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The bed chamber resounded with the rhythmic click-clacking of scarlet high heels. Very little light illuminated the room, not that it made much difference. Everything from the floor to the ceiling was black as a moonless night; just the way Black Lady liked it.
The semi-darkness presenting no challenge to her, Black Lady began to peruse the considerable wardrobe for a nightgown she might change into. The chamber, the wardrobe, and all the contents within, had been specially prepared for her. Or so Wiseman claimed. Privately, Black Lady had her doubts about that, in particular since she had only recently joined the ranks of her former adversaries. More poignantly, she knew all too well that the Black Moon Clan at one time boasted five women whose now orphaned clothes would otherwise have gone to waste. As Black Lady slipped off the elegant garments that had already become like a second skin to her, she cast the thought out of her mind.
Wiseman would not gift her the second hand rags of pathetic failures. He would never deceive her like that. He was her mentor. More than that, he was the closest thing she had to a true friend in this wretched world. The only one who truly cared for her. The only one who’d had the power, the will , to fulfil her lifelong dre-
It was as she had been preparing to put on the nightgown that she caught sight of her reflection off of the shiny obsidian walls. The walls were uneven, distorting her visage as she moved, almost like she was in a funhouse mirror room. And yet, the image she saw in the black mirror was not unfamiliar to her.
For but a moment something unpleasant threatened to well up within Black Lady. Then she snuffed it out. She violently tore her gaze away and over to another patch of wall, one that reflected back who she truly was.
The long arms and legs. The large full breasts. The trail of soft hair. It was all she had ever wished for. All she had ever dreamed of.
Her mind once more set right, Black Lady at last changed into the nightgown and clambered into the ebony sheets. Curling into a half foetal position, she closed her eyes and let…sleep…take…her…
She was surrounded by glittering crystals. But these were a far cry from the comforting obsidian of her bed chambers or the Black Moon Clan’s headquarters. These crystals were white and pale blue and sparkled like ocean waves at midday.
Panic entered Black Lady. She wasn’t sure how , indeed, it should have been impossible, and yet there was no denying it: she was in the heart of Crystal Tokyo! More than that, she must have been transported into the past because the city was not the ravaged ruin her beloved clan had reduced it to. Rather it shone as bright as it ever did.
She got to her feet, whipping her head around, readying herself for the inevitable attack. It was only then she noticed that she was once more wearing her usual attire, organdies and all. Even her hair was once more tied up in its usual buns. As a suspicion crossed her mind she lowered her guard ever so slightly and took a second look at her surroundings.
Now she was paying closer attention, she realised she was not in a crystalline city. Rather, it was a crystalline forest , with lush green trees generously interspersed alongside their crystal counterparts, the latter merely giving the illusion of buildings. There was even a large lake that would have been out of place in the Tokyo of any era. Across from the lake was an alabaster temple of some sort, complete with Greco-Roman style pillars.
Black Lady squinted her scarlet eyes, trying to get a closer look at the structure. Unless she was very much mistaken, something between the twin pillars was moving. Whether it was the distance, brightness of the forest or something about the creature itself, she simply couldn’t make it out, but it seemed to her that, whatever it was, it was moving towards the lake’s edge. Black Lady followed suit, approaching the very cusp of the water in the hope of getting a better look at the creature, with the distinct impression that she was being watched by the beast. The lake surface rippled as the animal entered the cool blue water. No, not entered. It was walking atop the lake’s surface itself. More than walking, it was-
It seemed to take but a single heartbeat before she could at last behold the creature in all its glory. At the heart of the lake stood a mighty, golden horned, stallion with fur as white as snow, and feathery wings to match.
“Young maiden…I have come to help you.”
The voice was soft and inviting, seeming to emanate within Black Lady; and leaving her in little doubt as to whom it belonged.
“Who…who are you?” she asked, slightly breathlessly, absentmindedly walking towards the stunning creature, only dimly away that she too stood upon the lake’s surface itself.
The stallion seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again. “I am a friend.”
“A…a friend?” The word stabbed at Black Lady’s heart, bringing her to a halt some five feet away from the horse.
“A friend who cares about you very much,” continued the horse with a nod of its mane.
“You…you can’t be,” whispered Black Lady. “I have no friends. I never had any friends. I just…just thought I did.”
A shard of ice penetrated her heart.
“All the kids in school made fun of me for never growing up. For never having any powers like Mama. They told me I wasn’t really the Princess of Crystal Tokyo…”
As her heart gave a dull pulse, the icy chill emanated outwards.
“The Sailor Senshi used to ignore me. They didn’t even celebrate my birthday…”
Her entire chest felt numb now.
“Plu said she cared about me. She made me think I was the only person who could make her happy…but then I saw how she smiled for Papa…”
With each successive pulse of her heart, the cold steadily spread across Black Lady’s body.
Ba-dump.
“…Papa…he always liked Mama best. Everyone always liked Mama best.”
Her neck felt trapped in a necklace of icy crystals.
“I tried to be like her. I wanted to be like her. But I never could.”
Ba…dump.
“I never had her power. I was never going to grow up to be beautiful like her either.”
The chill creeped across her shoulders to snake down her arms.
“Is that why Mama and Papa were so cruel to me? Because I was a failure to them?”
…Ba...dump…
“Is that why they didn’t help me when I fell down?”
Cold tears escaped her crimson irises, trickling down her unmoving, mesmerised face.
“Is that why they said it was my own fault?”
…Ba…
The sound of a whinny at last broke Black Lady out of her trance. “That’s not true!” The horse rose upon its hind legs! “It is all a lie!”
With obvious anger, the equine beast brought its hoofs down upon the water, generating a series of erratic ripples. “The magic of the Black Moon has twisted your memories. It’s turned you into something you are not!”
“How would you know!?” snarled Black Lady. “How do you know anything about me!?”
The numbness was gone now. Black Lady’s chest was instead hot with anger and indigitation, rising and falling as she regained the breath she had expelled.
The horse however was unfazed. Unblinkingly, it raised its head and pointed its horn skywards. Golden light shone across the lake momentarily, forcing Black Lady to cover her eyes for a second or two.
A not unpleasant tingling sensation ran down her shoulder blades. She felt a heaviness upon her back and found white feathers drifting down around her, gently landing upon the skin of the lake. With slow, shaking breaths she reached over her own shoulder and caressed one of the soft white wings that had sprouted from her back.
“Please believe me.”
Black Lady looked back at the stallion, finding that it had lowered its head so that the two of them were eye level. Gazing at each other as they were, she couldn’t help but notice how the creature’s eyes were the same shade of ruby red as her own. And how unnaturally shiny they looked.
“I know you, my maiden,” said the horse, tears rolling down its cheeks.
All doubt was banished from Black Lady’s heart.
Its eyes still locked with Black Lady’s, the horse lowered its head, leading Black Lady’s gaze down to the water’s surface. There she saw her own reflection, in all her ebony glory. However, as the horse's snout touched the water, decidedly more gentle ripples cascaded across her reflection, distorting it momentarily. But when the waters at last settled, it was not Black Lady that stared out from the water.
It was a little girl. She couldn’t have been more than six years old. Her big, kind eyes were a soft red whilst her hair was as pink as cotton candy and tied up in twin buns that rather resembled rabbit ears.
“Please, remember who you are,” implored the stallion, “Who you truly are.”
Horror. Shame. Regret. For the briefest of moments all three emotions consumed Black Lady. With tears of her own pooling in her eyes, she looked up from the reflection of the little girl and found a shower of sparkling light now separated herself and the horse.
Except he wasn’t a horse anymore. He was now a handsome young boy of perhaps thirteen years, with hair and robes as white as the horse’s coat and mane.
“I know you can become her again. Become the maiden with the most beautiful dreams in all the cosmos.”
With a small, encouraging smile, the boy extended his arms outwards invitingly.
Tentatively at first, Black Lady reached out herself and, without thinking about it, began to walk (or perhaps fly) across the lake towards the shower of light and the young man who resided beyond it.
“The rabbit is mine, fool. You shall not interfere.”
The unnatural guttural voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. At its utterance Black Lady immediately halted and dropped to her knees, her forehead burning.
“I will not let you do this to her Death Phantom!” yelled the boy.
“It is far too late for that boy. Perhaps you should have made yourself known to her before this day. Now you shall never see her again!”
The crystal forest turned black and lifeless, all light steadily dying like a candle burning out.
“My maiden!” cried the boy reaching out, trying to close the distance between them. “My maiden! Don’t listen to him. He’s been lying to you. Please believe me! I lo-”
With a start, Black Lady jerked awake.
To her surprise, Wiseman hovered at the foot of her bed, his hands caressing the air around the orb that was ever in his company.
“Good morning Black Lady. Pleasant dreams?”
“I…” Black Lady thought for a moment, trying to recall what she had been dreaming about. She seemed to remember a lake of some kind. And, feathers. And a… “I think I dreamed about a young man. A young man with white hair?”
She could of course not see beneath the black hood. And yet, Black Lady had the distinct impression that Wiseman was x-raying her, like he was trying to see inside of her somehow.
“You likely dreamed of Prince Demande. He is, after all, integral for our plans going forward.”
“I…I don’t think it was him,” replied Black Lady, “This boy was younger. He looked different too.”
“No doubt it was how your subconscious envisioned Demande to have looked in his youth. Think no more of it. I will see to it that you shall have no more dreams from now on.”
Black Lady pursed her lips. “Why would I need to not dream anymore, Wiseman?”
“Your dream was to grow up and become a powerful, beautiful lady wasn’t it?”
“Y-yes?” replied Black Lady.
“Then, when you live your dream whilst awake, what use do you have of dreams whilst you slumber?”
“I…I suppose that makes sense.”
“Do you doubt me, dear lady?”
Black Lady thought about it for a moment, then caught sight of herself in one of the walls. “No Wiseman. Of course not.”
“Excellent. Report to the reactor room as soon as possible. The future awaits us.”
“Yes Wiseman.”
With that Wiseman vanished and Black Lady prepared herself to depart the bedchamber, all memory of the night before utterly forgotten.