Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read this work in progress: "She Walks in Beauty". I just wanted to take the time to say a few words about this piece and where I see it going.
I've always found Sailor Venus to be a fascinating character in the SM universe. She's spunky, vulnerable, funny, and at the same time vulnerable and hurting. Throughout the manga (both Sailor Moon and Codename: Sailor V) I found myself wondering about the past life Sailor Venus. I have read a few fanfics on this site that had some very creative and thought-provoking renditions of her past life character. Go check out Crawlspace and Adins's stories right now if you haven't read them before! They made me want to continue to flesh out that idea of her, as well as continuing to pull from Greek mythology as she was in Sailor V, and the influences of the characters around her: Usagi, Kunzite, Ace, and Artemis.
This story began with just a few sparse images of select scenes and the poem, "She Walks in Beauty". So in the beginning it may seem like I'm drabbling, but I hope you'll stick with me as this story develops into itself and we find out just where Aino Minako leads us. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!
Cait
Prologue
She Walks in Beauty
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
~Lord Byron
Kunzite
She is still the single most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes upon.
We stand close, so close that we can feel each others heavy breaths on our faces. So close that I can see each pearlescent bead of perspiration that trickles down the side of her flawless face. Even underneath the levels of dirt and blood that cake her face, I can still see how perfect her skin is. Her pale gold hair, lose from the crimson bow that usually holds it back, a color that so reminds me of the great yellow fields of my planet, dances around her shoulders and over her eyes. Those pale, sky blue eyes the color of the morning dawn. They're swimming with tears, and I can't help but think that those tears pooling within those sapphire orbs make her all the more bewitching.
Her mouth opens (two perfectly bow-shaped crimson lips!) into a sharp, shuddering gasp, and her eyes squeeze shut briefly before opening wide and focusing back onto mine. A small, scarlet rivulet trickles from one corner of her mouth, and she whispers in a voice as lovely as birdsong: "Why?" Then, her eyes darken and her expression hardens, and she nearly screams her wrath, the anger of a goddess, into my face: "WHY?" And she sinks her great broadsword deeper into my chest.
My pain causes my knees to tremble and finally give out. She's pulled down with me, half because of her vice-like grasp on her weapon, and half because of my own sword sticking into the pristine white and gold costume of her fuku. My own hand is hot and wet with her blood.
I can distantly make out the sounds of screams of the fighting and the dying. I can hear the thunderous echoes of canons, and then crumbling of marble and stone. The acrid smell of smoke is strong in my nose, and my mouth is full of the coppery taste of my own blood. I lean in towards her, and capture the Beauty's mouth with my own. At first she resists, and then responds to my kiss with equal fervor. I can taste her salty tears on her sweet lips.
My head swoons, and my fingers lose their grasp on my blade. I fall to my side, and my eyes darken. The last thing I can see is Venus laying across from me. Even amidst all of the chaos around us, she seems to shine with her own internal light. She's still crying, she's still in agony, and I know she still must hate me with all of her heart, but she whispers: "Kunzite…" Her voice is faint, vulnerable, and full of gentle emotion. Her eyes blink once, twice, and then slowly close. They do not open again.
Now I cry. Now, the sobs rip out of my chest in loud, animalistic whines and roars. Why? I can still hear that question echoing through my mind, and slowly it blocks out the sounds of the battlefield around us. Why? Why? WHY?
I force myself to keep my eyes locked on her face as my screams peter out into moans, and then into silence. It is the end for me, for the Moon Kingdom, for the Shitnennou, for Endymion and Serenity, for everything.
"Mina." I whisper.
She is still the most beautiful thing I have ever laid my eyes upon.