Reign from the Shadows

Goodbye, Reyna

In the base, Meroko stood beside her sister, Asteria, in civilian forms and listened as Asteria relayed how it was she came to be after thousands of years.

"Queen Nyx had felt Princess Reign's death the moment it happened but instead of telling me and the rest of the guardians to retrieve the body...she said we had an important mission to do," Asteria's pale face was partially hidden by her blue and silver-tipped hair falling over her shoulders. "She said Princess Reign had done her duty well even in death and that it was now up to the rest of us to follow in suit. Sailor Circe, our magical guardian, used her teleporting powers to send our people to our sister civilization who had found a new planet to live on and then Queen Nyx, uh, she...she used the last of her powers to put me and my two other guardians in cryogenic stasis on Earth."

"So you've been sleeping for thousands of years since then?" Azula crinkled her nose at the thought. She loved sleep as much as the next person but that was too much.

Asteria nodded. "Queen Nyx said that Princess Reign would be reincarnated by the grace of Queen Serenity, along with my sister—" she put a hand on Meroko's arm, "—because it was imperative that the Shadow Crystal remain protected. Since Princess Reign would one day re-awaken, she would need the rest of her guardians with her."

"But then that confirms that your Queen had contact with not only your sister planet but also with Silver Millenium," Usagi noted. "She knew my Mother..."

"And once upon a time you knew Princess Reign," Asteria said with obvious disdain. Since she had learned that the Moon Princess had also been reincarnated, she hadn't really wanted to speak with any of the girls and much less Usagi. "And then you let her die..."

"Hey," Mamoru cut in before Asteria would go further, because he had no doubt she would, "That is something you're gonna have to stop saying."

"Truth hurts? Not my problem," Asteria shrugged her shoulders. "The only reason I'm here explaining everything to you all is because my sister made me. I, frankly, would rather us work alone than join forces with the lot that killed my Princess."

"I'm sorry about that, really," Usagi wanted to be believed so badly even though she herself couldn't remember this Shadow princess. It was hard trying to picture this entire story without the proper memories. She hoped the memories would start coming now that she was learning about them.

"We don't know what exactly happened," Mamoru added on. "No one does except Reign herself and until she joins us and explains everything, we're not going to blame anyone."

Asteria crossed her arms and looked to the side. Mamoru remembered the girl to be much more stubborn and challenging than Sailor Hemera. Even now, Asteria remained the same.

"Asteria has agreed to the terms of our accordance," Meroko spoke up. "We'll work together to find Princess Reign and defeat Senka and then afterwards we'll leave to find the rest of our people."

"We can get to work on that then by cross referencing any sorts of jewels in the area," Azula thought out loud. "It's a stretch but it's a start."

Asteria scoffed at her. "You believe my Princess would let her Crystal hide in plain sight?"

"Well, Usagi's crystal hid inside her body so unless you find Reign this is all we have right now," Azula retorted within the second. She wasn't here for snappy attitudes, especially with the girl who had stabbed her with literal stars.

Asteria released a breath and looked at Meroko. "I'm hungry. Could we go to that cafe shop you talked about in the morning?"

Meroko nodded and told her sister to start heading out first. When Asteria was out of hearing shot, she addressed the group. "I know Asteria is..."