Author's Note: Well, there are two kinds of Sailor Moon fanfics that I enjoy: AU's, and fics starring Chibiusa and the Sailor Quartet. But I still have yet to see one that combines the two, so I decided to make one! There will be a few OCs, but they will be either unimportant (as in family of the Quartet) or villains. Hopefully they'll be tolerable and won't seem like Mary/Gary Sues.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon. That amazing creation belongs to the equally amazing Naoko Takeuchi.
Prologue
The chamber was dark. Forlorn and empty, not a spark of light existed within these halls…that is, until, the single flame of a candle penetrated the darkness.
The man with the candle in his hand strode silently around the mostly unlit chamber, unperturbed by the lighting situation. He had a rather thoughtful expression on his face, looking as if his mind was somewhere else entirely. His facial features were hard and his jaw thickset. His hair was long and the color of chocolate, as was the mustache and the beard trimmed right below the chin. With his dark brown eyes and thick eyebrows narrowed, he looked like the sort of man that nobody would want to cross, especially when he waved his free hand. This caused a long row of candles attached to the wall to light up, as if ignited by an invisible fuse. Smirking slightly at his own achievement, the man blew out his own candle and sat down at the head of a mahogany colored table lined with velvet red tablecloth. He placed his candle at the center of this table.
"Varuld?"
The speaker was a woman, with amber-colored eyes and wavy golden-blonde hair. While she was quite beautiful, it was apparent that this woman cared more about power and physical prowess than beauty. Her jaw was thickset like the man's, and her expression was severe.
The man, Varuld, regarded the woman with nothing more than a raised eyebrow. Finally, he gave her a smile like that of a host greeting his guest and said, "Oh, hello there, Hatula. I was wondering when you would come. Are the others with you?"
The woman, Hatula, sighed, running a hand through her hair in exasperation. "They should be," she huffed, irritated. "They're just being slower than usual."
"Come sit," Varuld invited her, and with swift grace, Hatula gilded to the mahogany chair on Varuld's right.
"Shall we wait for the others?" she questioned, with something of a sneer crossing her face. Varuld shook his head at her inquiry.
"Wait? I do not think that we would need to do any more of that," he replied, eying the doorway as four more figures sauntered into the candlelit room—two men and two women. One of the men was rather small and sharp, with dark hair, a clean-shaven face, and brown eyes that were currently narrowed, giving him the look of a cat stalking its prey. The second man was taller with dirty blond hair, and while he was the youngest male, he also seemed to be the most arrogant of the whole group. The woman wrapped around his left arm wore a devilish leer and a tight, form-fitting dress. With platinum blonde locks, ice blue eyes, and a curvy figure, she was probably the most beautiful of the women. The last of the bunch was also the youngest—a girl with auburn hair and a round face who looked to be only a teenager. She trailed behind the other three and had a rather vacant expression on her face.
"So you finally decide to show up," Varuld remarked evenly, not getting up from his chair.
It was the catlike man, named Lilandu, who spoke for the quartet. He lowered his gaze out of respect. "We are sorry. It will not happen again."
"It was Balida's fault, anyway," the beautiful woman, Nanami, added waspishly, still clinging to the arrogant man, her lover Koduro. "She didn't want to come."
"That's not true!" Balida the teenager cried indignantly, snapping out of her reverie. Nanami opened her mouth to make a scathing reply when Varuld held up his hand for silence.
"What matters is that you are all here now," he said smoothly, though he was starting to sound just as irritated as Hatula looked. "Now sit down; as you can all imagine, we have some important matters to discuss."
Hesitantly, the four made their way to the candlelit table, each taking a seat. Balida sat on Hatula's right. Koduro sat on Varuld's left, Nanami instantly taking the seat next to him. This left Lilandu at the opposite end of the table from Varuld.
"Now before we start our discussion," Varuld began after everyone had gotten settled in. "Let us have a little drink." He waved his hand and six silver goblets appeared on the velvet tablecloth. Each goblet was full to the brim with deep red liquid. Koduro picked up his goblet and sniffed it.
"What is this stuff?" he inquired gruffly.
Varuld chuckled. "Wine, my friend," he responded, amused. "A rather delicious drink from Earth. If there's one thing the Terrans have done right, it's creating this."
Koduro peered at it, as if trying to figure out if it had been poisoned. Finally, he shrugged and downed the drink in a few gulps. Nanami followed his lead, albeit more daintily. Lilandu took a few careful sips, while Hatula and Balida didn't touch it.
"I'm not touching something that came from the wretches of Earth," Hatula spat in contempt, glaring at the goblet as if it had done her a personal wrong. Balida said nothing. Varuld merely chuckled again, before taking a few sips from his own goblet and setting it down afterwards.
"Now I do believe we have things to discuss," he continued. "Not enough Terran humans are getting sacrificed to the great god Dulancammaka in order for him to wake."
"If you don't mind my interruption," Lilandu cut in. "If we attack too many humans at once, the Terrans will start to notice a pattern. They're not completely stupid."
Varuld nodded approvingly. "Fair point. What we need to bring in is a disaster of sorts, a monster or event that could kill tons of humans without getting us noticed. So far, all of our tactics have only killed few. Any ideas?"
"I could bring in one of my darlings," Nanami purred. "They've always been so eager to get their jaws around humankind."
"Or one of my creations," Hatula broke in, shooting a quick glare at Nanami. The two women have always had a sort of rivalry happening between them.
Koduro forcefully set his empty goblet on the table. A thud resounded from the impact of the silver hitting the wood. With a sinister leer, he said, "I have made the perfect beast for this job. It can attack many Terrans at once, and yet resembles one of the Terran animals…I believe it's called a bull? Therefore, we can kill many humans, and they will attribute it to a freak accident. It is an excellent plan, is it not?"
Varuld smirked. "An excellent plan indeed. Release this…bull…of yours onto Earth, and be sure that it does its job."
"And what of the Silent Warrior?" Hatula prompted.
For the first time, Varuld's calm demeanor broke into one of fury. Red faced and apoplectic with rage, he slammed his fist into the table and shrieked, "NEVER MENTION THE NAME OF THAT BITCH AGAIN! NOT ON THE SAME SHIP AS THE ALTAR OF THE GREAT GOD DULANCAMMAKA!"
Startled at this sudden change of mood, Hatula drew back. So did the others. Even Koduro looked slightly shaken.
Varuld took a deep breath and grinded his teeth together. "Silent Warrior…that little witch talks of death and destruction…wears her title 'Soldier of Ruin' like a crown…then spouts nonsense about rebirth! Utmost blasphemy!" Bits of saliva flew out of his mouth. "Koduro, I want that beast of yours to slaughter the Silent Warrior. Make her suffer a slow and painful death, and as she dies, and want to laugh in her face! Where's your rebirth now, huh?" Then, all of a sudden, his mood changed to the calm state he was in before. "But Balida…you haven't said anything yet. What do your prophecies speak of?"
Balida drew back, unnerved by the change of mood. "My prophecies are vague," she mumbled. "I haven't had one in weeks."
Varuld laughed suddenly, and Balida shrank into her seat even more. "But surely you can come up with one to tell the victory of us and the rise of Dulancammaka?"
"I don't know…" Balida stammered. "But I…oh," she whispered, her eyes widening. The group looked at her with interest. "Yes, I do see something," she breathed.
"What is it?" Hatula prompted.
"She comes…she comes for us…and she is aided…"
"WHAT?!"
"Aided by five…" Balida continued, unperturbed by Koduro's sudden outburst. "One weaves through the trees, commanding them like an army. Another stabs with daggers of ice, vicious and ruthless. The third has the strength of fifty men, and glides like a bird in the wind. The fourth is a beast of fire, clawing through everything in her path. And the fifth…" Her voice trailed off.
"Yes?" Lilandu interrupted when she paused.
"She is the leader," Balida murmured. "She who rides on the back of a winged horse. Her name shall thunder across the galaxy. She is the oncoming storm, the hurricane that will annihilate us all. She will prevent the great god from rising…"
"Who?" Varuld's patience was quickly waning.
"She who sails the Sea of Serenity…"
"Give us a name!" Koduro's fist slammed into the table, just like Varuld had done earlier. Said leader of the six held up his hand for silence. Then Balida spoke again, her voice hoarse and her eyes as wide as saucers.
"Moon…Moon…Moon…"
So, how was that? These guys will be explained a lot more later, trust me. And can anyone guess who the Silent Warrior actually is?
Reviews are appreciated, but please no flames!