149.72 million km [Tuxedo Mask]

Act 8 • Minako - Sailor V

Word Count: 1805

"Sailor V?" Everyone got up from the ground and stood there staring at the new arrival.

"No way. Why is she here?"

"But she doesn't look like the Sailor V we know. Her costume is different too."

"She looks like one of us."

"True."

"I've never taken this mask off in public." She said, pulling out her mask and placing it on her face.

"The red mask! It's really Sailor V!" Usagi gasped.

"How rude! She is indeed Sailor V, but she is also..." A white cat with the same moon on its forehead stepped forward. "The second Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Silver Millennium. She is Princess Serenity."

Sailor V is one of the princesses? The mark on her forehead must be the symbol for the royal family.

I felt my tiara begin to glow and change into something different.

The tiara changed shapes again.

The image of a white palace flashed before me and disappeared just as fast.

It feels like I came close to remembering something important.

I looked around at everyone and noticed that not only had my tiara changed but so did Usagi's. Zoisite was getting up from the ground and clued in that he was now surrounded.

"Damn it! I was so close!" in the blink of an eye he was gone. Off to the side Tuxedo Mask was leaving the scene as well.

---

"You've fought very well so far, Sailor Sun." Sailor V said. We were all gathered together on the ground in a nearby park.

Sailor V is standing in front of us, and she is the second princess.

"All of you, as well." She added "I don't feel like this is my first time meeting all of you, because I've been contacting you through the game machine."

"We've been instructing you how to battle through the Sailor V game. Looks like it worked out." The cat said.

"The game?"

"I see! Those messages were actually you." I clued in, as my communicator went off. I opened it to answer the incoming call.

"Emiko-chan? Are you all okay?" Luna asked.

"Is that you, Luna? Are you in the command room? I'll be there soon." The princess says, detransforming.

"You're a princess?" Sailor V was no longer in her suit and was now wearing a school uniform.

"This is my secret identity." She explained. "On Earth, my name is Minako Aino. I'm a second year junior high school student just like you guys. Nice to finally meet you."

---

We made our way down the stairs all wearing our school uniforms.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I couldn't come get you."

"Why are you apologising, Luna? You've been doing your duty." She smiled, looking around. "I haven't been here in a while."

"Sailor V... I mean, Princess, we've been looking for you and the other princess. Where have you been? Do you know where the other princess is?" she shook her head in response to the question.

"Unfortunately I haven't located my older sister, Aelia." She frowned. "As for where I've been, where should I start? I met my partner, Artemis, long before you all met Luna. We still didn't know about all of you yet. First, we were solving the mysteries and crimes occurring in Tokyo by ourselves. As we collected more information, we realised there was a giant shadow behind all of the incidents... And that was... the Dark Kingdom. It's under the controls of an evil power that emerged from within the darkness. A truly evil essence, unlike all other things on Earth. She set her eyes on the Legendary Silver Crystal to obtain power. She is scheming to conquer the Earth! At this moment she gains energy from humans. That's why innocent people have been her target."