Chapter 36: Serenity Requested, a Soldier Received

Usagi was startled by the sudden voice in her head, one that was very different from the deeper tone of a more mature woman she had heard only seconds earlier. This voice came from deep within her soul and was immediately familiar to her, for it sounded much like her own. But she knew it could not have been hers, for it was not the first time she had conversed with its owner. No, it was the unmistakable voice that belonged to the waning spirit of the ancient Princess Serenity.

"Princess, please listen to me," Serenity begged Usagi within her mind.

"Serenity…" a stunned Usagi replied in her thoughts.

"You cannot complete that wish upon the Silver Crystal," Serenity firmly stated. "Please, recant the wish as quickly as possible."

"Why?" Usagi responded more indignantly. "Why can't I do what I absolutely need to in order to save the people I love?"

"Because…" Serenity briefly paused to ensure what she wanted to say had the proper effect. "Because, if you carry out that wish, the people you love and think you are saving in actuality will be forced to endure far worse agony than anything they currently feel."

Usagi's eyes widened momentarily, but then fell to their normal size as her dejection overtook her emotions. "But, how could they suffer anymore in my absence than what they have to go through now?" she morosely countered. "How can Ami be worse off than dead? What about my parents and my brother?"

"I don't truly believe your family is lost," Serenity flatly replied. "I don't believe that anyone you have encountered is lost. Your abilities and your enormous capacity for love are far too great for me to think that you could possibly fail to protect any of them."

"But, I saw them die right in front of me," Usagi said as fresh tears welled in her eyes.

Serenity released a discontented sigh, which greatly unnerved the blonde. "I know you did," she said tenderly, but also with a hint of annoyance. "However, I saw something completely different. I saw three people who did not look at all like they went through an automobile accident."

"What are you saying?" Usagi perplexedly asked.

"I'm saying continue to believe in yourself to the same extent Saeko believes in you," Serenity replied. Usagi felt a spark of recognition when the ancient spirit mentioned Ami's mother. "She did not work so hard to help you only for you to throw it all away like you seem destined to do. What would she think? What would your parents and your brother think?"

"They're not dead?" Usagi asked with muted optimism.

Serenity chuckled, which almost was an absurdly inappropriate response given the emotional state of her partner, but she couldn't help herself. "Unless they somehow discovered the ancient medical skills of the Silver Millennium, they should still show palpable signs of an injury they suffered not even one day ago," Serenity said lightheartedly.

Usagi felt like displaying the widest smile she possibly could when she realized what her alternate personality had just said. However, that elation was stifled by the lingering memories of Ami's death and the many others who she liked and loved who suffered in her presence. Furthermore, she was intrigued by what it was she did see if it wasn't the deaths of her family members, and she wanted to know why the princess didn't warn her earlier.

"Why didn't you try to stop me?" Usagi asked with a combination of innocent curiosity and reasonable irritation.

"I tried, but my voice was so weak it couldn't get through to you," Serenity solemnly responded. "I guess that was understandable, given that I was using my remaining power for other purposes."

"Such as?" Usagi pressed.

"Hiding the Silver Crystal within your body from detection from Beryl or anyone else who thought to search you for it," Serenity said matter-of-factly.

That answer delivered yet another surprise to an already thoroughly shocked girl. "You're saying I had the crystal within my body the entire time?" she asked vociferously. If she were speaking aloud with the same level of volume she addressed the ancient princess she would have attracted quite the curious stare.

"I did say, after all, that you'd be quite surprised at what you're capable of doing," Serenity wryly replied before taking a more gentle tone. "In any case, I deeply apologize, but they needed to think that it was anywhere but on your person. Otherwise, the process of searching you for the crystal and extracting it from your body would have killed you. I'm sure you felt an extreme amount of pain withdrawing the crystal when you actually wanted to do so."

Usagi immediately recalled the excruciating throbbing within her chest, a sensation she likened to what a person would feel if their heart suddenly exploded. "Yes, it was extremely painful," she somberly replied. "I didn't know if I would survive it, let alone know that it was the removal of the crystal from my body."

"The fact that you did survive extracting the crystal from your body without a transformation to your princess form is a testament of your immense power," Serenity said emphatically. "That is why you can't give up and think that destroying yourself will save anyone. You have your powers specifically so that you can save people, and you haven't failed to save anyone yet."

"What about Ami?" Usagi asked. The mere utterance of the name almost drove her to tears, but she managed to control her emotions.

"That was not your failure," Serenity firmly replied. "In fact, having seen and experienced firsthand the weapon with which she was supposedly killed, I'm not sure it was a failure at all." She considered stopping there, but her innate sense of Usagi's turbulent emotional state compelled the princess to quickly continue. "By that, I'm saying I strongly doubt Ami is dead."

"Not… dead…?" Usagi tentatively asked. It was one more unanticipated revelation on top of several that seemed to collapse upon her all at once.

"I understand what happened to her much better now that it also happened to you. The only difference is you were significantly more powerful and, as such, the stone could not completely absorb your soul," Serenity evenly replied. "It was a horribly painful experience for her, but as long as the stone used against her still exists, so does Ami."

Usagi felt an overwhelming sense of joy creep into her body at the news that her best friend may have been alive after all. Her only task would be to recover the sapping stone and derive some way of extracting Ami's soul. It wasn't a straightforward mission to be sure, but it was vastly simpler and more worthwhile to her than eliminating herself from existence. But there remained two more compelling reasons for her to carry out her present objective.

"What about Mariko, Azusa, and the others?" Usagi somberly questioned.

"They're not gone," Serenity optimistically answered. "So long as Kunzite still exists their souls can be recovered. I'm sure you'll succeed at purifying him now that you have some loyal senshi available to assist you. That's yet another reason you need to continue on in this life."

"But what about the past life?" Usagi asked in a tone that was a lot less depressed and a lot more inquisitive. "If I didn't exist—"

Serenity strongly felt the need to interrupt Usagi once she mentioned the ancient era. "You didn't exist! I did!" she forcefully replied, startling the blonde yet again. "The mere fact that you're talking to me, the reincarnated soul of my past self, means that you're not me and could not have been responsible for anything that happened at that time."

"Okay, okay… I get it," Usagi said resignedly. "I was about to do something completely stupid. But how do I stop this now that I've already made a wish onto the crystal?"

"As long as you don't say the magical incantation to activate the crystal and have it carry out your wish, you can add or subtract any number of wishes you want, limited by your own power, of course," Serenity said calmly. "So, if you suddenly don't want the crystal to do something you previously desired, just tell the crystal to grant you the power to remove your wish."

"Wait… it's that easy?" Usagi asked with a disbelieving tone.

"As incredulous as it sounds, yes," Serenity plainly responded. She gave the blonde a few moments to get over her blatant astonishment before speaking once again. "Now, I have a much better wish for you to place upon the crystal, one that is far less painful and actually requires far less energy than you think."

"And what is that wish?" Usagi eagerly inquired.

"To allow your complete ascension to Princess Serenity the Sixth and to give you absolute control of your transformation and your added capabilities as princess," Serenity said. "Furthermore, I want to combine my remaining powers, weak as they may be, with yours so that you may be even stronger in the fight against the Dark Kingdom and any other beings that may threaten this planet."

Usagi smiled outwardly before twisting her facial expressions in confusion. "The sixth? Didn't you say before that I would become Princess Serenity the Fifth?" she pointedly asked.

Serenity chuckled, obviously feeling both nervous and embarrassed, which was quite strange for Usagi to hear. "I did say that, but my original intention was that you would effectively serve out my term as princess, as you were supposed to be my reincarnated self," she sheepishly replied at first before regaining her typical poise. "However, you are far too kind and too powerful for such poor treatment. You are very much your own princess and you deserve to be remembered as such. Thus you would be Serenity the Sixth and not the Fifth."

"I understand," Usagi said cheerfully as her smile returned, only to be extinguished once again by the ancient spirit.

"Once I give you my remaining power my soul will no longer inhabit your body," Serenity said dejectedly. "I know your possession of my remnant energy is far more important than my selfish desires, but that doesn't mean I won't always miss the time I had with you."

"I absolutely will miss you too, Serenity," Usagi replied in a comforting voice. "However, if there's any good news, you'll get to see your mother once again, as you said earlier. And you two will always be together. You'll never have to worry about not seeing her ever again."

That statement brought an unseen smile of joy to the lips of the ancient princess. "That is a good thing after all, isn't it?" she said pensively. A few seconds passed where the princess was in deep reflection before she continued to speak. "Anyway, I think you have something critical to do now, and I shouldn't delay you any longer," she said in her best attempt at enthusiasm, although that more solemn emotion was still evident in her voice.

"Absolutely," Usagi replied. She bemoaned the being's impending permanent disappearance but at the same time she was happy to see the past finally concluded.

"Usagi… Princess Serenity, there's one last thing I have to say before I disappear," Serenity said with a soft whisper. "That is, I believe in you, and I love you very much. As imperfect as you may be and as we all are, the world is much better with your presence than it ever would be without."

Usagi felt the warm blush spread across her cheeks immediately after hearing the heartfelt confession but was not totally surprised by it. The former princess did spend her entire existence co-inhabiting her body and experiencing every second of her life. So it was only natural that such a strong bond would form. The same was true with Usagi, even though she only learned of the princess's separate personality less than twenty-four hours ago. Therefore, her response was even less extraordinary.

"I love you too," she said tenderly. "Thank you very much for protecting me and for guiding me to this point."

By then, the power that allowed Usagi to communicate with the spirit of the ancient princess had faded, preventing her from hearing any response. She knew it truly was the last time they would coexist and it saddened her, but she found solace in the fact that very soon she would have the power to help everyone she loved. She would use that awesome strength to defeat Beryl and Metalia for good and to restore the lives of her friends—with her continued existence. That would be her new wish upon the Silver Crystal as the modern Princess Serenity.

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The bright pink luminescent sphere swirled around Usagi's figure, obscuring her from the startled gapes or victorious smirks of everyone within the wind-blown room. She was mere seconds away from executing her most devastating wish, one that delighted Beryl and her followers, horrified Mamoru, and utterly confused the two most vulnerable senshi lying before their former friend. The four senshi who dramatically blasted their way into the room had no clue what was occurring with their princess. None of them had ever observed the use of the Silver Crystal and the phenomena that accompanied it. None of them knew the deadly consequences of its use… except for Sailor Pluto.

Unlike her fellow senshi, the Sailor Pluto of the modern era was not the reincarnated soul of any previous senshi. She was the same individual who lived through the end of the Silver Millennium and for thousands of years before that tragic event. Her lifespan was not infinite, as there were three other senshi from Pluto that preceded her during the reign of that great kingdom, but it was significantly longer than the typical lifespan of her brethren. Because of her long duration she had the unfortunate opportunity to witness firsthand one use of the Silver Crystal in a successful but ultimately suicidal attempt to protect the main palace. That was Queen Selenity the Sixth, the royal who had occupied the throne of the Silver Millennium for a scant 350 years before ending her reign and her life to ensure the continuity of the monarchy. Pluto had been summoned to relay some information to the queen regarding suspicious events detected in the outer regions of the solar system and some equally disturbing attacks on the time stream by some foreign entity. That allowed Pluto the opportunity to be nearby Selenity when the surprise assault began. She was the only senshi in position to provide any rapid defense from the formidable foe, with the guardian senshi away at their home planets. If it was a normal attack those princesses-turned-senshi would have had sufficient time to mobilize and travel to the moon, but it was anything but a normal strike. Despite doing her job as well as she could, ultimately it was a losing effort and the palace grounds had come dangerously close to being breached. Fearing for the life of her daughter and her successor, Selenity decided the best strategy was to use the Silver Crystal to eliminate all of the attackers, even if it meant she would no longer have the opportunity to see her young child mature into a beautiful woman and capable queen. Pluto didn't bother trying to argue against her decision as she knew it was the best action for the situation and, per her typical stubbornness, the queen wouldn't have listened anyway. As that gargantuan sphere of white light erupted from the crystal and enveloped everything within their vicinity, destroying all of the invaders while sapping the very soul of the queen, Pluto hoped she would never again have to witness such a heartrending scene. She was lucky, in that self-serving way, to have missed the destruction of the Silver Millennium.

In any case, the sphere that surrounded Usagi was of the exact same wondrous yet horrific energy that had encased Selenity the Sixth that painful day. She knew she had to find some way of stopping the current princess from carrying out whatever wish she had placed upon the crystal. The first thing that came to her mind was to distract Usagi before the girl could finalize the wish and plead to her to reconsider her action. So she raised her Garnet Rod above her head and instructed the orb lodged within to emit a brilliant light with the hope that Usagi would notice it and the words that followed.

"Princess Serenity! Hear my words and open your eyes!" she furiously yelled to lift her voice over the wind.

Several seconds elapsed before Setsuna had a sense that Usagi noticed her words and her presence. When she was certain that the young princess had at least a fraction of her attention, she sent the girl one more message.

"Please, listen to your heart! Don't use the crystal if you don't absolutely have to!" she pleaded with a fervent shout.

The few minutes that elapsed seemed to last an eternity to the senshi of revolution and her dismayed cohorts. The wind continued to whip feverishly about the room and the pink sphere of light and pure energy remained wholly intact. Meanwhile, the guards that had surrounded the chamber attempted to enter through two smaller sets of doors, one apiece on either side of the throne, but were blocked by the tremendous wind. One sentinel who had attempted to crawl into the room was blown about and almost collided with Zoisite before crashing hard into the stone wall. That discouraged the other guards from entering the room until the wind died down.

Eventually the opaque pink sphere that had completely obscured Usagi slowly turned translucent, allowing Setsuna her first view of the girl since her capture. She was apprehensive of the expression of pure determination that was etched on the blonde's face and was most notable in her narrowed and focused sapphire-blue eyes. However, her fear was assuaged when she heard the princess speak.

"Oh, Silver Crystal, please allow me to remove the wishes I had previously requested, for I no longer desire their realization," Usagi stated firmly. The crystal responded by emitting a brief flash of blue light and completely eliminating the pink sphere that had encased the girl. Furthermore, the windstorm slightly decreased in intensity. Both were signs that indicated to the princess her crystal successfully had forgotten her previous intentions and was prepared to receive a new wish.

"Instead, dear Crystal, please grant me the power to assume my true form now and whenever I need to in the future," Usagi resolutely continued. "Please give me the energy necessary to acquire my full capabilities and skills so that I can fight against the evils that plague this Earth and defend the people I love. Allow me access to the remaining power of my predecessor and ensure that her spirit is as loved in the future as it was in my present and her past." She paused momentarily before revealing her final wish and sealing it with a tremendous shout. "Please, dear crystal, accept my legitimacy and grant my full ascension to Princess Serenity the Sixth. As princess of the Moon and its defender, I state faithfully and with all my love… Silver Crystal Power!"

Immediately after saying those three final and most critical words, a marvelous white light burst from the crystal and flooded the room. Everyone in the room was utterly amazed and, depending on their viewpoints, horrified at what they saw on the raised platform when the light eventually faded.

The pigtailed blonde no longer wore the morbid black robes that signified her status as a prisoner of the Dark Kingdom. In its place was a gleaming white gown that fully symbolized her regality and her immense power as the newest princess of the Silver Millennium. It bore some similarities to the gown that clothed her whenever she requested the appearance of her predecessor, but in other ways it was remarkably different. In fact, it was more akin to the elegant garb of that ancient princess's mother. The dress was completely sleeveless and more form-fitting, removing the bulbous shoulders and wide skirt of the original. The uppermost few inches of the otherwise pure white bodice consisted of a faint pink halo of fabric that affixed a single large crescent moon of resplendent gold to the middle of her chest. A narrower ring of light pink marked the bottom of a skirt that ended just above the floor. The entirety of the smooth white satin fabric was covered in a multitude of tiny silver specks that reflected the light and created the lustrous effect. Finally, a silver-colored fine silk sash loosely hung around her waist and attached to a large white bow at the rear of the gown. It was a unique costume but one that firmly exhibited Usagi's relationship to her ancestors while highlighting her own substantial powers as a proper and complete princess.

Usagi stood with a blank expression on her face for a few moments as she slowly comprehended the transformation that had occurred. From that moment onward, she truly was the princess, her own princess, without the influence of that ancient spirit. The amount of raw energy that she detected flowing through her body stunned her as it was far greater than any she previously wielded. However, what surprised her even more was the item that she held within her hands. The Silver Crystal, having completed its task, had taken the liberty of returning to its previous location inside of her. Instead, her hands lightly cupped a round, gold brooch that at first glance appeared very similar to the original, but upon deeper examination revealed many distinctive properties. It was larger than the original brooch and the crescent in the center was silver. Four more colored gems joined the initial four stones, their navy blue, sea green, purple, and black hues indubitably representing the newly acquired or soon-to-be awakened outer senshi. The heft of the brooch within her hands was greater than what she remembered. However, despite the alterations, it was still her transformation brooch, and it was the one thing she absolutely needed in her possession for her to achieve those precious goals. And, unlike before, she was not going to surrender the brooch to anyone for any reason.

"What the hell just happened?" Beryl furiously asked with her narrowed red eyes locked on the atrocious sight of the new princess.

"I arrived," Usagi replied with a calm yet tenaciously firm voice. She then lifted her brooch above her head. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" she shouted, and a bright pink light emanated from her body as she initiated the transformation from her true form as princess to her warrior identity as the great Sailor Moon.

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Mamoru released a gargantuan sigh of relief as he pushed himself to his feet. In the end, Usagi did not kill herself but resisted the evil machinations and emotional manipulation of Beryl. Of course she wasn't completely safe as she stood in the middle of the throne room and was standing dangerously close to the very leader of the Dark Kingdom. He needed to provide every bit of assistance he possibly could to her and he needed to do so immediately. He reached into his pocket and withdrew the red rose that powered his transformation to Tuxedo Kamen. After a bright flash of gold light the tuxedoed fighter appeared, his superfluous mask doing little to hide the fierce glare he directed at Beryl.

"Sailor Moon! Tuxedo Kamen!" Makoto shouted from across the throne room.

She, as much as the outer senshi and more than the two other guardian senshi, was thrilled to see them. She dashed across the room and stood next to Usagi while adopting a defensive stance. The blonde turned an incredulous eye to the brunette who only a short while ago had tried to kill her.

"What are you doing?" Usagi disdainfully asked as she pointed angry eyes at Makoto.

"I'm doing what I can to make up for my betrayal of you," Makoto said with a more sullen tone, but without shifting her eyes from the gaze of her main opponent in Beryl. "I'm truly, truly sorry for everything I did to you, and I'll do whatever it takes for you to trust in me and to consider me a friend again."

Usagi only replied by slightly tilting her head to the side and continuing the irate glower. She was still extremely distrustful of Makoto and felt she had no reason to immediately believe the apology until Mamoru interjected.

"She's being honest, Usagi," he said calmly. "When I talked to them and told them that they were being completely foolish for not accepting you as the princess, she was the only one to actually understand that and feel true remorse." The brunette punctuated his statement by giving Usagi a slow nod of her head.

Those words didn't immediately eliminate Usagi's harsh opinion of Makoto, but it did soften it considerably. It would be a slow process for her to completely forgive the senshi of lightning for first abandoning her and then attacking her with the horrible intent to kill. However, it comforted her to know that another one of the girls was willing to restore their friendship and to do the arduous work needed to accomplish that goal. Eventually she would have a serious conversation with all of the girls, but the time for that would be later, after the fight.

As though on cue, Beryl lifted her hands and pointed her open palms at Usagi. A colossal red ball of odious energy, one that was almost as large as the wielder, rapidly formed in her hands. Without any spoken incantation the ball dashed from her hands and sped toward the two senshi. Makoto understandably was apprehensive, not just for her sake but for that of her princess, as she saw the sphere swiftly approach. Usagi, on the other hand, was absolutely calm as she grasped the Moon Stick that materialized in front of her. A bright white light emanated from the wand as it erected a shield of pure energy to deflect the attack, which was exactly what she expected to occur. What she did not anticipate was keeping her footing as the shield completely redirected the attack around both her and Makoto. The last time she had seen an attack that powerful she was blown clean across a fairly large room.

"What was that?" Makoto asked in awe once she recovered from the fright of almost being hit by the potentially lethal blast.

"My shield," Usagi nonchalantly replied.

The blonde then quickly and yet methodically surveyed the room. The ability to rapidly determine her surroundings was one of the skills she had developed in her training with Luna. It wasn't perfectly honed, and she longed for more practice, but even then her ability was far superior to that of any of the guardian senshi. The outer senshi, who naturally were better at combat tactics despite never having applied them until that evening, were on par with her in that regard. She observed them taking strategically beneficial positions along the far wall. Setsuna stood immediately next to the massive hole in the rear door to prevent anyone from exiting or ambush any reinforcements that tried to enter. Haruka and Michiru flanked the green-haired woman, the sandy blonde positioned to the right where she was closer to the princess, and her lover hugging the wall on left side of the room. Usagi's brow furrowed and she tilted her head slightly in confusion as she had never seen those three senshi before, although they did appear vaguely familiar to her. As she continued to scan she saw the Dark Kingdom generals counter the movements of the outer senshi with their own maneuvers. Sazaratha slid to the side of the room occupied by Michiru while Kunzite took the other, both in locations very close to the growing masses of steel blue-suited guards flooding the room from the alternate doors and rushing the throne. Zoisite ran to the center of the room, very close to the two people the trio clearly intended to attack first. That was the situation against which Usagi had to rapidly construct a plan of attack.

"Go grab Minako and Rei! Hurry!" Usagi ordered Makoto while she leaped high over the column of sentries rushing their way up the steps of the throne platform and landed in the back of the room.

Makoto momentarily was astonished by the physical prowess Usagi displayed and thus stood frozen with a blank stare. She quickly shook herself to regain her focus and jumped from the platform and sprinted over to two senshi who stood awkwardly in the middle of the room and, as a result, were completely exposed to a three-pronged attack. Each of her strong hands grabbed a girl and roughly threw them to the ground, away from the explosion of white light that erupted from their previous location. Had she departed a second later, Rei and Minako would have taken direct hits from all three generals.

"Don't just stand there looking like complete idiots!" Makoto angrily admonished her fellow senshi and former friends. "Go do something to help your princess!"

Rei and Minako did not know whether to be angry at Makoto for treating them so harshly or to be thankful to her for saving their lives. For her part, the raven-haired girl was still quite irritated at the brunette for their previous fight, one that left Minako in far worse condition. However, the primary reason for their disagreement vaporized before their very eyes. No longer was there any doubt that Usagi was the princess. That reality clearly stunned Minako, but her lethargy also could be blamed on her head wound and the lingering effects of Sazaratha's attack. On the other hand, the young shrine maiden was completely floored by the revelation. Indeed, until Makoto's disruption of her thoughts, she was completely oblivious of the battle raging around her. Her mind was fixated on the absolute horror she felt when she found out she had tried to kill the very princess she promised to defend with her life. Not only that, but she hated the girl with an unhealthy passion. She loathed her, but for what? For an accident that the girl apologized for many times in the past and even once again that evening? The incident for which the girl—her princess—almost killed herself as atonement because she completely absorbed the blame? How could she justify her identity as a senshi after that?

"Thanks, Makoto," Minako softly said with a gentle nod of her head, startling Rei from her contemplative reverie.

The blonde then rose to her feet and looked around the room in a vain attempt to make sense of everything happening around her. Everything was happening far too hectically for her mind to digest. Who were those three strange and yet obviously powerful senshi again? What were those pink balls that Usagi fired from her wand at Kunzite? What were those things that leaped from the general's body afterward? The throbbing headache only served to make matters worse. Through the pain she did see that Zoisite was standing way too close to her and was lifting his hand in her direction again, apparently to send another attack. Her instincts told her to duck, and that's exactly what she did as the green orb of negative energy flew over her head and smashed into the wall behind her, fracturing the façade and raining debris over the heads of the guards and a certain other blonde in that area of the room.

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After landing near the door, Usagi turned and spoke to the tall senshi holding the key-like staff. "I think you're Sailor Pluto. I don't know who you are in real life, but thanks for helping me," she said quickly but not enough to hide her grateful tone. "Anyway, I need you all to help me separate Kunzite from the other guys and keep them away from me while I attempt to heal him. Tell the others the same thing."

"Very well, your highness," Setsuna dutifully answered. "By the way, my name is Setsuna Meiou," she hurriedly added.

"Very nice to meet you, Setsuna," Usagi said with a welcoming nod before leaping off to her right, in the direction of Haruka and her intended target.

"You're Sailor Uranus, right?" Usagi intently asked, her eyes quickly glancing up at the much taller blonde before turning back to her target.

"At your service, your highness," Haruka proudly replied.

"Do you think you can take the silver-haired guy on one-on-one for a brief moment while I charge my attack?" the pigtailed blonde asked.

A large smirk appeared on Haruka's lips and she placed her hands on her hips. "I'd thought you never ask," she said confidently, if not smugly.

"Thanks. Just don't kill him," Usagi promptly replied with a brief grin and curt nod. She then took a few steps away from Haruka and closer to the wall, her back almost touching the cold surface. Her eyes slid shut and she slipped into deep concentration, willing her body to provide the necessary energy she needed to heal Kunzite and extract from him the souls he captured.

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An expression of disgust covered Sazaratha's face as she saw her attack barely miss her two targets. She had all but dominated the two in her earlier encounter, nearly killing Minako with an attack that was strongly inspired by the senshi of love's trademark weapon. If it weren't for the timely interruption by Beryl, she would have finished the job. However, her boss wanted them alive and brought to the throne room, and so she held back.

"I should have killed them earlier and been done with it," she exasperatedly mumbled under her breath moments after the brilliant flash of white light formed from the collision of her attack with those from the two Shitennou generals. The two senshi were shoved to the floor by a third she hadn't seen personally but through her briefings knew to be Sailor Jupiter.

"I guess I'll just have to finish them off myself," she haughtily uttered to herself as she lifted her hands above her head. She was prepared to repeat the same attack that brought Minako to the edge of death. The brilliant gold sphere readily formed at her fingertips, its white lightning cackling with ominous potential. Before she could initiate the attack she heard the silky retort from an elegant turquoise-haired senshi standing at the edge of her field of vision. It indicated that she might have spoken a little louder than she probably intended.

"That would be quite the achievement for you, considering you're outnumbered three to one," Michiru derisively stated. "How about I make this a fair fight for you?"

"Oh, please. You have no idea how powerful my attack can be," Sazaratha replied with absolute disdain. A wry grin tugged at her lips. "But it looks like you're begging to find out firsthand, and I certainly wouldn't want to disappoint you," she added in a more sardonic tone.

Michiru lifted her hands above her head and swiftly created the radiant cyan sphere that held the power of her attack. Instead of flinging the sphere at her opponent, she held back and allowed the sphere to gather more energy. For some reason she felt that it would benefit her to wait.

"I'm happy, because I always hate being disappointed," Michiru said with dripping sarcasm. "So, let's see what you have to offer."

"With pleasure," Sazaratha curtly responded.

In her arrogance she was fixated on dominating the senshi of the sea and she briefly lost track of what was happening with the three girls closer to her. She failed to see the senshi in the orange skirt lift herself to her feet, slowly look around in confusion, and then leap to the floor. If she had done so, then she would have observed much earlier the massive green blast of negative energy that raced directly toward her head. Much like the senshi she battled, she was not immune to her own attacks or to those of her allies. With prior warning she could have deftly stepped away from the attack. However, she did not notice it until it was almost too late to avoid the lethal strike. She followed her natural instinct to duck and in doing so she lost control of the menacing gold orb. It vaporized as the energy returned to her body, leaving her a sitting duck.

"Deep Submerge!" Michiru yelled as she took advantage of her opponent's distraction. Her own potent orb rushed through the air and landed a direct impact on the crouching blonde, forcefully knocking her into the wall of the raised platform. Her painful shriek indicated that the attack did not knock her unconscious, but for a few precious moments she would not be a threat to her or to her princess.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

At the same time her princess was preparing her attack, Haruka took a few paces toward Kunzite. She was careful not to approach too closely as she did not know what kind of weapons he may have possessed. It was obvious that he used energy attacks as he demonstrated barely a minute earlier, but that didn't mean he wasn't armed. She raised her hand to form the powerful ringed globe of energy she typically threw at her opponents. While the sphere grew in size she saw Mamoru's tuxedoed figure leap from the platform and toss a series of steel-tipped roses at both the crowd of guards on that side of the throne and at Kunzite. It wasn't a particularly formidable attack, but it was effective as it distracted the general just long enough for her impending strike to land unimpeded.

"World Shaking!" Haruka shouted as she released the massive sphere of gold energy into the ground in the direction of the unaware general. By the time he realized he was the target of the attack there was nothing he could do to evade or deflect the blast. The impact shoved him backward by a few feet and he fell to his knees in obvious pain. Without a moment's hesitation that attack was succeeded by Usagi's far more magnificent assault.

"Moon Healing Escalation!" Usagi slowly yelled with extraordinary passion. She moved the Moon Stick in front of her body in a sweeping circular motion. At the end of the movement the Silver Crystal lodged within the wand emitted a combination of bright pink and white lights moments before releasing several pink balls of pure energy. Much like her first use of the attack, every single one of the glowing orbs hit its target. Unlike that initial attempt, she received a much different and far more desirable result.

A blindingly bright white light emanated from Kunzite's kneeling figure after the last sphere of warm, positive energy struck his body. A shriek of agony escaped his lips as the princess's energy eradicated the last vestiges of the evil curse that had dominated his being and his personality. Afterward, he felt merely felt remarkable calm wash over him as the white aura slowly changed to a pale blue halo. One by one, luminescent gold orbs shot out of his body and floated high above the ongoing battle. They slowly drifted toward the person who freed them from their imprisonment, clustering around a relieved and exultant Usagi. The orbs progressively morphed and reverted to their original forms. Three of the figures, two women and a black cat, Usagi immediately recognized and was beyond thrilled to see alive and well once again. A fourth figure, a person she only vaguely recognized because of the general's offhand remark, was being vigorously hugged and kissed by one of the initial three beings. The other eighteen orbs transformed into people, all girls or young women, she didn't personally know but nonetheless was overjoyed to see rescued. She returned her attention to the loudly purring feline, the one she wanted to see the most.

"Luna!" Usagi yelled ecstatically as she bent to her knees, lifted the cat into her arms, and cradled it gently to her chest. Luna snuggled closer to her charge and merrily purred, grateful for her rescue but also extremely cautious not to reveal to the strangers surrounding her that she could speak.

"What's going on?" one of the unknown women shrieked in a combination of horror and perplexity.

"I have no idea," frightfully answered a tall woman with long, wavy brown hair. She paused and her fearful expression faded when her eyes spotted a mysteriously familiar pigtailed blonde. She knew she hadn't seen the stranger before, but a part of her mind told her the girl looked remarkably similar to her lovely and all-too-cute Usagi-chan. She hesitantly approached the golden-haired senshi and was about to speak to her but that lovely girl made the first remark.

"You're alright, Mariko," Usagi said calmly and with joy in her voice. "You may not know who I am, at least not yet, but I assure you everything will be just fine."

Mariko blankly stared at the girl and her pleasant sapphire-blue eyes for a second before a tremendous warm smile overtook her lips. "For some reason, I strongly believe you're absolutely right," she evenly replied.

Usagi gently nodded before a veil of seriousness covered her face. "Now, we need to get you all out of here and to safety. Could you and Azusa round everyone up and send them to where that green-haired woman is standing?" she asked with a sober tone.

"I'll try my best," Mariko said, giving the girl a resolute nod before turning away to find her older friend and associate.

Meanwhile, Usagi sprinted to Setsuna's position near the door, ignoring the gawks from the recently liberated civilians and those from some of her own senshi. Most of them never realized a human being could move so quickly, and the select few that did doubted until that moment that Usagi was among that rarified group.

"Setsuna, I'm pretty sure you found a way in, so could you lead those people out of here?" Usagi asked with a rapid cadence to her voice as she let Luna free from her soft grasp.

The princess looked to the middle of the room and saw her three former friends—one of them regarded slightly better than the other two—pushing themselves to their feet. At the same time she saw a brilliant cyan orb fly behind the trio and smash into an unusually beautiful yet patently evil blonde.

"Can you take them with you?" she quickly added as she pointed at the three senshi.

The tall senshi briefly considered arguing the point of how she and her fellow senshi arrived in the cavernous Dark Kingdom, but she abandoned the point and instead dutifully nodded her head. She knew it would be extraordinarily useless to debate her princess's request when there were innocent people in mortal danger. Besides, the crux of her order was simple enough: move the victims to safety. Whether that meant out of the Dark Kingdom or just far enough away from the throne room to where they wouldn't be noticed and attacked was her prerogative.

"Absolutely, your highness," she evenly replied as she began to run to the middle of the room. "Tell Uranus and Neptune that I'm going toward the control room. They'll know what I mean." Usagi slightly tilted her head in confusion, unaware of what she meant by 'control room,' but proceeded to do exactly that.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

A pall of horror and fierce anger fell over the red-haired woman's face as she found her attack readily deflected by the loathsome blonde's shield. The fact she could produce the shield did not surprise her one bit as she was intimately familiar with the princess's capabilities, a result of her debriefing Kunzite after his solo battle. From the general's experience, she knew that the shield protected the princess from the magical effects of a blast, but an attack with sufficient force should still knock the girl down or send her flying. So she was stunned when neither of those occurred when she delivered an attack far more powerful than any Kunzite used against that horribly infuriating opponent. She prepared to send another attack at her primary adversary, but before she could even begin to gather the requisite energy the blonde had leaped away from the platform and to the other side of the room.

"Damnit!" Beryl loudly cursed as she stepped forward to begin her pursuit. However, she was intercepted by the small contingent of her guards that managed to enter the room and climb up the platform.

"Stay back, your highness!" one of the steel blue-suited guards shouted in a deep, masculine voice. His possession of a red-hilted sword, along with the unique red trim of his jacket, indicated he was the unit's overall commander.

"Move! Get out of my way!" Beryl furiously shouted at him as he and a few of his halberd-wielding subordinates blocked her path. Yet he refused to budge or order his men to disperse.

"I cannot allow you to place yourself in harm's way, your highness," he firmly replied. "Doing so violates your standing orders to protect you."

Beryl sighed in frustration but knew the man was correct. She left written orders for her personal guard to defend her at all costs. A part of that instruction was that they ignore any verbal order from her that would increase her risk of injury or death, a section she included to prevent her from doing anything rash. It was a move that made perfect sense at the time. She was fortunate to find people so loyal to her and willing to execute her commands, but that loyalty had just become an irritating hindrance. However, without new written orders or a drastic change in the situation, they would not allow her to insert herself into the battle. Besides, they also witnessed her powerful attack rendered utterly useless.

Another group of sentries had spotted the tuxedo-wearing Mamoru and, immediately considering him a threat to their queen, aggressively surrounded him. Their raised swords and halberds were about to be lowered upon his head when they heard the yelp that interrupted them.

"Wait!" a flustered Beryl suddenly yelled. "Don't touch him! He's Endymion!"

The guards were aware of her fondness of Endymion, so when they learned that was Mamoru's identity they withdrew their weapons and slowly backed away from the raven-haired man. That gave him an opening to leap into the air and pelt Kunzite and some of the incoming sentries with the strangest of all possible weapons: roses. The commander of the guard unit merely shook his head in disbelief before once again addressing the queen.

"Your highness, you need to get out of here," he said demandingly.

Beryl initially refused to leave until she observed the astounding power behind the attack the princess leveled at Kunzite. She instantly knew the general was lost to her, and she suspected the entire battle itself might have been a lost cause. As she stared at Kunzite's purification and the liberation of all the souls he had captured, she hastily planned an organized retreat. The last thing she was going to do was lose the last bit of advantage she had over the princess and her senshi.

"Zoisite!" she yelled in her mind over the telepathic link she tried to initiate with the last available member of the Shitennou. Her attempt had failed due to the blond-haired general's distraction of launching an attack at three of the senshi, an attack that almost hit her subordinate Sazaratha instead. She repeated her mental cry a second time and received a response.

"What is it your highness?" Zoisite hurriedly said.

"You need to get out of here now!" Beryl instructed with a tone that conveyed sizable panic. "Be sure to take—"

Her connection to Zoisite was rudely interrupted by a means unknown to her. If she could see over the heads of the guards surrounding her she would have observed her former subordinate knock the general to the floor. Either way, she knew she had to leave before the princess took as much of an interest in her as she did Kunzite. Her body emitted a brilliant flash of red light as she quickly disappeared from the throne room and retreated to her secure personal quarters.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

The bright flash of red light that flooded the room corroborated Usagi's initial deduction as she sensed a drastic reduction in the ambient dark energy that pervaded the chamber. She couldn't quite see the malevolent queen as she was obscured by the phalanx of guards that encircled and defended her. However, the drop in negative energy indicated that the queen had disappeared. If she still had the amulet the stone would have gone blank, but that little trinket was long gone, destroyed in her transformation to her true princess form. In any case she didn't need it anymore. She turned her eyes away from the elevated throne as she surveyed the room. Setsuna was ushering the other senshi to the main doors where the quartet could lead the liberated hostages out of the chamber. Meanwhile, Kunzite was locked in a contentious scuffle with Zoisite, one that attracted Mamoru's attention as the tuxedoed man moved to outflank the blond-haired general. Uranus suddenly rushed across her field of vision, apparently to assist Neptune as that exotic blonde found her footing once again.

Her eyes snapped back to the elevated throne as she noticed the blue-suited guards rushing down the steps on either side of the platform. Their very presence was a tremendous threat to the tactical advantage they had meticulously gained over the remaining evil general and that strange woman. Without those soldiers the senshi easily outnumbered and overpowered their opponents. She needed to eliminate them from the battle, but she strongly opposed killing them despite their allegiance to Beryl. She probed her mind in search of an attack that could handle the spread formation of approximately fifty aggressively advancing human adversaries. That's when she recalled the chanelas, or more specifically how she managed to heal the dozens of individuals who were entranced by the vile creatures.

She closed her eyes as she removed the tiara from her forehead and held the glowing gold and white disc over her hands. The much-appreciated benefit of her added powers was that it took significantly less time to energize her attacks. That new phenomenon, in addition to the fact he no longer was receiving outside assistance, explained how she could heal Kunzite without the extraordinarily long preparation of her previous attempt. After only a few seconds she knew the pink and white disc was ready to do its job.

"Moon Tiara Stardust!" Usagi shouted as she threw the luminescent disc into the air. As it traveled in a sweeping loop of the round chamber it released a fine pink dust over the guards, causing them to collapse to the floor but doing no additional harm to them. The disc returned to her hands a few seconds later and morphed back into the gold tiara.

"That's one problem solved. Now I just have to see what's going on with Kunzite and Zoisite," Usagi contentedly said to herself as she sighed.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

Zoisite frowned as he saw the pesky trio of senshi evade yet another attack, but that did not discourage him. He knew at worst he could wear them down by forcing them to constantly elude his blows, but it was far more likely that he'd connect with one, especially considering his almost point-blank distance to them. A part of his mind even considered engaging in close hand-to-hand combat, but that was quickly vetoed by a glance at Sailor Jupiter. He remembered what she did to his massive youma. He was not nearly that large or physically strong. So, he quickly decided to send yet another blast of negative energy at the girls. However, before he could lift his hand he felt the familiar hailing of his queen over the telepathic link.

"What is it your highness?" Zoisite answered with a rushed tone. He wanted the conversation with Beryl to be as short as possible as there were other, more important things for him to do, such as kill the weakened senshi. Besides, the last thing he desired was to stand stationary in the middle of a large battle while providing a large green beacon to his opponents.

"You need to get out of here now!" Beryl anxiously shouted within his mind.

As she spoke he wondered what had made the otherwise confident, if not overtly haughty queen, so nervous and flustered. His pondering and the message Beryl tried to send him was interrupted by the very answer to his question. He felt the intense pain of a sharp jab right between his shoulder blades that forcefully knocked him to the floor. The sudden impact knocked the dark-blue sapping stone from his jacket pocket. He reached for the stone but found his hand pinned to the floor by a large black boot. His dark-green eyes followed the path from the boot up the gray trousers and turquoise-lined gray jacket before ultimately stopping at a furious glare of blue-gray eyes. Those fierce eyes belonged to the silver-haired man who impeded his attempt to snag the stone.

"Kunzite!" Zoisite shouted in irritation. "What the hell are you doing?"

His former colleague did not bother to answer Zoisite's question with a verbal retort but opted for a more physical response. He bent down to his knees, lifted the depraved general by the lapels of his jacket, and tossed him to the floor opposite from where the delicate stone sat in the middle of the room.

"Princess!" Kunzite exclaimed as he tried to attract Usagi's attention. However, she was occupied with her tiara for some reason and failed to hear him.

Zoisite took advantage of his opponent's distraction and charged at his former colleague, hitting him in the knees and knocking him to the hard floor. He tried to leap over him but found his progress suddenly stopped as a hand grabbed his ankle. His momentum sent him headfirst to the ground, and only his quick reflexes prevented him from striking his head.

"No matter what happens to me, the last thing I'll do is let you get that stone!" Kunzite harshly shouted at the younger general as he increased the strength of his grip on the ankle.

"Then I guess you won't mind if I do this," Zoisite derisively replied, his eyes narrowing ominously as he pointed his open hand in the direction of the man he formerly considered akin to an older brother. At the palm of his hand he assembled the sum of the negative energy he possessed into an enormous ball of swirling green and black. The sphere was far larger than anything he had ever created at the diameter of a large beach ball and was already within point-blank range of its target. All he had to do was fire off the attack and Kunzite would be no more.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

Setsuna rushed to the middle of the room where she spotted the three guardian senshi in the process of pushing themselves to their feet so they could scurry away from yet another attack from the blond-haired general. She ran as quickly as she could but she didn't know whether it was fast enough to reach them before Zoisite fired off another blast of negative energy. With a battle as hectic as the one raging within that room it was pointless to try to calculate any probabilities of future events. The procedure required too much valuable time. Instead she would just do whatever she could within her capacity, using only the knowledge gained from her immediate observations, and let fate run its course. She was pleasantly surprised to find Zoisite's attack interrupted at the same time she met with the senshi.

"Get to the door!" Setsuna commanded as she grabbed Minako and began to yank her in the direction of the large opening. She motioned for Makoto and Rei to run with her, which they did just in time to avoid colliding with the flying Zoisite.

Three sets of eyes widened in shock when they saw the large group of people standing near the opening. None of them were familiar to any of the girls. Furthermore, none appeared as though they belonged in such a hazardous setting.

"Who are these people?" Minako innocent asked.

"They're the victims of Kunzite's attempt to blackmail Sailor Moon into submission," was a whispered voice that seemed to come from their feet. "Their souls were taken and integrated into his body so that Sailor Moon would have no choice but to leave him alive."

"Luna?" Makoto softly asked with a perplexed tone. "When did you get here?"

"I was one of those victims," Luna somberly replied before shaking her head. "Anyway, I can't talk for long, especially around civilians."

"I understand," Minako said with a nod that was emphatically mimicked by Makoto and more solemnly copied by Rei.

"So, what are we doing?" Makoto asked.

"I'm going to lead them out of this room and to someplace relatively safe," Setsuna calmly replied as she bent down and gently cradled Luna within her arms. "I need you three to provide cover and make sure nothing tries to attack us from the side or rear. Do you think you can do that for me?"

All three girls gave affirmative responses, with Makoto's being the most enthusiastic. Rei, who still held the vacant stare her eyes adopted the moment she saw Usagi's transformation, was more apathetic. Setsuna didn't mind the lack of eagerness from the raven-haired girl as she had a good sense of what troubled her. She wasn't concerned about Rei's mental state as long as the girl was effective enough as a senshi to protect the columns of people.

"Mars and Venus, I want you two to protect the flanks while Jupiter, you take the rear," Setsuna said evenly but with an authoritative tone. She then stepped through the hole and motioned for the crowd of people to follow her out of the room.

"We're going to have to move pretty quickly, so please let me know if you can't run at all or can't run very far," Setsuna informed the group.

None of the individuals protested or raised any personal concerns about the pace. Indeed, everyone was more than willing to leave that room as quickly as they possibly could. That was as close to a deadly confrontation of magically imbued beings as they ever wanted to be. So it was no surprise that they sprinted through the breach in the granite door, only slowing to not trip over the pieces of debris. Once the last civilian stepped into the hall the senshi exited the throne room and the group started their rapid progression toward the control room.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

The first emotion Sazaratha felt was astonishment at how fragile the human body was when it was smashed into a solid stone wall with tremendous force. Her entire backside ached and she felt a small lump on her head from its collision with the wall. She was dizzy and her vision was blurry, neither of which were terrific attributes for a warrior. No, in fact they were downright pathetic. That wasn't the form to which she was accustomed, but it was what she had to deal with at the present time.

The second thing she felt was intense anger and a strong desire for revenge against the person who left her in that state. Never had she received such a powerful blow from anyone during her entire time on Earth. In fact, the only being that made her remotely feel as hurt as she did then, whoever that random pervert was, assuredly could no longer have children of his own. What infuriated her further was that a senshi got the best of her and managed to lay a hit on her body. Or, at least, the body she inhabited for that duration. It was an exquisitely gorgeous body that she wanted to maintain in good shape and not see damaged any further.

And that led to her third sensation: pragmatism. As much as she wanted to avenge the humiliating strike from that turquoise-haired senshi, she knew it would have been better to wait. A tactical retreat as it was termed by some. She saw the brilliant white light from Kunzite that signified his purification and immediately knew that her chances of winning that battle practically were nil. However, it wasn't her intention to win the battle. Her scuffle with Neptune or even the overall sum of individual clashes meant nothing to her in the grand scheme. No, the victory she truly desired was far larger and more profound than anything her opponents could imagine. In fact, not even Beryl was aware of her true intentions, and she was quite happy about that. It gave her a reason to smile as she stood to her feet and knocked the gray dust from her otherwise indigo dress.

"Not too bad," Sazaratha derisively said. "I'd say it's certainly much stronger than anything I've seen from those three idiots—" she pointed to the trio of guardian senshi as she spoke— "but not nearly as powerful as any of my own."

"I wouldn't know, as you've yet to show me yours," Michiru replied with a lively smirk.

"Show you her what?" sounded the deeper pitch of Haruka's voice as she arrived at the end of the conversation.

"Nothing all that important, apparently," Michiru said playfully to her lover while keeping her eyes fixed on the apparently fuming blonde.

"Ah! Well, if that's the case, then what are we doing here?" Haruka teased.

"Awaiting your imminent demise, that's what!" Sazaratha said as threateningly as she could.

In reality, she had no intentions of staying within that room any longer. She saw the sapping stone that contained Ami's soul bounce along the hard floor and come to a rest near the middle of the room. It was well within her reach if she immediately turned and sprinted. Neither of the senshi knew what it was or had any understanding of its significance to them. However, she did not care about it, or about maintaining the fight beyond the bluster she presented to lull the senshi into a state of apprehension before her rapid withdrawal. Pursuant to that mindset she raised her hands above her head and formed once again the luminous gold sphere of negative energy. The senshi responded by taking a more defensive stance and preparing themselves for the possibility of evasive maneuvers. A wide smile telegraphed dark intentions, although not her true objective, as she slowly lowered the sphere in front of her body.

"Prepare to say goodbye!" she shouted as her body emitted a brilliant gold light.

Their eyes narrowed as the two senshi awaited the anticipated attack. Instead of the massive bolts of white lightning that the ominous sphere portended, or the chains of pure energy that actually would have come from such an assault, what they saw was a flash of gold light and then… nothing. Nothing at all, except for the wisp of black smoke that occupied the space once held by Sazaratha. It prompted the two senshi to rapidly scan their surroundings in case it was a diversion before a sneak attack from behind or above. However, they found no sign of their adversary anywhere.

"What was that?" a confounded Haruka asked as she and Michiru exchanged quizzical expressions.

"I have no idea," Michiru replied with uncertainty. "But, if there's nothing going on here, we might as well see what our princess is up to."

"That sounds like a smart plan," Haruka concurred.

"That's why you're with me," Michiru replied with a mischievous wink as she ran toward Usagi. Haruka merely groaned and shook her head before following her lover.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

Usagi heaved a contented sigh as she turned her eyes to the ferocious hand-to-hand brawl between the purified Kunzite and Zoisite. She saw that both of them were reaching for something on the floor but she didn't know what it was. Farther in the distance was the standoff between the two new senshi and that mysterious woman. Her eyes widened as she saw the blonde create a massive gold sphere above her head and slowly level it at Uranus and Neptune. Her heart screamed for her to run over there and do something to help them as she sensed the attack could easily overwhelm the two women. However, before she could move her feet the sphere abruptly disappeared along with the woman who held it. The scene confused her as much as it elated her, as she didn't know to where that esoteric enemy departed but she certainly wasn't in the chamber anymore.

A large spot of green at the base of her field of vision refocused her attention to the battle between the two generals. Zoisite had regained the advantage and was threatening Kunzite with the most fearsome attack she had seen him produce. The fact he was at point-blank range of her new silver-haired ally made her additionally apprehensive. What could she possibly do to save him? The blast would be on top of him before her hand could find the tiara on her forehead, so that was not an option. Furthermore, even though she held the Moon Stick in her hand, there was no attack she could call quickly enough to deflect the blast before it could hit Kunzite. Her eyes widened in horror as Zoisite's eyes narrowed in anticipation of his enemy's swift death at his hands.

Unexpectedly, she saw the tremendous orb of negative energy fly through the air, zipping past her head by a few feet. Her Moon Stick glowed white, fully prepared to erect the protective shield in case the blast itself or any debris from its impact with the wall behind her approached too closely. Fortunately, it wasn't needed as the sphere impacted the wall but left minimal debris, and the crescent returned to its normal gold color. A tiny smile came to her lips when she spotted the red rose sticking out of Zoisite's hand. Somehow the general had lost track of Mamoru's position and forgot about his unusual ability to disrupt his plans at the last possible second.

"What are you going to do now that you've wasted the last of your energy?" Kunzite derisively asked his former compatriot.

Zoisite had no answer to that question as he knew the former general was correct. He was out of energy and, at the moment, out of options. His last trump, the sapping stone, was beyond the reach of his hand, and the arrival of the two additional senshi meant he was woefully outnumbered as well as outgunned.

Kunzite calmly turned to face Usagi. "That stone over there contains the soul of Mercury… of Ami," he said softly with a combination of compassion and remorse as he pointed to the dark-blue gem lying near Haruka's left boot. "Your friend is not dead after all."

"I know," Usagi gently replied as she walked next to the mysterious senshi and picked the sapping stone up from the ground. The blue light emanating from the gem flared vividly as she cradled it to her chest.

"Even if you possess the stone there's nothing you can do to bring Ami back," Zoisite sneered in a last-ditch effort to discourage the princess.

"She will be back," Usagi forcefully replied. "She will have her life back, which is more than you would say if it were up to you!"

A huge lump formed in Zoisite's throat and for the first time he felt genuinely fearful for his life. As long as he had access to the energy reserves of the Dark Kingdom he knew he could always teleport away from danger. However, he had foolishly used up all his energy and not even that option was left to him. His only remaining option was to appeal to the princess's innate compassion and unwillingness to kill fellow humans by begging for forgiveness. Fortunately for him, Usagi was hesitant to effectively execute him even after putting her life through hell and Ami through an even worse fate. Instead she opted to do the same to him that she did to Kunzite. She walked to Mamoru and gently placed the sapping stone—Ami's very life—into his waiting hands before standing in front of the prone general and leveling the Moon Stick at his head.

"Zoisite, you of all people do not deserve the mercy that I am about to show you," Usagi said firmly and with less sympathy in her voice than she was about to demonstrate in her actions. "However, I honestly believe that there always is a better way to deal with the kind of evil you represent." She raised the wand above her head and prepared to perform the sweeping circular motion necessary to engage Moon Healing Escalation.

Suddenly a blindingly bright gold light filled the room. Standing in front of the throne was a smirking Sazaratha and the crackling gold sphere with which she recently threatened the two outer senshi. Being the pragmatist she was she didn't waste any precious time delivering a pointless speech and instead fired off the three chains of pure energy. In that same spirit of rationalism she targeted her attack at the one person in the room who represented the most immediate threat to her plans. The three chains whipped through the air faster than any of the senshi or their allies could respond and did not stop until they securely latched onto that one very surprised person.

"I'm sorry, Zoisite, but I'm afraid your time has come," Sazaratha mockingly uttered as she sent a single massive blast of dark energy down the chains and into his already severely weakened body. It was sufficient to cause him to violently thrash about the floor for a few seconds before lying frighteningly still on the cold surface.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Haruka angrily protested as she raised her hand above her head to create the ringed globe she would toss as a counterattack.

"You'll find out soon enough," Sazaratha said ominously as she abruptly disappeared from view in a brilliant flash of gold light and a modicum of black smoke.

Kunzite slowly approached the motionless body of the last Shitennou member in service with the Dark Kingdom. He bent down to place his ear next to Zoisite's mouth to listen intently for any telltale breathing sounds. He then placed a pair of fingers on the side of the man's neck in search of a pulse. There was no sign of respiration or a heartbeat. He solemnly shook his head as he stood upright. No questions needed to be asked as they already knew the answer. Zoisite was dead.

"I think it's time for us to leave," Usagi sadly whispered as she turned away from the lifeless body and slowly walked to the exit of the destroyed granite double-doors.

"Where are we going?" Michiru innocently asked.

"To where the others are located," Usagi replied. "I don't know where that is, but she said something about a control room."

"Ah, we know where that is," Haruka said excitedly as she momentarily gazed at her lover. "Just follow us and we'll lead you straight to them."

"Do you have a way out of here?" Kunzite intently asked as the group proceeded through the aperture within the set of doors.

"None that I know of," Usagi softly replied. "I don't even know how I got here in the first place."

"I guess we were hoping that there was some sort of portal or exit door to this place," Michiru dryly added.

"There is, but I strongly doubt you'd want to go that way unless you're well stocked in winter-weather equipment… or own a submarine," Kunzite deadpanned before adopting a more sober tone. "This base is located far beneath the ice caps and under the floor of the Arctic Ocean."

"I see…" Mamoru evenly interjected. "So the only way you guys can enter or exit is by teleporting."

"Correct," Kunzite said. He turned his eyes to Usagi. "That is how we brought you to here, Princess," he said with a hint of remorse.

"Usagi," the pigtailed blonde replied with a quiet yet determined voice. "You can just call me Usagi."

Kunzite slowly nodded before lowering his head. "I'm very sorry for the all pain I inflicted upon you as your enemy all this time," he sorrowfully stated.

"It's okay," Usagi responded as she looked up at him with a tiny but warm smile on her lips. "Beryl was controlling you and manipulating you with her curse. It wasn't something you could avoid even if you wanted to."

"I know, but I still feel terrible about it," Kunzite said.

"That's because you're good now," Usagi replied in a comforting voice. "You're a completely different person from the one who performed all those evil deeds. You may remember that past identity, but please rest assured that is not who you are anymore. You're a whole new person now… a blameless person. And the fact you're helping us right now is absolute proof of that. So, please, stay strong!"

He lifted his head as his despondent soul was buoyed by Usagi's encouragement. "You're right. You're absolutely right," he said more resolutely. "And by helping you defeat Beryl and the Dark Kingdom I can atone for the crimes I committed as her puppet."

"That's the spirit!" Usagi said cheerfully.

"And, in that spirit, do you mind telling us how we're going to get out of here?" Haruka said more bluntly.

Kunzite turned a wry smile to the sandy-haired blonde. "By teleportation, of course," he responded with a wink. "Which I guess is the same way you found this place, although I still don't know how."

"They travelled with me," Mamoru said as he pointed to the two senshi. "Zoisite came to take me to Beryl, but they were physically attached to me with, of all the things one could use, a few strands of thread."

Kunzite chuckled in amusement. "Well, that explains everything," he uttered. "I guess then we'll just do the same thing to leave but use a much more solid method of connecting to one another such as holding hands."

"It probably would make more sense for you to take all the civilians away from here separately," Usagi suddenly remarked.

"But how will you all leave?" Kunzite concernedly asked.

"I'm sure we have a way. If not, I'll use the crystal to wish us out of here," Usagi nonchalantly replied. None of the others knew about the lethal risks of using the Silver Crystal and she deliberately neglected to inform them.

"If you think that's the best way, so be it," Mamoru replied.

"If there's any way we can help you with that we'll do it without even a second thought," Michiru eagerly stated.

Usagi tilted her head, scrunched her nose, and furrowed her brow as she stared at the two senshi walking in front of her. They seemed awfully familiar to her but she couldn't quite locate within her mind how she knew them. She desperately wanted to ask them who they were, but she couldn't find an appropriate time to do so during the battle. However, the darkened hallways were far calmer than the throne room.

"Um… Uranus, Neptune…" Usagi tentatively began, "I know this next question may sound strange but… who are you?"

The two women simultaneously stopped walking and turned around to gaze upon the befuddled expression on Usagi's face. A warm smile appeared on Michiru's lips while Haruka preferred to display a mischievous smirk.

"I guess the senshi disguise spell works so well that not even my Koneko-chan can figure out who we are," Haruka teasingly replied.

Usagi's resplendent blue eyes widened in pleasant shock and her cheeks turned pale red as she happened upon two revelations. "Haruka?" she asked, eliciting an affirmative nod in reply. A few seconds passed before her next, far more revealing, question. "Y-you're a woman?" she asked hesitantly, her cheeks becoming even redder.

"She was since the last time I checked," Michiru naughtily responded before Haruka could speak, resulting in an equally furious blush from the short-haired blonde.

Usagi shifted her gaze to the turquoise-haired woman. "And you're Michiru, right?" she asked after a few more seconds of contemplation. An equally emphatic nod told her she was correct with the second guess.

A small sigh of disappointment borne from the startling truth that Haruka was not the gorgeous man she dreamed about but a woman escaped Usagi's lips. However, she was also thrilled that both women were senshi as it meant her meeting them was not a fluke or a singular event. It portended the possibility of her spending much more time with the beautiful and elegant woman and her equally handsome partner. And she still felt a strong desire to be with Haruka despite her gender, although it was no longer a yearning for a more romantic relationship. Because of that she was able to give a genuinely cheerful smile.

"I'm very happy it's you," Usagi blissfully replied. "Ever since I first met you I had a sense you two were special, but I didn't know how."

"Well, if it's any consolation to you, Usagi, we felt the same," Michiru said as she gave the pigtailed blonde an equally bright smile.

"Anyway, I think we should hurry up and get out of this place as quickly as possible," Haruka said as she changed the subject to something far more important. "I have a strange sense that things are not going to be quite so easy for us, especially as we get closer to that control room."

"By the way, what are you guys talking about when you say 'control room'?" Usagi innocently asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, but they seem to be connected to some youma incubation chamber where we found ourselves when we teleported here," Michiru answered with an uncertain tone.

"It's actually a youma development chamber where they produce youmas for various tasks," Kunzite added with more authority. "They have five such chambers, each containing one hundred youma incubation vessels, connect to a central control room from which they can monitor and adjust various settings related to their growth. As there are a total of four such control rooms, that means they have twenty chambers and two thousand youmas available at a time."

"A veritable army of youmas," Mamoru apprehensively noted.

"You might want to correct that number. There're only three control rooms as we blew up one of them," Haruka said smugly.

"I imagine that was the source of the rumbling we felt," Kunzite said. "The intensely dark energy feeding into the youma chambers must have been severely disrupted when you destroyed the room. Without the careful routing of the energy it flowed uncontrollably until that area was cut off from the main supply. The good news, however, is that that whole quadrant should be out of commission for a long time, if not permanently."

"So, what does Beryl want with so many youmas?" Mamoru attentively asked. "Doesn't that detract from her goal of reviving Metalia?"

"It is a tremendous risk to their overall goal, but I think the intention is that many of the youmas would be tasked with gathering energy," Kunzite replied. "Their gambit is that they would spend a significant fraction of dark energy now secure in the knowledge that, with so many youmas, they can easily recoup the initial expenditure and beyond."

"I see…" Usagi said with a dejected sigh. The prospect of more youmas hunting humans for energy did not excite her one bit.

The group turned a corner and walked a few steps into the dim corridor before abruptly coming to a halt. Even with the insufficient amount of light they could perceive that a major battle had occurred there. Scorch marks left by fire and electricity marred the stone walls, and there were also many concave impressions that must have been left by the forceful impacts of beings into the hard surface. The greatest and most sickening fear, one that each person immediately sensed, was that the craters may not have been left by the enemy.

"Over here!" was the shout they heard from one of the doors. Sticking her head and a fervently waving arm through the threshold was Makoto.

They ran to the opened door and into a moderately spacious room. It was a larger version of the room within which Haruka and Michiru hid in order to conceal their presence from Zoisite. Much like that previous room it was obvious that it was the living quarters of a human or possibly multiple humans.

"I'm glad you all are okay," Usagi said in a relieved tone.

"It looks like there was a fairly large battle outside," Mamoru said.

"We ran into five or six youmas while we were looking for a large enough place to hide," Setsuna calmly replied. "I think they were headed to the throne room to provide reinforcement. In any case, I don't think they expected us to be there, nor were they very happy to see us."

"Were any of the civilians harmed?" Kunzite asked.

"Fortunately, none of them were exposed to any danger. Jupiter and I held off the youmas while Mars and Venus led them here," Setsuna said.

"That's excellent news," Michiru said with a smile. The others nodded in agreement.

"Now, all we have to do is find out how to leave this place," Setsuna said before momentarily pausing and staring more intently at the silver-haired man. "I have a feeling that's the reason why you're here," she added as she gave a confident smile.

"That is true, but the princess wants me to take only the civilians," Kunzite evenly replied. "She plans for the senshi and the prince to travel separately." A concerned expression fell over his face. "The only practical way to leave here is by teleportation, but I've never seen any senshi use that capability."

"There is a way, but it requires all of the guardian senshi," Setsuna nervously replied. "Obviously, with Mercury's absence it would not work, but I have a strong sense that we'll find a way to leave here."

"I sincerely hope that is the case," Kunzite somberly uttered. He then felt a light tug on his arm and turned to see Usagi staring at him with a calm expression in her eyes.

"It's time for you to take those people back to where they belong," she said tranquilly as her lips were pulled into a warm smile. "I deeply appreciate all your help in rescuing Ami. It means the world to me."

"It truly is my pleasure, your highness," Kunzite said as he brought his right arm across his chest and bowed to the pigtailed blonde before joining the group of twenty-one civilians who already had joined hands to form an elongated oval.

The former leader of Beryl's Shitennou linked hands with two of the women he had captured during his bout of evilness. A tiny smile came to his face as he spotted at the other end of the oval a man who at first blush could have been mistaken for his twin. That man stood arm-in-arm with the tall and extraordinarily toned woman with chocolate-brown eyes who clearly was madly in love with him. As he called forth the massive amount of warm and positive energy required to teleport twenty-two individuals he reflected once more on that brunette. She was the one who inadvertently led him to the girl he once considered his ardent foe, the one he needed to destroy at all costs so he could achieve victory. Instead, he failed to kill the princess, and that turned out to be the biggest blessing he ever received, for in his defeat he achieved the greatest triumph: his salvation.

Usagi's smile became even wider as she saw the enormous group suddenly vanish from the room in a flash of gold light, leaving behind twenty-two wisps of white mist. She knew each and every one of them would be safe, at least for the time being. That allowed her to move to her next concern which, interestingly, was not how to leave the Dark Kingdom but how to extract Ami's soul from the sapping stone. She had a plan for exactly how to do that, but she knew she needed help from all of the senshi. That would have been problematic if the trio of senshi who no longer were her friends chose that particular time to be defiant. She needed to be absolutely certain she had the loyalty of those particular girls, even if she did not have their friendship. The tender expression that had graced Usagi's face disappeared when she turned to address her guardian senshi, replaced by a stern and almost frightening glare.

"Before I follow through with my intentions, I will ask each of you one very important question," Usagi said to the three girls, of whom two were extremely nervous and the last only moderately anxious. "Do you believe in me and trust in me as both a senshi and as princess?"

Makoto did not hesitate to give her answer and locked her eyes onto Usagi's narrowed counterparts as she spoke. "I absolutely believe in you and trust your judgment, your highness," she said resolutely.

Minako was the next to respond, although she didn't speak as fervently as the brunette. "I believe in you as princess, and I deeply apologize for my betrayal," she said solemnly with a lowered head.

Finally it was Rei's turn to give a reply, but the raven-haired girl was surprisingly silent. The magnificent display in the throne room solidified within both her heart and her mind the undeniable fact that Usagi was Princess Serenity. That was not the reason she was so tentative. Instead she wondered if she could trust herself to fully extinguish the immense hatred of Usagi she held up to that point. If she could not overcome that toxic emotion, despite whatever she might have thought about the blonde, it would be difficult for her to exemplify her faith in her princess by her actions. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it to steady her nerves before finally looking up at Usagi with sorrowful violet eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said in a voice that was on the verge of breaking. "For my pointless hatred of you I'm so, so sorry. Please accept my apology and believe me when I say that you have my full faith in you, your highness."

Usagi curtly nodded but did not make any other indication of whether she actually believed or accepted Rei's regretful words and sentiment. Instead she proceeded to explain to them her impending plan.

"Before we leave here, I want to rescue Ami," she said determinedly.

"Wait… wasn't Ami killed by Zoisite?" Makoto innocently asked, the question's sentiment echoed by the other two girls through their shocked facial expressions.

Usagi turned to Mamoru and gestured, indicating to him that she wanted him to display the dark-blue gem. "That stone contains Ami's spirit," she evenly replied. "It turned out that Zoisite didn't kill her but took her hostage. He did that to gain leverage over me and, as I firmly suspect, to isolate me from the rest of you. He wanted to exacerbate our already strained—no, nonexistent relationships despite my desperate attempt to fix them. And, unfortunately, it worked to perfection."

The three girls blanched when they heard Usagi's account. Yes, they were happy, if not absolutely elated to know that Ami was still alive even though she wasn't yet fully freed. However, they were appalled at the Dark Kingdom for manipulating their distrust of Usagi and even more disgusted at themselves for feeling such doubt and, in the case of Rei, hatred toward the most loving girl they would ever know.

"So the meeting in the park, where Ami said you would hand over the crystal to 'the princess'…" Minako tentatively uttered, her inflection of the last words plainly indicating the fact she no longer considered the princess a different person from Usagi.

"That was a plan hatched by both Ami and me to show you once and for all that I was the princess," Usagi said more harshly. "She had already apologized for doubting and abandoning me and had explained why you guys thought I wasn't the princess. She also told me everything you guys were planning to do to me." The lumps that formed in the girls' throats did not go unnoticed by the pigtailed blonde but she continued undaunted. "I don't know how the Dark Kingdom found out about the meeting or about my plan. I figure they've been spying on us for some time and so they discovered the plan despite my efforts to keep it secret."

Usagi took a few paces away from the guardian senshi and toward Mamoru. "Anyway, now that you know that Ami is alive, will you help me to bring her back?" she earnestly asked.

"Absolutely, your highness," all three girls replied almost simultaneously and with a sullen but resolute tone.

"Good," Usagi curtly said before closing her eyes and falling into a deep trance.

A few seconds later a brilliant explosion of pure white light flooded the room, accompanied by a ferocious blast of wind. After the glow faded a radiant Princess Serenity stood before the still-awed senshi. Her hands tenderly gripped the dazzling Silver Crystal and held it loosely to her chest. Just as soon as that occurred there was a flash of gold light that emanated from Mamoru's body. Moments later the black-and-white tuxedo he sported was gone, replaced by the dark uniform and magnificent armor of Prince Endymion. The six astounded senshi then linked hands as they formed an arc around the prince and princess.

"Is everyone ready?" Usagi asked as she held the crystal farther away from her body. A series of emphatic nods informed the princess that, indeed, they were prepared to rescue their fellow senshi and mutual friend.

"Dear Silver Crystal," Usagi solemnly prayed, "Please grant my wish and free from this diabolical stone the very life and spirit of the Senshi and Princess of Mercury. Please allow her body to be undamaged and her soul to be unharmed. Accept my energy along with the energy willfully granted by the senshi and princesses of the various planets." With one last thrust of the luminescent crystal into the air she shouted, "Moon Prism Power!"

Starting with Mars and ending with Pluto, each of the senshi gave a similar ardent yell pertinent to their planetary identity. As they did so, their bodies intensely emitted the appropriately colored light. After Setsuna's shout, the light from the crystal switched from white to bright pink, relaying to Usagi that it was prepared to fulfill her desire. All she had to say was the final incantation, and with that she wasted no time.

"Silver Crystal Power!" Usagi passionately shouted.

Upon her cry an enormous sphere of pink light enveloped the princess and the prince and a ferocious wind roared about the room, lifting and tossing about anything that was not sufficiently heavy or secured. The senshi ignored the flying debris and concentrated as diligently as they could on providing their precious energy to the princess. After a minute of time that felt much longer to everyone within the room, an explosion of blue light shattered the faint pink sphere. Standing in the light embrace of Mamoru's arms was the one person they had desperately missed, wearing her light blue-skirted senshi uniform and appearing exhausted. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room, glancing at the trio of familiar and palpably ecstatic girls and a few women she had never met before her gaze found the majestic pigtailed blonde.

"Usagi-chan? Is that you?" Ami asked in amazement. She had not witnessed the blonde's transformation to her newer princess form and was slightly taken aback by the stark difference in appearance.

Usagi nodded as tears of happiness pooled at the bottom of her eyes and threatened to spill over her eyelids. She tried to act restrained and regal but in such a moment of pure happiness she could not help but to run to the blue-haired girl and give her the tightest hug she could produce.

"I missed you so much, Ami-chan!" Usagi cried as the tears slid down her cheeks.

"What happened to me?" Ami asked in confusion.

"You… your soul was captured by Zoisite and held captive," Mamoru softly replied as he tenderly stroked his love's cheek with his hand. "But you're back now. You're finally back where you belong, with us."

"Mamoru…" Ami whispered lovingly as she let herself fall deeper into his embrace.

He bent down and gently kissed the top of her forehead. He then lifted her chin with his hand so that he could gaze into those lovely eyes once again. Ami pushed herself on her toes while Mamoru bent slightly so the two could share a delicate and yet passionate kiss. Their lips had only met for a few seconds before the couple heard a sharp cough emanate from their feet that abruptly interrupted their dreamy state. The two startled lovers looked down to see the black cat intently staring up at them with a stern expression on her face.

"I think there are some girls that would also be quite happy to see her, too, Mamoru," Luna said as the harsh look morphed into a wry smile.

Ami blushed as she carefully pushed herself away from an equally red-faced Mamoru and turned to look at the three girls who smile brightly at her and, yet, seemed slightly nervous. She hadn't seen any of them ever since the battle in the park and thus had no knowledge of its aftermath or of what happened to Usagi. However, from their apprehensive dispositions she could effortlessly deduce that whatever had occurred was not good.

"I'm glad to see you back," Makoto said as she gently grabbed Ami around her shoulders before pulling her into a deeper hug.

"We've missed you so much," Minako added as she joined in the hug. Rei was uncharacteristically silent but clearly felt the same emotion as she embraced the senshi of ice. They held each other for several seconds before finally pulling away with each girl satisfied that Ami actually did exist and that she knew and believed they yearned for her safe return.

Ami looked around the relatively austere chamber for a few seconds after she separated from them and could catch her breath. She spotted the three women standing closer to the back of the room, keeping a respectful distance from the heartfelt reunion.

"Thanks for helping me," she said pleasantly and with sincere gratitude. She then approached the taller, green-haired woman and extended her hand in greeting. "I think you might know my name by now, but I don't know any of yours," she stated evenly.

"I'm Setsuna Meiou, or as you can see, Sailor Pluto," the enigmatic senshi of revolution politely responded as she took the extended hand. "She's Haruka Tenou and the other is Michiru Kaiou," she said as she gestured to the respective women.

"I'm very happy to finally meet you," Michiru courteously said with a warm smile as she shook the girl's hand.

Haruka displayed a confident grin when she took hold of Ami's hand in salutation. "It is an absolute pleasure to meet you," she said. She opened her mouth to say more but a soft jab in her ribs from the annoyed turquoise-haired woman prevented her from displaying her customary flirtatiousness.

"Now that we've finally acquainted, I think it's time that we all leave here before any more youmas find us," Setsuna said more somberly.

"Youmas? Where are we?" Ami asked in perplexity.

"Somewhere within the middle of the Dark Kingdom," Usagi replied.

Ami nodded. That information didn't seem to fluster her, as apparently she had been through much worse already. The only question that was unanswered concerned their method of escape.

"How are we leaving here?" Ami plainly asked.

Setsuna stepped closer to the middle of the room. "With a method that hasn't been used by senshi in a long time called Sailor Teleport," she said composedly. "It's actually an easy way to travel long distances to a single location, but it requires all four guardian senshi."

Usagi gazed at Setsuna with a mournful expression on her face. "But what if we're not all going to the same place?" she intently asked.

"Then it does not work, unfortunately," Setsuna answered, her garnet eyes pointing down at the floor.

"Where are you going?" Ami questioned nervously.

"It's we, not you, and we're not going back to Juuban, that's for sure," Usagi matter-of-factly replied while turning an irate stare to the three girls she still did not consider her friends. The perceptive Ami readily caught the glare and became even more worried, as it was obvious there was a lot of tension between the three and Usagi.

"The plan didn't work, did it?" Ami carefully asked.

"Not at all," Usagi sadly replied as she shook her head. "That's part of the reason why we're leaving. The other reason is you need to be with your mother. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see that you're alive after all. Also, I need to be with my family. Neither your mom nor my family is in Juuban at the moment but they're all together right now."

"Where are they?" Ami asked.

"In the city where your grandparents live," Usagi plainly answered.

Ami thought for a moment before nodding her head in understanding. She knew what Usagi meant by the statement, and she remembered that none of the other girls were knowledgeable of where her grandparents resided. From that she readily comprehended that the pigtailed blonde did not want the name of the city uttered aloud in their presence.

"Okay, but that still leaves the problem of how you're going to get to… wherever it is you're going, while most of us return to Juuban," Mamoru said impatiently.

"I may be able to use the crystal for that as well, so long as it doesn't take too much power," Usagi fretfully replied as she turned a nervous glance to the raven-haired man. "It took quite a bit of energy to save Ami, so I may not have enough strength remaining to activate the crystal a second time in such short order."

"Why are you going through all this trouble?" Michiru intently asked.

"You could just teleport with us to Juuban, and then allow Michiru and me to drive you and Ami to where you need to go," Haruka offered.

"I don't know if it's safe for me to go out there as they already know our civilian identities," Usagi hesitantly replied.

"Actually, it's all but impossible for them to know who we are," Setsuna said with a mischievous tone, "as Haruka and Michiru have been senshi for only a few hours. If the Dark Kingdom has been spying on the senshi all this time, then their civilian identities should be complete unknowns to them."

Usagi stared impassively and blinked a few times as she comprehended Setsuna's revelation. If that truly was the case, then maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all for her to simplify things and go to Juuban. She would have to disguise herself lest the Dark Kingdom find her and track her to her destination. Fortunately, that was an easier task thanks to the return of her Disguise Pen.

"You know, Haruka-chan, I think I may just take you up on that offer after all," Usagi abruptly replied while shooting her a warm smile.

A low and ominous growl reverberated down the hall and into the room, easily capturing everyone's attention. It was accompanied by similar grunts and a few more human-like shouts. Apparently it was another search party of youmas, one possibly lead by more of the blue-suited human guards. It would only be a matter of time before they found the scene of the previous battle and would investigate the room for signs of the senshi.

"I think we have to leave, and quickly," an alarmed Luna said with a rapid cadence.

"Okay, everyone join hands," Setsuna instructed, and Mamoru and all of the senshi complied without any hesitation. "Now, combine your powers and think about the destination—"

"Where exactly should we go?" Usagi interjected. "Juuban is pretty large after all."

"What about my shrine," Rei said softly and with a guilt-ridden tone. "It's where everyone met before we all somehow arrived here."

"Fine," Setsuna replied calmly, but with a hint of irritation and a larger trace of panic in her voice. "Think about the Hikawa Shrine. Once our powers have successfully combined, a shout of 'Sailor Teleport' will allow us to leave."

Each person closed their eyes and slipped into deep concentration as they once again sent forth their energy, this time without a shout, and pictured the shrine within their minds. Their bodies emitted a faint white glow as the energy surged into the middle of the ring and soon expanded to encase them within a faint pink sphere. Setsuna was slightly distressed by that phenomenon as it differed from previous uses of Sailor Teleport, but she assumed that it was an effect of Usagi's form as princess instead of as senshi. None of them heard the loud shrieks from outside the door as the youmas and guards discovered the telltale signs of a pitched battle and rushed for the door. A few seconds later the door slammed open with a loud thud.

"Sailor Teleport!" the group cried out in unison. The resulting explosion of white light forced the guard to drop her sword and shield her eyes with her arms. When the light faded and the guard could uncover her eyes and peer about the room, nothing could be seen except disheveled bunks, random scattered personal effects, and a small crater where the senshi used to stand.

—|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|—

Usagi slowly opened her eyes and carefully surveyed the initial scenery. For the first time in several hours those eyes saw something other than inky blackness or drab gray stone. Instead she spotted brilliant deep green and marvelous crystal blue that was decorated by the occasional wisps and tufts of white. A bright yellow orb hung in the distance, but its presence calmed her instead of unnerved her. A pair of black winged objects darted across her vision, but neither of them appeared threatening. She sighed contently as she brought her eyes down from her first view of the sky after what felt to her an eternity within the hellish Dark Kingdom.

"We're home," Ami warmly said as she broke Usagi's trance-like state.

"Not quite," Usagi somberly replied as she swiveled about on her heels before heaving a dejected sigh.

She knew the blue-haired genius had a point, but it wasn't complete. She was free. No, they were free. Yet neither of them was close to safe so long as they were not at home. That place was not where they were standing: the courtyard of Hikawa Shrine. Their departure would not mark a victorious homecoming but only the beginning of not one but two long battles for her. The first was to eliminate the Dark Kingdom and save humanity from their inhospitable evil once and for all. That may have been the easier of the two conflicts, and if that was all she had to do she would have felt much happier.

Unfortunately, life was not so kind to her, for her second battle was far more personal and exceedingly more profound. She already could sense that it would be a long and painful struggle that would bring as much bitter disappointment as it promised boundless joy. However, it was vital that she succeeded as she did not know if she could live much longer while harboring such terrible emotions. She needed to have them, the girls who so horribly betrayed her and almost killed her, back as her friends. She needed those friendships to be true relationships based on respect, love, and trust of one another as normal girls and not mere loyalty of a shadowy soldier to an esoteric princess.

She heard someone call her name, but she opted to look up at the peaceful sky once again. After the revelation of her princess form there was an obvious shift in the girls' attitudes, but she wasn't so sure she could call it remorse, not for all of them. And even if they felt sincere regret, there was one last stumbling block. She would have to somehow overcome her immense personal suffering and anger borne from being callously abandoned and doubted and hated. As she glanced over her shoulder at the girls nervously standing behind her and awaiting her attention, she knew that last part very well might be the hardest struggle of all.

-FIN-