Sailor Moon cheered to see Jupiter's success, the area now bathed in shimmering sunlight. If that's what this poor tree needed, it had now received it. Makoto was always so handy when it came to plants. Usagi still remembered the first time she had seen the brunette's apartment, amazed at both the tidiness and the variety of thriving flora. This challenge, although puzzling, clearly seemed to be one that Jupiter would soon resolve.

"Good job, Jupiter!" she called, clapping and bouncing with encouragement.

The blue eyes turned towards Mercury, ready to watch the blue-haired sailor soldier use the power of her planet to assist another. After all, that's what friends were for!

Mercury watched as Jupiter took her time aiming, and then sent a Sparkling Wide Pressure shot at the ceiling. It collapsed where she struck it, and she was amazed to see how neatly the rocks had fallen. It was almost too coincidental how they formed a perfect circle.

But she jumped at the chance to be helpful when Jupiter asked for her to fill it. 

"Oh, right!" Mercury gathered her hands at her chest s she built up power, her eyes falling closed. "Shine Aqua... Illusion!" The burst of water she summoned was directed into the pool, though she didn't freeze it solid like usual.

She stepped back as Jupiter attacked the ceiling and created a pond for the tree while letting light in at the same time. To be honest, Venus never expected their task to be gardening, but she also had nothing to do here, so she was just standing around hoping this wasn’t a trap and where exactly this item was going to be. Or how many other puzzle rooms there were.

What if there were a hundred more and they’d have to be here all day?

She hoped this was the last task they had to do in this place, as she was beginning to feel restless.

The moment the last rock fell into place, the wall behind the tree trembled. Jupiter looked over to Mercury, making sure that the ground beneath her wasn't breaking apart this time. She didn't know if she could take a repeat of what happened the last time. 

The group watched as the wall behind the tree parted, the giant slabs of rock slowly opening to reveal a small chamber within. It wasn't a very big room, and it reminded Jupiter of a showroom case. On a natural carved shelf in the rock, sat a hammer made of silver with green and grown accents and swirls on it. 

Was this what they had come for? Looking for confirmation, Jupiter glanced at Sedna. 

"Grab the hammer Jupiter and allow the power of the Azure Dragon to help you in your quest. Do not be afraid." Giving the teal haired girl a tight smile, she stepped forward until she was directly in front of the weapon. She went to reach for the hammer, but hesitated. 

What if this was a trick? Her mind raced as her hand hovered over the hammer. No, she had to trust. Eshana was a fellow guardian, she wouldn't betray them and they had to save Earth. Steeling herself, she firmly grasped the hammer, picking it up. It wasn't a big hammer, about the size of Mjolnir, nor was it particularly heavy as she would have assumed being made of what looked to be pure metal. For her, it felt light as a feather and felt good in her hand. 

Turning, she walked back towards her friends, her fuku beginning to glow. When the bright light faded, Jupiter's old fuku was no longer there. Instead she was wearing one that was brown, with green accents. 

Was this the fuku of the Azure Dragon? She looked down at herself in shock. 

Jupi's new Fuku of the Azure Dragon variety:

Sailor Moon gasped when Jupiter walked back out of the chamber and suddenly the familiar emerald green and rose pink uniform shifted into something unknown.

"Woah!" she exclaimed. "You look so different! So this is the Azure Dragon?"

It was so strange for her to think that there had once been other sailor soldiers here, and that this uniform that Sailor Jupiter now wore could have been one of them! After all, everything that she knew and remembered started with the Moon Kingdom—with her mother and her dear guardians. Sedna told them a little bit about this mission, but seeing her friend Sailor Jupiter in this new outfit made it all seem more real, somehow.

She was so proud of Jupiter for solving the puzzles here. Of course Makoto-chan would be smart and strong enough to overcome the challenges faced! Although Usagi couldn't stay she was looking forward to the other trials they were sure to face...

She watched as the wall opened to reveal a strange hammer. Venus narrowed her eyes at it suspiciously as Jupiter was encouraged to take it. She blinked when Jupiter’s fuku changed after she picked up the hammer. To be honest, since she was so used to seeing white as the base color for the bodice, seeing black made her feel unsettled, hoping it didn’t signify the alignment of the wearer.

“Do you feel any different?” she asked Jupiter just in case. What effect would this have on her powers? Was she no longer Jupiter now, or had her Jupiter identity simply merge with this new senshi’s?

"I feel fine, just...different." The brown colour of her fuku was so drastically different from their normal white. Combined with the feeling of someone else's powers inside of her...and she felt weird, like the powers were racing around inside of her, not settling down. It almost felt as if she were in the middle of an electrical storm, she usually got a similar feeling from her own powers. 

Eshana smiled as Jupiter stepped away from the platform, hammer in hand and a new fuku. It wasn't like the old fuku of the Azure Dragon of legend, but it was similar enough. Perhaps it changes with each new bearer of the power, changing to suit that person. It was an interesting thought that their fuku's were designed for them.  Deciding to put the topic aside, she refocused her attention to the group. 

"We must move on, time is against us. Our next location is to the North, in the North Pole where we will find the Black Turtle, guardian of the North and Water. The trials ahead will be yours Mercury, but I am confident that you will be able to harness the power of the Black Turtle as Jupiter was able to harness the Azure Dragon." 

Their location in the North Pole would most likely bring back memories of their time against Beryl, with B point being so close to D point, but there was no choice, the enemy was coming and they had to save their planet. Please let us finish these trials in time. 


"Should we teleport there then?" Jupiter asked, her new found powers making her feel antsy will all the extra energy she could feel. The hammer felt right in her hands in a way that she couldn't describe. Was this really meant for me? Was she meant to have this power all along? Their lives were rule in so many ways by their destiny and their future. Perhaps this was what they were meant to do as well.

She did not think fondly of trips to the North Pole, given their previous experiences in such a place, but Sailor Moon was not about to back down now. They were closer to harnessing the powers that they needed to keep the world safe, and that was not something she could back away from. She tried to push aside her thoughts of Beryl and the Dark Kingdom; that would serve her no purpose right now. Maybe somehow she could think of teleporting there now differently than her memories of teleporting there several years ago.

"Let's go!" she coaxed, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt.

As the girls arrived to the North Pole, a snow storm began. Eshana couldn't help but wonder if it was a sign of how things would go while attempting to harness the power of the Black Turtle. 

She regarded Mercury as she waited for the senshi to acclimate to the bitter cold and their new surroundings. The blue haired senshi was petite, not quite as short or small as her Princess, but a little more so tan most Japanese, especially when compared to Jupiter and Eshana. What the senshi lacked for physical strength or powerful attacks, she made up for with her quick wit and intelligence. Her ability to analyze information quickly and accurately was renowned. 

"Sailor Mercury," she said, gaining the others attention. " Tell us, which direction should we go?"

Watching Jupiter take the hammer and change in the process was unexpected, and Mercury was wondering similar thoughts as Venus. Were these four artifacts going to do that to all of them? Would something change within them as well? Jupiter claimed that she was feeling fine, but what if something happened to her later?

And then Sedna hurried them along to their next destination, and it was suddenly Mercury's turn to take the lead. 

The Black Turtle... She nodded in affirmative and grabbed everyone's hands to teleport. The North Pole was just as desolate as it was years ago at D-Point, but this time, she could not rely on her other friends to act while she analyzed. She had to lead. The snowstorm was cold, but Mercury barely felt it as she stared out at the ice and snow before them. Would she have to sense where they needed to go? She assumed her computer wouldn't be much help.

"U-um, give me a moment..." she said, growing nervous. Moving on instinct was a bit out of her comfort zone, but she would try. Her eyes closed as she tried to calm down, digging within herself to whatever she needed to do this. She turned in place until she was facing a different direction, and then opened her eyes. This felt correct. 

"I think... we need to go further north," Mercury said. "That way."

She didn’t particularly like the North Pole, and not just because of the temperature. They all had a good reason for disliking this place. The place where they’d all died for the first time in this life. She hoped this place would not be a graveyard for them for the second time.

She waited as Mercury tried to pinpoint the right direction. She knew using her instincts wasn’t as natural for Ami, who always relied on her brain and her computer, so this must feel odd. But it didn’t take her long for her to figure it out, which was good.

“Let’s head that way, then, before we freeze to death in here,” she said, putting an arm around Sailor Moon, whom she knew must be feeling the biting cold as well. “Maybe we should hold hands so no one gets lost in this storm.”

Sailor Moon felt grateful for Venus's closeness, especially here. The arm of the leader of her guardians around Moon's shoulders offered warmth and comfort even in this barren frozen land. She shivered slightly less now that someone else was right beside her. Her blue eyes swept across the snow, flakes tumbling over each other in a gust of wind, and wondered what the others were thinking. It was hard not to associate this place with everything they had faced against the Dark Kingdom. Sailor Moon shook those thoughts from her head, then turned to glance up and smile at Venus, a clear expression of her thanks.

Still, it seemed that Mercury at least knew the way. This was the blue-haired genius's challenge, and Sailor Moon knew the other girl would conquer it. She just had to be there, for support.

"It could get even colder the further north we go," Mercury warned the group. She hoped it wasn't too far away, or it was possible that they could get frostbite, senshi protection or not. After waiting for everyone to organize themselves to not get separated in the snowstorm, Mercury took the lead. They walked past snow drifts and holes in the thick arctic ice as she followed the strange feeling that had picked this direction in the first place.

And after what felt like an hour of walking half blinded by white specks, they reached the edge of the ice. Mercury stopped and looked around, but could only see the cold Arctic Sea ahead of them.

"...There's nothing here," she said, frowning slightly. She felt like this was where they needed to be though. Had she gone the wrong way? 

And then, as if sensing her doubts, the water turned rough as something massive shifted beneath the waves. Mercury gasped and took a step back from the edge, and watched in awe as what looked like an ancient castle emerged before them, carved entirely of ice. It became larger and larger as it rose in elevation, until the base was finally level with the ground they were standing on. And that's when she realized that it was on the back of a giant ice turtle.

Its head broke the surface and then rested on the ground in front of the senshi. With a low grinding sound, it opened its jaws to reveal a tunnel, the only entrance she could see leading inside. Mercury blinked a few times as she took the sight in. 

"I...I think this is it."

The appearance of the ice castle and giant turtle definitely startled Sailor Moon!

"Wooooooah!" she exclaimed, jumping backwards when the ground shook and the Arctic Sea crashed with waves and activity. Thankfully it seemed like her dear friends were not so close as to be in immediate danger—if so, in typical fashion, she would have had to rush in after them. That did not seem to be necessary right now, although she was certainly awestruck at what she did see.

Sailor Mercury had to be right. How could this place not be "it", when it had risen out of the freezing ocean right in front of their eyes, as if on queue for the sailor soldier of water and wisdom?

Sailor Moon took a deep breath, feeling slightly uneasy at the thought of venturing into the creature's mouth, but determined to be there for her friends. Her blue eyes glanced around the group, wondering who would take the first step forward.

Mercury led them to what seemed like nothing but the ocean, but Venus didn’t doubt that they were on the right place. She waited for the other senshi to puzzle it out—knowing she eventually would—and that was when she saw the water reacting. She turned toward the sea and watched as the castle appeared, genuinely surprised and awed by the sheer size of it.

The tunnel opened up in front of them, and though Venus didn’t like it, she trusted Mercury to know what she was doing.

She waited, and only offered her support, relinquishing the mantle of leadership at this time. “Then, lead the way,” she said to Mercury with a gentle nudge. She hoped in there at least it would be warmer.

Eshana couldn't help but admire the ice castle as it appeared in the frozen north. The group entered the castle, heading down the long pathway that was very wide. Everything was made of ice, from the floors to the walls, to the decorations. If the girls wanted to all six of them could walk side by side and still have plenty of room. As the proceeded, the torches on the wall began to light up, casting a warm glow on the ice and made the room just a little more bearable. 

It wasn't long until the group came to the end of the hallway, two ornamental doors blocking their path. As they approached, it creaked open slowly, revealing the chamber within. The group looked at each other before entering to see what lay beyond. 

In the middle of the room sat a giant life size chess board, the pieces made of ice. One side had blue ice with all the pieces while the other side were white in colour with some of the pieces missing. 

Counting quickly, Eshana realized there were exactly 6 missing pieces to the chess set, the same number of senshi in the room. 

"Are we meant to take the place of the chess pieces?" She asked outloud. 

Spoiler! Chess info:

A chess board?!

Well, now Sailor Moon was extra glad this was Mercury's mission. Usagi was ill-equipped to participate in anything as logical as chess. She generally only won board games based on luck, which had never been a very successful strategy for her during any attempts at chess. Ami, on the other hand, was a ranked junior chess champion in Japan. In her heart, Sailor Moon knew that this was something her friend could overcome. And Moon was as willing a participant as ever, because she would always be there for her friends.

She giggled at Sailor Sedna's question, her own blue eyes reviewing the icy chess setup.

"This is perfect for Mercury!" the pigtailed blonde declared. "What do we do, Ami-chan?"

They entered the castle, which seemed to all be made of ice. Venus followed the group until they came to a pair of doors at the end of the hallway. They opened without touch and the group entered.

She immediately recognized the chess board, though the giant pieces was definitely new. It reminded her of Mercury’s match against Berthier long ago… only in a much bigger scale. It soon became obvious that they were to be the missing pieces. Venus, like Moon, was sure that Mercury could win this game, though… a game of chess was typically not won without sacrificing some pieces. She couldn’t help but wonder if these sacrifices would mean dying for them as well.

Venus wasn’t a stranger to chess herself; it was actually how her brain worked most of the time. Predicting several moves ahead of time to be prepared for all possible outcomes. And should any of their lives be endangered…

She’d want Sailor Moon to be the King. After all, it was the piece that could not be sacrificed. Whatever way Mercury would win this—and she would win—the King was the only safe piece because once the King fell the game was over, and Mercury would not let that happen.

But she kept silent and waited to see what her friend would decide.

She should have expected the game of chess to come back again. The board was huge, the pieces as tall as or even taller than a person, and each set a different color. One side was completely set up, but the pure white ice set was unfinished. 

Mercury knew where this was going as soon as she heard Sedna's question. She nodded, already working out which pieces were missing. 

"I think our only choice is to play a game, and hopefully win..." Mercury answered her and Usagi, trying to stay positive. "The board is missing a queen, a king, a bishop, knight, rook, and one pawn. We'll have to fill in for them. Usagi..." This entire puzzle was probably just as dangerous as the ones in Makoto's cave, and Mercury had almost fallen down a pit to her presumed death. If a piece was taken on this chessboard, would it be deadly? There was no way to test it out, but they had to play. She hated the thought of anyone being hurt, but they knew deep in their hearts that they could die for a cause if needed. They'd done it before. 

But if there was one person that absolutely couldn't be sacrificed...

"You can stand on the back fifth square, E8. You're going to be the king. I'll be on your right, taking the Queen position." If the king was placed into checkmate, the game was lost, so as long as Mercury didn't mess this up, she would be safe. The queen was the most versatile piece on the board, one that could be used to maneuver out of difficult situations and aggressively push towards the other king. Ami would rather risk herself than the others, but she'd be least likely to be removed first in this role.

"MInako, you'e the bishop. You can stand on her left side." It was still a strong piece, and it was close to the King's position. "Makoto, you can take the knight's spot after that, and you can be on the end as the rook, Sedna." That left the pawn. Pawns were the weakest, but if one reached the other side, it could be promoted. "Rei, you can be the open pawn on A7." 

Now to see if this worked out...

Sailor Moon nodded at the comment from Mercury. Clearly, if anyone was going to arrange them on this chess board, it ought to be the blue-suited soldier of wisdom and water. Even if this hadn't been what they knew in advance would be a trial specifically for Sailor Mercury, it would only have made sense for their genius and chess champion to make these calls.

She was careful as she made her way over to maneuver her uniform's awkward wings to avoid knocking over other chess pieces. The chess layout was large, but her wings were also large—a few times they just barely swept too close to a pawn or a bishop and caused the piece to waver... but thankfully nothing fell.

She reached her position as king and stood still and expectant, waiting for Mercury's next directions, wondering what would happen to them all.

She knew Mercury would make the best decisions. She was glad to hear that Mercury had the same line of thinking as herself and put Sailor Moon on the king’s spot. Venus herself was directed to the bishop, standing right beside her like her right hand woman, which was appropriate.

She was moving to her spot when she heard where Mars was assigned. The pawn. She giggled and glanced at Mars, knowing she probably wouldn’t like that so much. Mars, in the spot of a weak pawn? But Mercury probably had specific plans for her. There must be a reason why she put her there on the front lines.

She took her place beside Sailor Moon, giving her friend an encouraging smile.

Sedna nodded and soon she and Jupiter took their places on the board. The game quickly commenced once all of the pieces...er...players, Sedna supposed were in place. Pawns were moved and it wasn't long before Rei was sacrificed, knocked unconscious by the other side's Bishop and dragged off the board before the Bishop resumed its newly won place on the board. 

For a brief moment, Sedna was worried that Rei had been killed but as she watched closely, she could still see the priestess breathing. She would most likely have a terrible headache when she awoke but her injuries were nothing that Sedna couldn't heal. 

As she surveyed the board, Eshana realized that she would be the next one to be sacrificed unless Mercury did something. Turning, she smiled at the blue-clad senshi letting her know it was alright. They needed to win the game and sacrifices needed to be made.

"Rei-chan!" she gasped, watching the altercation take place. She almost stepped forward—almost ran forward towards her dear friend... but Sailor Moon stopped herself just in time. The blonde halted before she could step off her tile. This was Ami's challenge. If she interrupted now... if she made an illegal move... she somehow felt that she would hurt all of them. She didn't want anything to happen to any of her friends: not now, not in the past, not ever. So, somehow, she willed herself to stay still, even though she could barely comprehend any of her actions knowing that she was not running off to the rescue.

Following the actual moves of the game was tough for Sailor Moon, but she knew that they weren't done yet. Mars was out of the game, but it wasn't over. There would be more.

She clenched her gloved hands into fists, trying to take deep and calm breaths.

"Come on, Ami-chan..." she thought as she squeezed her eyes shut. "You can do it!"

She had tried her best for the majority of this game to not sacrifice any of her "living" pieces, but Mercury could only do so much restricting herself to that degree. Chess wasn't meant to be played with favored pieces, and it was showing.

Reluctantly, she had asked Mars to stand in the bishop's path. It slid diagonally across the huge board, and a moment later, Rei was on the ground. She winced at Usagi's cry, but she turned on her visor and confirmed that Rei was still alive. Mercury released the breath she'd been holding.

She didn't like this at all, but knowing that the puzzle wasn't killing them one by one was good. Her next turn was even rougher. She could take this bishop out of the game permanently with Makoto acting as the knight, but Sedna would be struck down by a rook that had moved into position a few turns ago. She turned to look at the other senshi, and received a reassuring smile. Mercury swallowed and turned back to the game.

...The bishop was more dangerous.

"Mako-chan, please move to H5!" she called out. She would find a way to apologize to everyone later, she promised herself.

Her heart had plummeted when Mars was taken off the board. It was only the sight of her friend still breathing that kept Venus where she was, even as she balled her fists and thought again about the possibility that they’d been played. They’d been hurt and almost died so many times in this so-called quest, and she still didn’t entirely trust the strange sailor soldier that had brought them here. Whatever this new threat was, she still wasn’t sure they couldn’t just take care of it with their own powers, without these strange items whose origins they didn’t even know for sure. They’d always managed it on their own before, with Sailor Moon. Why couldn’t they try that first? Maybe they should have, instead of immediately agreeing to this plan.

She waited as Mercury called out the next move, wondering who else would fall before all this was over. At least she knew Usagi was safe.

She couldn't watch as Mercury gave the direction to Jupiter. All she could do was worry about her friends. The group had walked willingly into this strange cavern within a mysterious ice turtle. They believed that this was something they needed—after all, Sailor Jupiter had awakened that mysterious power after bringing sunlight and water to that hidden tree. Surely that had to be what would happen here, now—something similar for Mercury.

But why did it have to happen like this? They had played many chess games contrived by opponents in an attempt to best Ami, and their blue-haired friend always won. But watching her dear friends be taken out of the game so severely shook Usagi to the core. She wanted to protect everyone. How was she protecting them when she just stood here? All she could do was trust in Mercury, and believe.

Please, Ami-chan... you have to win!

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