A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to my first Sailor Moon fic. To clear up any confusion ahead of time, I will be following the anime storyline, not the manga storyline. I will also be using the Japanese names for the characters, since those are what I know best. I will also use honorifics, but the names will be American style when announced, such as Usagi Tsukino.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or its characters.
--
A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard of the deserted palace. Even though some of the walls and pillars surrounding the courtyard were beginning to crumble, the courtyard itself hadn't lost its majestic beauty. This was due to the countless numbers of red rose bushes, all in full bloom.
The pale, slender man looked up at the sky, the golden horn on his head glinting in the fading sunlight. Helios, the priest of Elysion, knew something horrible was about to happen to the waking world, where his king resided. The dark storm clouds slowly blotting out the sun told him that, and that he himself couldn't do anything, except send his king aid.
Helios walked into the courtyard, stopping in the middle at a rose bush that was dwarfed by all the others. It only had three roses blooming from it, but they were very unique. One was sky blue, one was grass green, and the last was sea teal. Helios plucked each one gently.
"I'm sorry," he suddenly murmured. "I was going to let you rest longer, but King Endymion will be needing you."
His horn began to glow a soft gold color, as did the roses. Helios lowered his hands, but the roses remained, floating in the air. With a gold flash, they vanished from sight.
Helios glanced up at the sky, watching the clouds come closer. He had done all he could. He hoped it was enough.
--
Rei could hear her footsteps echoing in the large, spiral staircase, pounding at the same rate as her heart. Dingy torches hanging off the stone walls just barely lit the space beyond three feet in front of her. She could smell the coppery, thick scent of blood. She had to hurry. Must hurry. Otherwise her princess would be...
Rei reached the top and grasped the heavy iron handles to the enormous wood doors. With a grunt of effort, she pulled the door open. What she saw next made her heart stop beating.
Her princess, Serenity, was kneeling on the floor, white dress and blonde hair smeared with dirt and blood. The princess' blue eyes were focused on the headless corpse of a man, whose head was laying in close proximity to the body.
Rei gasped. She recognized the man. He was Prince Endymion, Serenity's love.
Serenity looked up at the tall man in front of her, who was clad in black and holding a large, bloody broad sword. He laughed at the stricken princess and raised his sword.
Rei tried to scream. She tried to move. But her voice and her body refused to obey her commands. Nor could she redirect her eyes, and watched in mute terror as the man proceeded to separate the princess' head from her body.
--
Rei sat up in bed, breathing heavily. She thought for a few moments, then got up and changed into her priestess robes. She walked out briskly, on her way to the sacred fire. That dream must have meant something. And for Mamoru and Usagi's sakes, she had to find out what.
--
Mamoru hid a yawn, walking into his office. After completing college, he had decided to go into a technology-oriented field. This brought him to one of the top computer-developing companies in Japan. He quickly rose through the ranks and now developed software, and, once in awhile, ended up running new employees through orientation.
Today happened to be an orientation day, so Mamoru wasn't surprised when there was a knock on his door hardly three minutes after he shut it.
A rather short man, with a balding head walked into the room, followed by two taller men. "These are out two new employees. I leave them to you, Chiba-san. The short man bowed and exited the room, leaving the three men alone.
Mamoru smiled. "I am Mamoru Chiba. May I have your names?" His smile was hiding his true thoughts. These two men felt different from other people, almost ancient. And oddly enough, they felt comfortable and familiar to him.
The taller of the two, a black-haired man with gray-green eyes spoke first. "I am Youhei Tadahiro."
"And I am Hayate Fujitaka. It's a pleasure, Chiba-san," the other man said. His hazel eyes were much more friendly than Tadahiro's, and he had his light brown hair combed back.
Mamoru pulled two folders from his desk and handed them to each man, suppressing his urge to interrogate them. "Let's start, then."
--
Usagi glanced up, something at the front of the classroom catching her attention. A girl with long, golden brown hair in a low ponytail was standing at the front of the classroom, blue eyes glancing from the teacher to the rest of the class.
The teacher smiled at the new girl, then read from the note in his hand. "This is Sorami Tenma. Please be kind to her. You make a take a seat behind Kino-san." He pointed to Makoto, who was also in Usagi's class, and Sorami nodded and headed straight for her seat.
Makoto froze as Sorami Tenma took her seat. This girl was different from the others in their entire school. She seemed to radiate an aura of ancient power. And to Makoto, she felt like an old friend, which she found rather unnerving. Makoto looked to Usagi, and found that her blonde friend was already talking avidly to the golden brunette. Makoto sighed and redirected her eyes back to the front of the class. She would have to talk to the others.
--
Makoto walked behind Sorami Tenma at a distance. She couldn't get the strange girl out of her mind, but she didn't necessarily want to start everyone into a panic without more more reason than just her feelings. She shook her head to help herself concentrate and chose to hide behind a tree when she saw that Tenma was about to stop.
Sorami took a seat on a park bench, letting herself relax. She was unaware that she'd been followed by Makoto.
After around five minutes, Makoto saw two men seat themselves on either side of Tenma. They were rather attractive, especially the raven-haired o- damn it, Makoto! She silently scolded herself. This wasn't the time for that.
Hayate Fujitaka raked a hand through his hair. "Well, we are both now being trained by Mamoru Chiba."
"Did you succeed in getting close to Usagi Tsukino?" Youhei Tadahiro questioned, resting a hand on top of Sorami Tenma's head.
Sorami shook her head, golden-brown tresses flying. "Get your hand off. Of course I did. It wasn't that hard, really. She's an extremely friendly girl, and I'm in her class. She even invited me to have lunch with her tomorrow."
"Good job!" Hayate praised cheerfully. "Anyone else in that class that felt different?"
"There was one girl in my class too... she sits in front of me. She kept glaring at me, too. I think she can sense something different about me, but can't tell what exactly it is." Sorami tapped her fingers on her chin. "... I think her name is Makoto Kino. Tall, brown ponytail, green eyes. She's very athletic, and protective of Tsukino-san."
Youhei watched the trees out of the corner of his eyes, having seen some movement. In a low voice he added, "And she seems to be able to stalk people."
"Nani?" Sorami said, perking up slightly and glancing in the direction Youhei was looking.
Makoto cursed. They'd seen her! And she knew they were definitely not normal now. She turned to run, but suddenly the brown-haired man, Hayate, was standing in front of her. He smiled. "Don't run. I think we have some things we need to talk about, Kino-san."
The incarnation of Sailor Jupiter growled in her throat and turned to head in the other direction. But the raven-haired man was standing there. Kami, he was handsome, just like her senpai- Makoto! Get off that train of thought! She berated herself. She took one step back, leaning against the tree.
Youhei watched her with a stoic expression. "We don't mean any harm, you know."
"That's right," Sorami said, suddenly standing in front of Makoto. "We're only here to help."
"I have no guarantee of that," Makoto said, wondering how all three of them moved so quickly. Her eyes quickly assessed the situation. The tree branches were too high, she couldn't jump into the tree. Sorami looked like she might be the weakest of the three, but none of them had physically lashed out at her. She didn't necessarily want to hurt anyone, either.
Sorami tilted her head at the boys, wondering what she could do to calm Makoto down. She had an idea, but wanted to know if they agreed. When she got nods from both, she took a step forward, holding her hands out when Makoto fell into a defensive position. "I won't hurt you... I just want to prove our intentions."
Makoto watched the golden-haired girl warily. Prove their intentions? She had no idea how they could manage that.
Then Sorami raised one hand and lightly touched two fingers to Makoto's forehead. A bright green light flashed momentarily, and the mark of Jupiter began to glow on Makoto's forehead.
Sorami smiled. "Jupiter, as I thought. Trust me, we are allies. We already know about you and the other Sailor Soldiers. We're here with the same goal."
Makoto swung her arm, forcing Sorami to back up. "You're still suspicious. And actions speak louder than words. Besides, there's nothing to help right now. Everything is at peace."
Hayate smiled sadly, and tapped Sorami's shoulder. The golden hair girl shrugged at him and began to follow him.
Youhei stared at Makoto, then shook his head. "There is one thing that is always constant. Change." And he turned to follow his two companions, leaving Makoto rather puzzled, and wondering what the future held now.