Dear Reader,
First off, hello! Thank you for taking the time to read "Twilight," my original Sailor Moon fanfic!
The following story is a sequel to my other fanfic, "Refract," which you can read at: www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/3519889/1/Refract.
This story takes place several months after "Refract" ended, though the exact amount of time between the two stories is not important. What is important, however, is that you know that both stories contain an original character, Apollo, who is the (older) twin sister of Serenity, general of the Moon's army, head of training the princess-senshi, and the lucky recipient of a life pretty much full of drama and some hilarity. Although she's the focus of "Refract," she's much less so the center of attention in "Twilight."
In fact, this story will touch on the lives of all the senshi, which means that it will be far more expansive in scope than "Refract" was. The chapters will be longer and, in addition to the main plot, there will be several subplots. That being said, I will try to update as regularly as possible so as to ensure no confusion on your part.
Now for the disclaimer: this story IS mature in content. There is strong language, sex scenes (mostly of the lesbian variety, but I might throw some heterosexual ones in there, too), and violence. However, I will try to handle all three elements tastefully by weaving them into the story as integral parts of it.
Lastly, Sailor Moon and everything associated with it are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.
Enjoy!
sylie
TWILIGHT
The sun streaming through the windows and onto the bed was what woke Apollo from her deep and satisfying slumber. She yawned leisurely, sitting up slightly to fully take in the sight of Ami curled up naked beside her. Smiling, Apollo lightly pushed back Ami's bangs and leaned down to kiss the Mercurian's lips, causing Ami to open her eyes and sigh contentedly.
"Good morning," breathed Ami, also sitting up before leaning in close to kiss Apollo. "Have you been awake for long?"
"No, I just woke up," answered Apollo, twisting slightly to grab Ami's hips and pull the smaller girl towards her. Ami got the hint and straddled Apollo's lap, blushing slightly as their two naked bodies touched. "But I am quite hungry." Apollo squeezed Ami's butt and pulled her even closer, gently sinking her teeth into the curve connecting Ami's neck and left shoulder. Guided by her girlfriend's moans, Apollo slipped a hand between Ami's thighs and smirked when she heard a sharp gasp.
A chill ran down Queen Serenity's spine as she heard the door to her meeting chamber open and close. She could feel the hunched old man's stare on the back of her head, and upon turning around, she was not surprised to find him wringing his hands and refusing to look away as a sign of respect for the royal; Queen Serenity had long ago stopped expecting Orpheus to bow to her, but his unique skills saved him from any disciplinary action.
As usual, the archmage was dressed in a black cloak, his long black hair sleek and shiny in the morning sunlight. Orpheus cleared his throat and hissed, "Good day, my Queen."
Resisting the urge to sneer, Queen Serenity responded, "Good morning, Orpheus. You wanted to see me?"
"Yes, my Queen. I received a disturbing prophecy earlier."
"Earlier?" Queen Serenity raised an eyebrow, fully aware that 'earlier' would have cut into Orpheus's precious beauty sleep.
"Yes, when the sun was rising."
The unease Queen Serenity had been sensing for nearly a month suddenly intensified; the regular communication she had had with the Queen of the Sun had recently decreased in frequency, and for the past few days there had been no interstellar telegrams sent to the Moon from the Sun. Initially believing that the Sun Queen had simply been too busy lately, Queen Serenity now conceded that perhaps something more sinister was afoot.
However, she did not reveal any of this to Orpheus, though she assumes that he probably knew already anyway. Instead. Queen Serenity motioned to two high-back chairs and said, "Please, Orpheus, let us sit down and you can tell me about all that you saw."
"Very well." Orpheus sat down before the Queen, irking her immensely. "As I said, this prophecy came to me as the sun was rising. Very many prophecies come under the cover of dreams, but this one was unusual because it continued even after I had awoken."
"What did you see?" Queen Serenity asked impatiently.
"The great palace of the Sun in ruins and its people dead or dying." Queen Serenity gasped, tears forming in her eyes. "But I believe in can be stopped, my Queen."
"You do not believe that it has already happened?"
"No, my Queen. The vision was too blurry, its details too hazy. This particular future has yet to be set in stone."
"You're sure about this, Orpheus?"
"Yes, my Queen. None of my mages have yet felt the extinguishing of a thousand souls."
Queen Serenity stood up and walked over to the window, looking down to see her youngest daughter sleeping in the garden, her head in her fiancé's lap. This, Queen Serenity knew, was why she had defied convention and chosen the younger twin as her heir; this, Queen Serenity knew, was the self-sacrificing mission her unplanned older daughter had been doomed to go on from the moment she was born: there were just too many reasons why she was the best choice to lead the inevitable military expedition. Still, did it have to be this way?
Covertly wiping tears from her eyes, Queen Serenity turned to Orpheus, who nodded as if to answer her unspoken question. Composing herself regally even while inwardly she felt her heart begin to break, Queen Serenity looked back outside towards the Sun and said, "Thank you, Orpheus, for telling me. I will inform Apollo of her mission immediately."
Waking from her nap, Princess Serenity brought her hand up to shield her eyes from the late morning sun. Endymion smiled down at her and she responded with a sheepish grin, joyful at knowing that in a few months' time, her fiancé could stay in her bed all night long instead of having to sneak out early in the morning, accidentally waking up Serenity every time.
Her mother should have been to blame for all the sneaking around, but the Queen was surprisingly accepting of the physical nature of Serenity and Endymion's relationship. No, instead it was Apollo who was keen on protecting her younger sister's superficial purity from anyone who might potentially defile it.
'Hypocrite,' Serenity mused, knowing that the only reason Apollo hadn't caught Endymion last night (he had stupidly knocked on Serenity's bedchamber door, surprised to find it already open and even more surprised to find his fiancée at his side, smacking him viciously on the shoulder even as she quietly closed the door behind him) was because the more isolated and withdrawn twin had herself been busy with someone else's supposed purity.
Looking up at the Queen's meeting chamber, Serenity watched her mother stand at and stare out the window, but the heir let her hand drop and the sun invade her vision before the two women made eye contact. Serenity closed her eyes, eliciting a hearty chuckle from Endymion. She was tired, even more so than usual, but Serenity couldn't bring herself to blame her twin; besides the fact that deep down Serenity knew Apollo was only trying to protect her, lately Apollo had been in a great mood, and Serenity felt it foolish to try to ruin her sister's new upbeat attitude.
All the princesses, palace staff, and even the military members had noticed the change in Apollo's demeanor, as well as the more confident manger with which Ami now carried herself. 'Good thing they stopped being as stubborn as I usually am,' Serenity thought, sighing contentedly as Endymion brushed her bangs from her face. 'I don't think I've seen Apollo this happy since I visited at the Su—"
The searing pain that suddenly stabbed through her right temple caused Serenity to sit up quickly, opening her eyes to find that she was momentarily blinded, the upside-down crescent moon on her forehead glowing violently.
"Gods, Ami," Apollo panted, relishing in the sensation of Ami's tongue slipping down past her navel. As she watched Ami's face disappear between her thighs, Apollo arched her back, pushing the crown of her head in the pillow and closing her eyes in pure ecstasy.
As her hips began to buck, Apollo's entire body became warmer and the black of her eyelids was replaced with yellow, orange, and red bursts of light materializing and then popping seconds later. Delicate yet surprisingly strong hands pushed down on her pelvis, and the warmth of Apollo's body only intensified as she careened nearer and nearer to climax.
When Ami finally pushed Apollo over the edge, the warmth completely enveloped the blonde's body and the colors popping before her covered eyes coagulated into a clear vision of the Sun Palace's ballroom, Apollo's longtime mentor and namesake lying lifeless on the floor, blood spiraling out from her battered body.
Misinterpreting the reason for it, Ami smiled to herself as she heard her lover let out a deafening and seemingly never-ending scream.
"Oh gods, oh gods!" Serenity was running through the palace halls alone, the crescent moon still pulsing uncomfortably. "What was that?!"
"What was what?"
Serenity skidded to a halt directly in front of Apollo, who was standing at the Queen's bedchamber door, fist raised, ready to knock.
"Apollo!" Serenity threw her arms around her sister's neck. "I'm so glad you're okay! I thought something had happened to you!"
"Something did."
"It did?"
"Yes," Apollo answered, wriggling out of Serenity's grasp. "How did you know I would be here?"
"I didn't. I came here because something happened to me, too."
The twins were now facing each other, their gazes locked. Serenity saw that her older sister's irises were now a deep, impenetrable black, flashes of blood red streaking across them every so often, and her touch was improbably hot; Serenity's hands, Apollo noticed, were cold as ice, and the outline of the crescent moon was unnaturally visible on her forehead. Even with no words exchanged between them, Apollo knew that her twin had experienced something similar to what she had just witnessed. "What did you see, Serenity?"
"I don't know. Something. I was resting outside and then—"
"You got really hot and you saw—"
"No. No, I got cold. And I felt empty, as if some part of me had died. And then I saw an outline of you on the ground in the palace and everything went black again."
Shaking off the notion that the version of herself in Serenity's vision might have been dead, Apollo said, "That's definitely not what I saw."
"What did you see?"
"The Sun Palace and Queen A—"
"What are the two of you doing here?" Queen Serenity was standing in the doorway of the next room over wearing a worried expression on her face, arms folded across her chest.
"Mom!" Serenity exclaimed, running forward. "Apollo and I both--!"
The appearance of Orpheus at Queen Serenity's side caused the younger Serenity to stop dead in her tracks, her unfinished sentence hanging in the awkward silence. Ignoring her, Orpheus stared at Apollo, eschewing all pleasantries and announcing authoritatively, "You had a vision."
Apollo grimaced, hating that Orpheus was right. "Yes, sir," she spat.
"And you," Orpheus continued, pointing at Serenity. All three women's expressions belied their confusion; never before had Orpheus addressed Princess Serenity voluntarily, preferring instead to focus all his attention on Apollo, whom he had long ago deemed more talented in all respects. "You had a subsidiary vision."
"A what?" Serenity asked, and Apollo barely suppressed her laughter as Orpheus looked aghast that not everyone knew about his precious mage terminology.
"A subsidiary vision, you stupid girl."
"Hey!" pouted Serenity.
"Orpheus…" Queen Serenity warned.
"I am not stupid!"
Sensing that one of her sister's classic tantrums was rapidly forming, Apollo shot Orpheus a dirty look before putting her hand on Serenity's shoulder and explaining, "It means you had a less detailed vision that was feeding off the primary vision."
"The primary vi—?"
"Mine," Apollo answered quickly before Orpheus seized the chance to further insult her sister.
"Both of you definitely had visions?" Queen Serenity asked. The twins nodded in unison. "Come in here, we all need to discuss this. You too, Orpheus." As soon as the door had slammed, Queen Serenity rounded on Orpheus and demanded, "It is even possible for Serenity to be having visions?"
"If the primary vision was strong and clear enough, then yes." Orpheus again stared at Apollo, this time with a look of intense suspicion. Apollo stared right back, daring her long-time teacher to read her mind; despite the fact that much of her childhood was spent under Orpheus's tutelage, Apollo didn't trust the archmage whatsoever.
"Apollo?"
"Yes, Mother?" Apollo responded respectfully, breaking eye contact with Orpheus. She knew the question that was coming, and her brain started working quickly to think of a veiled answer that wouldn't reveal too much to Orpheus about what she had seen or felt. Apollo did not hear but only saw her mother mouth the words: Was your vision particularly strong and clear?
"I'm not sure."
"How can you not be sure?"
Apollo shot a glance towards Serenity, the hint of a smirk playing along her lips. "I was…preoccupied at the time."
Queen Serenity arched an eyebrow judgmentally, eying Apollo's disheveled hair and clothing. "I see."
"All I definitely know is that it had to do with the Sun."
"But mine didn—" Serenity choked back a sob as Apollo stealthily stepped on her toes. The younger sister shot a dirty look towards her older sister, but the look on Apollo's face silenced any protests Serenity was about to utter; an understanding passed between them, and Serenity realized that Apollo had some good reason for not wanting anyone to know that Serenity's vision was any different from Apollo's.
"What was that?" asked Orpheus, glaring at the twins, trying to figure out why Serenity had cut herself off mid-sentence. For a split second, Apollo saw an expression of intense fear on Orpheus's face, but before she could properly assess what she had seen, Orpheus composed himself.
"Nothing," said Serenity. "I was just going to say that mine wasn't clear either, but it also had to do with the Sun."
"Considering the fact that you have never before exhibited mage abilities, that was an exemplary subsidiary vision," Orpheus leered, causing the twins to shudder.
Before Orpheus could continue or either of her daughters could respond, Queen Serenity got back into the conversation, asking, "What did you see happen at the Sun, Apollo?"
The request brought the images back into Apollo's mind in complete clarity, and it took all of her strength not to wince or show any emotion as she re-witnessed what was surely a massacre. "Destruction," she answered plainly, her voice hollow and emotionless. "Ruin. Death."
"Just as I feared. Orpheus," the Queen said, looking at the archmage resignedly. "We now have even more confirmation of what must be done. Apollo," Queen Serenity whispered, looking at the ground for the first time and sighing deeply. "I opened the door earlier because I was planning on going to inform you of the fact that you are being sent on a mission."
"Excuse me, Mother?"
"Mom, what are you—"
"I was hesitant at first, but what you and Serenity just experienced only reinforces my decision to send you."
"Send me where, Mother?" asked Apollo, knowing the answer but not daring herself to believe it.
"The Sun, Apollo. You're going to save everyone before it's too late."