For Sara.
Echoes of an Empire
Mars stalks through the halls, long dark hair whipping behind her to stress her silent fury.
Mars is always, furious, is she not? Like the flames she was princess of, she supposes, in the back of her mind. Her dark amethyst eyes scan the crystallized halls, all empty save for the steady, powerful clank of her heels. The castle is quiet—the castle is always quiet, unless the Princess was walking around aimlessly, humming to herself and leaving whiffs of her scent at her wake.
The castle is always quiet, though.
She turns a corner and walks another lengthy hall, turns a corner and continues her trek until she finds herself in front of the massive doors to the Princess's chambers. Here, Mars pauses and eyes the doors with clinical eyes. Her lips are pursed as she traces the carvings with minor interest, debating whether to knock or barge right in.
Mars scoffs at herself, after a moment, and clasps the thick knobs with certainty and shoves the doors opened.
The room is quiet—not a single thing stirs, even as the silent breeze sneaks in through the opened balcony doors. Mars' eyes scan the primly made bed, the vanity table, the cushioned seats, her jaw setting and tightening with every hint that sets her to the realization.
She's done it again.
Her molars grind against each other to keep her annoyed growl at bay, settling to walking out the balcony and hopping over it with careless ease. She is on the road towards one of the enormous kingdom's temples, steps steady and hurried. The other Senshi are—actually, Mars did not know where her sisters were… If anything, they were off doing their own thing, around the castle; with the Queen, even.
Mars' lips purse as she steps into the temple, heels still clanking against the crystal floors as she heads to the expansive fountain at the center. The water is crystal clear, tiny rainbows bordering the divine waterfall. Mars ignores its careful beauty and steps onto the brim in an instance, jumping into the pool without a thought—eyes closed and jaw tense.
She disappears and as she does so, she feels as light as a feather, her hair is whipping protectively, her tiara glowing. She ignores the feeling as if she were at the brink of extinction, as if she was about to disappear and leave not a single trace behind. It is the purpose of the Fountain for any wandering soul that did not belong. And as one of the princess' guardian, she travels within the Fountain far too many times to feel any fear of dying.
She arrives an instance later.
Earth is striking, in the darkness of the night.
The sky is black and clear, stars glinting from millions, millions of miles away. The Moon—her home terrain—is glowing and Mars takes a brief second to gaze at its beauty, pride swelling in her chest. She is positive she can see the red glow of the planet she ruled over and she smirks, all danger and sharp edges.
She walks until she is swallowed by the green of the forest, her eyes searching, and her ears all-hearing.
Mars walks for miles, a forest fire amongst the trees and she can see herself burning every single one—everything until she finds her princess and brings her back home to safety. But she can't—she mustn't, so says the Fire and Mars feels like she must follow through with what the Fire says regardless of the desire to watch this planet burn.
She finds them by chance.
She's walking with a steady stride; heels mute against the grassy ground and skirt dancing with the sway of her hips. Her mind, though fully set on her self-assigned mission, half distracted with thoughts of all the things she knew and all the things she was meant to prevent; she caught herself just before walking into the clearing where her princess sat, her hair translucent under the Moon and her eyes as crystal clear as her kingdom.
Princess Serenity is not alone and Mars feels her veins burn under her skin at all the possibilities of a tragedy.
The man is wearing armor, dark hair messy and blue eyes glowing. From where she stands, she can see his sword and Mars' eyes narrow, posture slowly turning into a battle stance and the only reason why she does not go forwards and rips the man into shreds is because of the feeling of cool metal against her throat.
Her amethyst eyes flash.
"I would not," she suggests softly, staring at her unknowing princess from under her lashes.
There is no rustling around her, nor behind her, and for all she knows, there is nothing against her jugular. Mars slowly turns her head, an elegant eyebrow raised and silky hair tangling with her lashes. At her sides, her fists clench and she can already feel the mass destruction she is going to cause if she fails to control herself.
He has hair like liquid gold and eyes as blue as the Mercurian skies; his lips are set in a feral line and Mars would love to snap his neck.
"And what is a witch doing wandering around the gardens of Elysion?" His voice is like acid on her skin, burning in the most absurd and destructive way and Mars can already see all the bad sides this man is going to bring out of her and she bares her teeth at him because she hates him for it already.
She swiftly turns on her heels, grabbing his wrist and kicking him off balance. In a second, she is straddling his hips, hair curtaining them both and violet eyes flashing with fire. "This witch will burn you alive if you are not careful with your words."
His eyes are defiant and suddenly Mars forgets about taking her princess and bringing her back home. She bares her teeth at him again, her right hand lighting up with flames she didn't realize she'd summoned and she thinks about how swifter and easier it'd be to just drown him in the river she'd passed on her search for princess Serenity, but the thought is not as satisfying as watching scorch marks litter his body.
He suddenly laughs, completely unafraid; his eyes are closed and his lips are leaning more towards the left than the right—a smirk, mocking and condescending all in one. There are leaves stuck in his golden hair and his uniform is smudged with dirt and grass stains.
Mars presses the tip of her fingers against his jawline, watching with a sneer as his skin began to turn red with a nice singe mark. She smiles, all sharp teeth. "I will watch you burn," she eyes him, the way his eyes are glazed over, the way his lips curl and the way his right jawline glows red with her burn mark. "You absolutely over-entitled, over-grown man-child."
She slides off of him, swiftly standing up and walking away, taking his weapon and melting it into something as useless as its owner. Mars throws it over her shoulder and chuckles as he says colorful things, his anger unmasked and his hate as suffocating as her own.
Mars walks into the clearing.