it that Icy said to Diaspro?"
"I believe she said, "That wretched Valtor wasn't man enough to face me!" Grell replied, putting on a fake high voice with an exaggerated expression in an over the top impression of the witch. "But I can make an example of his new minion! And I can also get rid of prince blondie too!"
"So that means Valtor and Icy aren't working together anymore!" Raye's onyx orbs widened in realisation.
"Somehow Icy got the idea Valtor would be here expecting to fight him or something!" Serena added.
"If you want my opinion I'd say that this Baltor fellow double crossed our white witch and used the princess as his decoy!" Grell remarked matter of factly. "And it seems that while one was at the other's throat he snuck into the palace and stole something!"
"Grell that's brilliant!" Mars grabbed his arms with a grin.
"Well yes I am!" He grinned.
"The question is what did he steal?" Serena frowned, before looking down at her bracelets with a grin. "I bet we can find out soon enough! Come on gang let's follow the trail!"
000
Meanwhile Sailor Venus was doing some stealth work of her own, near the palace entrance. Despite the fact that her fuku was bright orange, she still did a very good job of blending into the shadows, due to her years of experience.
"I'm sorry girls I'm afraid Prince Sky is not taking any visitors at this time,"
Her ears pricked at the sound of a voice, the blonde quickly darted into a dark corner. She gave a small frown as she peered over the balcony to see an Eraklyon guard doing his best to persuade the six girls in front of him.
"What do you mean?! He's my boyfriend, of course he wants to see me!" Bloom exclaimed.
"Bloom maybe we should come back another time," Flora began quietly but her advice fell on closed off ears.
"Huh?" Venus opened her communicator to see Sailor Moon's face on the screen.
"V chan, I need you to create a distraction, make sure no one goes down to the palace vault!" The Moon Senshi ordered urgently.
"Already ahead of you there Usa chan!" The blonde whispered with a wink before snapping the device shut. Looking back over her shoulder she could see the winx were still there, stubborn as ever.
With an expression of semi-neutrality she silently conjured a crescent beam in the palm of her hand. When it was of suitable size and energy she shot it at the large crystal chandelier, hanging right above their heads.
"I've had enough, I demand to speak to your- BALLS!" Bloom suddenly shrieked as the entire ornate ornament collapsed upon them, glass shattering into a million pieces on the polished floor and a decent amount of the structure blocking the doorway, so that no one could get in or out.
"Oh no! Girls are you ok?" Flora called anxiously, she had been the only one to successfully evade the obstruction by shielding herself with the roots of the potted plant by the door. It appeared the others hadn't thought fast enough.
"Eww!" Stella whined, as she crawled out from under one of the chandelier's arch. "I always knew Erakylon should've invested in better-BALLS!" She had suddenly slipped on a piece of glass and landed on her rear end.
From the safety of her shadowed balcony corner Sailor Venus was nodding. "Yup, still got it!" She told herself with a satisfied smile.
000
"Da da, da da, da da da da da, da da da DA! Dadadadada," Sailor Moon couldn't help singing the pink panther theme song as she and her scarlet sidekicks stealthily followed the faint magic trail down a winding staircase.
"Stop singing! What if someone hears you?!" Mars whispered.
"It's ok, I used a silencio spell, no one can hear me except for us!" Moon grinned.
"What is this tune? I rather like it!" Grell was tapping a finger. "I'd like to hear the original without your off key notes!"
"Well if you wanted to hear it from a trained singer you should have just asked me!" Mars retorted. "Da da, da da," She started to sing.
"Hey guys," Moon whispered, edging into the wall as they reached the bottom of the staircase. "I think we're here!"
They both followed her example as she slowly edged forward a little so she could see into the palace vault. Opposite them was a clear view of an ornate looking treasure box, reminding Moon of a bigger version of the gold box Baltor had stolen the first time she had fought him. Its lid had been yanked open to show nothing inside. Moon wanted to get closer but quickly straightened herself back against the wall at the sound of hurried footsteps.
"So it's true that Baltor has really stolen the spell of the elements?" She could hear the panicked tone of a guard.
"No it was taking for dusting, what do you think Chet?!" Another said sarcastically.
"Now is not the time for your unfunny remarks Johnny!" Their superior snapped. "The spell was entrusted to Eraklyon so that it would be safe from Baltor! The King wants to know what was wrong with his security! Half of his royal guard was supposed to be down here!"
"But Captain Dooshbague they were summoned upstairs after Diaspro was killed!" Johnny answered.
"Princess Diaspro's dead?" Chet gasped.
"What do you care?" Johnny sneered. "She was a traitor to Magix and Eraklyon and apparently she was a real diva! She wouldn't have looked twice at you!"
"Sailor Moon!" Mars hissed as the blonde Senshi, who had doubled up trying to contain her giggles. "What else are they talking about?"
"Haha you wouldn't believe this captain guy's name!" Moon wiped away a tear of laughter before turning back in the guards' direction.
"So you're telling me that not a single man was down here guarding the spell?!" Captain Dooshbague was repeating, raising his voice with every word.
"N-no sir," Chet began nervously. "But the prince had ordered as many people as possible!" Johnny added.
Deciding that she had heard the information she needed, Moon turned back to Mars and Grell.
"Aww, couldn't you have kept going for a few more seconds? I wanted to find out more about this guy's crush on the princess!" Mars pleaded.
"Such bad taste." Grell was shaking his head. "High maintenance women don't look twice at lowly commoners!"
"Guys!" Moon gave a loud whisper. "It looks like we might finally have all the clues we need!"
"That's good," Mars frowned slightly at Moon's thoughtful expression. "But it feels like there's something left to do."
"You're right." Moon looked back to the empty spell container in the middle of the basement. "I kinda wanna get closer to that thing, then I'll be able to know for sure if Valtor had got to it!"
"Say no more, your sensational scarlet reaper is on the case!" Before they could stop him, Grell leapt out from their hiding place into the air and clobbered the three guards with a vase he had found by the wall.
The two Senshi sweatdropped. "At least he didn't kill anyone." Mars sighed.
As soon as they reached the container Moon immediately felt the familiar aura of dark magic surrounding it. She slowly took out her water star to see the golden object was glowing in response.
Noticing the action Mars walked over. "Is it…"
"Yup, he was here." Moon replied, putting the water star back. "And it seems that the element magic he took was quite powerful too."
"Hmm, I can definitely sense a trace of fire magic." Mars nodded. "Still seems weak compared to what we have though!" She opened her eyes with a reassuring smile.
"So do you think it's anything to worry about?" Moon asked, though she was comforted by her friend's words.
"Probably not for us, but definitely for the people in Magix!" Mars said seriously. "Which is why it's up to us to stop him once and for all!"
Grell had been robbing the guards of their magical spear weapons. "Hmm, certainly no Deathscythe but it'll have to do!" He grinned, swinging the biggest spear around. "Yes I'll still be able to tear up my enemies with deadly accuracy!" He struck a pose.
"ROOOOAAARRRR!"
Suddenly they all had to cover their ears as a deafening sound rang out around the palace.
"Sailor Moon, what the hell was that?" Mars unconsciously moved closer to her leader.
"It sounds like it's coming for us!" Grell held his new spear out in front of him.
"I don't know but I know what to do," Moon began quietly, before turning to Mars and Grell.
"RUN!"
000
Venus had been having a lot of fun with her unsuspecting puppets. She had missed having Marik's mind control to help but fortunately she had prepared well and brought a paint gun, which contained balls of paint that were many colours. Now the winx were covered in lovely shades of bright green and dead salmon. It was also immensely satisfying to know that the wordpotion she had spiked their drinks with was still in play, causing one of them to shriek "BALLS!" every time a new blob of paint hit them.
"This is almost as fun as than the time my doctors showed me how to play Space Invaders in real life!" She grinned.
Flashback
Mina is standing on the hospital balcony with two doctors, a medic with fantastically sculpted hair and his best friend, a surgeon who has no hair. A large group of the hospital's interns are standing in neat rows in the parking lot with their arms outstretched.
Mina: I gotta say I'm a little rusty with this particular game Dr J.D, which ones do I hit?
J.D: Oh that's easy! They're all space invaders, except Boone, he's the mother ship!
He points to an intern in red scrubs.
Mina: Sweet! I think I got it! Let's go! (She picks up a water balloon)
Turk: That's what I'm talking about! GAME ON!
Mina, J.D and Turk start throwing water balloons at the interns, who are moving from side to side like the pixellated spaceships in the game. When they are hit, the intern leaves the group.
Mina: Yaya this is fun!
J.D: Boone! You're up! Use your annoying voice to make the mothership sound!
Boone comes on the scene and starts spinning around at the back. Mina eyes a target then swiftly throws her water balloon, hitting him head on.
Mina: Hey you guys should totally try to play the Sailor V game in real life!
End flashback
"I still need to teach real life space invaders to the others," She shook her head with a smile, shooting a dead salmon blob of paint at Stella. "You do need a lot of people to play!"
"Intruders alert! We have intruders!"
"Huh?" Her eyes widened and she hid herself in the shadows once more as a guard came rushing up.
"What is all this commotion?"
"Your majesty!" The guard gasped as King Erendor himself came striding through the corridor. "Intruders have been spotted in the basement!"
"Indeed, not to worry I have already dispatched the Lio Dragoris!"
"That can't be good!" Venus thought, biting her lip as she listened to the conversation.
"B-but those can rip a man to shreds! And I thought they were extinct!" The guard exclaimed.
"Remember that one Lord Darkar unleashed on Red Fountain? Ever since my son and the winx defeated it a while back we've been genetically modifying its DNA," The King folded his hands. "It makes the perfect guard dog, don't you think?"
Venus clenched her fists. "I'm coming guys," She thought, giving a small growl at the King's actions. She turned to see the painted fairies still standing among the debris in the doorway.
"Can't have them following me," She flung another crescent beam at a statue, making it topple over and crash right in front of the opposite entrance, stopping anyone from going in that direction.
"And I think I'll stop this guy too!" Venus made sure the King and his guard were looking the other way before firing her golden blast at the chandelier in that corridor, preventing them from following her before she ran off, unseen.
000
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars and Grell stared, stunned at the monster before them that looked like a peculiar mix between a dragon and a lion. Now that it had chased them into one of the royal gardens they could finally get a good look at it. They had already made a vow among themselves never to talk about the route they had taken to escape from the creature, which had involved some very questionable rooms.
"Any idea what the hell that thing is?" Mars turned to Moon, fighting to be heard above the monster's deafening roar.
"According to Monster Bio- don't ask it's the name of the class," Moon sighed at their raised eyebrows. "It's a Lio Dragoris! But apparently it died out long ago!"
"It was also quite a predator!" Grell added. "Could wipe out millions like a plague!"
"So do you know anything about how they died out?" Moon asked as they dodged a blast from its gaping mouth.
Grell sweatdropped. "Oh now you think I'm a bloody expert on the things? I told you we don't associate much with this dimension to begin with! Not to mention these beasts have no soul to ca-"
However before he could continue he was brutally wacked on the back of the head by some very long pruning shears, knocking him to the floor.
"Good grief, what have you done this time Grell?" William T spears shook his head as he retracted the length of his Deathscythe.
"Will!" Grell lit up as he instantly flung his arms around the other reapers neck with one high-heeled leg in the air. "Oh my dear William you've come for me!"
"As much as it pains me to admit it you are right on one respect," Will irritably hitched up his glasses. He shoved Grell off of him before producing a massive chainsaw with a scarlet handle. "I believe you've earned this."
"My Deathscythe!" Grell took it happily and cradled it in his arms. "We're finally together again! I can't wait for us to rip out souls together with deadly efficiency!"
"Well that's just as well because you were due back at Headquarters over an hour ago." Will informed him. "Since you were helping out the girls I gave your earlier duties to Ronald but you'll have to make up for it by completing all the officework this evening."
"Oh I would love to hang around in the office after hours with you!" Grell gushed.
Will gave a sigh. "Well seeing as we're currently being attacked you might as well help them finish their job!" He moved to walk away.
"Wait you're not gonna help too?" Moon said indignantly.
Will frowned. "I don't get involved in matters, which have nothing to do with me. But make sure you tie that creature down before attacking," Light gleamed off his glasses as he strode into the shade.
"Tie it down," Moon repeated quietly. "That's it!" She lit up. "We need to stop it moving and then you guys will have a clear shot!
"Already ahead of you there!"
"Huh?" They looked up to see Sailor Venus leap out of one of the palace windows. "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" Quick as a flash she summoned her unbreakable golden chains; they shot out and securely tethered the monster to the ground.
After two milliseconds of sweat dropping Moon shrugged and turned to the red duo. "You guys ready?"
"Deadly ready!" Grell brandished his deathscythe. "Now what do you say we roast this flying monkey little Mars!"
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Raye grinned. They leapt into the air side by side, Grell revving up his chainsaw while Raye summoned her flaming bow and arrow.
"MARS FLAMING DEATH SNIPER!"
In one swift skilful motion they shot their weapons with perfect accuracy right through the beast's body, slashing it into tiny pieces behind them as they landed gracefully on the other side of the decimated lawn.
As they stood up they slowly, silently turned around to see the effects of the explosion they had caused, their eyes catching the smoking crater in the middle of the garden.
"...Deadly awesome." They both grinned, their black and white gloved hands colliding together in a fist bump.
"THAT WAS TOTALLY EPIC!" Moon and Venus came running up to them.
"I filmed the whole thing!" Venus held up her phone. "Ami can put it on a DVD and make copies! I'll call it... Epic Senshi Reaper convergence on fire!"
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to show anyone," Will came up to join them with a disapproving look. "It wouldn't do for our secrets to be exposed."
"Relax it'd only be among our circle!" The blonde waved it off. "At least you don't have to worry about stalkers via celebrity radar machines!" She muttered.
Will looked at her oddly for a moment then turned to Moon and Mars. "Now we can't afford to make up for anymore lost time so we'll be taking our leave. Oh, and do give my regards to Ami." He hitched up his glasses one last time.
"Ta ta!" Grell gave a cheery wave before his head was yanked back as Will began to drag him by the hair. Mars shook her head with a smile as she watched them leave.
"So what were you doing while we were investigating V?" Moon asked her deputy.
Venus took a deep breath. "I may or may not have committed several acts of vandalism." She then filled them in on her antics.
"What?!" Moon exclaimed. "Were you trying to kill them?!"
"Jeez relax!" Venus waved her off. "They had the magic spells to save themselves! And they can put the furniture back together if they want to, it's their call!"
"…Well played V chan, well played." Moon grudgingly congratulated her with a clap. She knew her friend would never have done it to people who wouldn't have been able to defend themselves from such an attack. Unless of course they were evil psychos who wanted to destroy the universe. Or her dance choreographer because she believed he was an evil fancy man who wanted to brainwash her.
Venus opened her wrist communicator. "Now we'd better get our teleports going! If we don't want them to catch us!"
000
Raye stared at the glowing sunset while the others practiced their fighting moves in the background; she looked at the small rectangular box in her hands.
Flashback
"Oh, one more thing, happy belated birthday little Mars!" Grell pushes the box into her hands. It is bright red and neatly wrapped with a black lace ribbon.
"Oh you finally remembered!" Her eyebrow twitches a little but she smiles all the same, remembering her birthday party where he showed up empty handed. "It's pretty light," She bounces her hand up and down to feel the almost weightless object.
Grell looked affronted. "Don't you judge until you've seen for yourself!"
With a small shrug Raye pulls the ribbon apart and opens the lid. "Whoa," She gasps, picking up the small pink bookmark. "But isn't this..."
"I haven't had any time to go shopping lately." Grell cuts in. "I just found this lying around in a storeroom, I didn't think anyone would miss it!" But he gives a little grin all the same, indicating he put a little more thought into it than that.
Raye is speechless; she knows how powerful this bookmark is, and that it must never fall into the wrong hands. "I'll take good care of it!" She says seriously.
"Of course you will! There'll be hell to pay if you don't!" He grins. "But that's not to say you can't have a little fun with it! You could get that bloke Chad to fall head over heels for you despite your plain appearance! He's not much but better than nothing I suppose..."
"Knock it off!" Raye shouts, her cheeks flushing bright pink. "Leave my guy alone, I don't diss yours!"
"That's because you can't little Mars," Grell smirks. "I have impeccable taste!"
End flashback
She shook her head with a small smile.
"But when would I be able to use this?" She thought, looking back to the present. "Will our enemies get so bad that I'll have to?"
"Hey Raye! We're gonna roast some more marshmallows! You coming?" Serena called.
The raven-haired girl blinked before breaking into a smile. "Yeah! I'm coming, save some for me!" She ran over to join them.
000
After a peaceful evening of seeing who could make the biggest smore and who could tell the funniest story, the Sailor Scouts decided to put a group idea in motion. Now they all stood next to a large rock on the edge of the forest, but still on the soft sand of the beach; they were wearing whatever black clothes they had bought in their previous shopping trip and Serena had Luna draped over her shoulders like a fashionable fur Stoll. Ami and Lita both held small bouquets of lilies while Darien held a simple white candle and Mina held a brooch that she carried on a small velvet cushion.
Everyone watched as Raye knelt down next to the rock and placed a small pot in front of it that contained a couple of incense sticks, which she then carefully lit with a single flame from her fingertip.
As thin tendrils of smoke started to rise from the sticks she got up, dusting some sand off her skirt and turned to Serena.
"We're ready." She confirmed, taking the candle from Darien.
Darien and Mina shifted as Serena moved to the front, holding an unfolded piece of paper filled with her messy kanji.
"Dear Princess Diaspro," She began.
"Wait," She turned to see Mina's hand on her shoulder. "Can I go first?" The girl with the red ribbon asked. "I've prepared something too."
"Go ahead," Serena invited her to the front. Mina cleared her throat and then started to speak.
"Dear Princess Diaspro, you were probably a very spoilt brat who didn't really care about a lot of people. In fact you probably thought that you should have always gotten what you want and if someone said no to you, your big bad bodyguards would stamp on them. But seeing as we never really got to know you, I don't think it's entirely fair to judge you based on what some very biased people have said. Evidently you did seem to care about Prince Sky or why else would you have protected him?
I feel sad that we never got to meet you, I mean you didn't see eye to eye with the winx so you can't have been that bad!" The others couldn't help chuckling at this. "Although if you'd dissed my girls I would've most definitely kicked your ass." They smiled as she gave an afterthought.
"But even so, I wanted to say that your story is something that inspires me to fight harder every day for the people that I love! Every single one of them is special and nothing will stop me from making sure that their dreams come true!" Mina continued sincerely, the setting sunlight reflecting in her eyes. "And together we're going to put a stop to the person who did this for you once and for all, in the name of Venus, you shall be AVENGED!" She raised a fist to the heavens.
"Ok ok, my turn now," Serena gently pushed her out of the way, ignoring the other blonde's question of "Hey does that make us the avengers?" She stood before the rock once again.
"We know for a fact you'd have probably wanted a huge tomb made of fairy diamonds or something," She began. "But there's no way the fairies would ever do that, we couldn't even find a body so this brooch will have to do," She gestured to the accessory Mina was in charge of. "But we thought it would be nice if you had a place where people could come to remember you." With that a burst of glittery magic shot from her fingers and transformed the rock into a smooth marble gravestone. She pointed her finger a second time and a beam flew over and wrote "R.I.P Princess Diaspro. She died." in fancy lettering.
Lita handed her lilies to Ami and knelt by the side to dig a large hole in the sand. When they were satisfied it was deep enough, Mina carefully placed the brooch on the cushion inside and the two covered it with sand. Ami then marked a long rectangular shape in front of the headstone, around the buried brooch.
Once that job was finished Serena produced a pink bucket and spade with a grin. "Now it's time for the fun part! Let's decorate it!"
000
Even though it was for a memorial, the team had a lot of fun looking for seashells and flowers and pretty patterned stones to use as decorations. Lita and Mina made a few large sandcastles in the centre, with layers covered in beautiful shells that Serena placed a charm on to ensure that they never fell down. Ami had carefully made some neat indents around each of the sandcastles and carefully poured water into them, making each one have a small moat. Darien helped Raye and Serena make the multicoloured flowers they had picked into long chains, which they hung around the headstone. Lastly Serena drew pictures of diamonds on little flags, which she carefully stuck on top of each castle.
When it was finally finished they stepped back to admire their handiwork.
"Well I hardly think the fairy architects could have done a better job!" Lita remarked.
"You certainly seemed to have picked up a thing or two Lita!" Raye grinned. "Yeah Undertaker will be so proud, his daughter's finally following in his footsteps!" Mina joked good-naturedly.
"Yeah… ahaha I hope I don't find my apartment covered in black lace when I get back though!" The brunette gave a small sweatdrop.
"I'm sure Will and Grell will tell him about it though." Ami said. "You'll have to take a picture to show him!"
Luna had sensed Serena's silence. "I'm sure she would have loved it." She told her gently.
"Really?" Serena brightened a little, picking her up.
"Of course! Anyone in their right mind would appreciate it when people show respect! And you and the girls have done a lovely thing for this girl!" The cat nodded wisely.
"That's good, I mean even though I couldn't stop it, at least she can be remembered now, right?" Serena wiped away a little tear.
"Exactly!" Darien placed his jacket around her shoulders. "And I'm sure when people come here for vacation, they can remember her too!" He put his arms around her as she leant back against him. They stood by the sea in the silent embrace and watched as the girls came up to join them, still chattering about the mystery they had solved that day.
"You know it's a shame we can't have a trial and execution for Valtor," Mina was thoughtfully. "I wonder what his execution would be like?"
"Maybe it would be like a witch burning!" Raye suggested.
"OMA that's a perfect segway from him being found by the Witchfinders!" Mina clasped her hands. "If only I had my monokuma plushie with me…"
"But doesn't he use fire magic?" Ami reminded them.
"Exactly! The nature of the executions are to have your own talent used against you!"
"I'll be honest I don't think we're as into the game as much as you are," Lita told her.
"I'll tell you one thing," Serena looked to the sunset with a determined smile. "If he thought this stunt was gonna fill us with despair, he's gonna have a bad time! 'Cause as long as we're together we'll always have hope!"
"Super High School Level Hope!" Mina added with a V for Victory. "Oh come on!" She raised her hands at their looks. "You practically gift wrapped that for me!"
"So what are we gonna do now?" Lita looked to her leader.
Serena pretended to think. "How about tomorrow we go somewhere new? We still need to track down Valtor, but only once we're ready!"
"Hey we should go to Magix!" Mina piped up, facing Ami, Raye and Lita with starry eyes. "You totally need to see those virtual dresser things Serena showed me!"
As she excitedly continued to chatter about the magic shops Darien looked down at Serena. "Are you going to be ok?"
"Of course." Serena smiled warmly. "We're unstoppable you and me, and it's about time we move out from here. Besides," She gave a sneaky giggle. "I saw a nice pink suit in Magix with your name on it!"
"Whaa?" He couldn't help backing away with wide eyes as she convulsed into giggles.