Sailor Moon
Forgotten and Not Wanted V2
Episode 11: A New Ally…and Return of an old One
AN: Please vote on my poll on my profile, I'd appreciate it! :D And in an incredibly short period for my standards…HERE'S SOME MORE Rei-fest!
Rei's POV
It's been around a month since I've learned about my new ability. It's apparently called the Pure Flames of Mars, an old technique long thought lost. But…there's one thing that's been bothering me. If Galaxia isn't from Mars, how did she know I had this power?
I finally decided to confront her about this very issue.
"Galaxia, tell me, how did you know about my ability, if it's a Martian one, wouldn't it mean you didn't know anything about it?"
"You are correct in that it is a Martian ability, so yes, I would not have learned about it through normal means. As time passed, and I fell deeper into Chaos' influence, many star systems fell to me…and to the Sailor Corps. Through Chaos' power…I turned them into pawns…and when we tried to go for a relatively weak planet…we paid for it. The entire Sailor Corps was lost that day, except me…and even under Chaos' influence…I've paid for it ever since. But to answer your question, do you know that Ice cream parlor I took you to?"
"Yes…?"
"Well, those workers…they are descendants of a lost civilization. You see, according to the stories…there used to be Kingdoms on not just the Moon and Earth, but on all the planets of this solar system. I learned of these stories while under Chaos' control, and based on them, I've been able to determine a few things."
"Like what?" I asked her.
"Well, there did indeed used to be Kingdoms on all planets of this solar system, the Sun, the Moon, and even a few moons of the other planets. They were all thriving civilizations, but when the Silver Millennium fell, these Kingdoms also began to decline, and soon they collapsed as well, leaving ruins that were buried by the progress of time. The Pure Flames of Mars is an ability that is extremely rare, and only those of Royal Blood or the Guardian can wield them effectively. In other words, since you used to be the Guardian of Mars, the Pure Flames respond to you. The workers in there are descendants of the civilizations of the other Kingdoms. Their ancestors fled from their worlds as the Kingdoms collapsed, and established themselves in a remote enough system that I missed them on my way in."
As this info sunk in, I now wondered something else.
"Then what about the Neo-Scouts…are they really Senshi?"
There was a long pause.
"Galaxia?" I said.
"…Yes, they are. The planets each had two guardians, the normal Senshi, who served under Queen Serenity, and the Neo-Scouts, the princesses who defended their respective planets. And I can sense another question hidden in there. The answer to that one is Yes, Usagi currently trusts them, but only marginally. The betrayal you committed against her is still fresh. Usagi is unwilling to fully trust anyone at this point but her Family, closest friends like Naru and Motoki, and maybe Sakura, but until she recovers from that trauma, it's unlikely she will trust the Neo-Scouts fully. She certainly is unlikely to trust you and the other Inners after what you did."
"I Figured. But I can't help but worry about her. I've been getting feelings that something bad is going to happen to her really soon. The flames are acting the same way, hinting something will happen to her tonight."
"I pray that you are wrong Rei…for if you are correct…we may need to reveal ourselves sooner than I hoped…"
Please…let me be wrong again…
TIMESKIP
The flames were not being particularly nice today. If anything, they only reaffirmed my feelings that later tonight, something was going to go disastrously wrong for Usagi and the others if I wasn't around. Though she was understandably nervous about being anywhere near Usagi and the others after our confrontation, she agreed that shadowing them would be a good idea, just to ensure nothing went wrong.
But as we walked home, I felt the familiar energy coming off a youma.
"Oh no…"
Running over, we found that Usagi and the others were engaged with a particularly large Youma, in the shape of a Cyclops. Though it didn't seem as powerful as some of the youma we've faced, it's large size meant it was tougher than most, and it wasn't going down easily.
Out of instinct, I wanted to help, but hesitated.
"You fear her reaction don't you?" Galaxia said.
"Y-Yes…even after everything…I still care about Usagi…and I don't want to make her any angrier than she already is."
"It is your choice."
With no sign of Sailor Earth, all it took was a further hit from the Cyclops on Neptune to get me to move.
"Pure Flames!"
The flames nailed the cyclops in the back of the head, getting its attention. Galaxia joined in with her own attacks, and I was impressed for sure. She may have been young, but her powers seemed as impressive now as they did during our final confrontation. The youma turned to face us, with the others naturally moving that way as well, minus Neptune and Uranus, who moved to take cover so Uranus could help Neptune. Usagi glared at me, but didn't say a word and kept firing at the Youma.
Finally, it seemed that the Youma was going to go down, but it fired one massive blast at Usagi. I could easily tell that no one else was going to reach her in time, and it could easily kill her if it hit. Thinking out of pure instinct, I dove in, tackling Usagi out of the way just before the blast hit me. I couldn't feel anything, maybe the power of the flames, but I crashed to the ground, seriously hurt.
"Rei!" Galaxia yelled.
As I laid there, maybe dying, I felt something…it was warm, like my powers as Sailor Mars, and it was growing warmer.
"Please…don't fail me now…" I gasped out.
Suddenly, the small box Usagi had stored our powers in opened from her bag with a start, and my powers returned to me, without any prompting.
"Now…PURE MARS POWER…MAKEUP!"
*You know the drill, insert description here*
When the flames cleared, I was dressed in a new form of my old Senshi uniform, emblazoned with golden and orange in addition to the normal red and white, as though the Pure Flames had merged with my powers.
"Now…PURE MARS…FLAME SNIPER!"
The attack looked just like my normal Mars Flame Sniper, but it must have had a lot more kick, as it hit the Cyclops dead in the eye, blinding it and leaving it open to attack.
"MOON PRINCESS…ESCALATION!"
"Nova Shadow Power…HALATION!"
"Galaxia Power…BRILLANT LIGHT CANNON!"
The three attacks slammed into the Youma's head, ripping it clean to shreds. The rest of the body stood there motionless, before collapsing to its knees and fading into nothingness.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, I felt…really…woozy…
Usagi's POV
With the youma defeated, Rei reverted to normal, and collapsed from her injuries.
"Rei!"
The girl who had been helping Rei, who I was surprised to know was Galaxia, rushed over to her side, while a small light in Rei's pocket came out, in the form of a female ghost.
"Is she…" Fabia said, nervously.
After a tense moment, the ghost and Galaxia let out of a sigh of relief.
"No…thankfully she's not in any danger of dying…but she's badly hurt…the Pure flames took the worst of the impact, but her body took the rest on its own. It's a miracle that she stayed conscious long enough to fire on that Youma…" the ghost said.
"Indeed…I must get her back to the hospital,if you wish to ask her anything…we will be waiting there."
With that, Galaxia took Rei in her arms, and both of them, along with the ghost, vanished…
TIMESKIP
The Next Morning…
Though it was a Saturday, I was up earlier than ever. Rei had betrayed me…and I couldn't forget that…but she had taken a hit that could have killed her just to keep me safe, and I couldn't forget that either.
When I arrived at the hospital, her grandfather and Galaxia were standing over her.
"She'll be alright…it's only a matter of her recovery now."
"Thank you…I'll be at the temple...tell me if she wakes up."
With that, I was left alone with Galaxia and the unconscious Rei.
"Galaxia…what are you doing here?"
"Doing what I set out to do when you purified me…to help make amends for what I did under Chaos' influence…but I never would have predicted this…I thought something may happen, but never did I think this would be it."
"I can't believe Rei would risk herself like that for me…not after what she did."
"She's changed greatly from who she was before…hopefully Lila will learn like that when she recovers as well. From what I've heard…she's still in a coma after what happened a month ago."
"Yeah…she still hasn't woken up…whatever was influencing her…it left her mind a mess."
"Usagi…"
We both looked over with a start to see Rei was now awake, though still weak.
"Rei…you're okay…you baka…you could have gotten yourself killed if that power of yours hadn't taken the worst of it…"
"And I thought…we would have learned to stop arguing by this point…dumpling head…but all the same…it's good to see you."
"You were really risking your life to save me…after I took your powers from you…"
"Yeah…you would have done the same…it's just who you are. But for me…even after everything…I'd still never forgive myself if I let you get killed like that…the other inners would agree if they could remember…"
"Usagi. If you don't mind…I would like to pledge myself to you…" Galaxia said. "I know you may not be able to trust me…but I wish to undo the harm I did to Earth before I continue my journey. If you require my aid, I will be there as soon as I can."
"Same for me Usagi…once I've fully recovered…if you'll have me…I'll gladly fight by your side again…" Rei said.
I wasn't sure what to make of this…Rei had been apart from me maybe 4 months…and she was far different from before. As for Galaxia…well I wasn't sure what to make of her. But something in the back of my head said I could trust them both.
"…Okay…I can't forget what you guys did to me…but Galaxia was under Chaos' influence…and Rei…you risked your life for me…so I can forgive you both…but please…Rei…don't do anything stupid like that again…no matter whether its bravery or jealous anger…"
"Heh…don't worry about that…I'm so sore…I don't think I'll ever want to risk that again…"
Before we could say anything else, I hugged Rei, just glad to have her back…though part of me wondered…had I made a mistake with this…and especially…had I made a mistake with the others as well?
TO BE CONTINUED