The Sailor guardians frantically crowded around their friend on the street. Blood was spilling fast from Azula's body, some of it seeping onto Tuxedo Mask who was supporting her on the ground.
"Can we heal her!?" Sailor Mars shouted desperately at her friends.
"The wound is too big! I'm not sure if it's possible!" Sailor Moon frantically examined her Moon Rod. She'd never had to heal that kind of wound on anyone!
"We have to do something - she'll bleed to death!" went Sailor Hemera.
"Azula!?"
"Azula, stay with us!"
"Azula!"
But Azula was not responding to anyone nor anything. Tuxedo Mask didn't want to move her but another part of him wondered if racing to the hospital was her best shot.
"Sailor Moon, just try the Moon Rod!" Sailor Venus urgently pushed Sailor Moon to do it.
While Azula didn't respond, she could hear the buzzes of voices around her. How horrible it was to hear but not move and tell her friends goodbye.
Because this was it, right? This was where she was going to die? At least she was surrounded by her friends...but her family...oh my God her family. She'd left in such a hurry, so angry with them, and now she wouldn't be able to tell them anything ever again.
"O-okay…" Sailor Moon's hands were shaking as she tried to command her Moon Rod. "M-Moon Princess Hal - OW!" She dropped the Moon Rod and hunched over as something sharp jabbed in her chest. "Ow! Ow! OW!"
The rest of the guardians were puzzled with her sudden reaction, but quickly reacted when she fell to her knees doubling over in pain.
"What's going on!?" Sailor Hemera exclaimed, glancing back at Tuxedo Mask. He was just as confused why Sailor Moon was crying out like she was the one dying.
"Sailor Moon, what — ARGH!" Tuxedo Mask gave a similar cry of pain all of a sudden. Unbeknownst to him, the same jabbing sensation had erupted in his chest. In all the pain, he was forced to let Azula go.
Sailor Hemera quickly settled the redhead better on the ground and then, like the rest of the guardians, went to figure out what was happening.
Sailor Asteria had joined them as well and was looking at the affected. "What the hell's going on here? Is it contagious now too?"
"Did Senka do something to them!?" Sailor Mercury panicked at the idea that Senka had snuck in some sneaky Shadow attack on them both.
"You guys, Azula's not going to last very long," said Sailor Venus, gazing down at Azula. She was looking a lot more sickly pale now, and the red in her stomach wouldn't stop growing.
"Sailor Moon, c'mon you have to try the rod!" Sailor Jupiter said, swiping the Moon Rod off the ground to hand back to the blonde.
"I can't — I can't —" Sailor Moon struggled to breathe. Whatever was happening was getting stronger and stronger. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tuxedo Mask was in the same state. What the hell was going on!?
"Hold on…" Sailor Circe was the first to see a glowing purple light emerging from Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. She pulled Sailor Hemera and Sailor Asteria away from Sailor Moon then motioned Sailor Siren to look at the two in pain.
The purple glow was getting stronger in both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. In fact, it was growing so strong that even Sailor Moon's guardians had to back away from the two.
"You don't think…?" Sailor Asteria began with a laugh of absurdity, one which earned herself cold looks from the rest of the group.
"What are you talking about?" Sailor Jupiter inquired about them, asking rather annoyed too. How could they be so carefree when they were having such a major problem?
But the Shadow scouts ignored her.
"It wouldn't surprise me…" Sailor Siren said to Circe, "It would have been the perfect strategy. Hide it in a place no one would ever look…"
Sailor Hemera's face was glowing with excitement. "She hid it...in them!?"
"Hid what!?" went Sailor Venus, glaring at them all. "What are you talking about!?"
"Princess Reign…" Sailor Circe gazed at Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask with newfound light in her eyes. "She never hid the Shadow Crystal inside her body…"
Sailor Mars was the first to understand. She spun back to Sailor Moon and with wide eyes watched as a piece of a purple crystal emerged from Sailor Moon's chest. Another piece of the same crystal glowed as it was expelled from Tuxedo Mask's chest.
"What's...going on…?" Sailor Venus blinked fast and watched the two pieces of the crystal join together to form one purple-black crystal in the air.
Sailor Jupiter rubbed her eyes. "Is that…?"
"The Shadow Crystal," Sailor Circe began to smile softly. "Princess Reign left her Shadow Crystal to the two people she trusted most in the world."
"…Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity." Sailor Hemera almost smacked herself for being so clueless. Of course Reign would have done that! It made perfect sense!
Reign spent most, if not all, of her life in solitude. Prince Endymion was the first person to show her what a friend was like. He was not a guardian who was at her beck and call, he was a friend. And because of him, Reign met Princess Serenity who showed her that even though they were thousands of miles apart, and two very different people, they could still be friends. With those two, Reign learned what it was like to trust, to laugh, to have fun. At her time of death, of course Reign would choose to leave her Shadow Crystal to the people she loved the most.
The Shadow Crystal glowed beautifully as it lowered itself down to Azula's body. Once it entered through her chest, the glow spread all over her body.
"What's it doing?" Sailor Mercury shielded her eyes as did the others from the glow.
"Healing," Tuxedo Mask groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. He was finally getting the air his lungs desperately needed. "Reign...she once said that the Crystal healed her if she ever got hurt. I saw it once too…" Images were rushing through his mind at the moment, so many to take in and so many…of Reign.
And true to the story, the Crystal's glow slowly died down and left behind a perfectly healed Azula...with a dark, purple compact over her chest. A purple triangle glowed on her forehead while a silver crescent moon wrote itself over the triangle. Three silver lines started from the bottom of the crescent moon to the base of the triangle.
When Azula opened her eyes, they were weak. She didn't understand why everyone was staring at her with such...bewilderment. Only a second later, her eyes fell shut and she was out cold.
Sailor Moon pulled herself up from the ground and breathed in sharply. She looked down at Azula with a new light — with new memories. Her mind was spinning.
"I'm so sorry," Chibiusa's soft voice diverted everyone else's attention. She dropped her Luna P ball and ran to Azula's side, hugging her and repeating her apology.
~ 0 ~
The group took Azula back to the base as soon as it became possible. Azula had been in and out of it for a few hours after the attack. When she was finally able to stay up, and she remembered what happened, she almost wished she had died instead.
"You're the Princess," Meroko couldn't stop saying, which probably wasn't helping either. She was just so excited! Their search had finally come to an end! She was gazing at Azula in a whole new light - a whole new creepy light was what Azula thought of it.
"Stop saying that," Azula whispered quietly and hugged herself. She felt like she was on display for everyone, and even though they were her friends...she was so confused. There were new images in her head, memories she supposed, but they were all fragmented that she couldn't make them up.
"It's true," Nara stepped forwards along with Asteria and Emica in a perfect line. "You are Princess Reign. And we" — she gestured to the other three Shadow Scouts — "are your Guardians. We are sworn to protect you and your Shadow Crystal until the end of time. Princess Reign…" she got down on one knee and had the other girls fall in line, "...we are here for you once again."
Azula lost it when the four Guardians bowed their heads at her. "Don't do that!" she jumped out of her seat, dropping her purple brooch in the process. "Don't ever do that again!"
"Azula…" Mamoru tried to grab ahold of her arm but she inched away from him too. She was freaking out and he could see it.
"I'm not her," she kept saying, hoping that someone would believe her, or at least agree with her. "I'm not Reign, I...I can't be. I didn't even have the Crystal…so, so I…I can't be her…"
"But you have it now," Minako gently reminded her, feeling quite sympathetic for the girl. She knew better than anyone else what it meant to discover you had a whole other life and that it would now mesh with your current one. It took a lot of time to accept the new reality. "The crystal came out of Mamoru and Usagi - we saw it. And it went to you. It's the reason you're still alive."
"I just…" Azula felt like her entire world was crashing down on her and if someone didn't help her, she would drown in it. "I would remember if I was some freaky Shadow Princess, okay!? I would—I would remember something like that! And I don't!"
Usagi cleared her throat and kindly smiled at her. "You really wouldn't," she spoke with the air of experience. "I didn't remember anything until the day my Silver Crystal appeared."
"But I still don't remember anything!"
"It can take some time for you to regain all your memories of your past life," Luna hopped off the stool and patted up to her. "But the evidence is clear, it has always been there. It's probably the reason you didn't forget about the Sailor Scouts like the others did when Usagi wiped everyone's minds."
"It still doesn't make sense," Azula shot it down. "Usagi forgot."
"Your Shadow Crystal works differently," Nara spoke up again, trying to ease her nerves. "You yourself are wired a whole different way. Remember that you are not just a person, you are a link to the Shadow Dominion - to the souls themselves."
"Stop saying that!" Azula gritted her teeth together. "I am normal! I am…" she trailed off and spun around until she found Chibiusa.
The little girl had not spoken since they retreated to the base. But now that the attention was on her, she squeaked. "I'm so sorry…"
"You knew, didn't you?" Azula asked, already knowing the answer. "What you were saying before...you knew that was the place where 'Reign'" — she did air quotation marks — "would appear. You knew who she was this entire time and you didn't say anything?"
"It's against the rules!" Chibiusa exclaimed, trying to make the argument but her throat felt like there was a lump. "I'm not supposed to say anything-"
"Oh spare me, you already broke the biggest rule by time travelling! Next thing you'll say is that I'm your mother or something…"
Chibiusa looked away, and Azula raised her hands.
"I am not the Princess, I am not Reign. I am only Azula Keena! I'm your tech girl!" she frantically gestured to the computers. "I make constant theories! I love space but I'm not from there!"
"Azula…" Usagi made the move to hug her but Azula ran off. "Azula!" Usagi was kept back by Mamoru. "We have to go to her!"
"She needs some time to process it," he sighed. "It's a lot to take in."
"What now, then?" Makoto glanced at them with no clue on their next move.
"Reign has been found, and therefore we need to leave," Nara regretted to say because as soon as she spoke those words the rest of the girls began to shout 'what!?' in unison. "I think bringing the Princess to Obscurius is our best option for her safety."
"But taking Azula out of her home can be detrimental for her mental health," Ami pointed out. "Despite her true identity, she still has a life here. She has a family. If you take her away from the only thing she's ever known, it could be dangerous."
"Senka thinks Azula is dead, giving us the upperhand," Emica began to say, now thinking like her true strategic self. "She has no idea that we have both Princess Reign and the Shadow Crystal now. We can hit her with a blind hit and hopefully seal her back into the Shadow Dominion."
"You think," Rei spoke the key words in Emica's nice speech. "The fact is you are just as lost on Senka as we are. Together we can take down Senka. And I really doubt Azula would ever leave us."
"It's for her safety," Emica argued logically.
"But is it the best option?" Usagi countered. "Ami is right. This is the only life that Azula has known and no amount of past life memories is going to change that. We should be trying to help her get through this, not trying to take away the little she has left."
~ 0 ~
Despite spending the rest of the day outside, Azula hadn't gotten one clue as to what to think. When her body finally started making demands for proper rest, she regretfully returned home. There was a small bag left outside the apartment door and when Azula picked it up she saw signs of Chibiusa's doings on it. The child had drawn a cute little bunny for her with a thought bubble saying "I'm sorry".
Despite her terrible, awful day, Azula smiled. At the end of the day, Chibiusa was just a kid.
She peered inside the bag and saw the purple brooch inside. It was a careless gesture, she began to think, when she realized the brooch was practically useless to a regular person since the Shadow Crystal was inside her.
She froze.
Had she just said 'regular person' like she wasn't one anymore?
She dashed into her room and locked the door. She let herself slide down to the ground and cradled the bag like Chibiusa often did with her Luna P ball. "I'm normal, I'm normal…" she whispered to herself.
She looked into the bag again and pulled out a small package of brownies she was sure came from Usagi. They were probably a bit hard but Azula was used to them by now. Next, she took out a brilliant red rose from Mamoru. Azula rolled her eyes - those three were so dramatic. The only thing left inside was a strip of paper and the brooch. Azula pulled out the letter and looked it over.
It's okay to be afraid, Azula. I was too. But when I was the princess, you were there for me. You said everything would be fine because I was the Princess and I had a big heart. I could do wonders. Now I can do the same thing to you. You have the power to help people and I know you want to own it. So please, don't be afraid. We are all here for you.
- Usagi
Azula took in a shaky breath and reached inside the bag. Her hand carefully picked up the compact and pulled it out. She grazed a hand over it, feeling its cool glass bubbling with energy. It was beautiful too, she couldn't deny. There was a black glass outlining its flame-like shape. Purple and silver filled the insides of the glass with one particular shiny purple gem placed at its center.
It was hers.
If she said the right thing...then she would transform into a...a...Sailor Guardian? She was Sailor Reign?
Azula quickly got up from the floor and rushed up to her bed. She stared at the compact for another minute before thrusting it under her pillow. With her hands against her face, she turned away.
It scared her to pieces.
~ 0 ~
Esmeraude stood on a high building roof overlooking the city. Her heeled boot stepped over the ledge and purposely kicked some rocks off the ledge. "Chiral? Achiral?" her velvety voice called upon.
Two twin brothers with long, white hair and pitch black eyes appeared behind her. "We're the Bould brothers," they chorused together.
Esmeraude turned around and gently blew her fan to her face. "I learned my mistake that using a regular old figurine wouldn't be enough so this time...we're going to kick it up a notch." She walked over to the center of the roof where a golden figurine of herself stood. "There will be two figurines sucking up energy this time around. No chances will be taken. One here and the other in the mongrels' park. Split up and protect each of them. And kill the rabbit."
"Of course!" the Bould brothers split to their tasks.
Esmeraude laughed loud in the night.
Her laughter, unknowingly, was carried out towards one lone Guardian…
"The Black Moon Clan is a fearsome group but a redeemable one as well. Help Sailor Moon stop them," A dark, familiar voice, warned in a black foggy area. "They are being manipulated by an even stronger foe. He is Death and Living. He is—"
Azula woke up with a deep gasp. She patted her face as if she expected to be someone else.
'You must not be afraid, Reign.'
Azula clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "Go away…" and yet, as much as she pleaded, she couldn't get rid of the strange, funny feeling inside her.
It had to be the Shadow Crystal's doing, she was sure.
~0~
"Luna, you could have woken me up!" Chibiusa zoomed down the streets in the morning.
Artemis and Luna were holding onto Chibiusa's sleeves, if not she would fall. "I tried repeatedly but you wouldn't listen!" Luna argued, well skilled since she had the same argument with Usagi almost every morning.
"I was just too tired I guess!" Chibiusa made a face and took a quick swerve into the next block. "I stayed up to see if Azula would call Usagi!"
"She never called anyone!" Artemis assured and yelped when Chibiusa came to a sudden halt just outside her school's gaze.
The three quieted down as the sounds of furious voices carried out. Chibiusa walked in calmly, though cautious, and came into the gardens of the school to see the entire school fighting with each other.
"What's going on?" Luna gasped.
Chibiusa spotted her friend, Momo, a small girl going head on against a taller boy. Momo looked incredibly mad, in contrast to her usual cheery self. She flipped the boy over then saw Chibiusa staring at her. "What are you looking at!?" Momo pointed at Chibiusa.
"Momo, what's-" Chibiusa squeaked when Momo came running at her. She tried to turn away but Momo proved to be quicker and slid a foot at Chibiusa's legs, essentially tripping Chibiusa over. "Momo!" Chibiusa called after her friend but Momo kept running into the building along with other students.
"Are you alright?"Artemis asked Chibiusa but seriously doubted she could be alright after being attacked.
"Why is everyone acting like this?" Chibiusa frowned and dusted herself off. "Momo!" she ran after her friend, ignoring the calls of the cats warning her it was dangerous.
"Artemis, look at that," Luna nodded to the roof where they could see a significantly large, golden figurine of Esmeraude.
"Dark power," Artemis narrowed his eyes on it. "We need to call in the girls!"
"At once!" Luna agreed.
~0~
Chibiusa cautiously walked the hallways of the school and found everything to be in shambles. The lights weren't even working so it was all dark and extra scary. She found her homeroom class door opened just a creak. She pushed it open with a lone finger.
"Ah!" She retreated back into the hallway after finding her teacher, Momo and the rest of the class waiting for her.
"Run!" Luna exclaimed and the girl did as told.
The group chased her down the hallway but thankfully missed her going into another classroom.
"This has to be Esmeraude's work," Artemis said.
"Chibiusa, you need to get out of this building at once," Luna urgently said. She hopped onto the teacher's desk near the window overlooking the yard. "No one is outside right now. We should go now."
Chibiusa shook her head. "No. I can't leave my friend here so that the Black Moon Clan can keep using her."
"It's dangerous—"
"I know," Chibiusa assured both cats she understood the situation. "But Momo was my first friend here and it's my responsibility to help her." Chibiusa had a strong sense of determination that no one would be able to take away from her.
~0~
There was an incessant knocking on Azula's apartment door, and since no one was home, it was up to her to answer. She sighed when she found Meroko, Asteria, Emica and Nara on the other side. "Leave me alone!" She attempted to close the door on them but Emica stuck a foot between the threshold..
"Not so fast, there's an emergency," Emica said, though she didn't look very pleased herself. "Esmeraude is attacking some school and it looks bigger than the last time you faced her. We need to get you out of here."
Azula's face quickly formed an 'are you serious' expression expected by the girls. "No!" Her second attempt to shut the door was stopped by Meroko slamming a hand on the actual door.
"I actually agree with you, but I'm outnumbered here. Your safety is all we care about."
"We want to take you to Obscurius before Senka realizes you're not dead," Nara explained but Azula was already scoffing at her refusal. "Their people are our sister civilization. The King and Queen would accept our petition of asylum—"
Azula waved for her to stop talking. "Do you hear yourself!? I am not leaving! And I'm certainly not leaving Senka to terrorize my friends!"
Asteria's eyebrows raised with a bit of joy. "So then you're accepting to continue battling? As Sailor Reign?"
"I...I don't know…" Azula admired and walked back into the living room. "It's so confusing. I can't remember right. All I've got are weird feelings."
"It's an emotional journey, we understand," Nara tried to assure it was all normal but Azula corrected her.
"No, no, I'm not talking about feelings as in emotions. I mean like this weird feeling inside me," Azula gestured at her body. "It's like I...I can feel things that aren't here. Like Rei and Mamoru do, but it's different...I heard voices last night in my head."
"Those must be the shadows of the Shadow Dominion," Nara concluded. "It was what Queen Nyx had too. The shadows of the Shadow Dominion are the actual souls of everyone from our world. You're their conduit, their link to this world."
"You really want to make me fear this more, huh?" Azula shook her head and started back for the open door. She told them to leave. "I'm very sorry but I'm not Reign."
"Just because you keep saying that doesn't mean it's going to become real," Emica warned.
"What are you even doing?" Azula unexpectedly snapped. "Up until yesterday you hated me and my friends! But what? Now that you think—"
"I don't 'think' - I know who you are," Emica corrected. "I saw it, don't you forget. And yeah, I'm still not fond of your friends but you are my Princess—"
"Stop saying that!" Azula ordered through gritted teeth, getting more and more riled up. "God don't any of you listen!? I'm not a princess!"
"Okay," Meroko raised her hands, showing she was trying to be peaceful. "Let's forget about the whole royalty thing for a moment and just...focus on the fun part. You're a Sailor Scout - you're a powerful Sailor Scout. You equal the only other two Sailor Scouts in the galaxies. It means you can definitely help right now. I'm sure Chibiusa is waiting for Sailor Moon and Sailor Reign to come help her."
Up until Meroko had spoken Chibiusa's name, Azula had been rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Now the redhead was expressing concern for the situation she'd yet to know of. "What...what do you mean? Is Chibiusa in trouble?"
Asteria saw her sister's plan and decided to follow it. Azula was dead scared of what it meant to be 'Reign' but if the tables turned to show what it meant to be a Sailor Guardian then perhaps Azula would be more willing to come with them. Even if it meant Azula didn't leave the city like Nara and Emica wanted, it was still a start. "Esmeraude is attacking Chibiusa's school. We have reason to believe this time she's conjured up two powerful energy-sucking figurines of hers. Minako said they'd followed a trace to a figurine in the park but Chibiusa is definitely near another one at her school."
"I know you don't want to talk about it, but...I think it's time Sailor Reign made her debut and helped these children out," Meroko smiled kindly.
Azula felt terrible, really. She admitted not so long ago that she wanted to have powers like the rest of her friends but now that she apparently had them...she didn't know what to do with them. She didn't know anything.
"This is ridiculous, we need to go," Emica said once again.
"No," Meroko turned on her, shaking her head. "We should help here!"
"You're in no position to talk!" Emica faced her with a firey anger. "You've already abandoned your group for those Silver Milleniums when Reign wasn't here! Don't you dare do it again now that she is here! Your top priority is her—"
"I know that!" Meroko got in Emica's face, almost touching noses in their standoff.
"Girls…" Nara looked from one comrade to the other, wary.
"She needs to remember where she should stand—!" Emica began to shout when Azula cut them off.
"Enough!" Azula waved them all to be quiet for a second while she organized her thoughts. "So... Esmeraude thought of a more elaborate plan now. Is Senka around?"
"Not that we know of," Nara shook her head. "Which is why I must insist on our plan to leave the planet."
"I may not know what u intend to do about...this," she waved a hand at them and herself, "but I sure know that I am not leaving."
"But Princess—" Emica went to argue but once again Azula cut her off.
"This is my home. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go see what's going on at that school." Azula started out the door when she remembered something else. She cast a rather nervous glance at her bedroom for a second before deciding to run into it.
"We're not actually going are we?" Emica turned to Nara expecting for some kind of back up but Nara sighed.
"We must obey. It is our duty."
"Ready," Azula emerged from her bedroom a minute later with a hand inside her jacket's pocket. "And I want two of you to go help the girls at the park." The order slipped off rather easily from her tongue but Azula figured if they were to follow her then they might as well do something useful.
"I can go," Asteria volunteered, then waited for someone, especially Emica, to volunteer next.
"We are supposed to keep you safe!" Emica stomped her foot down.
"Newsflash, the worst has already happened. I died," Azula reminded with a straight, calm face. "Now please, accompany Asteria to the park. Esmeraude must have a droid somewhere lurking in the park." She smiled briefly then headed out first.
~0~
Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter arrived at Chibiusa's school first.
"They're probably inside," Sailor Venus nodded to the eerie silent building.
Sailor Moon gulped at the terribly large golden figurine at the top of the roof and decided it was better to be inside than outside where she could be picked at any moment. She barely dodged a chair thrown from the upstairs window.
"What kind of evil uses kids?" She grew more and more disgusted with the Black Moon Clan.
"The Black Moon Clan does," Sailor Jupiter answered with a big frown.
The three girls went looking for Chibiusa as quietly as possible, deciding if Chibiusa had common sense then she would hide in a classroom. Thankfully, their suspicion was confirmed in the third classroom. Chibiusa scared her when she emerged from behind an anatomy skeleton.
"Sailor Moon!" the girl threw her arms around Sailor Moon's waist and cried.
"And the girls?" Luna asked as she and Artemis came around from the same hiding spot.
"They're coming. They found another figurine at the park," Sailor Venus explained while Sailor Moon pried Chibiusa's hands from her.
"We're going to get you out, okay?" Chibiusa gave a somewhat nod and allowed Sailor Moon to lead them out of the classroom.
But as soon as they walked back into the hallway, they were met with possessed students and even a teacher. Chibiusa immediately spotted Momo in the group.
"Momo! Please!" Chibiusa tried to go to her friend but Sailor Moon yanked her right back.
"It's no use, she's being controlled by the dark energy," Artemis reminded her.
"HEY!"
The crowd, including Sailor Moon, Chibiusa and the cats, all followed the source of the voice to none other than Azula waving at the other end of the hallway.
"Azula, no!' Sailor Moon shouted, thinking her friend had no real plan as the crowd started coming for Azula instead.
But then, Sailor Hemera jumped in front of Azula with an attack ready to go. "Bright Sun Attack!"
Knowing the attack well, the others had the good sense of shielding their eyes just as Hemera's bright light filled the hallway.
"Run!" They heard Azula's order.
Sailor Moon pulled Chibiusa down the opposite way of the hallway with Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter leading the way, and the cats right behind them. Azula, Sailor Hemera and Sailor Circe met them by going around a different hallway.
"You came!" Chibiusa exclaimed at the sight of Azula, throwing herself into redhead much like she had with Sailor Moon.
"You're making a habit of getting into trouble and expecting me to cover you," Azula chuckled and hugged her back. "You should stop that. I sent Sailor Siren and Sailor Asteria to the park to help," she then told Sailor Moon.
"Where's Sailor Reign?" Chibiusa softly asked, waiting to see the much talked about Guardian appear.
"Uh…" Azula shook her head. "We should just get you out of here."
"Not without Momo!"
"Who?"
"My friend! The Black Moon Clan doesn't get to take her like they took Mommy!" Chibiusa pulled her hand from Sailor Moon and started running away.
"No! Chibiusa!" Sailor Moon quickly chased after her.
The others had no choice but to follow as well. Chibiusa had a perfect knack for finding those possessed by dark energy. She crashed into Momo who was looking ready to start hitting.
"Magical Chains!" Sailor Circe fired her silver chains from her staff and grabbed the little girl by the wrists
"No! Don't hurt her!" Chibiusa planted herself between Momo and the others.
"She's not your friend right now, Chibiusa!" Sailor Circe struggled to keep the chains in place. Momo was twisting and turning on purpose.
Laughter filled the air as one of the Bould brothers appeared behind Momo. "I am Chiral, one of the Bould brothers. It is time to say goodbye, Sailor Scouts!"
As soon as he raised his hands to attack both Sailor Hemera and Sailor Circe pushed Azula as hard as possible to get her out of the way. Chiral shot white energy from his hands and trapped the three Sailor Guardians, Chibiusa and Momo in an energy box. It immediately started to electrify them all.
"No!" Azula scrambled to get up. The lone brother examined her in such a condescending manner, anger bubble inside her. If only he knew…
She blinked and looked down at her jacket. Her hand stuck inside her pocket and felt the compact still tucked inside. She bit her lip nervously, but the agonizing screams of her friends drew her in. She could see poor Chibiusa holding onto Momo, crying out.
"They're just children!" she screamed but Chiral laughed at her. Azula gripped the compact inside her pocket.
'Say the words, Reign. Don't be afraid anymore. Say…'
"Shadow Crystal Power!" the words rolled off Azula's tongue like they had always been there, just waiting to be said.
A purple and silver glow took her body over. Ribbons flashing silver and purple covered her figure, slowly forming a purple leotard with a matching purple skirt whose hemline faded into a glittering silver and black hemline. She wore matching purple boots with black ribbons as a lacing. A silver circlet encrusted with purple and black gems twinkled into appearance over her fiery red hair. And last came the formation of a silver and black staff with an orb at the top, a light purple flame-shaped jewel at the center.
"Guardian of souls and protector of the Shadow realm, I am Sailor Reign! And you will fear me!" Sailor Reign's sharp eyes laid upon the stricken Bould brother. She pointed her staff at him. "Let them go before I make you."
"Sailor Reign? I don't think so," Chiral pulled an arm back to attack but at the same time Sailor Reign began to hear the voices in her head.
''The chameleon staff can help! Use its force!'
Without much knowledge, Sailor Reign said the words entrusted to her by the voices. "Shadow Scream!" she raised her staff and flinched as it fired off three consecutive times. She cracked open an eye to see dark purple-black energy - shadows - erupt from the staff's orb screaming like it had an actual voice.
"What the - leave me alone!" Chiral was left to battle with three Shadow entities.
"The box? How do I crash the box?" Sailor Reign desperately asked the voices. At this point she didn't care if she was crazy for believing they were actual voices of the Shadow Dominion. So far, they were helping and that's all that mattered.
It seems like Chibiusa was already on it without intending to. There was golden energy flashing from her forehead as she cried out in pain. She had somehow gotten ahold of Momo and refused to let go.
The discharge of energy erased the Shadows around Chiral, but still left him stunned. "It's the Rabbit? We have the rabbit!?"
Chibiusa's energy was enough to get rid of the energy box as well. Momo blinked lazily and looked around, becoming all too scared like a normal person would be. "What's going on?'
The rest of the Guardians were released from the brothers' grip.
"Sailor Reign?" Sailor Moon beamed at the sight of the redheaded guardian.
Sailor Reign sheepishly smiled in return. Their moment was cut short when the second Bould brother appeared.
"Brother!" Achiral seemed frantic.
"If you're here…" Sailor Moon began, her thoughts rushing to her friends who were meant to stop him at the park. "Where are the others!?"
"Looks to me like he ran," said Sailor Venus with a smirk.
The taunting tone in her voice provoked the brothers immediately. They fired down at the group at the same time, creating such an incredible blast of energy.
"No!" Momo did the unthinkable and jumped in front of Chibiusa to take her blow.
Chibiusa swore she saw Crystal Tokyo's destruction right then and there again. Someone had once done the same thing for her just as the explosion happened. Everyone kept doing that, putting themselves in danger just to protect her. And they always got hurt afterwards.
She cried again and this time expelled even more energy than the last. Something flickered in and out on her forehead and blinded everyone on the scene. By the time it died out of existence, the Bould brothers were gone.
"They used the distraction to escape!" Sailor Hemera exclaimed as she frantically looked around for the brothers.
"No, they're still here. They want something from us," Sailor Circe said suspiciously.
"They have the others," Sailor Venus recalled the words implying the capture of their friends.
"Then let's go find them," Sailor Circe gripped her staff and smirked. "See if they can handle all of us at the same time."
"Artemis, Luna, stay with Chibiusa please," Sailor Moon instructed, then went to follow the others when Sailor Reign grabbed her arm.
"Uh, just for the record, I have no idea what I'm doing," she felt the need to admit just in case they depended on her for something big. She did not want to be a liability.
Sailor Moon smiled and admitted the same. "It's why we're a team. When I don't know what to do, someone else does. And when no one knows what to do, I know."
The Sailor Scouts ended up coming out of the building in search for the Bould brothers.
"I didn't take those two for hide and seek players," Sailor Hemera whipped out her trusty, golden sword just in case.
"They've got a different game than all the other attackers we've had," Sailor Circe said, meaning that alone to be a warning.
"What - ah!" Sailor Reign jumped in her spot - causing the others to quickly whip around ready to fight - when her staff puffed out of existence and changed into a bow and arrow "How did I do that?" she blinked at the bow and arrow now in her possession.
No one got to answer for the Bould brothers had appeared in the air and started firing strange electrical beams at them.
"Enough is enough!" Sailor Jupiter exclaimed and struck her electric blow. The brothers split and easily dodged it. One of them then fired at Sailor Jupiter from behind, encasing her in a black energy sphere. "Let me out! Let me out!" The brunette scout pounded on the sphere and even tried to take it down herself only to have the power bounce furiously back and forth inside.
"They're not trying to fight anymore, they're trying to capture us…" Sailor Venus took a step back. "But what for?"
"Who cares!" Sailor Moon cried as she jumped around trying to dodge the black beams. She screeched when she jumped just a bit too hard and lost her balance. It really would happen to her, she thought.
"Let's take the big prize, brother," Achiral mused. He put his hands together, thinking of creating a sphere just a bit more powerful to fit the Scout, and attacked.
With perfect timing swooped in Tuxedo Mask to get Sailor Moon out of the way. "Are you okay?" he quickly asked her while Sailor Venus and Sailor Circe tried to capture the lone Bould brother with their magical chains.
"It's not working!" Sailor Venus growled when the Bould Brother freed himself from the magical chains.
"Sailor Reign" Tuxedo Mask spotted the girl still trying to figure out the bow and arrow in her hands, "use it!"
"I - I don't know how!" She waved the two objects. "A second ago it was a stupid staff!"
Sailor Circe gasped in deep offence. She whirled around. "The Chameleon Staff is not stupid!"
"Whatever!" Sailor Reign snapped back.
"Just use it! The Shadows will help you!" Sailor Circe didn't say more as she began to dodge the brothers' attacks.
Sailor Reign looked between the bow and arrow and decided nothing could go worse than it already had. She raised the bow and pulled its arrow back…
'Aim for one of the brothers, Reign. The left! Fire!'
Without thinking, Sailor Reign drew back an arrow that appeared just after firing the first. She started shooting at more arrows like she'd always known how. The Bould brothers each took two of the arrows to their chests. Their screams erupted simultaneously as black smoke started spewing out from them..
"What…?" Sailor Reign dropped the bow and rubbed her eyes. Was she doing that? A purple glow invaded the Bould brothers' bodies until they shattered into nothing. Sailor Reign jumped back and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God!"
"Oh, you are good," Sailor Hemera said with utter delight.
"Sailor Moon - destroy the figurines!" Sailor Circe commanded the frozen blonde scout.
Sailor Moon took her eyes off what used to be the Bould brothers and finished it off with her Moon Rod. "Moon Princess Halation!"
The large golden figurine on the roof burst into pieces and shut down all dark energy. The figurine at the park was also destroyed. Not even a second later did Esmeraude appear in the air.
"Well, you all think you've won, haven't you? Trust me, I've got big ideas for all of you! Don't think this is over!" With a scowl, Esmeraude disappeared.
"I don't know about you guys but I definitely feel like I won a little something…" Sailor Reign said to her friends with a giddish grin on her face. Her Chameleon staff had returned to normal and she was definitely beginning to like it.
"Great job, princess!" Sailor Circe congratulated her. "If Queen Nyx could see you, she'd be immensely proud."
Reign didn't know what to feel about the comment. She hadn't even begun to consider the idea that she technically had two mothers now, albeit both of them were dead but the fact was still there. The truth of the matter is that she had so many things to think about and organize before she could truly call herself a Sailor Guardian and much more…Reign.
A/N:
And she has arrived, Sailor Reign! ;)
As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)