Yamiko was practically shaking as she walked into school that day. Tokimo couldn't honestly have meant what she said yesterday, could she? Yamiko wasn't exactly happy about being a senshi, and jumping head first into something like killing Sailor Pinkmoon wasn't an idea that thrilled her. Yamiko was glad that Erik had made English that day a 'silent reading' class; she wasn't really in the mood to participate. She was having a hard enough time focusing on her reading as it was.
Yamiko jumped in surprise as a large, pale hand grabbed her book out of her hands. It was Erik; he looked down at her with concerned eyes that contrasted bizarrely with his sternly frowning mouth. The contradictory expression was both confusing and intimidating; Yamiko sat down a little lower in her seat.
"Miss Hoshino," he said quietly, looking down at her, "Could I speak with you outside for just a moment?"
Yamiko could feel the blood draining from her cheeks, but she followed Erik outside and into the hall. The other students glanced up but didn't think much of it; Tokimo was looking up towards the door over her book.
"What's going on?" Kouken whispered from Tokimo's purple backpack. "Who is that?"
"What, the girl? That's Yamiko. She's a senshi. We found her yesterday, remember?" Tokimo whispered back. "Why?"
"No, you idiot," Kouken hissed, "The man. Who's the man?"
"Oooh. The maaaann. He's umm..." Tokimo paused for a moment, thinking to herself. "Erik vonDarkmoor. Our English teacher. Pretty tall, black hair. Why?"
"Because I'm getting a weird feeling from him." Kouken whispered in response.
"What, you mean he's a Sailor Senshi? Now that's just weird. I can't see him in the uniform..." Tokimo said in confusion.
"No, no! He's not a Sailor Senshi. I'm not sure what he is. But I'm getting a weird aura from him." Kouken replied.
Tokimo just shrugged and continued to read.
Yamiko looked around nervously as she pulled at the ends of her sleeves. Why did Erik suddenly want to talk to her? Erik had been a bit suspicious from the beginning, after all; he was from a foreign country, he wanted to go by his first name...she was suddenly very glad that she had a brooch--If he tried to lay one hand on her--
"You looked a little pale during class. Are you feeling okay? Maybe you should go to the nurse." Even though his words were thoughtful, his voice was apathetic.
"I'm fine," Yamiko replied defensively.
"Sure you are. With that attitude, I'm guessing you aren't sick--that much is the truth. Something's bothering you, then? You can go home, if you like. It's not like you're going to concentrate when your mind is somewhere else."
Yamiko had been wishing that the rest of her was somewhere else, too; and here was Erik, offering her her freedom. This was her shining opportunity to not even have to think about Sailor Pinkmoon--she could just go home and tell Tokimo that she was sick. Perfect.
Of course, if her sister were here, this is the point where she would go on some spiel about how she was just chickening out. In fact, if Sayoko knew Tokimo, she would probably start off by saying that the girl was a total lunatic, and that someone had to stick around to make sure she didn't do something too stupid. And then she'd say that Yamiko was probably going to get caught up in this one way or another, and she might as well deal with it now.
Besides, there was still that pesky ferret to worry about. Yamiko grimaced. However, she wasn't going let something like her conscience or a fuzzy weasel get in the way of a perfect escape.
"I think I better do that," Yamiko replied sincerely, "If you don't mind, Mr. vonDarkmoor."
"Erik, please. Now off with you," he said in the same somewhat apathetic tone, indicating the exit. This was such a perfect turn of events that she almost wanted to smile. She waltzed out the door and onto the street, heading towards home.
Tokimo kept looking toward the door all through English. Kouken stayed quiet; he couldn't see the classroom door, so there was no way for him to know that something was up. But Tokimo knew something was up. Oh, Tokimo knew.
So when the bell rang, signaling the end of English, the first thing Tokimo did was walk right up to Erik.
"Mr. Erik....I have a question."
Erik raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"What is it, Tokimo?"
"Where did Yamiko go? She just kinda...disappeared after you talked to her. Do you know what happened to her?" Tokimo asked innocently.
"Yes. She couldn't focus; I sent her home. I thought maybe she'd feel better after she rested a little."
"Ah," Tokimo replied. "Well, that was a very interesting lesson, Erik. I, uh....have to go. Thanks." Tokimo headed briskly toward the door, intent on her purpose; as she left, Erik glanced toward her and quizzically raised an eyebrow.
Tokimo was walking quickly down the sidewalk. She didn't know exactly where she was going, since Yamiko had never told her where she lived, but she wasn't going to let her bail out on their mission. And besides, she didn't want to skip out of class for nothing.
"Honestly, I knew that girl had issues the moment I saw her," Kouken said grumpily, sticking his head out of Tokimo's purple backpack. "First she tries to quit, now she runs off right when we're about to make our first move. Really."
"Uhh...Kouken?" Tokimo glanced behind her; her voice wavered.
"Hm? Yes?" Kouken responded.
"Do you know where Yamiko's house is?"
Kouken sighed in expaseration. "No, I don't know where her house is! Isn't she your friend, Tokimo?"
"Well...actually, the day you showed up was the first day I met her. So I hadn't figured out where she lived yet. But I guess I could look in the student handbook. That would give her phone number, anyway. It gives her address, too, but I can't make any sense of those--well, unless I'm sending a letter."
"Oh yeah...I forgot to give these to you two," Kouken said. He shuffled around in the backpack and handed two watch-like bracelets with crescent moon emblems on them to Tokimo. There was one in black and silver; the other was purple and black.
"You'll probably need these communicators," he explained to Tokimo, who grinned excitedly and took them. She opened up the inside, which revealed a myriad of gem-like buttons and a small LCD screen. This was the coolest watch ever.
"I didn't see these in my backpack his morning!" She said to Kouken enthusiastically.
"Tokimo...I brought them out just now--magically. They weren't in your backpack this morning."
"Oh, okay. Sooo... Can I use it to call Yami?" Tokimo asked happily.
"Err--no, because Yamiko doesn't have hers. You're holding it in your other hand. You'll have to call her this time."
"Aaah. That sucks. Oh, well." Tokimo pulled out a metallic purple cell phone along with the student handbook. Flipping disinterestedly through the pages, she found Yamiko's phone number and punched it into her cell phone.
Tokimo waited impatiently as the phone rang five or six times. Eventually, Tokimo heard someone pick up. "Look, I'm not coming back," Yamiko snapped into the phone, "so you can just hang up now. I just got sick of hearing the phone ring."
Tokimo coughed a couple of times. "But...errr...I'm not Tokimo," she said, distorting her voice to make it sound petite and feminine, "I'm Sayoko. I heard from Erik about your skipping out on class, and I don't--"
"Spare me, Tokimo," Yamiko sighed, "I know it's you."
"Damn," Tokimo responded, reverting back to her normal voice. "Anyway, we want to know where you live."
"I'm not telling you where I live. Now go away."
"But how are we supposed to fulfill our mission if you keep running away like this?" Tokimo asked Yamiko, her voice full of disappointment.
"Explain to me again why I have to be a part of this?" Yamiko said irritably.
Kouken leaned down toward the receiving end of the phone; he spoke unnecessarily loud, even given that his head wasn't against the receiver. "Look, I don't care how big of a coward you are. You haven't got a choice. Now get yourself over here now, or I'll make you regret it. You've got a job to do."
"I'm not going to listen to some rat," Yamiko retorted, ready to hang up.
Tokimo pushed Kouken's face away from the phone and held the phone closer to her own face. "Don't listen to him, Yami...uh...ko. But please do come. Please? I don't think I'll be able to take out Sailor Pinkmoon alone. And if we don't do it, who will?"
"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe killing the Crown Princess isn't such a good idea?" Yamiko said angrily, "I mean, you seem to think that murder is just another adventure. Do you realize what could happen to us if we try to kill Lady Serenity?"
"It doesn't matter what happens to us," Tokimo responded fervently, "What matters is what happens to other people. And if Lady Serenity has a child, which I'm sure she will, everyone will suffer. And if I have to suffer to save everyone else from the kind of oppression Kouken told us about, then that's a small sacrifice to make."
Yamiko was a bit taken aback; she had assumed Tokimo's enthusiasm was driven purely by the desire for excitement, but she seemed to mean what she said. "...I'm not coming today, Tokimo. But I guess I could think about it." Yamiko replied sullenly. Then she hung up the phone.
Tokimo heard the click and listened briefly to the silence on the other end before she hung up herself. Then she turned around and dejectedly headed back toward school.
"I take it that it didn't go over too well, huh?" Kouken said, disappointed. Tokimo nodded.
"We'll just have to fight Sailor Pinkmoon alone, Kouken," Tokimo replied, "and show Yamiko that what we're doing is right. She said she'd think about it, and I'm determined to make her come around."
Kouken nodded in approval. "Now," he said, "We should make our move soon, so we'll surprise her. We don't want her finding out about us somehow before we have our chance. I think you had a good idea when you suggested attacking at lunch."
Tokimo nodded. She put Yamiko's communicator back in her backpack, promising herself to give it to her later. Then she held her hand high above her head.
She paused for a moment; she never did find out what her moon was. So, for lack of a better idea, she just picked the only name she could remember of the ones Kouken had mentioned earlier; Charon.
"Charon prism power, make up!" She shouted as a blur of purple and black surrounded her and she transformed into Sailor Charon. As her transformation ended, she held her naginata horizontally in front of her; the black and purple polearm matched her uniform, which had black bows and roman criss-cross sandals with straps that twisted up to her knees. The outfit was accented by her golden tiara and black and purple brooch, which sat on her front bow.
"Well then," Kouken said to Sailor Charon, "Let's go."
Sailor Charon made her way back to school as inconspicuously as possible; not an easy feat, as the lunch bell seemed to have rung in the time that she was gone. Now the yard was full of students eating their meals and talking innocently. Charon frowned as she suddenly realized she hadn't really come up with much of a plan; maybe, she thought, she would know better what to do when she saw Usako.
Making her way toward the wall surrounding the perimeter of the school, she jumped upwards and alighted on it with surprising ease--this senshi business evidentially came with some benefits. Many students looked up in surprise at the unfamiliar face; others ran away, feeling that where there was a Sailor Senshi, there was a monster not too far behind. But in the middle of the schoolyard, Usako stood up and gazed blankly at Sailor Charon. Hiroshi, Haruko, Fuyuko, Akiko and Natsuko followed her gaze--and her expression.
Usako glanced nervously to either side; this strange senshi was standing calmly front of her, looking at her like an ant she was poised to step on. Usako looked worriedly towards Hiroshi, who took her hand comfortingly and looked back at the unfamiliar senshi with a cold gaze. The four other girls stepped protectively in front of Usako.
By now, virtually no one besides Usako and her friends were left in the lunch yard. Nobody dared to guess what was going to happen, and only a few chunks of students were still around; they made their way hurriedly back into the school, their faces covered with expressions of panic.
Sailor Charon jumped down in front of the group of untransformed senshi. Kouken soon followed after her and stood at her side. As if in rebuttal, a small, mouse-gray cat struggled out of a pink bunny bag and stood protectively next to Usako. With the appearance of the cat, any last doubts about Usako's true nature were dispelled; the cat had a perfectly symmetrical crescent moon bald-spot on its forehead. It glinted strangely in the sunlight.
It was silent like this for a moment. Then, Sailor Charon pulled out her naginata and pointed it at the throat of Haruko, who stood at the lead.
"Representing the moon of Charon, the soldier of time and chaos is here," Sailor Charon said. If you're going to be a hero, Charon thought, you have to make a dramatic entrance. "I came here to see Sailor Pinkmoon. I have a mission."
"What makes you think I'm Sailor Pinkmoon?" Usako said kindly, trying to not to let her voice quaver.
Sailor Charon smiled. "You couldn't fool a master spy like me," she said proudly, "Not with your hair, or your traveling companions, or your pet cat." She looked down toward the cat, who hissed warningly.
"Are you here to join our team?" Usako said a bit timidly.
"No," Sailor Charon replied, "I'm here because I have to kill you."
They stared at her, their faces a mix of shock and anger. Hiroshi held on to Usako protectively. "Why would you want to kill the Princess?" he asked. "What has she ever done to you?"
"You ought to know," Kouken said fiercely.
Usako looked at Hiroshi for explanation; Hiroshi, puzzled, only shook his head."I have no more idea than you, Usako," He said to her, "But I think you'd better be prepared to attack--if only to defend yourself."
Usako looked at him with a face that was half disappointed, half chiding; Usako, after all, had seen no small share of hostile Sailor Senshi turn to the side of good, and it has always been the royal family's policy to try to win over their enemies to the path of righteousness--without hurting them, even in self-defense. "Please, Usako?" he continued, pleading this time. "You have to save yourself before you can save your enemies."
Usako shook her head in resignation and held up her right hand. "Pink crystal moon power, make up!" she cried, transforming in a glittering flurry of pink.
Haruko, Akiko, Natsuko and Fuyuko looked at each other and nodded. Protecting the princess was their duty--from Chaos or from fellow senshi.
"Juno..."
"Vesta..."
"Pallas..."
"Ceres..."
"Power, make up!" They shouted in unison as they transformed into the Sailor Asteroids in a blur of color.
Hiroshi looked toward Sailor Pinkmoon expectantly. She nodded and held a glass bell high above her head.
"Twinkle yell!" she cried; Hiroshi became obscured and re-appeared as Helios, Priest of Elysion.
Sailor Charon didn't wait another moment. She held her naginata high above her as purple and black electricity swirled into a small sphere around its tip.
"Space time blast!" She shouted. The ball launched itself at Sailor Moon and her companions; it expanded into a large globe, surrounding them completely. They knelt down on the ground, trying to recover as an intensely queasy sensation swept over them. Usako began to vomit.
"I thought time distortions didn't affect Senshi..." Sailor Vesta gasped as she struggled not to retch.
"She must be affecting space as well," Ceres said weakly, "so her attack is still effective."
Sailor Charon launched herself toward Sailor Pinkmoon, past the Asteroids gathered meekly in front of her on the ground. She frowned as she tried to banish her second thoughts; she knew that what she was doing was right. She had to do it. But even though she knew her actions were justified, Charon couldn't help feeling a little guilty. Maybe being a Sailor Senshi wasn't as great as she dreamed it was.
Sailor Charon gasped. A dark object hit her Naginata, jolting it from her hand and sending it sliding across the ground. Her body, too, had be jolted awkwardly by the impact of the flying object on her metal polearm; she had barely managed to maintain her balance. Readjusting her stance, Charon's distracted attention caused her attack to dissolve as well, leaving the Sailor Senshi once again free to move. Charon turned around to investigate the object--a single iron disc lay stuck in the ground. She frowned.
The Sailor Senshi, still queasy from Sailor Charon's attack, stood up shakily. Sailor Pinkmoon put her arm around Helios. The Sailor Asteroids reassumed their defensive positions.
Sailor Charon looked around her, hoping to find the attacker. When she finally identified who was responsible, she froze in shock. Because standing in front of her--steadily holding a katana of iron--was a tall and grim figure.
He must have been must have been over six and a half feet tall. His dark, unkempt hair stuck out in several directions, obscuring his ears; an iron mask covered his face completely in black. The mask was molded in the shape of a sternly frowning face, and dark brown eyes stared out from two narrow eye slits. He wore armor, the same black iron as his mask, but it was only visible because of the hand that still held out his long, dark katana. Normally, it would have been completely obscured beneath his flowing black cloak. The only hint of color in all of his clothing was the dark red underside of the cloak.
"Who are you?" Charon asked, trying to hide her fear of the man.
"I am the Crimson Eagle," he replied emotionlessly, "And I will not allow you to touch Sailor Moon."
"Why didn't you let me kill Sailor Pinkmoon?" Sailor Charon replied huffily. "I had almost gotten it over with. I was going to be the hero!"
"Because," the Crimson Eagle replied, "I am a knight. And my duty is to protect Sailor Senshi. Sailor Moon, whatever her history, is a Sailor Senshi."
Sailor Charon looked toward Kouken for guidance. Kouken's grave face nearly matched the iron mask of the Crimson Eagle; he shook his head.
"The duty of knights is dead, as you can see," he told the Crimson Eagle, "Tuxedo Mask himself protects Sailor Moon above the other senshi. You should stop hanging on to the old ways and help us destroy Sailor Moon--otherwise, Diana will return."
"I believe there is another way," the Knight replied. "I believe we can find a solution in which no one is sacrificed."
Kouken just stared angrily back at The Crimson Eagle. Sailor Charon glanced back and forth between them in confusion; she didn't know what Kouken meant by the 'duty of knights', but if there was a way to solve the problem of Diana without killing anyone, she was willing to hear the strange man out. She held out her hand; her naginata materialized faithfully in front of it, and she gripped it firmly once again. She may have been willing to listen to the Crimson Eagle, but if his solution wasn't going to work, Charon was prepared to do what she had to. That was what heroes did.
"What solution do you think we can find?" Sailor Charon asked him.
"I do not know. But I am determined to find one," he responded.
Charon frowned. "Who knows how long that'll take, and if it'll even work?" she said. "We can't count on your hopes. We have to be brave and act! Now move aside, so I can finish what I came for!"
"If you want to kill her, you'll have to kill me first. I will not die dishonorably once more." he said, holding his katana in front of him.
Once more? What did that mean? At this point, Charon decided, it didn't matter. He obviously wasn't going to move, and heroes didn't kill innocent people who weren't threatening world peace. Moreover, if she tried to run past him and attack Pinkmoon, he'd probably just throw another disc and send her naginata flying across the yard again. She sighed in resignation. "I'll just have to try another day, I guess," she said in annoyance. All this effort, and her plan had been messed up so easily.
She turned around and walked out of the schoolyard, only half paying attention to that announcement that school had been called off for the day. Kouken followed behind her, a stern look on his face as he glanced behind him at the Crimson Eagle one last time. The Crimson Eagle watched them leave; when Sailor Charon disappeared from sight, he left as quickly and abruptly as he had appeared.
Pinkmoon turned towards Helios as they stood alongside the Asteroids in the empty schoolyard. Usako de-transformed; the Asteroids followed her example. She sat down and looked dejectedly toward the ground. Helios sat down beside her and hugged her comfortingly.
"What's going on?" she asked, half to herself. "Who were they? What did they want?"
"It looks like they all have something to do with you, Usako," Haruko said, looking down at her, "And nothing to do with us. You sure you don't know them?"
"Positive," she said, looking back up at Haruko, "and Mama never told me anything about these people, either. But that senshi--Sailor Charon--she and her guardian seemed to think they had a good reason for attacking. Have I done something wrong?"
"No, you haven't," Helios said, tightening his grip around her a little, "you've done nothing wrong."
"Maybe it was something she did unintentionally," Fuyuko suggested, "Something she did without realizing it."
"But there's nothing she's done that's hurt anyone," Natsuko responded. "The attack is random. We don't even know who these senshi are, if they're senshi at all."
"They're definitely senshi," Diana said, jumping up on Haruko's shoulder, "I could feel it in Sailor Charon's aura. And The Crimson Eagle gives off similar feelings to those of Tuxedo Mask. And the fact that they're senshi makes the situation even more frustrating; they should be fighting with us, not against us!"
"In any case, we should tell the Queen," Akiko said decisively. "If anyone knows what to do, she will."
"Artemis and Luna, too," Diana added. "There might be something in the history of the Silver Millenium about these senshi."
Usako shook her head. "No."
"Why not?" Helios asked, confused.
Usako gently broke off from Helios and stood up as authoritatively as she could muster. "Because," she explained, "I don't want to live in Mama's shadow anymore. All of this time, even when she sent me off to the past, she was always--in one form or another--safely leading me along, ready to intervene when things took a bad turn. But Mama didn't have that luxury when she was Sailor Moon. Then, she was the leader, and she had to handle things on her own. True, she had a team just like you guys to help her and Luna to give her advice. But she didn't have someone bigger and more powerful to intercede when things got dangerous. So I'm going to be the same way. I'm not going to ask Mama for help any more. And we aren't going to tell her anything's wrong. When we go home tonight, we're going to act like nothing out of the ordinary has happened."
"It's true that the queen's mother was not alive to help her," Haruko told Usako, concern in her voice, "but at the same time, she never had to deal with something like this. She never had Sailor Senshi who were turned against her."
"No, that's not true," Helios disagreed.
"It's not?" Fuyuko asked, confused.
"Sailor Moon and the Outers used to be enemies; they had different motives and often came into conflict. Galaxia's henchmen were also Sailor Senshi of sorts. Salior Moon made it through both of those dilemmas; the Outers in particular went on to become valuable allies and good friends of the queen's. Even though it may be hard, I believe that we should stand by Usako's decision and face this problem alone. After all, the Sailor Quartet are Sailor Pinkmoon's personal guardians," Helios said, glancing meaningfully at Haruko. "And I feel obligated to stand beside her for...personal reasons. Moreover, I think the queen would respect her decision. Am I right?"
The Sailor Asteroids looked nervously at each other, Helios, and Usako. Eventually, they met each other's gazes once more and nodded. This was Usako's fight. She was Sailor Moon now; and the responsibility of that position was hers and hers alone.
~EPISODE ONE: FIN~
Softly mumbling, "Don't cry," to myself,
I cry under
the distant moon rising on the horizon
Even if I wish on that
Moon, my wish won't be realized, will it?
I’m not at fault,
right? It's everyone else's fault, right?
If you think so too, if
you'll believe in me,
I’ll be so happy, because I want only
that happiness, because I absolutely hate this destiny
Lulululu..........
Naicha dame yo to jibun ni sotto
tsubuyaite
Chiheisen ni noboru tooi tsuki no shita ni naiteru no
Sono o-tsuki-sama ni negattemo nozomi ga kanaenai ne
Watashi ga waruku nai deshou ne hoka no hito no sei na no ne
Anata mo sou omoeba watashi ni shinjite kureba
Totemo
ureshiku naru sono shiawase dake hoshii kara kono unmei zettai iya
kara
Lulululu..........
NEXT EPISODE
Yamiko: After learning about our destinies and our pasts, a whole new set of problems rises before us. How will we deal with the knowledge that Sailor Moon is responsible for our deaths?
Tokimo: Yamiko may not be willing to extend her friendship, but I don't need it--I have a new friend. With a personality caught between kindness and cruelty, her motives are as mysterious as her personality....
The Crimson Eagle: The duty of knights is never over, and If forced to do so, I will continue my quest to the death.
Yamiko: When straightforward problems arise, they are easily resolved. But when love and emotions combine with this fight, answers are seldom obvious....
Next time on MOON SENSHI: UNMEI NO KODOMO--
"The Sea and the Undertow"
Seisui: Evil returns to those who create it.
