Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Pleiades Senshi: Awakening the Kingdom ❯ Sailor Electra: Karmic Light of Justice! ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: Sailor Electra: Karmic Light of Justice

By Princess Nekosama

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei, and like, half a dozen other companies. I don’t own any of it and this is not for profit in the least.

“So let me get this straight. …Not only did your youma Jaajin not manage to catch the girl, who had not just a strong Star Seed but a Sailor Crystal, he didn’t get her Sailor Crystal, bring back the other girl’s energy, or anything positive, he also managed to awaken her senshi powers and make another new enemy for us to worry about?” Heliodor asked, trying to sound as patient as he could. If Cassiterite knew anything about the man though, it’s that he wasn’t the patient sort. “How the hell could this happen? It was a simple, routine procedure! You’ve claimed that they’ve been drilling for weeks for such situations!”

“Just because they’ve been preparing doesn’t mean they’re ready. It’s rather hard to drill for a situation that you can’t accurately reproduce,” Casitterite mumbles.

“That’s not a valid excuse. How many more chances like this could we get, anyhow? Do you realize how hard to come by Sailor Crystals are? About the only way we could get one is attacking an awakened senshi as it is,” Heliodor retorted, his voice gone cold now. “Would you rather I send you on a mission directly to take care of this?”

Cassiterite’s eyes flared violently red for a moment as she fought to keep her head level. “Listen Heliodor, and listen well. You are not my Master, you’re a little upstart who fancies himself a leader simply because he looks human enough to pass for a higher rank in this kingdom. You think you can do better, then by all means, you try taking care of this mess.”

A slow, evil little smile spread over Heliodor’s face as she spoke, and once she finished, he held one hand out, and squeezed his fingers together tightly, like he was squeezing an invisible baseball too tightly. Almost as once Cassiterite felt her chest tighten to the point of being nearly unbearable, and her hands flew to cover her heart as if she could protect it. Mind reeling, she could barely breathe as Heliodor simply stood there with cold, expressionless eyes as her knees gave way and she crumpled to the ground. It was another few seconds before he relented and released the spell, giving the woman a chance to gasp frantically for air.

“Must I remind you constantly. Nephrite is gone, and wishing for him won’t bring the man back. You work for me now to help restore our Kingdom. And don’t make me remind you again, else I won’t be so lenient on you. …Now, how are we going to remedy this situation, anyhow?”

“…The… senshi’s not… one of the ones with Sailor Moon, I’m almost positive… the uniform’s too different. Likely she’s alone as of yet, untrained, undisciplined. …She’s a relatively easy target, now that we know what we’re dealing with. In the mean time, my youma are still making energy raids in other places, away from Tokyo, and we’re still keeping our eyes out for any possible developments of another one appearing,” Cassiterite gasped, catching her breath fairly quickly.

“Good. Don’t mess this up this time.”

Cassiterite glared at a random spot on the ground before teleporting to a separate place in the Kingdom, well away from Heliodor’s presence. She took a deep breath to steady herself before continuing further into the room. The room itself was relatively tiny, set high into a natural tower made of an unusually shaped stalagmite in the center of an enormous cavern. And in the center of the little room was a purple-haired youma girl with pale green skin and a deep purple dress, meditating with a rather large, dark crystal sphere in front of her. Were one to stare at the crystal too long, it almost seemed to suck at your mind, drawing your focus and attention and perhaps even trying to reach into your soul…

Cassiterite blinked and shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the orb. “…Tourmaline,” Cassiterite said softly, trying not to disturb the girl. “…Have you found anything else out from that thing yet?”

“…The senshi girl, the new one? …She’s definitely nothing to do with those from the White Moon. …I can’t place her though, she’s not from any court I recognize, but I think she still has ties to Earth somehow…after seeing the things that the senshi Galaxia did to people, I’d almost think she’s a Phage but she turned back to human by herself, so… perhaps not…” she murmurs. “…I wonder why my crystal targeted on her sister first.”

Cassiterite sighed slightly and shook her head, trailing her hands through her short, dark hair. “I’m not sure. …But once Jaajin started using it, the girl obviously didn’t have a Sailor Crystal, she was just a near wellspring of energy… maybe simply for the high energy content… or she has some tie to the other girl? The new senshi seemed intent on protecting her…”

“From what I’ve seen, that’s just their nature anyhow. …But I do think I found a new target. …I’m not sure if this thing’s reading right, but at the very least, the girl’s so intensely hyper she likely is bursting with energy we can harvest, at the very least,” she says, handing the dark little crystal to Cassiterite.

“Good. A little reward like that might pacify Heliodor for the time being… Thank you, Tourmaline. Nice to be able to count on you, at least. …Now let’s see if I can’t find a more competent warrior than Jaajin to try this one out.”

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It was a quiet day in school as ever, since the defeat of Galaxia. All the senshi more or less had returned to their normal lives, though since the recent events were so fresh in everyone’s minds, they were still a little on edge. Normally there seemed to be a bit of a pause between enemies at least, but still, it was hard sometimes to shift from the mindset of a soldier to everyday life again. It was almost hard to focus on schoolwork, with the other girls candidly discussing the recent events between classes. With any luck though, this day would be a little different, and was almost more than likely as Usagi had gotten to the classroom before the bell rang for once.

“Hey guys! My mom pulled me out of bed an hour early today so I’d make it on time!” she said brightly, before taking her seat, letting out a long yawn. “I tell you, this getting up early thing isn’t a piece of cake, and I’m so sleepy… I got one of those new energy drinks on the way in though, and it’s starting to kick in,” she said, fidgeting a little still.

“I hear those things are bad for your heart,” Ami said, thumbing through a book. “Apparently the caffeine in them can make your heart rate skyrocket and cause an increase in blood pressure and cause dizzy and fainting spells if you’re not careful.”

“Oh relax, Ami-chan, it was just one. Besides, I’m sure I can handle a little over-caffeinated soda,” Usagi giggled with a dismissing wave. “Besides, that kind was pretty good, anyhow, if a little sweet.”

It wasn’t long before the teacher came in, with a rather tallish young woman behind her. “Class, we’ve got a new transfer student today,” the teacher explained, trying to get everyone’s attention. “Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself, dear,” the teacher said, stepping back a little from the blonde girl to give her the floor.

“All right then… good morning everyone, my name’s Eikino Hikari. I moved here from the Shibuya ward this week. My mom’s American of German descent, as I’m sure you might have guessed.” she said, as she twirled a bit of hair around one finger before she tucked it behind her ear. She grinned and bowed a bit. “Hope to make friends with all you guys.”

“…Hikari-kun, there’s an open seat near the back,” the teacher said and Hikari nodded, heading back to the aforementioned seat.

Almost at once, Usagi grinned and waved to the new girl. “Hello! Welcome to Juba! My name’s Tsukino Usagi, nice to meet you! So you lived in Shibuya before, huh? Ever go to Harajuku and shop and all? Oooh, and all the bands there and all, I bet you got to meet some real idols and all, didn’t you?” Usagi coos brightly.

“…Chill, Usagi-chan,” Minako said, rolling her eyes a little. “…Can’t overwhelm the girl on her first day, huh? …Hi, my name’s Aino Minako, nice to meet you. …Usagi’s got a point though, the Shibuya area’s a lot more along the pop-culture end of things, hm? What brings your family out here?”

“Ah well,” Hikari started, giggling a little bit. “My dad just got a job with one of the TV companies out here and they pay better, so he wanted to move us closer to work so he could spend more time at home instead of commuting the extra distance. Not like it’s that far, really…” she sighs, shrugging a little bit. “Doesn’t bug me any really. Just a chance to make some new friends and all, right?” she asks, giggling.

“All right, I know everyone’s excited to talk to the new student,” the teacher piped up from the front, “but can we get some class work in now, hm?”

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Later that afternoon, it was study session at the Hikawa Shrine as usual, and as ever, Usagi wasn’t paying much attention. “Something on your mind, Usagi?” Ami asked when she noticed Usagi drifting off as usual. “You’ve been so good with your studying lately, you even passed the last two tests… you’re falling back into your old habits again.”

“Soorry….” Usagi murmured. “Brain’s still caught up in class I guess. I was thinking about that new girl in school. Kinda a busy day and all, guess my head’s not in it,” she laughs sheepishly.

“When is your head ever in it?” Rei asked, rolling her eyes. “You guys got a new student in your school? …What’s she like? Doesn’t act weird, does she?”

“Well, define ‘weird’,” Makoto said, folding her arms. “The girl acts like you’d expect from some cheerleader or something, way too bouncy and hyper… maybe she just wants to come off as happy and make some friends though.”

“I do think we should keep an eye on her,” Ami said softly. “More often than not when we get transfer students it’s a significant thing, especially directly to our class. We don’t have the greatest track record on new students, with the exception of you, Mako-chan,” she said, blushing a little bit. “I didn’t mean to infer that all transfer students were suspicious or anything, but the last few times there were new students in our school, well… Tin Nyanko and the Makaiju aliens are perfect examples, to be honest.”

“You don’t really think she’s an alien, do you Ami-chan?” Usagi asked with a pout. “…I’ve had enough of aliens lately… besides, maybe she’s a nice alien, huh? Nobody ever said that everyone who comes here is a bad guy…”

“…Maybe I should take a look at her before we make any assumptions either way,” Rei offered. “At least that way I can see if I can sense anything from her? Arrange to meet up in some neutral spot so we can meet? …And maybe you could even see if Luna could take a peek too that way.”

“…But that’s… oooh, so sneaky, Rei-chan! Is that fair to do to the new kid? I think you guys are being a little paranoid…” Usagi sighed.

“Look, it’s better safe than sorry, right? …Besides, if she’s not anything to worry about, then she makes a new friend, right?” Rei added with a smile.

Usagi grinned and nodded. “Right then. …Sooo… Does that mean we can get out of the study group tomorrow so we can make sure?”

“Not a chance.”

Usagi sighed again and slumped her shoulders. “Ah, you guys never give me a break…”

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Hikari gladly accepted Usagi’s offer to show her around town a bit, and introduce her to her new friends. They met up after school and headed for the ice cream parlor, Hikari as bubbly as ever.

“So, this friend you wanted me to meet, what’s she like? You mentioned she doesn’t go to our school, is she home schooled or something?” Hikari asked.

“Nah, Rei-chan goes to a private school her father enrolled her in. I guess he thinks it’s better than a public school or something. Really I wish he’d just let up and let her come to our school, but I guess Rei’s been getting after him about it and he might let her next year,” Usagi explained.

“Ah, I see… my mom wanted me to go to a private school when we moved here but dad thinks staying in the public school system and meeting more people would be better for me or something,” Hikari giggled, rubbing the back of her head. “Shame the rest of your friends couldn’t come along, they seem so nice…”

“You know how it is. Ami-chan’s in a cram school still even though she’s like, the smartest girl in the whole school system, Mina-chan’s got volleyball and all, and Mako-chan said she needed to do a bunch of housework… besides, you’ll like Rei, I think. Least I hope so!” Usagi said brightly, as she ordered a couple of cones and handed on to Hikari.

They had barely gotten their ice cream when Rei showed up. Usagi flagged the raven-haired girl down with a nearly spastic wave, getting an embarrassed little smile out of Rei as she headed closer.

“Hey Usagi-chan… So you’re the new girl in Usagi-chan’s class?” Rei asks, giving Hikari a considering smile. “…I heard a lot about you.”

“Hopefully all good! My name‘s Hikari, nice to meet you,” Hikari said brightly, rubbing the back of her head. “Usagi-san mentioned you two are really good friends so I’m sure we’ll get along fine, hm?”

Rei nodded a bit, smiling brightly. “She did huh?” Rei asked, giving Usagi a look, as Usagi laughed nervously. “…I’m sure we will, then,” Rei said brightly. “…Really though, I can’t stay too long, and Usagi has to get to her studying soon, doesn’t she?” Rei asked, looking at Usagi again. “…We’ve been helping her with her grades to make sure she passes all her classes and all.”

“Oh how nice! It’s great to see friends stick together to help each other and all! Oh don’t let me keep you, I had fun as it is, thank you Usagi-san,” Hikari said, bowing a bit. “Wouldn’t want to keep you two…”

“Of course not,” Usagi murmured weakly, rubbing her head again. “…Well, nice to spend some time anyhow, Hikari-chan,” she said, heading back toward the temple with Rei. She waited until long after they were out of sight before turning to look at Rei. “…Soooo…? You backed out of that rather quickly. You sense anything interesting from her?”

“I didn’t sense any negative energy… but something strange about her, sort of familiar… Luna is keeping an eye on her still to see if she recognizes anything about the girl. …At least she’s not an immediate threat at least.”

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Hikari hummed softly as she headed down the streets by herself, meandering here and there and trying to familiarize herself with the area. A little bit of window-shopping led her eventually to a curio shop tucked away between larger buildings. Simply opening the door let forth the cool air and the scent of freshly burning incense and herbs. The shop was more or less lit by candlelight and a few low-wattage lamps, and all manner of books, jewelry, herbs, and odd little curiosities of all sorts. Behind the counter is a fairly bored looking girl, likely of Middle Eastern or western Asian descent, with long, dark curls and darkly bright, bored looking eyes. She does look up once Hikari comes in though, possibly not having a customer most of the day.

“Welcome,” the girl said, her vocal pitch a bit low and almost mysterious sounding, the barest accent to it. “…Do come in, have a look about. We’ve just gotten a new shipment recently of all sorts of things, I’m sure you’ll find something to your liking.”

“Well… I don’t really know much about this stuff, so if you can help me out a bit? What would you suggest for me?” Hikari asked.

“For you?” the girl asked, sitting up a bit and getting to her feet. She slowly crept in little steps about the store, looking over the items. “Hm. …I can think of a number of things… if you’re unsure, you should try seeing what calls to you. Close your eyes, and see if anything seems to want to go with you,” the girl said a bit mysteriously.

“…Ooookay, but I don’t wanna knock anything over in here…” Hikari mumbled, doing as the girl said, closing her eyes and reaching out to the shelf she had been looking over. After a moment her hand closed around an object, and she opened one eye to see what she might have picked up. Turning it over in her hands, she examined the thing, a locket in the shape of a seven pointed star, each point having a gem colored one of the shades of the rainbow, with a runic symbol in the center. “Well this is pretty. What does it mean?”

“Ah, that one… I thought it might be something like that for you. Let me see,” she asks, gently taking the piece of jewelry and examining it. “…Ah, yes. …The star itself is seven pointed, which can mean any number of things. The days of the week, the seven alchemical metals, the seven nearer planets used in ancient astrology… they hadn’t found Neptune or Pluto or any of the sort back then, you see…. But the symbol itself more often than not is meant to represent the Fairy Star. The symbol in the center there, that’s a variant from the rune Dagaz. It means light, the dawn, and ending to the dark… I think you made a wonderful choice, you have such a bright aura, that I think this will bring to great luck.”

“Really, this little thing means all that? …Good luck charm, eh? How much does it cost?” Hikari asked brightly.

“For you… I think this one was meant for you. Consider it a present, on one condition, hm?” the girl asked, grinning.

“Oooh, knew there was a catch. Kay, what condition?”

“Come visit again sometime, and tell me if the thing brings you luck,” the girl answered simply, her shoulders shrugging a little. “…I’ve had that thing on my shelf for the longest time and its true owner hadn’t come by to claim it yet, I’m just happy to see it find a home finally.”

“Oh! Well sure, no problem! So long as I can find my way back here and all, I was sort of wandering to start with so I’m not really sure where I am anymore…” Hikari giggled sheepishly.

“I’m sure I’ll see you again,” the girl answered, an enigmatic little smile on her lips as she headed back to her seat and her book on the counter. She paused a moment as Hikari was turning to leave, and spoke up again. “Ah, one last thing?”

Hikari froze where she was and turned again. “…Yes?”

“Don’t be afraid to use the star’s power if you’re in trouble, hm? It might help you out more than you’d expect it to.”

“Ah… right! Sure thing then,” Hikari chirped, as she headed back out of the store. “Neat, my lucky day it seems! New friends, and a free piece of jewelry just for keeping a lonely girl company!” she exclaimed as she headed out the door.

The girl at the counter shook her head and grinned. “I do hope she takes my advice… it’s a good thing she found this place when she did…”

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Hikari was skipping along, hoping she remembered where her neighborhood was from the store, when she noticed how late in the afternoon it was getting, the sun already starting to duck behind the buildings. “Wow, I must have been in that shop longer than I thought,” she murmured to herself. Most of the rest of the people in her neighborhood were already inside, likely eating dinner and all.

She finally recognized a street she was heading down when she heard a voice, just loud enough to overhear. “There you are… took you long enough, I almost lost you for a second.” For a moment she assumed it might be one of Usagi’s friends, or someone talking to someone else, but either way she turned, a little confused. And more so when she saw a dark-haired, pale girl in strange armor formed from dark metals, shades of red and darker steel colors, looking almost like the thing was grown instead of forged.

“Who are you? …Isn’t it a little early for Halloween, or are you in the Drama Club or something?” she asked, frowning a bit.

“Oh ha ha. Ow, my sides. Do stop.” The girl’s voice was entirely deadpan as she spoke. “I’m no one of much importance, but if you must know, my name is Cassiterite. Remember it if you like, though with any luck, you won’t need to know it for long…” she said, as she waved a hand and conjured a dark crystal out of seemingly nowhere. The thing started glowing rather intensely almost at once, and a slow, wicked grin spread over the girl’s face.

“Good. Well then, it looks like here’s where we part ways, I think… but allow me to introduce one of my friends to you.” She bowed a bit and the air beside her wavered, before being filled with a green youma who seemed to have tubes for arms, and a round silver canister for a body. “Kyubamu, meet your new friend. Please try to play nice now, hm? I need to be going.” And with that, a dark puddle of energy opened under the girl’s feet and she sunk quickly into it.

“Kyuu! So glad to meet you, human! We’ll be good friends, huh? Come here and lemme give you a hug!” the youma exclaimed, as it drew in a deep breath, the vacuum tubes of its arms pulling in vast amounts of air, and numerous small objects.

Hikari was hading a hard time simply staying on her feet, her shoes slipping a little bit on the pavement. Wow, this thing’s really pulling! I can barely stand… and why am I feeling so weak… she thought, her vision swimming a little. She almost thought she saw a strange amber light around her, being drawn toward the vacuum tubes.

I have to fight it! I can’t let this monster get away with this! she thought frantically. But what in the world do I do?

…Don’t be afraid to use the star’s power… say the words, you know them well… they’re ingrained on your soul…

Hikari blinked a little at the strange voice in the back of her mind, before nodding and holding her locket tightly. “Right! I do know the words! Electra Star Power! Make-Up!” she called, as her body became enveloped in light, her uniform fading to be replaced by hundreds of sparkling motes of light that shaped themselves into a familiar garb, the Sailor fuku.

“Aw, does this mean we can’t be friends?” the youma pouted, exhaling this time and shooting a number of the objects back at the girl, from rocks and sticks to shards of glass and paper. Most shot by harmlessly but Sailor Electra still got hit by a good margin of the shrapnel, tearing at her outfit and bruising her arms and legs as she tried to duck for cover.

“On the contrary… you want my energy, here!” she retorted. Light to banish the darkness, huh? Let’s see how this works…! She focused her best as twin energy orbs engulfed either hand, one deep crimson to the point of nearly being black, and the other pale yellow, almost white. She extended her arms out, one over her head and one aimed to the ground, and with a fast circular motion, drew a pattern of a yin-yang in the air. “Electra Karmic Light!” she cried, as the spiraling twin energy beams swirled and aimed at the youma.

The monster just barely had time enough to start trying to suck up her energy again, looking pleased with itself for a long moment, continually drawing in the energy beams before its eyes started to widen. “That’s enough! I can’t take any more! Stop!” the youma shrieked, as its body simply faded from sight.

“Well. …That was… easy,” Hikari murmured, before her knees gave on out her, and she collapsed to the ground.

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“Another one awoke... How unfair!” Cassiterite fumed. “There must be a way to do this without awakening them! …The Sailor Crystals used to forge the seal were strong ones, certainly, but they were no where near realizing their true potential… a good, strong Crystal should be all we need…”

“I’m sorry I failed you, Mistress,” Kyubamu murmured, as the creature sat on its knees on the ground in front of her.

Cassiterite sighed softly and shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault, Kyubamu. You did remarkably well, and managed to drain so much of that girl’s energy for our cause. You’re to be commended. There was no way you could have known she’d have been able to awaken and fight back,” she murmured, trailing her fingers through her hair. She summoned a small crystal and transferred the energy gathered from Kyubamu’s storage chamber to it, as the little gem started glowing brilliantly. “Perhaps this will placate Heliodor for a time, at least…”