Eventually, Helena did divulge everything that transpired to her beloved offspring. However, none of them held any ill will toward her as she had only done what she believed was best.
"We forgive you," her countless sons chorused.
"Mother, if we find our sister, will you turn her into a hummingbird too?" asked a Dream Fairy with dark green hair fearfully. Even if they managed to talk to Melaine, she might be too far gone to be redeemed.
"No, Melaine is not at fault for what's happening. I don't know who did this to her, but we will find out." Helena vowed. She'd do whatever it took to reclaim her lost daughter.
"I'm afraid Melaine won't appear just for us. We may have to accompany the Neo-Sailor Senshi on their missions," Helios advised. His primary concern was his younger sister's pregnancy, as he did not know how his niece would react.
An orange-haired Dream Fairy noticed Helios's expression and, to calm him, stated, "Don't worry, Uncle Helios. Even if our sister tries to attack, we'll protect our Mother!" his countless brothers all chimed in agreement.
Later, Perle told Chibiusa, Jewel, and their Senshi as a Dream Fairy one of his duties is to his family. " I understand your loyalty, Perle. But, please...be careful." Jewel hugged him, trying her best not to cry.
"I'll come back safely." Perle hugged and held her for a bit.
"I wish we could do something to ensure that," Ivy said.
"Actually...I have been working on something. Jewel, Perle, do you want to test it out?" Chibiusa asked.
"What is it?" Perle questioned curiously.
"I've mastered most of my abilities. I still have to help my team catch up. We should be able to pull off the energy transfer my Mother's team used to power up Sailor Moon to her Crisis form so she could rescue Hotaru. It can give you and those you care about some extra protection." Chibiusa sounded thrilled to try this for Jewel's sake, even if she doubted it might work.
"Sure, I trust you and the girls." Jewel always supported her half-sister's ideas, no matter how outlandish they seemed.
The girls closed their eyes and held hands in a circle around Perle. Their symbols glowed brightly on their foreheads, and the same colored lights reflected in Perle's wings for a minute. However, without the Outer Senshi, this technique genuinely drained the Inner Senshi, and they fell to their knees! Without a word, Star grabbed her teammate's hands, including Jewel's, and dragged them into the circle to help.
"Princess, our powers will have to pass through you to get to Perle. Can you handle that?" Star questioned.
"I'll do anything to help." Jewel did not know if she would survive, but she was willing to try!
Thankfully, the Inner Senshi, especially Chibiusa, opted to transfer some concentrated energy to take some tension off Jewel. However, Perle kept in mind he would share this energy with his family, no matter how incredible it felt inside him! A couple of days later, Christen had odd occurrences with her abilities when using rituals on the Eye Of Brahma and, swearing she had heard that name somewhere briefly before, consulted her books.
Finding the jewels, her teammates now owned were cursed took a bit more time than expected! However, one small, teenie, tiny comfort was the Eye Of Brahma had previously been shattered into pieces, so it was plausible the curse had been weakened, if not lifted completely, as Christen had not felt the urge to jump off any buildings lately.
Also, Ariel and Gracie had not reported any strange events with their gemstones either. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Crystal, whose luck, which was usually fair, started to spiral downward! After somehow burning breakfast, Crystal had a specific hair stylist she went to for her preferred hair treatment. Still, she woke up late for the appointment only to figure out the place went out of business overnight anyway! No jobs Crystal applied for were hiring her if that was not bad enough. Everything was blamed on her, though there was no proof she had done anything!
As she, Ariel, and Gracie were safe, Christen unsheathed a dagger (with Gracie and Ariel holding Crystal back) and shattered the Star Of India! Although sorrowful, Crystal's appalling luck seemed to turn around!
"Why don't we just break all our gemstones?" Gracie asked, as this could be a logical answer to their dilemma.
"I have plans for them..." Christen replied in a sly tone. To her credit, Christen's "plans" were well thought-out this time at she explained them to Helios's family.
"Smashing all the gems will make it less likely for Melaine to materialize. So, she must think one of us is still under the influence of the gemstones. Then, if she abducted one of us, we would be in the right state of mind enough to stay conscious and calculate a way home or even take so that Melaine, so the Dream Faries can talk to her!"
"Your wisdom and intelligence shine like the Moon!" Helios complimented Christen on her foresight and intellect.
"Now, who is going to be our little guinea pig?" Christen evilly eyed her three remaining teammates.
"Not it!" Gracie yelled.
"No!" Crystal screamed.
"I'll do it..." Ariel volunteered, sounding so not into this that she could have passed for Wednesday Addams.
"You are the strongest out of us." Crystal hoped her flattering Ariel would make her feel motivated.
"So I'm told..." Ariel still did not sound like she wanted to do this, though she knew she planned to apprehend Melaine with her electricity. Knowing Melaine targeted the girls, once the gems took full effect, Jewel locked away the Shar Diamond by hand as she felt using her magic might activate the curse!
"I'm truly sorry about all of this, Jewel. If I had known about those gemstones, I never would have taken them." Perle apologized profusely.
"It's OK, Perle. It would be best if you didn't blame yourself. It could have happened to anyone." Jewel put a reassuring hand on Perle's shoulder.
As an extra precaution, Christen had ordered and bought some ingredients to make pellets of pure/fine silver and iron, natural repellents against a Fae. Although it could not kill them, it could drive them off. Jewel's Dark Kingdom Senshi could best use these. Thankfully, Christen made at least four before Melaine was detected again! This time, she is accompanied by Orcs, creatures born from the heat and slimes of the Earth. The bonus of having weapons and shields so the fire would be less effective!
Remembering what they learned from various video games, Neo-Sailor Mercury and Sailor Eclipse combined attacks! "This will stop them cold! Ice Freeze!" Neo-Sailor Mercury hoped this would slow down or weaken the Orcs.
"Shadow Sucker Punch!" Sailor Eclipse melted into the shadows and sprung out to perform an uppercut on one of the Orcs, knocking it on its back!
Neo-Sailor Venus and Sailor Nova combined Neon Venus Golden Shower and Nova Storm to wipe out the immobilized Orcs, but more kept coming! So, Neo-Sailor Moon, Neo-Sailor Mars, Sailor Universe, Sailor Earth, Sailor Sun, and the Dream Fairies pitched in! Wildly, Helena looked around, spotting Melaine hiding a few feet away! Helena made her way toward Melaine, avoiding stray attacks, but an Orc blocked her pathway and attempted to mash her!
"STOP!" Everyone looked over: Melaine had her hand up, palm out in the Halt signal in front of the Orc. Mainly created only for battle, the Orc fell apart when not fighting. Melaine had just saved Helena!
"Melaine..." Helena breathed a sigh of relief, but what do you say to someone you made everyone forget about for years? But, unfortunately, Melaine only existed a few hours ago.
"Hey, Mom..." Melaine replied softly. Melaine wanted to cry, run, say, and do much more, but none seemed right. Seeing the pain and confusion in Fae's eyes,
Helena opened her arms for a hug, "You've grown up so beautiful. Please...?" she begged.
"I wish I could hug you, but I don't want to hurt you more than I already have." Tears started to drip from Melaine's eyes the more she talked. Helena reached for her troubled daughter. Suddenly Melaine spread her wings, took to the air, and signaled the Orcs to retreat hastily, taking Neo-Sailor Mars and Neo-Sailor Jupiter with them!