Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.

Royalty In Hiding

Chapter Three: The Other Side

"Congratulations. On your new transformation and attack." Tuxedo Mask said as he turned to his Princess.

"Thanks." Sailor Moon said with a soft smile. "It feels good to be able to help again." She added and he nodded.

"So what do you want to do know that this is done?" Tuxedo asked quietly since the others were still there and watching them.

"I think you should go, but stay transformed so you can find me when I'm finished here. After all, we have a date to finish." She said.

"Alright." He agreed with a slight nod. "Don't stay too long, and keep an eye on them." He added before he began to move away.

Sailor Moon watched him as he quickly left the room then turned to her Scouts and began to move toward them. I'm glad that little girl was unconscious so she couldn't see me transformation. She thought idly as she saw the way the girls were looking at her. It's one less thing I need to worry about.

"What were you thinking transforming in front of Tuxedo Mask?!" Sailor Mars hissed as soon as she was close enough to hear.

Sailor Mercury simply stared at her disapprovingly before she looked away and began to escort the little girl away so she couldn't hear what was about to be discussed.

"And what were you thinking running into the middle of the fight like that? You knew you couldn't transform! That was completely reckless of you to do something so dangerous!" Sailor Jupiter chimed in with a heavy frown.

"I had to transform. You all were clearly having problems, and I had just gained the ability as well as stronger powers to help." Sailor Moon said.

"And what was I supposed to do before that?! Stand in the back of the room with the fight coming my way, trapped with nowhere to go?! My only option was to go through the fighting to get to the only exit!" She continued, feeling completely indignant.

"And it wasn't as if the Daimon was going to let me leave anyway. That's why Tuxedo Mask had to intervene, and he ended up taking the hit for his effort." She said with a frown.

"It was still a stupid move." Mars said as she cross her arms over her chest.

"Yeah! You should've just took cover and waited for the fighting to stop." Jupiter said with a frown.

Sailor Venus remained silent as she stood behind Mars and Jupiter, her face neutral as she listened to everything.

"Enough!" Sailor Moon said in a strong firm tone ending all talk. "I am not going to stand here and listen to you berate me when I haven't done anything wrong!"

"There was nowhere to go and nowhere safe to use as cover. I did the right thing and if you think not then you need to reevaluate your idea of right and wrong! You should be grateful I was able to transform when I did since that Daimon had the upper hand." She told them.

"And next time don't ask those other Scouts for help. You should be able to handle the situation without the help of others; and that includes Tuxedo Mask's help! He's obviously choosing to help of his own free will, and can easily stop whenever he wants. You should not rely on him either." Sailor Moon said, remembering his earlier reminder that he was only there fighting because she was there fighting. He was technically only there to protect her otherwise he wouldn't be there at all.

"What you need to do is start training harder, and getting stronger so you don't need to ask for help. You won't be able to ask for help when the princess is in danger." She pointed out. "Would you have asked those other Scouts for help in protecting her without knowing anything about them? Would you have only gone off the fact that they're also Sailor Scouts? That would only endangered her further." She explained and huffed in frustration before she turned and began to head for the doorway.

Once she passed through she saw Mercury standing not too far away with the little girl that had been there through the entire incident from start to finish.

"Take the child home, and leave her in the safety of her parents." She ordered the water scout sharply before she continued on out the building.

Once Sailor Moon passed through the brick fence she began to run, putting distance between herself and the girls, and headed to a large cement mural that was empty of people and waited for her Prince to join her.

Tuxedo Mask arrived a few minutes later and once they were assured no one was around they released their transformations. Darien's hands immediately began to glow gold and he brought them up to her face without a word and gently caressed, as if he was rubbing the bruises away, until they were gone.

"What happened after I left?" He asked as he moved his hands down to her neck, and listened as she told him of Raye and Lita immediately complaining about transforming in front of him and running into the fighting, and Amy's disapproving look.

"I defended myself and told them next time they shouldn't ask for help like Lita had. They should be able to handle the situation on their own, and not rely on anyone else, including you." Serena explained.

"I reminded them that they wouldn't be able to ask for help when the princess was in danger or they risked endangering her more; and that they should train harder to get stronger so they wouldn't have to ask for help."

"Spoken like a true leader." Darien said with an approving nod. "How are you feeling? Are you hurting anywhere else?" He asked as soon as he finished healing her neck.

"My back hurts a bit." Serena said and he instantly moved behind her and put his hands under her shirt, and slid his glowing hands along her skin.

"Mina didn't say anything." She added after a few moments of silence. "She just stood there watching everything."

"If that's the case then you should simply add that to your previous observations and continue to observe her." He advised before he pulled his hands away. "How do you feel now?"

"I feel good." She said as she turned to him. "Nothing else hurts." She added as she rolled her shoulders. "Your turn."

Serena silently called on the power of her silver crystal and her hand began to glow a soft white. She placed it against his injured side and watched the glow spread from her hand and enveloped his entire body. She knew he could've done the same, but he liked to touch her and he knew she liked the feel of him touching her.

The light stayed for a few long moments before it faded away and her hand stopped glowing.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"I feel good. All the aches and pains are gone." Darien said in pleasure.

Serena nodded and took a deep breath and looked around. Despite what had happened with their enemy attacking she was feeling better. She had talked out her thoughts and problems with Darien, was now able to transform and fight again, and managed to tell the girls off a little. She was ready for their date to continue, and told him so.

"Alright." He said and took her hand and began to guide her away. "Is there anything you want to do?" He asked as he look at her.

"Yeah. I'm in the mood for a movie; maybe action with a splash of romance." She suggested and he nodded.

"To the theater then." He said with slight nod.

~~RIH~~

In a tall high rise residential building in the Sankakusu district of Tokyo, in a penthouse apartment, two young women relaxed.

One was tall with short pale blonde hair with grayish blue eyes wearing loose cream colored pants, an open white button up long sleeve shirt and a black lace bra. The other was beautiful and delicate-looking, slim, of average height-shorter than the blonde, with wavy teal hair just pass her shoulders and deep blue eyes. She wore an elegant white one piece bathing suit.

The blonde stood in front of the wall of windows looking out in the slight distance at the private school situated between the triangle of high rise residential buildings. While the tealette lay lounging on a couch in the middle of the room facing the windows with a small paperback book in her hands.

"What do you think of those girls, the Sailor Scouts, so far?" The blonde asked her companion without looking away from the view outside the window.

The woman on the couch lowered her book and looked over to the blonde woman.

"Most of them are immature and not nearly strong enough." She replied. "The only ones out of that group with the right mentality are Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Tuxedo Mask."

"Speaking of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask." The woman by the window said as she turned around. "Who do you think they are? I don't remember either of them from the past."

"I don't remember them either, and I have no idea who they are." The woman on the couch said in slight concern. "I don't think the Scouts know who the masked man is, but they seem to be familiar with Sailor Moon."

It was a mystery to both young women, and it was bothering them like nothing else. They wondered if their memories were incomplete. They already knew that certain details were missing, but considering which details they were sure that it was because they were not yet meant to recall them, and they wondered if they were missing something else.

They briefly wondered if they should take time to try and find out the identities of the two fighters, but were not convinced it would be important enough for them to put off their mission. On the hand, they wondered if their identities could be important to know; if the knowledge might help them in their mission, but they could not say one way or another.

"We've both noticed the tension among the group Amara." The tealette said.

"Yes. Not to mention the tension between some of the Scouts and the masked man." Amara replied.

The woman on the couch hummed in agreement as she recalled the last encounter they had witnessed between the group of fighters and their enemy, a ridiculous looking car Daimon.

The Daimon sped away, going through streets and hopping curbs and racing along sidewalks, with two Sailor Scouts speeding right behind it on a motorcycle.

The Daimon led them, thankfully, to an empty area before it stopped and decided to confront them. They slowed to a stop and jumped off the motorcycle and finally got a good look at the Daimon they had been chasing.

It was a light pink skinned female with the appearance of a race car. She wore a shiny dark blue body suit on her upper body, and her generous chest covered in a small display of a windshield with side windows. Dark blue high heel shoes covered her feet, a red scarf wrapped around her neck, red fingerless gloves with dark blue sleeves nearly up to her shoulders, and she wore a dark blue helmet that covered her short neon green hair.

Attached to each shoulder and the side of each thigh was a small tire, and a large black star on the center of her chest visible through the windshield. Around her hips were silver exhaust pipes, and she carried a black steering wheel in her hands.

The two young women stood side by side. One stood tall in a white and navy blue sailor suit like all the other Sailor Scouts that were known throughout the city. There were clear differences however. She wore wrist length gloves instead of elbow length, her collar was a solid navy blue with no stripes, her front bow was yellow, and she wore short loose navy blue high heel boots. Her hair was short and pale blond, her eyes a grayish blue, and she wore golden hoop earrings.

The other stood calmly next to her companion with wavy teal hair and deep blue eyes. Her sailor suit was the same as her companions with the exception that it was white and sea green with her front and back bow being navy blue, and her choker had a yellow-green seaweed gem with golden accents attached to it.

To complete her look she wore white stud earrings with a planetary object surrounded by a ring dangling from them, and on her feet she wore sea green heels that were shaped like ballet slippers with cris-cross straps up her ankles.

"World Shaking!" The blonde attacked first breaking the standoff.

A yellow ringed sphere of energy streaked from her hand as she threw it toward the ground in the direction of the Daimon, compensating for the way the Daimon was leaning so the attack wouldn't miss when it tried to dodge. It moved through the ground, causing a mini earthquake, before it rose above the ground. It hit the Daimon and she was knocked back, landing on her back before she actually started driving away in her small tires.

The pair ran after it and the tealette ran to the nearby higher ground before she launched her own attack.

"Deep Submerge!" She said firmly and a ball of blue watery energy shaped like a planet launched from her hands toward the Daimon.

The attack hit the female and knocked her off course sending her onto her side wheels.

"World Shaking!" The blonde launched her yellow attack again and hit the Daimon full on causing it to scream in pain.

The tealette ran in, quick as lightning, and carefully grabbed the heart crystal from the Daimon before she moved away just as quickly. Then both women launched their attacks simultaneously from their locations, and both hit the Daimon at the same time causing it to cry out in pain as it collapsed.

Just then some of the other Scouts arrived and the blonde moved to join her companion to present a united front. Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Mercury came running up to the scene. It was the first time the scouts had seen the pair up close, and they could finally see that they were well and truly Sailor Scouts; or at least they looked like one.

"They have the heart crystal." Sailor Mercury said with narrowed eyes.

"We'll deal with it as soon as we finish off this Daimon, but keep an eye on those two and make sure they don't leave with it." Sailor Mars ordered.

The Daimon, recovered from the previous attacks, began to speed toward them, silver spikes sprouted from its wheels, tearing up the ground.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Sailor Jupiter yelled, launching a disc of electricity without hesitation.

"Burning Mandala!" Mars shouted sending multiple rings of fire at the Daimon.

The attacks hit the female almost at the same time. It cried out and collapsed to the ground just as Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon, and Sailor Venus arrived. Sailor Moon immediately summoned her scepter deciding to take advantage of the Daimon's weakened disoriented condition before it recover.

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" She called and a swirl of hearts shot out of her scepter and slammed into the Daimon. She screamed before she changed back into a car in a flash of light.

Everyone present watched as a strange looking egg came out of the car and cracked, releasing black smoke as was becoming familiar with destroyed Daimon's.

"Alright, can you hand over the heart crystal now?" Sailor Mars asked the mystery scouts, though it sounded more like an order.

The pair ignored her as they were finally able to look at the crystal they had been chasing.

As the silence stretched the Sailor Scouts realized in that moment that they were fighting separately from the pair. Them refusing to immediately hand over the heart crystal so it can go back to the person it came from was rather telling.

The pair with the crystal finished looking at it, and came to the conclusion that it was not a pure heart crystal. The tealette sent it floating over to Sailor Moon who caught it and held it carefully.

"Why are you two searching heart crystals?" Sailor Moon asked curiously.

"It doesn't matter why they're searching them. They're after them and that's all that matters!" Sailor Mars said.

"That, along with not aiding us, just means they're another enemy." Sailor Jupiter said. "Doesn't matter if they dress like us. They clearly don't have the same intentions."

"It's possible they're the enemy in disguise trying to make us lower our guard." Sailor Mercury said suspiciously.

Sailor Venus remained silent; simply watching and listening to everything.

"That is nonsense! You need to stop jumping to conclusions. First you did it with Tuxedo Mask, and now you're doing it with these scouts." Sailor Moon said to her fellow scouts. "You need to start thinking for more than a few minutes before you open your mouths, especially in the presence of these scouts. You have no idea what role they could possibly have in the future."

"As far as I'm concerned they're just like Tuxedo Mask. He hasn't proven himself not to be an enemy so he is, and so are they. You're just being naive, and if you continue to act this way we're going to have to make some changes in the group." Sailor Mars countered snidely.

The blonde and tealette simply stood by watching the scene taking in everyone's reaction to the words being spoken for possible future reference. It was clear that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were on one side and Sailor Mercury, Jupiter, and Mars were on the other. Sailor Venus was harder to place since she remained silent and gave away nothing with her expression.

"We're looking for pure heart crystals to keep them out of enemy hands." The tealette finally answered.

"That means the pure heart crystals are different then the heart crystals everyone apparently has." Sailor Moon said thoughtfully.

"Do you know how many pure heart crystals there are?" Tuxedo Mask asked.

"No." The blonde answered before she and her companion left the scene.

"We should focus on the enemy's movements and our mission, and not get involved in the issues between the other Scouts and Tuxedo Mask. If we happen to find out who Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask are along the way then we'll take in that information then." Amara said. "We can't be distracted right now Michelle." She stressed.

Michelle nodded calmly and it was quiet as they lost themselves in thought.

"Should we be looking for our princess?" She wondered. "Especially with the behavior of the other Scouts in the past?" Amara hummed thoughtfully, considering the recent behavior they were seeing in Sailor Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury.

"We should let the other scouts find her, and then make contact with her then." Amara said. "Then we can see if she's found the Earth Prince, and if she hasn't then we can begin searching for him."

"I hope she remembers what he looks like." Michelle said with a light sigh.

Amara nodded since she knew very well that neither of them remembered clearly what either royal looked like.

~~RIH~~

A man in silhouette moved around his laboratory in dim light. His entire body was shrouded in darkness as if he wanted to be unrecognized. The only thing visible were his glasses, the lenses making it appear as if he had bright lights coming from his eyes.

He laughed quietly to himself as he moved various objects around that he had been using and that he would soon need.

Once he finished he moved over to a machine he had created and began to tinker with it. It was always on and working, but at that moment he needed it to produce the objects it was made to produce.

A few moments later a black egg came out of the hole in the machine and floated briefly before it sped away, passing through the wall like it wasn't there, and out into the city.

He was sure it would find the pure hearts he and his associates were looking for.

In the late afternoon a young girl close to her teens sat in the living room of her home, sitting in a cushioned arm chair that resembled a recliner.

She had short black hair with purple undertones to her chin and wore her school uniform which consisted of a green plaid skirt, a red long sleeve top with a navy blue collar and cuffs and a light blue bow on the chest, and black pantyhose.

She sat relaxed in the chair with her eyes closed and her attention focused inward.

Her father had told her that he had put something inside her to save her life when she was six after losing her mother, and nearly her, in a lab accident. In the last year she had begun to suspect whatever he had done had left another being to grow inside her.

Now she was working to suppress that being as she had been doing for many months now. She could tell it was evil and shouldn't see the light of day, and things would be terrible if it somehow got out. But it was getting harder to do, especially when it spoke to her like it currently was.

It is no use Hotaru. You should stop fighting and accept me, or better yet, embrace me. You can be a part of something special.

I refuse! Hotaru replied instantly. I don't want to be part of anything you're involved in. I'll keep you locked away, forever, if it's the last thing I do.

Do not be that way. The being said. I can make you stronger then you are right now. Are you not tired of being weak all the time? Is it not frustrating? Do you not want to play and spend time with others your age?

Hotaru unwillingly found herself considering the beings words. She was tired of being weak. All she did was go to school and go home since she weakened so easily. No one ever really wanted to spend much time with her because of that. It took away their time to do what they wanted, so they decided to just avoid the inconvenience and avoid her.

Still, something inside her warned her against believing anything the being said. So pushing aside her feelings she spoke firmly to the being.

I'll deal with my weakness as I always have. I want nothing from you and nothing to do with you! Go back to the darkness where you came from. You're not getting out. Ever!

The being chucked softly in amusement before the laugh became louder and turned sinister.

I will not be denied. I will be free and there is nothing a child can do to stop me. I am Mistress 9 and I will not allow a child to get in the way of my plans!

The laughing continued before it began to trail off into silence. Hotaru continued to focus to make sure the being was completely suppressed, and there would be no chance of escape that day.

Suddenly she felt a tingling feeling that she associated with the sense that someone was watching her. She opened her eyes to see her father's assistant standing in the doorway of the room. She was beautiful with gray eyes, long red hair, and pale skin. She wore a sleeveless red V-neck mini dress with matching high heels and gold dangling earrings.

Hotaru didn't care what she looked like. She didn't like the woman and couldn't stand being around her. There was something off about her, something that felt similar to the being inside her. Even the being inside her, that Mistress 9, didn't seem to like her. She actually didn't see that as a good thing, because they disliked her for different things, but it was still telling.

"What do you want Kaori?" She asked the woman calmly.

"I'm simply checking up on you. I was concerned for your health with you sitting here in silence." Kaori said but she didn't believe that for a second.

"I'm fine." Hotaru said in a calm flat tone. "Your concern is unnecessary. I'm sure you have better things to do then look in on me."

"If you say so." Kaori said with a smile that actually looked like a condescending smirk before she turned and walked away.

Hotaru held in a sigh. I wish father wasn't always so busy or that I had someone to talk to that would understand.

She shook her head lightly and pushed those thoughts away and went to do her homework.