Four women donning the traditional colors of blue, green, red and purple stood before a man with wild red hair and matching red eyes. In their lair - which was a big spaceship — there was nothing but silence. It was the usual custom, even when the four women — sisters — were called upon by their superior.
"We haven't been able to find the Legendary Silver Crystal nor the rabbit," the women dressed in blue, Berthier, declared in utter frustration.
The man, Rubeus, began glowering and so one of Berthier's sisters, Petz, stepped forwards. "It's not our fault and Prince Demande should know. It's that wretched Shadow Queen that prevents us from stepping into Crystal Tokyo!"
"She's put herself as the center of the barrier," added another sister, Calaveras.
"We can't weaken her," the final sister, Koan, scowled. They had tried their best to get through but the barrier was as strong as ever. Not even the Prince himself had been able to break through the barrier yet.
"Perhaps not at the moment, and from the outside, but I have devised a way to do so from the very inside," Rubeus revealed. This made the four sisters gasp. "Crystal Tokyo is in the shape of a perfect star with five end points. If we manage to weaken each of those points in the past and add our own dark powers to it, then we can break the barrier and get inside."
"And finally destroy the city with the Malefic Crystals?" Berthier beamed at the prospect. That had been their lifelong mission and now it seemed to be close to their fingers.
"Exactly," Rubeus confirmed. "So, get to work."
~0~
Both Meroko and Asteria didn't sleep for days because they were trying to make sense out of everything new they learned of their princess. Both sat in the living room nursing coffee mugs in their hands.
"How could we not know this?" Asteria asked for about the millionth time.
"Because we weren't meant to," Meroko would always respond with, which truly just annoyed Asteria.
"We were her guardians! We had a right to know!"
"But then we would become like the Forbidden Soldier," Meroko retorted and immediately quieted her sister down. "Don't you remember the story? Queen Nyx needed to keep the rest of us pure."
"I would never harm the Princess," Asteria rose from her spot in indignation. She was outraged, frankly, that Reign had chosen to share her deepest secret with someone who wasn't even part of their people.
Meroko chose to remain slightly more calm albeit her own personal feelings about the matter. She always felt like she'd been slightly more close to the Princess than her Guardian duties allowed and therefore would've instigated a bit more confidence for the Princess. Apparently not. Still, Reign was the Princess and was allowed to do as she pleased.
"Do you think Sailor Circe knew about this?" Asteria's question pulled Meroko from her thoughts. Asteria had her hands on her hips and the everlasting scowl drawn across her lips. "Reign's secret?"
"Of course," Meroko didn't think about it much. "Circe was as much of a Sailor Guardian to Queen Nyx as she was to Reign. She wasn't the Leader of the Guardians for nothing."
"But she was a soldier too! Why would Circe know about this and not us!?" the question fumed Asteria even more. Meroko was sure this would take days, weeks even, for her sister to simmer down.
~0~
"If Reign holds the Shadow Crystal and the opening to the Gates of the Shadow Dominion, then we can't really trigger her awakening, can we?" Makoto nervously looked at her friends for the confirmation.
They were all gathered, except for Usagi and Mamoru, in the base to discuss their next moves. The girls knew their options had decreased and had no new ideas to suggest.
"Not unless you feel like wasting time," Minako huffed.
"It's imperative we find that Princess soon," Luna chimed in from the computers. "The more time we waste, the more people are caught in the crossfires."
Since Reign's secret had been divulged, Senka had attacked almost every day searching for the crystal inside humans. So far, no luck for either party.
"We can't just let Senka keep terrorizing humans every day," Rei crossed her arms.
Suddenly, Azula let a small cough escape her lips. Everyone turned to her questionably. "Or...can we…?" she slowly drawled.
The girls blinked with surprise. What was she saying? Did she mean...no.
Azula took in a small breath before explaining herself. "Obviously, the only way to find the Shadow Crystal is to yank out crystals from bodies and just check. Senka's already doing it. Maybe...we should keep letting her…"
"Azula, you don't actually mean that, do you?" Ami's eyes looked ready to pop out from her head.
"I do," the red-haired girl nodded.
"What!?" cried Rei. "How can you mean that!? Senka is terrorizing people—"
"And she's the only one with that power to check!" Azula matched Rei's loud voice. "Right now, like it or not, it's all we can do. Unless one of you guys suddenly gains the power to see right through people to spot the Shadow Crystal, it's your only option."
"It's not the Sailor Scout way, Azula," Minako said quietly.
"Well lucky for you I'm the one that thought of the idea and I'm not an actual Sailor Scout so... there's your loophole," Azula gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "I'm the one that thinks of the cold ideas that need to be done."
The rest of the girls still gave questioning looks to each other. The idea was just not their style. It was... cold. Cold indeed.
~0~
"What is with animals today?" Usagi threw the pet shop a glance as the sounds of frantic animals carried out to the streets. "Everywhere we go they're all loud and weird."
"Maybe something's wrong with them?" Chibiusa suggested and stopped at the display window but not before pulling Mamoru with her. "You know they have feelings, right?"
Usagi didn't dismiss the condescending look Chibiusa gave her. "Of course I do!"
"It doesn't look like it," Chibiusa hummed and stared at the puppy on the other side of the window that wouldn't stop barking at the three humans.
"I think we can agree that we all animals have feelings and simply move on," Mamoru cut in to avoid the third argument in that one, simple walk they were taking. He gently pulled Chibiusa from the window and began to walk again. He gave Usagi a significant look that urged her to start talking again...specifically about something.
"Oh, um...did I forget to tell you how Azula was having bad dreams?" she began and did her best not to look so much at Chibiusa between them.
"Yes, yes you did," Mamoru had it much easier in not looking. Being discreet was certainly his thing.
"Yeah, she said they were all about Reyna. Can you believe that?"
Hearing the specific name made Chibiusa look up to Usagi. She was surprised, clearly. "She has dreams about Reyna?"
"Oh yeah," Usagi slowly found her rhythm with the talk. "She said in all of them, something happened to Reyna but she didn't know what."
"Ooh…" Chibiusa's face grew pale suddenly and both teenagers caught that. "Did...did she really not know what happened?"
"Nope," Usagi popped the 'p' and shook her head. "It really got to her. Reyna wasn't the light of her life but she did save Azula so that kind of leaves something in her, you know?"
"Mhm…" Chibiusa looked down at her moving feet. "Well, I'm sure Reyna is fine."
"Chibiusa, are you and Reyna from the same place?" Mamoru dared to ask. "Because you came in the same way that Reyna did. Literally. You don't have to explain, just a simple 'yes' or 'no' suffices."
"...yeah,we are," Chibiusa gave a small nod of her head.
"I knew it," Usagi mumbled to herself before adding, in a regular volume, "You're from the future too. What are you doing here, hm? Are you running away like Reyna did?"
"Reyna didn't run away!" Chibiusa stopped to correct. "The voices told her to!"
Usagi rolled her eyes. "The voices? Seriously?"
Mamoru motioned her to stay calm. Once those two went at it, there was no stopping until Chibiusa shut down. And who won there?
"Chibiusa, Reyna didn't really explain what these 'voices' were," he said, and with no accusations in his tone. He needed to keep things calm in order to continue getting answers. "They're powers, aren't they?"
Chibiusa nodded her head. "Reyna has powers but she hasn't learned to control them yet. Plus, they haven't all come yet."
"So what are those voices, then?"
Chibiusa shrugged. "I don't know. I think they're people from another world. Her Mom knows, though. She could tell you."
"And who's her mom?"
At that, Chibiusa stayed quiet. Mamoru understood she was not allowed to say. "Okay. Thank you for explaining," he said in the end.
Chibiusa beamed. Of course she was thrilled about the lack of persistent questioning. At least now Mamoru and Usagi learned the best strategy in getting information from Chibiusa.
~0~
Asteria and Meroko roamed the local pet shelter in their neighborhood. Neither said a word to the helpful employees but a simple 'just looking'. They went from the birds, to the dogs and cats, to the rabbits, sea animals and so much more. They saw everything in the shelter but bought nothing.
The two sisters stopped by the canaries and looked at each other with a common feeling.
"It's as we suspected," Asteria broke their look and turned to the screeching canaries. "Sailor Siren is awakening. The animals are going mad here and in the city in general."
"Siren always did have the weirdest connection to the creatures in Shadow," Meroko mused. "But if she wakes up the same way you did, she'll have all the animals raging against the humans."
"She's coming," Asteria put a hand on her chest. "I can feel it."
Meroko observed the loud shelter and sighed. "And so can they," she said about the animals.
~0~
As soon as Usagi had joined the girls in the cafe shop, she was informed of the unusual idea or option Azula presented for them in regards to the crystal. Usagi of course couldn't believe the idea. It was…
"Ridiculous!" she slammed a hand on the table, startling nearby customers in the café. "It's just not an option!"
"That's what we told her," Rei carelessly swiveled her straw in her milkshake. "It's not an option."
"What isn't?" Meroko asked as she and Asteria joined the girls in the next table.
"Azula said maybe we should just let Senka keep pulling crystals from people to find the Shadow Crystal and Reign," Minako explained and added, rather glumly, "Since, you know, none of us have the power to actually see the Shadow Crystal ourselves."
"Hm, she said that?" Asteria crossed a leg underneath the table and thought for a moment. "I'm actually impressed."
"What!?" the girls, save for Meroko, went collectively.
"You think we should do it?" Makoto had a face of shock.
"Well, it's the logical way," Asteria gave a light shrug. "I'm actually disappointed in myself for not coming up with that earlier."
"Maybe if you hadn't been brooding you might have," Meroko shot her a smirk to which Asteria rolled her eyes to.
"Hold on," Usagi cut in, "You actually like this idea? I think it's the worst one Azula has ever had."
"We're talking about putting humans in danger…" Ami chimed in. "Senka isn't gentle."
"Yeah, she doesn't care if anyone gets hurt," Rei agreed. "Letting her ransack the population is irresponsible."
"There needs to be another way," Usagi nodded her head and of course had the support of her friends.
Meroko and Asteria disagreed.
"There isn't," Asteria assured. "If there were many options your team and ours wouldn't be working together in the first place. I'm actually gonna back the human up on this one. The idea goes."
Rei scowled and was the only one to voice her disapproval. "No, it doesn't."
"This is our Princess and we have the last say," Asteria glared at Rei. "And since our next Sailor Guardian is close to awakening and will require our fullest attention, I suggest you don't create a bigger gap between us."
Even though the cold idea was still in mighty discussion, the possibility of a third Shadow Guardian put the girls into a streak of silence for a minute. Meroko sighed and nodded.
"We think it's Sailor Siren since all the animals in the city are going crazy. She always had a connection to them, so…"
"And if she wakes up like I did...you better get ready," Asteria made a face. "Sailor Siren's deadliest attack was her Sonic Cry."
"Sonic...cry?" Usagi gulped.
"Mhm."
At that moment, Azula walked in. She spotted the girls and quietly came up to them but did not sit down. She knew this wasn't her hottest moment with them. "Hey. I assume we all know idea by now?"
"We do," Usagi said, intending on scolding her for it when Asteria cut in with a very different response.
"I like it. Definitely thinking like a Sailor Guardian."
Azula wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "Thanks…?"
"That is not how Sailor Scouts think!" Rei snapped.
"Says you," Asteria retorted. "The group of Sailor Scouts who didn't protect their Princess. At least my group were simply too far away. What was your excuse?"
"You know what-" Rei slammed a hand on the table.
"Hey!" Meroko exclaimed to stop them both. "We have pressing matters here and arguing isn't gonna help. Sailor Siren is coming and we need to be prepared."
"Sailor Siren?" Azula repeated, momentarily confused.
"She's our third comrade and she's coming," Meroko explained.
"But we also need to figure out how to find Reign and the Shadow Crystal," Usagi reminded.
"So let's divide and conquer," Azula shrugged casually. "Half of you start searching for Sailor Siren and the other half discuss ways to find Reign."
"I like you more and more," Asteria pointed at her with a growing smile on her face.
"Fine, but I am not working with her," Rei nodded to Asteria. Honestly, that was probably the better idea.
"It's better if one of us us in each team," Meroko thought. "I can work in whatever team Rei is in if that makes things better."
"Yes," went both girls in question.
It was easy dividing and conquering since the two most tension-filled girls were far, far away from each other. For location, there was no one better than Azula. Now that she knew what exactly they were looking for, it was easier to start searching-algorithms.
"She's going to be drawn to us once she awakens," Asteria noted while Azula looked at the base's computer screens.
"And we really don't want a repeat of how you first woke up," Minako inputted with a sheepish smile.
"Maybe there's a way to combat that," Azula turned on her chair to face the two, plus Makoto.
"What do you have in mind?" Asteria curiously asked.
"Quite simple really. We put a tranquilizer in her."
"You mean like...drug her?" Makoto thought.
"A sedative," Azula shrugged. "It's harmless and it would knock her out for a couple hours. If we get lucky, it would be enough hours for her to release all that radiating energy of hers."
"Where can we get that?" Asteria wondered.
"I guess from the local pharmacies," Minako slowly came around with the idea. There was no actual harm for Sailor Siren and it would definitely lessen the danger for anyone around her when she woke up.
"You are now my favorite human," Asteria pointed at Azula, her voice sounding casually matter-of-factly.
"Thanks. I don't know what you are to me but you're not my favorite," Azula was nothing but honest. Asteria simply smiled in return.
~0~
Later that day, Azula, Asteria, Minako and Makoto headed down the street to go buy the needed sedatives from the pharmacy. Asteria was sure Sailor Siren was close to awakening - she could literally feel it. It came, as a consequence, as tiring to discover Senka trying to attack just near the pharmacy they were going to go into.
"Doesn't she take breaks?" Azula frowned.
"She's getting her energy from an infinite world," Asteria mocked beside her. "So that's a definite 'no'."
"Just hurry up and transform!" Azula snapped in return.
"You go into pharmacy where it's safe," Minako instructed her.
"Yeah, alright," Azula watched her friends go and do their Sailor Scout thing. She sucked in a breath and tried to sneak through the screaming people into the pharmacy but Senka was still choosing her victim when she spotted the familiar red-haired girl.
"I recognize that wild hair," Senka drawled and lowered herself to the ground. Azula skidded to a halt so as to not crash into Senka. "You're the petty human that got away from my grasp. Not anymore."
Azula did her best not to look scared but the tendrils of darkness reaching out for her challenged things. She took a step back but one of the tendrils acted as a lasso and slapped the air just beside her. She screamed and jumped to the side.
"Perhaps you own my Shadow Crystal," Senka maliciously laughed.
"The Shadow Crystal is not yours!" Azula reached for a plant pot and threw it directly at Senka. The woman had to retract her tendrils as she dodged. Azula then got on her feet and tried making a run for it.
Senka growled and rushed a tendril that wrapped around Azula. "Where do you think you're going!?"
Azula dreaded the pain that was to come and still screamed of pain when the darkness began picking at her skin. She could feel her chest burning and something trying to forcibly push through.
"Silver Stars!" Sailor Asteria sent three plunging silver stars to cut off Senka's tendrils around Azula just as her crystal was about to shimmer into existence.
Sailor Jupiter swiftly caught Azula before she hit the ground. "You okay?"
Azula feebly nodded. "Eugh, yeah. Second time around the body gets used to it I guess," she rubbed her hand over her heart.
"Get to safety," Sailor Venus dropped in beside them.
"We need to get those sedatives," Azula picked herself up and gestured a thumb to the pharmacy two stores down. "You guys take care of the Shadow Queen over there and I'll do my part in there."
Sailor Venus was weary of the idea but ultimately gave in since she knew Azula wouldn't be listening anyways. Azula was set free and allowed to run for the pharmacy before Senka could capture her again.
"You brats!" Senka fumed as her victim was once again taken from her. "You protect that girl as if she held something important! Perhaps I should make her a priority!"
"We protect anyone who has the unfortunate luck to get in your path," Sailor Jupiter flashed a warning finger at her.
"You best give up, Senka," Sailor Asteria said, mighty confident. "Reign isn't here but I am and as long as it's like this, you will never find the Shadow Crystal.".
Senka laughed. "We'll see about that."
Asteria raised her hands to display her silver stars again. "We will," she vowed.
Senka put her hands together and began creating dark spheres. She threw them one by one down at the Sailor Scouts but missed.
"We need to combine our powers or she'll destroy the city at this rate," Sailor Venus already sustained heavy cuts on her legs from the blow.
"Me? Combine powers with you two?" Sailor Asteria eyed Venus like she was delirious.
"It's the only way!"
"I'm not doing it! It's like blasphemy!"
"We are on the same side!" Sailor Jupiter shouted.
"We have the same mission to protect our princesses!" Sailor Venus added. "Reign and Serenity were once friends despite all the laws and rules against it. We owe it to that friendship to at least be a civilized team keeping them safe!"
Sailor Asteria looked up at Senka who was rising higher in the air. Her black tendrils swiveled around, looking for new victims. If anything, their combined powers could keep her away for a while. "Fine," she said to the other two. "Let's combine powers."
"I'll start us off!" Sailor Jupiter pushed herself up on her feet. "Jupiter Supreme Thunder!"
Sailor Venus went to follow with her own attack. "Venus Crescent Beam!"
And finally, Sailor Asteria rose gracefully and pushed through the last attack. "Night Divination!"
Venus' beam wrapped around Jupiter's thunder which then enveloped Asteria's falling stars, creating deadly grazers that hit Senka in all directions. Senka screamed wildly with her arms in front of her face.
"The red head will be mine!" she parted with that warning before vanishing into thin air.
This time, all three Sailor Scouts knew they shared a common concern.
~0~
That night, Usagi stopped by Azula's apartment to see how she was doing. It came as no surprise to Azula when Usagi used her latest attack as another reason to go against Azula's idea.
"You've experienced the pain twice now and you really think we should let others feel the same?" the blonde paced in front of Azula's couch.
"Usagi, it's because I've been attacked twice that I'm definitely sure you should follow my advice," Azula frankly said. Usagi paused her pacing to look at her. "Look, because Senka hasn't seen my useless crystal, she now has it in for me. She's gonna terrorize me until she pulls out a crystal from my chest and sees what it is."
Usagi stared at Azula as if the red-haired girl had finally lost it. "Azu—"
"Usagi, I'm not changing my mind about that. Can we just talk about what you know I've been wanting to talk of?"
Of course Usagi knew. Even though she didn't agree, she relented and switched topics. "We talked with Chibiusa and... you were right, she knows Reyna."
"I knew it," Azula looked, if Usagi had to describe it, concerned over Reyna. "What does she know? Is Reyna okay?"
Usagi sighed. "Chibiusa is very obscure. She says the voices Reyna hears are powers."
"Lunatic powers," Azula spat. "They told her to come back in time."
"Well, Chibiusa said the powers haven't fully developed yet so I guess she can't really control them…"
"What parents would allow their kid to pull something like Reyna did? Or even Chibiusa?" Azula huffed and leaned back on the couch with arms crossed. "I bet you they're like sisters or something cos I find it difficult to believe two sets of parents have the same bad parenting abilities in the future."
Usagi managed to laugh. Slowly, Azula ended up doing the same thing.
~0~
The next day, on her way back from school, Azula was found by Mamoru. It came as no surprise since Azula was sure Usagi must have told Mamoru all about the attack and her ideas over Reign. There was certainly a lot to talk about.
"If Senka is after you now, we'll have to be extra careful," Mamoru said, though Azula wasn't sure if he was simply thinking accidentally out loud or actually talking.
Azula sighed, not really having the energy to argue yet again over the same subject. Her attention was suddenly taken by a small crowd just outside a small shop. There was a brunette woman raising old fashioned jewelry and saying some things over it.
"Your lucky charms! They will protect you and grant you what you most wish in the world!"
"You've got to be kidding me," Mamoru murmured but Azula was considering it. He gasped lightly when he saw Azula begin stepping towards the procession. "Azula? We'll be late."
Azula stopped just to the side of the crowd to where she could see the jewelry better. The brunette woman was enthusiastically parading the products around for the group around her table.
"You'll definitely want one of these! They're cheap too!" the brunette woman spotted Azula's curious stare and smiled. "You want one, dear?" she pushed forwards an emerald stone necklace.
Azula barely had a chance to blink before Mamoru jerked her backwards. "No thanks," he told the woman and pulled Azula with him to continue their way.
"I could have bought one," Azula frowned, or pouted more like it.
"No offence, Azula, but luck isn't what you need," Mamoru shook his head. "You need protection and everyone else agreed."
"Oh great, so now you're all talking about what to do with me behind my back," Azula released a big ole sigh that made Mamoru roll his eyes. "So, tell me, how badly am I going to be babysat?"
"Azula, it's not like that—"
Azula groaned and waved him off with one hand. "Oh please, you don't even believe that."
Not seeing the point in arguing the contrary, Mamoru relented. "Yeah, fine. But you still have to let us take care of you our way."
And because Azula saw no point in avoiding the inevitable, she agreed. "Fine. We'll do this the Sailor Scout way,'" she made a frantic arm gesture of her fist passing in front of her face. Mamoru laughed. "Shut up," went Azula who then suddenly started backtracking.
"Where are you going?" Mamoru scratched his head in confusion.
"Well if I'm going to be babysat then I get to buy my lucky charm," Azula smirked and pointed a thumb over her shoulder.
Mamoru groaned. "Azula!"
"Oh c'mon! We could get one for Usagi too!" Azula didn't wait to hear more and turned around to run back to the lucky charm shop.
~0~
Birds cried from the sky as their wings were incessantly flapped. Most people thought they would come swooping down to peck at them but they didn't. It was simply noise they were making...just like every other creature in the city.
"She's close," Asteria promised the others in the café shop.
Ami, who was sitting in the next table, had her nose buried in her miniature computer device. "There some strange activity going down at the center of the district - near the mall."
"But is it Sailor Siren?" asked Minako across Asteria.
"I'm not sure," Ami straightened in her chair, a confused expression swirling in her face. "But it's definitely something."
"We should check it out nonetheless," Asteria declared and this time had the unanimous agreement from the rest.
"But Azula has the sedatives!" Makoto remembered and made the rest stop suddenly. "What if we need them?"
"Let's call her and get them from her!" Minako didn't falter and motioned to be followed.
~0~
"Azula, are you alright?" Mamoru couldn't help give his friend yet another concerned glance. The two were heading for Usagi's house to get together but for some reason Azula had gone a shade paler in such little time.
Azula waved him with a hand to indicate she was fine...even though she did feel a little woozy. She just didn't want another thing added to her collection of misfortunes. Thankfully, Mamoru was smarter than that.
He stopped her walking just a block from Usagi's house and turned to her. "Azula, you look sick. Do you feel alright?" Azula tried nodding her head but he wouldn't believe her. "Your face looks...really pale. Maybe you have a fever—"
"Hey guys!" Chibiusa's voice made both momentarily look to the side to see her and Usagi just getting home. The pink-haired girl beamed as she hugged Mamoru around the legs.
Usagi would've scolded her for that had she not noticed Azula. "Hey-" she placed a hand on Azula's arm, "-you don't look so good."
Chibiusa looked up at Azula and gasped. "Oh no! Are you sick!?"
Azula didn't quite care for so much coddling. "Listen, I'm not having the best week. I've been attacked twice so maybe I'm a little tired but that's it."
Usagi exchanged a look with Mamoru, both silently agreeing this wasn't merely tiredness. Usagi reached to take Azula's schoolbag from her. "Let's just get to my place."
But as soon as she said that, there was a booming noise in the sky and the next thing they knew, a projection of a brunette woman's face glowered down.
"My minions!" her voice called out. "It's time to awaken! Destroy for the Black Moon Clan! I command it!"
"Black Moon Clan?" Usagi repeated and looked at Mamoru with the same confusion he had.
"Come to the Lucky Charms shop to weaken the point! I command it!" the woman finished and disappeared from the sky.
"Usagi…" Chibiusa tugged on the blonde's arm and pointed Usagi to Azula who was clutching her head.
"Azula!"
Azula felt a loud ringing in her head and it was agonizing. It didn't let her hear anything and it made her head throb. Then, just like that it vanished…and it left a very different girl in her place.
"Azula—" Usagi had reached for Azula's hand but Azula instead grabbed Usagi by the collars of her school uniform.
"Azula!" Mamoru reacted fast and grasped Azula from the side. Soon as he did, he saw a rush of images belonging to the same brunette woman from the sky.
The brunette woman stood along with three other women similar to her age. They argued with a red-haired man dressed in red inside a spaceship.
Flashes of silver and white filled the image next. There was a figure floating in the air, encased in black.
Lucky charms…
Mamoru was so distracted from his thoughts that Azula easily pushed him away. She growled and ran off ignoring Usagi's calls.
"What's happening?" Chibiusa looked at the other two for an explanation.
Mamoru rubbed the side of his head. "It's those lucky charms…"
"What lucky charms?" Usagi turned to him. She brought his hand from his head and anxiously waited to see if he was truly alright.
"Azula stopped to buy a lucky charm from this...this shop," Mamoru explained. "There was a woman...she was...weird. I-I shouldn't have let her buy one but I—"
"It wasn't your fault," Usagi softly said. "It's that...Black Moon Clan, whatever that is."
No one noticed Chibiusa's face from behind. Had they already found her? That would mean they were powerful enough to travel back in time too! She didn't even want to think about what they had done to get…
Usagi felt something in Azula's bag ringing and opened it up, despite feeling a bit guilty for rummaging through someone else's possessions. "What's Azula's communication watch doing here?" she'd pulled out the golden band from the bag.
Mamoru felt worse remembering how he'd failed to also stop Azula from taking it off. "She wanted to put her lucky charm on so she put that away."
Usagi sighed and opened the communicator to find Minako's face on screen. Minako's eyebrows knitted together, confused of finding Usagi instead of Azula. It was then that Usagi explained what was going on and where Azula wss probably headed.
"Sailor Siren is coming" — Minako said urgently — "and Azula has the sedatives. We need them, Usagi!"
Mamoru took Azula's schoolbag from Usagi and went digging to see if the sedatives were inside. Luckily, they were. Azula had probably intended on handing them over later in the day when the group was to meet up. Minako was delighted and less stressed to see them.
"Bring them over to the Lucky charms shop," Minako instructed. "Ami detected some strange signals from that place. We think that's where Sailor Siren will be."
"But that's also where the hypnotized people will be," Usagi grew concerned for what it could mean for Azula.
"Then we better hurry," Mamoru said and looked down at Chibiusa. He held out Azula's schoolbag to her. "You need to go home and stay there, alright?"
Because there was a high chance of seeing some of the Black Moon Clan people, Chibiusa quickly took Azula's schoolbag and ran the rest of the way to Usagi's home.
"Well, she agreed way too fast," Usagi scowled after the girl. "Isn't that suspicious?"
"No time!" Mamoru reminded and pulled her in the opposite direction.
~0~
Koan gazed upon her victims from the top cover of her Lucky Charms store. She had forgone her civilian disguise and reverted to her natural self. Purple was her color and if she had say something about it, she would say she worked it. She patted her dark purple tutu (at least that's what it resembled) then checked her purple heels. Her lavendar one-suit was in perfect shape, not to mention her purple hair. The large purple jewel on her forehead shined with energy that gave her the power to do everything she was doing.
The crowd was gathering around the shop and actively converting anyone they could by placing lucky charms on them. "Soon, this point will weaken and the Shadow Queen will fall," a twisted smile spread across Koan's red lips.
"You should he ashamed of yourself!" Sailor Moon's voice gained Koan's attention. The Sailor Scout stood tall and proud across the street. "Using pretty bracelets with lucky for your evil schemes!"
Koan raised an eyebrow at the blonde, momentarily surprised. "Sailor Reign?"
Sailor Moon faltered in her opening. "What? No! I-I'm Sailor Moon!" and she vegan regaining herself, remembering what was at stake. "I am the pretty guardian Sailor Moon and on behalf of the Moon I will punish you!"
"Of course you're not Sailor Reign," Koan said calmly, now gazing Sailor Moon up and down. "Wrong outfit. And face."
Sailor Moon immediately wondered how the hell the woman knew about 'Sailor Reign' when she herself knew nothing yet.
"I am Koan, the youngest of the Four Weird Sisters, and today is the day this pathetic Crystal Point crashes down." Koan pointed a finger at Sailor Moon. "Get her!"
Sailor Moon yelped when the entire crowd turned against her and began advancing on her. The charms were waved high in the air, coming for her.
"Venus Crescent Beam!" Sailor Venus strategically directed her famous golden beam just in front of the crowd, forcing them to stumble back a couple feet.
Tuxedo Mask dropped in along with Sailor Asteria on the other side of the crowd. The first thing they spotted was a familiar red-haired girl waving an emerald green charm in her hand.
"Oh no…" Tuxedo Mask couldn't bear see his friend in that state. Even Sailor Asteria gasped in true surprise.
Koan saw her enemies slowly rise and growled. She then spotted, however, familiar scouts. "Well, well, well, it seems not even here I can get rid myself of the displeasure the Royal Sailor Scouts' presence."
"She's from the future," Sailor Mars detected similar vibes from Koan just like Reyna and Chibiusa had once given off.
"But what's she doing here, then?" Sailor Moon asked.
Sailor Mercury was eyeing the noticeable inverted, black crescent moon on Koan's forehead. "And what is that on her forehead?" she pointed.
Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask both assumed the sign was that of the Black Moon Clan.
"The Black Moon Clan is from the future," Tuxedo Mask put a hand to his own forehead as once again he saw the same rush of images. He wondered if the Black Moon Clan had anything to do with the figure floating in the air surrounded by black.
Koan didn't wait for her enemies to gather around. She began fire literal fire streams down at them. Everyone had to jump out of the way.
"Azula!" Tuxedo Mask called in vain. The only thing he got was for Azula to turn in his direction.
"She might still be in there," Sailor Asteria told him, surprisingly open to the idea of helping get Azula back. She truly had taken a liking for the redhead.
Tuxedo Mask knew the only way to get Azula back was for Sailor Moon to perform her special attack. Currently, the blonde Sailor Scout was in the middle of dodging lucky charms.
"She's a mess," Sailor Asteria rolled her eyes, taking the predicament with casualty. She pulled out her silver stars from her skin and thrust them towards the two teens trying to grab Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon shouted from the blow and fell on the ground. Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter covered her while she got back on her feet.
"Mars Flame Sniper!" Sailor Mars sent a fire stream towards Koan.
Koan deflected the fire stream by throwing forwards a special lucky charm into the air that absorbed the fire. Sailor Hemera then dropped in, the last one to do so, and with the element of surprise.
"Glimmering Boomerang!" she threw her golden boomerang and knocked Koan against the wall.
"Now Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask urged for the final blow.
Sailor Moon took out her Moon Rod and delivered the attack with perfect timing. All those hypnotized collapsed on the ground with no idea of what occurred.
Koan growled at the group as she saw her victims' energy become no more. "This isn't the last time you'll see me, nor my sisters."
"What do you want?" Sailor Mars demanded. "What does the future want from us?"
Koan gave her a condescending look over. "From you? Absolutely nothing. From the city? Power. We'll get the necessary power to bring down the barrier. The Black Moon Clan never fails. You'll see." With a malicious laugh she rose into the air and was beamed up into the sky.
The scouts didn't get to think a lot about Koan because the victims began waking up.
Azula sat upright and rubbed at her red hair with a groggy face."What happened?" Tuxedo Mask knelt down beside her and gave her a light hearted smile that said it all. She released a light groan. "I was attacked again!? Seriously!?"
~0~
Azula pulled new tabs on the base's computer screen. She'd hacked into the street cameras to gather good pictures of Koan. She'd cropped pictures of the inverted crescent moon on Koan's forehead for the others to see. All in all, the pictures laid the truth out for them: they were going up against a new villain apart from Senka.
"They're multiplying," Azula said with a sigh. She had an elbow resting on her chair's armrest and a cheek resting against her palm.
Ami stepped up beside Azula, her blue eyes keenly examining Koan's figure. "The Black Moon Clan. That's not related to Senka right?"
"Definitely not," Meroko didn't hesitate to respond with. "Senka is a being from an alternative world. This Clan is…"
"From the future," Rei finished with a fist. "They've traveled back in time. But I just don't understand for what."
Mamoru didn't say anything as he visualized the figure in the air surrounded by darkness. He had yet to understand what it meant.
"If the Black Moon Clan is from the future, and Chibiusa suddenly came from the future... don't you think they would know each other?" Azula asked the winning question that made everyone stop. She turned on her chair, her face straight as she went on. "Chibiusa is running from something and she's scared. She obviously knows Reyna, who has mysteriously become a recurring nightmare for Chibiusa. I'm almost 99.9% sure this Black Moon Clan has caused some sort of catastrophic event in the future forcing Chibiusa to run back in time. And the only reason her parents won't come for her, or that future version of Sailor Circe, is because something horrible is preventing them from doing so."
Azula had said the theories in such a flat, plain time that one could almost try to just take it in with casualty. But the reality was she'd come up with rather gruesome, hard theories. The world was about to enter dangerous moments and no one knew what it would lead to.
Author's Note:
Okay, so, for the 4 sisters...I don't know what to call them really. The Specter sisters? The Weird Sisters? The Ayakashi Sisters? There's so many damn names I just went with the one that sounded cooler xD
For the two reviews: Thanks guys! Hope you liked the new chapter! :)