Chapter I " I got nothing left to defend, I cannot pretend that everything makes sense..." Lifehouse, " Unknown" A sweaty and tired Neptune came up beside Sailor Moon." I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" Serena nodded." You're right. We'll have to go in stronger." " Like, now, Sailor Moon?!" Uranus and Jupiter called. Both were being viciously attacked by two ugly demons that seemed to have more power than they were letting on." They don't give up too easily!" " Right! Power up, girls!" " Eternal Mercury power!" " Eternal Neptune!" " Eternal Jupiter!" " Eternal Mars!" " Eternal Uranus!" " Eternal Pluto!" " Eternal Venus!" " Eternal Moon..." " POWER!" Flashes of light blue... deep blue... green... red... yellow... nearly black... orange... and white... " Saturn Death Reborn Revolution!" " Aeolus Star Eruption!" Blinding light, both white and gray, swept the area, causing an uproar of thunder and wind to swirl around the now more powerful scouts, until they had to fight to stay on their feet. Eternal Sailor Moon covered her head and face with her arms as debri flew, and each scout fended for herself against the onsalught of power. Until it all stopped. Silence reigned but the few feeble coughs gave off by the senshi. As the dust cleared around them, Uranus looked up from the shelter of her arms, her eyes still tearing from the record-breaking winds. Two other scouts made themsleves known by walking past the burn marks that used to be demons on the floor, mist swirling at their feet and around the glaives both carried. The shorter one dressed in purple and black carried a sickle-shaped glaive, the taller edge hooking over the smaller that resembled the flat of an axe, while the taller one, in all white and gold, carried a blade only different than the other by the way it narrowed to an arrowhead on the shorter end. They stopped in front of the scouts, smiling slightly. Serena rolled her eyes." So much for powering up." " Boy, they sure know how to make an entrance," Jupiter muttered. They all powered down. Michelle smiled." So Hotaru, Bryony...what took you guys so long?" The white suited senshi shrugged and both responded. " Traffic." " We had to finish lunch." Lita paused." Now who do you think's lying?" * * * Tokyo: after Heartsnatchers, before Galaxia *Seven months ago " Get her!" " She's getting away!" The young girl ran as fast as her legs would allow, the breath being ripped out of her lungs as if being stolen by some unknown force...Her legs pumped as she ran faster...It seemed as if her lungs were gonna burst, how long could she keep this up? A lock of long, curly blonde hair whipped into her face and angrily, she shoved it aside and still kept running. What did they want from her? " Come on, darling, we don't want to hurt you-" " We just want to look at your dreams!" Horrible laughter followed her down the dark alleyway, past the circus tent she came from...she never dreamed this would happen to her, and where were those sailor scouts on the news all the time? Why didn't they come, didn't they fight this stuff all the time? Couldn't they hear her cries for help, didn't they have a sixth sense that told them when someone was in trouble?! Where were they when she needed them? And where did the scary girls go? She could hear them, but she couldn't see them! Suddenly the laughter stopped. Curious, she stopped running, trying to make her heaving breaths quiet down, but was failing miserably. She was so worn out from running...Where were they? Had they left her alone, finally? She barely had time to let out a strangled scream before a hand clamped down on her mouth, and another wrapped around her shoulders. She lifted her arms up to fight her unseen attacker, before it lifted her off the ground and swung her up-waaay up until... She blacked out. " Come on, I think she went this way!" " Hold on, Vesu, not all of us are as fast as you!!" " You're such a wimp, Cere." " I am not!" " Yes, you are." " You're one to talk, JunJun. Look who lost the girl; it certainly wasn't me!" The three, minus ParaPara, continued down the alleyway, ignoring the chill of the night and wishing they had put on more clothes for the first time in a while. " Yeah, well, it wasn't my fault she tried to bite me-" The three stopped abruptly at the thing blocking their path. A cloaked figure stood in their way, looking almost comfortable in the brown cloak covering most of her body save her head and neck (they could tell she was female due to parts a male just does not have) with her arms tucked into the sleeves. She was a little taller than they, and stared them down coolly with catlike golden eyes, the only feature they could see of her face in the dark besides the cross she wore around her neck. " Hey, have you seen a little blonde girl running through here?" Vesu asked curiously, not realizing anything peculiar. The girl just stared. " Well?" She blinked slightly." Why are you looking for her?" Cere lost her patience." Listen, girl, either get out of our way or-" " Tell us where the girl went!" Vesu and Jun finished impatiently. The girl smiled." Oh, you mean that girl." " You've seen her, then?" Jun asked excitedly. " Are you looking for this one?" She held out her arms, and with a PWOOF of dust and light, the pre-teen appeared in her arms, passed out and pale from running. Her pale golden locks hung limp in the air, swaying with the slight breeze. The female held her under her knees and wrapped an arm around her neck, the child's face upturned and stained with traces of dirt. The cloaked girl knew this one well, well enough to know she would wake up fit and fine the next morning, with no fear of this night. Jun's eyes narrowed curiously. She couldn't help but notice the shining glint of gold on her left wrist, and the power it seemed to emanate-what looked like a charm bracelet dangled there, the only identification she seemed to have. And with her sharp vision, her bright green eyes could just make out a cross, an angel, a bird...and a star. " Yes, that's her!" Cere smiled." Okay, now hand her over-" " No." With another PWOOF the girl disappeared as quickly as she came. " Hey!" All three Amazoness eyes narrowed." What did you go and do that for, hand her over!" Jun growled. The girl's eyes narrowed in turn." I know damn well who you are and what you planned to do with her. She is not the holder you are looking for, and I will make damn sure you never find the right holder!" " How does she know all that?" Cere whispered. " Just who exactly are you??" Vesu asked suspicously. " I could ask you the same question." She raised a hand, and with a shimmer a sickle-shaped glaive with an arrowhead tip on one side appeared in her hand, causing the girls to gasp." But know this, Vesu. You know me. I know you do. But if you don't, I suggest you ask your queen. Tell her Helios's sister said 'hi.'" With that, she vanished. Cere gasped and turned wildly to her friends." The Guardian has a sister?!" * * * The trio walked nervously back to the tent in silence. Cere decided to break it." Zerk-face is gonna kill us, you know." Jun frowned, kicking up dirt with the toe of her shoe." Yeah, I know. We lost the target cause of that stupid girl-" " I'm not worried about the target, and you shouldn't be, either," Vesu put in, passing a glance at the two." That chick wasn't joking, I could tell. And she snatched that girl away just like that!' She snapped her fingers to prove it." She was quick, and I've never seen a weapon like that. She could be one of those Sailor bumpkins." Cere smiled a little while Jun responded." Yeah, but she was working alone. The Sailor snoots never work alone. They're not powerful enough," she added with a smirk. The pink-haired pixie shivered a little when they came up the tent, hearing the music going on inside." Well, we have to report this to Quen Nehelenia, but I'm so nervous-" " Don't be. What can she do?" Jun replied reassuringly." It wasn't our fault that psycho girl took away the target. So we have a new enemy," she shrugged." So what?" That didn't stop the shivers trailing down her spine as they crossed the tent to the magic mirror where the queen lay. * * * " And she told us we knew her and she knows us-" Vesu cut Jun off with a shove on the elbow before turning her complete attention to the figure in the mirror, red eyes wide." And basically she told us to tell you she's Helios's sister, and she said 'hi.' Do you know what she meant, Nehelenia?" The Dark Moon queen listened carefully to the story information her girls fed to her. Hmm... It seemed true enough. And from the look on ParaPara's face, she wasn't there when it happened-she either had no clue what was going on or she was fascinated by their story. All four paused and looked up at the image of their queen behind the mirror, who stared back down at them. They seemed to wait for approval or a remark from her. " Very good, my Amazoness." They visibly relaxed, and stood back up from their kneeling positions." I am pleased in your work, but tell me again: what did this 'girl' look like?" " Well, her hair was pulled up in a pony tail, but I'm pretty sure her hair was long," CereCere replied." And it looked dark, but it could have been the lighting. Her skin looked kinda fair, and she was skinny but strong-" " Okay, Ms. Fashion, queen Nehelenia doesn't care about her skin tone," Jun muttered, earning a jab in the side from Cere. Cere narrowed her pink eyes at the green nymph before continuing." Okay, anyways, she had real honey golden eyes, and when she made the girl appear, I noticed a charm bracelet on her left wrist-" " You noticed that, too?" Jun and Vesu butt in. Cer stared at them coldly." Yeah, I'm sure you guys aren't blind, either. Well, the only things I remember on it was a cross, like the one she had around her neck, and a star." Jun cut in quickly," And there was an angel and a bird on there, too-" " A star?...That's odd..." Nehelenia commented nonchalantly. They nodded eagerly. Feigning disinterest, the queen faked a yawn and covered it." Well that's all very intriguing, just don't lose the target next time, okay?" They nodded." You may take your leave." She shooed them away, then turned to stare at her prize, eyes narrowed in thought. Great. Just what she needed. Another enemy, and probably in league with those sailor brats that kept showing up at every raid the girls did. It was almost if they could sense the presence of her girls. They seemed to ruin everything, and if she wasn't in this blasted mirror she would go out there and kick their girly asses herself. Now this new young girl who could make a child appear and disappear... A cloaked young girl...well, the cloak means nothing, but the eyes...Exotic eyes, Christian, long hair...And, claiming to be the boy's sister...The powers she has, a magician's or a sorceress's no ordinary powers indeed...Powers almost like a...scout's, those sailor scouts, and yet...Wait. Quickly, she strode across the hall, the information suddenly clicking in her head. She hissed out a breath as she came upon the bird-like cage, sparing the being a cold look (what secrets are you hiding, boy?). Roughly she tore free the nearest pale wrist from the web and stared, in horror, at the exact same bracelet of identification on the boy, only in silver...a cross...an angel...a dove... And a star. " No." She threw his hand away, and the web instantly replaced itself." Dammit," she gritted her teeth. So it was true...The ones who...escaped...She was...The sister was one of them! The princess of Elician was alive! "DAMMIT!" * Most of this chapter is a flashback. The present time I will be writing in later is after the first battle w/ Nehelenia, between then and when the Outers show up, kay? Just so there's no confusion, but you'll come to understand that all this information is crucial.