Greeting minna and welcome to my new story. It is an AU and takes place in America, so no Japanese for you.
Even though it takes place in America, I am still using the Japanese the Japanese names…well, because I just like them better than the Americanized ones. Therefore the names are announced the English way, given name THEN family name.
I hope you enjoy this story, even thought this chapter is mainly informational…you know, setting up the plot and such things like that. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Because I have to do it, I do not own any of the Sailor Moon Characters, but I am just borrowing them for a while for my own sick and twisted purposes….well, okay, maybe not sick…….sigh. The song 'Faerie's Love Song' is also not mine.
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Chapter One- Friends, Jealousy, and a Stranger
It was a quiet, warm day at the cottage that sat on the banks of Proctor's brook, just outside of Salem Village. A woman, not more than twenty, lived there alone with her cats, Luna and Tinkerbell, ever since her parents passed away from Black Fever when she was just fifteen years old. It was June twentieth, 1692, and she was counting down the days until her birthday. Even though she was an adult, she still acted like a child sometimes. Especially when it came to her birthday.
She stepped out of the cottage with a basket on her hip. She tilted her face towards the sky, her eyes closed, letting the sun bathe it for a few moments. She opened her sapphire blue eyes and turned towards the brook, getting ready to start the task at hand.
Her blonde hair was bound by a braid that fell down her back and ended well past her waist. On top of her head was a white mob cap, keeping all of the stray hairs out of her face. Her dress was a deep, forest green that ended just above her black booted toes. The skirt was partially covered by a homespun linen apron. Her long sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, revealing skin as pale as milk.
She knelt by the brook and took a piece of clothing out of the basket and thrust it into the cool water. She started to scrub it with a bar of lye soap. As she scrubbed her laundry, she started to sing a song that her mother once taught her when she was a child.
Why should I sit and sigh
Broo and bracken, broo and bracken
Why should I sit and sigh
All alone and weary
When I see the plover rising
Or the curlew wheeling
It's then I'll court my mortal lover
Back to me is stealing
When the moon begins her waning
I sit by the water
Where a man born of the sunlight
Loved the Faerie's daughter
Oh, but there is something wanting
O, but I am weary
Coming blithe, now bonny treads he
O'er the knolls to cheer me
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Across the brook, hidden amongst the bushes and trees, a woman with raven black hair was crouched amongst the greenery, watching the blonde haired woman with hate in her dark purple eyes. For she hated the woman across the brook very much. She was the one who stole the attention of the one she loved.
She watched as the blonde woman knelt by the brook and started her wash. She heard her golden voice as she started to sing to herself.
Why should I sit and sigh
All alone and weary
She narrowed her purple eyes as she scanned the area around the singing blonde woman. As she kept singing, small, multicolored lights appeared to be dancing slowly behind her, matching the rhythm of the song.
The raven haired woman smirked as she stood up form her hiding place. She dusted off her plain brown dress and turned away from the brook. As she headed back to Salem Village, a plan formulated in her mind on how she was to rid herself of her blonde haired rival.
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The blonde haired woman finished her wash and walked over to the clothesline to hang it to dry. As she did this, the sound of horse's hooves on the road met her ears. When she looked up, she saw a woman with blonde hair, very much likened unto her own, driving a wagon with a single horse in front of it. The woman's dress was a deep, sapphire blue with white linen collar and cuffs. She wore a bonnet to cover the top of her head, while the rest of her hair hung down her back in a single braid. The woman stopped her wagon in front of the cottage and got out.
"Minako!" The sapphire eyes woman called, stopping her laundry hanging to greet her longtime friend.
"Usagi! How are you this day?"
"I am well. What brings you by?" Usagi asked.
"Not much. I was bored so I thought I would stop by."
"Wonderful! How are you and your husband doing?" Usagi asked, returning to her laundry. Minako also bent down and picked up a piece of clothing to hang before answering her friend's question.
"Yaten is doing just fine. His business is doing really well." Yaten and Minako ran the local dry goods store in the village. He and Minako had been married for just over a year. "And I, well……" Minako blushed. "I wanted you to be the first to know, well, aside for Yaten of course. We are to have a child."
"Really?" Usagi exclaimed, dropping her laundry and hugging her friend. "This is wonderful news!"
Usagi dropped the dress that was in her hands back into the basket. She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her towards the cottage.
"Now this calls for a break in chores. Come inside and I'll make us some tea."
"But….. your laundry!" Minako cried, being the ever conscious housewife that she was.
"It can wait. This day is a day of joy and celebration! Quit your protesting and come inside," Usagi said and dragged her friend into the cottage.
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On the opposite end of the village, a man on horseback came riding up Meeting House Road. He had long, raven black hair that was bound into a ponytail that rested at the nape of his neck. He wore black knee breeches and white hose. His black leather riding boots stopped mid-calf. His coat was black as well, but underneath was a white, homespun shirt and a forest green waistcoat. His head was covered by a black tricorne hat. His indigo eyes darted back and forth, surveying the village.
A woman with brown hair peeking out from underneath her mob cap came out of a building on his right that had the name 'Salem Bakery' painted upon it. Her plain brown dress and white apron was covered in flour, as where parts of her face. In her hands was a basket of baked goods.
"Pardon me, Miss," the man called to the woman, dismounting from his horse.
The brown haired woman turned around and focused her emerald eyes on the stranger.
"Yes, may I help you good sir?" She asked, smiling.
"Could you kindly tell me where….." He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and consulted it. "Nehemiah Hino resides?"
"Mister Hino lives in the last house on the right," The green eyed woman said, pointing down the road.
"Thank you kindly Miss……." He trailed of, realizing that he did not know the name of the young woman who just helped him.
She laughed and held her flour covered hand out. "My name is Makoto. My husband, Motoki, and I own this bakery and the mill behind it." She handed him a sweetbread from her basket.
"Here you go. You must be hungry from your journey and this should tide you over until you have completed your business with Mister Hino."
"Thank you very much," he said, taking the bread from the woman, smiling. "My name is Kou Seiya, but I go by Seiya."
"Well, Mister Seiya, I better be on my way. It was nice to meet you," Makoto said and walked down the street, turning to disappear between two buildings.
Seiya mounted his horse once again and continued on his previous path while chewing on the sweetbread that Makoto had given him. By the time he was finished he had made it to the last house on the road. He dismounted and tethered his horse to the hitching post that was next to the front gate. He walked up to the two story, whitewashed house, straightening his coat as he walked.
He knocked on the door and waited, taking off his hat. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other when the door opened to reveal a woman of medium height and long, raven black hair. She looked at the man on her doorstep with unconcealed curiosity.
"Yes, may I help you?" She asked.
"Yes, Miss. Is this the home of Nehemiah Hino?" Seiya asked politely.
"Yes, this is. May I ask who is calling so I may introduce you?"
"My name is Kou Seiya."
"Please follow me, Mister Kou," the woman said, stepping away from the doorway to allow her father's caller to enter the house. She closed the door behind them and lead the way though the house. She stopped in front of a closed door and knocked softly upon it.
"Yes? Who is it?" A voice called from the other side.
"It is I, Father. You have a caller."
"Come in." The raven haired woman opened the door to reveal a middle aged man with red hair sitting at a desk, writing in a ledger.
"Father, Kou Seiya is here to see you," the woman said. Nehemiah looked up from his work to see his daughter standing just inside the doorway with a man, just a bit taller than she was, standing behind her.
"Thank you, Rei. You may go."
Rei bowed her head and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Nehemiah stood up from his desk and walked over to the young man, offering his hand in greeting.
"So, you're Kou Seiya from Boston, eh? Welcome to Salem. Please have a seat," the red haired man said, releasing Seiya's hand and gesturing towards a chair in front of the desk.
"Thank you, Mister Hino," Seiya said, taking a seat.
"Do you know why we've requested assistance from Boston, Mister Seiya?"
"No, Sir, I do not. The governor did not give ne much information before sending me on my way."
"We have and outbreak of, well, to be blunt about it, Witchcraft. Myself and Mamoru Chiba, the other magistrate of the village, are overburdened with cases. That's where you come in, Kou."
"Yes? And please, call me Seiya. I never cared much for my given name."
"As you wish. You are to be given cases the in which you are to determine whether or not the person accused is a servant of Satan. If they are, you are to punish them according to our laws given to us by God," Nehemiah said.
Seiya nodded at the red haired man. "When would you like me to start?"
"Well, you must get settled in, so I will have you start tomorrow. You can start by apprehending one who has just been accused. One," he looked down at his ledger, "Usagi Tsukino."
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I hope you like this, Please review to let me know what you think. The more reviews I get the faster I write so…..that's your hint!
Ja ne!
Luna