Chapter One
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
I could feel my heart beat in rhythm with the pound of my boots. The shine of florescent lights illuminated above and bellow me, reflecting off of the polished tiles my booted feet were ever so softly rampaging upon.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
It was Monday, which meant weekly blood work done in the labs. Which meant rising early in order for said blood work to be done. Which meant running frantically to the labs, usually in some state of disarray (this time it being my hair), before Luna could lecture me about punctuality.
"Morning, Moon! It must be Monday!" one of the lab assistants hollered from across the hall. Round face, brown hair, short length- it was all a bit blurry and somewhat obstructed by blonde locks of my unfastened hair, but I was certain it was Naru. I gave her a friendly wave as I slid around the corner fastening off the last button on my casual uniform.
It wasn't as if my aversion to punctuality, as Luna put it, only happened on Mondays, it was a constant with everything, really. Trying to argue dependability on being consistently late didn't win me any favors, though, and it also didn't persuade Luna to change the laboratory time until later. In fact, she tried to push for an earlier time, that middle aged hag! It took a careful argument from Mercury about not inconveniencing the laboratory staff further did Luna change her mind with some reluctance. I tried thanking Mercury for her help later, but she gave me this feeling that her argument also involved elaboration on the depth of my intellect in so many words I didn't recognize.
It wasn't easy getting along with my teammates, really, and being late wasn't going to help me any. I gritted my teeth already picturing Mars' more than obvious agitation, Jupiter's irritably groggy disposition at this hour, and Mercury's normal blank expression. I never much liked braving Mars' temper, well, ever, and although Jupiter perked instantly after her morning tea (which came only after lab work), I would never voluntarily provoke her before hand. But at least with them I could tell what they were thinking- with Mercury it was anything but, which was odd since I knew the most about her. Actually, everyone knew the most about her.
Mercury was one of the most awarded and praised youths I could think of, reaching a certain level of notoriety and publicity normally reserved for the likes of V, our commander who spent her off time as an idol. Though, unlike V who's celebrity rode on her popularity and charm, Mercury did nothing but continue to be herself: a genius with a frosty personality. She was nice enough, extremely polite and reserved. She came from a "modest family" (I believe her mother in the medical field and her father, oddly enough, involved in the arts. It's obvious which parental figure Mercury took after) that were fortunately not starved for the spotlight. I asked Mercury once, during our downtime when she had a physics book propped against her leg, how she was able to stay so humble during the entire ordeal. She gave me a pointed look, which was normal for our exchanges, except that there was something soft about it, and replied that it was "difficult to propel one's self into greatness when they only believe in their own reality."
"So...you believe you're...great?" I ventured hesitantly.
Mercury blinked, "I believe in what's expected of me."
Jupiter was also well known, the only heir to the Kino family, one of the most prominent and wealthy noble Japanese families from an earlier time. She was brought up as a traditional Japanese woman, specializing in floral arrangement and cooking, and was demure within the public eye. This was because Jupiter's parents died when she was young, leaving her to be raised by her father's parents in order to ensure a legitimate successor. While her main duty was to secure a good husband and be a good wife, Jupiter confined in me that her grandfather taught her different forms of martial arts, afraid that his only grandchild would fall victim to some lecherous man, and was quite pleased with her natural ability (which was later classified as one of her powers, mimetic muscle memory). Though after his granddaughter grew to a towering height unreached by most Japanese women, and certainly within the nobility, he was less concerned about her turning down suitors and more that she wouldn't attract the proper ones at all, especially after her abilities to control nature manifested in a very charming floral arrangement carpeting the main hall.
"Grandmother thumped him quite hard after he expressed misgivings about my height," she laughed, scrunching her thick nose as she often did, "She told him he should be pleased that only large, strong men would come for me and that I would inevitably have large, strong children."
I laughed as Jupiter pantomimed her petite grandma bopping the back of her well respected grandpa's head, "And what did he have to say to that?"
"He gave an incredulous look, 'They'd have to get through me first, Mama, before they can have our little Ma-ko!' My grandmother replied dryly that she was more afraid of what I would do considering that he had been 'secretly' teaching me boyish fighting behind her back."
Unlike Mercury and Jupiter, Mars seemingly came from nowhere, just appearing on the front steps of the Golden Kingdom in a pair of old jeans and an oversize shirt. She claimed to not have any family, orphaned and living on the streets, though an extensive background check later revealed that her father was a business man and her mother deceased. Why she was on the streets instead of with her father was never discovered, and she never cared to tell. And unlike some, Mars neither regretted nor felt shame for her time as a street misfit, apparently known as the Fire Queen then. Despite the age of adulthood being 20 and she 16 when she first entered the Golden Kingdom, she won legal emancipation from her father, or that's what they told us. Since she sought out the SEED program herself, nearly blowing off the front doors in a fiery determination when they initially turned her away, I doubt legality would have stopped her from joining.
"Wow, that was really fearless and confident of you," I marveled after Jupiter relayed Mars' arrival to me on the first day of my recruitment, "They must have accepted you because of your determination."
"They liked the fire exploding from my fingers, idiot, just as much as they liked light pouring from yours," Mars snorted, flipping her long raven hair over her shoulder, but there was a twinkle in her violet colored eyes.
Joining a government program acquitted her of any charges she had incurred and also protected her from interrogation from the local police for information about the gangs she ran with. "I liked leading and creating something powerful," she replied when asked why she turned from a life of crime to an establishment headed by the very government that had hunted her not long ago, "Plus, I knew I was destined for something greater."
Over the last few months our team bonded just enough for us to somewhat coordinate ourselves during patrol and battle. Although Mars was exasperated with me on a near daily basis, our exchanges tinged with a level of lightheartedness. Jupiter mothered us all when she slipped from being a noble Japanese woman, and Mercury seemed less bothered by our rambunctiousness during her studies. Still, I was determined to change this at some point, have us all be a real team like Class 2 who shared a bond, a love, that I desperately missed after leaving my life behind in order to be Agent Moon, but that would be better saved for later because as I entered through the lab door, hair finally settled into some semblance of a bun, I could see Luna tapping her black cane impatiently against the tiles.
"Sorry!" I yelled immediately dipping into a deep bow before Luna could open her mouth. The corner of her mouth twitched before motioning for me to take a seat with the other girls. As I had predicted, Mars growled in my direction from the right, Jupiter attempted to hide her furrowing brow behind her hand, and Mercury flipped the page of her book.
"Laps," Luna replied, jabbing her cane in my direction. I inwardly groaned as a technician sat beside me, needle in hand, realizing that Luna hadn't specified how many.
"Oh, don't worry, miss," the technician said, his voice stammering a bit. He rubbed a small drop of sweat from his temple pushing his brown hair into disarray. "This may be my first day here, but I certainly have practiced!" I could hear a soft snicker off to the right of me.
"I'm not worried...Urawa-kun," I replied with a polite smile, reading his name off of his lab coat. "Practice does make a difference." Mars mumbled something in response, but all I could hear was the gritting of my teeth as Urawa began to draw my blood, his face glowing with appreciation.
"The schedule for today is mostly the same as usual," Luna announced as she stood before us, waiting for the lab assistants to finish. "Warm ups after breakfast followed by specialty classes. After lunch you'll regroup for training in order to implement what was learned during class, and I expect you to pay close attention, Mars, as Commander V will be overseeing your training today."
"Yes mam," Mars replied, somewhat forced.
Luna nodded her head in acknowledgment. "The one change in schedule is this evening, as will be the coming evenings for the next month." I perked up a bit in my seat, forgetting to not rub my injected arm in front of Urawa after he withdrew the needle.
"As you all well know, SEED officials will be by to inspect our facility. Normally this goes without too much attention from our facility, but with the debut of Commander V coinciding with their arrival, the Head Commander has decided to throw a ball."
"A ball!" I squealed, excitement propelling me from my chair, "And we are being permitted to go?"
"We must attend as V is our immediate commander," Mercury explained shutting her book closed with a soft thud.
"She needs to show how good she is at bossing us around despite never actually being around," Mars snorted crossing her arms.
"Which is why you will being attending etiquette classes starting this evening, so you won't embarrass this establishment with your flippant remarks," Luna retorted. Color crept into Mars' cheeks as Urawa presented a cup of orange juice to me.
"Thank you, Urawa-kun," I smiled taking the cup and downing the contents with one refreshing sigh. "I have a feeling that today is going to be a great day!"
Inside the locker room, Mars began another long annoyed ramble, punctuated by the stripping and tossing of her casual uniform about her, I could see the tick forming in Jupiter's thin brow. "And how can she be our commander if she's never actually around?" she griped, throwing her gray jacket lined in red into the back of her locker, her long hair whipped about her punctuating each word. "How are we supposed to respect her authority, her presence, if she can't be assed enough to respect ours?"
Jupiter quickly grabbed the jacket from Mars' locker, stuffing a metal hanger inside of it before carefully placing it back, "I think it's clear we're not to expect that from her- Pants, please." Mars grumbled in agreement to Jupiter's tart voice as she handed over the gray slacks after tossing her knee high boots behind her. Jupiter tutted as she carefully folded the cotton and polyester pants onto another hanger before retrieving the abandoned footwear from the wake of Mars' tantrum, then began to carefully unbutton her green and gray uniform as Mars continued to pace in a neat rageful circle.
"She doesn't know our capabilities, what we can do, so how can she effectively command us when she can't utilize us?" Mars huffed placing both of her hands on either side of her slender hips.
"That is an observant assessment," Mercury agreed sitting on a nearby bench, tennis shoes in hand. She was already fully clothed in her white and light blue training uniform while Mars paraded down the aisle of lockers in her underwear and black tank top, newly fueled by our tactician's approval; Jupiter tugged at the hem of the top in hopes of placing it away with the rest of the uniform.
"I'm sure she'll start spending more time with us soon," I offered, pulling a white shirt trimmed in pink over my head. After the sea of fabric fell from my vision, I was greeted with an eye roll from Mars, Mercury's hard expression, and a kindly exasperated sigh from Jupiter.
"She's always been like this, Moon," Jupiter replied, finally securing the last of Mars' casual uniform, "I don't expect it to change any time soon since publicity is sure to increase with her debut- would you put on some pants already so I can finish changing?" Mars gave an indigent look as she pulled a pair of red sweats adorned with white details and began to stuff her legs into them.
"We'll just need to train harder," Mercury stated, pushing a white sweatband onto her head protecting her face from her short blue locks before turning to leave, leaving Mars' still half dressed and Jupiter just beginning as I readjusted my hair buns.
"Mercury, wait! Let's walk out togeth-" I started as the door shut behind her.
"The sooner we can train, the better," Mars said noticing my crestfallen face.
"Is that why you're still shirtless?" Jupiter asked dryly, tying the laces on her shoes leaving Mars as the last to be fully clothed. Our second in command stuck out her very pink tongue as Jupiter wrapped her arm around my shoulder and led me to the door.
"Hey, hey! Wait!" Mars hollered. I looked back to see her stuffing her arm through the neck hole before Jupiter pushed me through the doorway.
Morning warm ups proceeded like normal, Mars' arm properly through her shirt sleeve at this point, as she led us through several stretches and yoga positions. Her way was a bit unorthodox, and I'm sure we looked a bit silly stretching our arms out to greet the sun, as she often put it, but Mercury never complained, and there was something almost tranquil in Mars' methods despite her rather aggressive nature.
"Try to relax your shoulders a bit more," Jupiter whispered to me after we had brought our arms down, hands in front, in order to find our center. I watched her effortlessly move through each stance, almost like water, her long brown curls trailing behind her movements like ribbons.
Specialty classes also proceeded like normal, which, for me, meant there was a lot of head shakes and tutting involved as control is still one of the many things I'm working on, as Luna likes to remind me. Since my primary powers are light and healing, my training consists of trying to control the amount of light produced and after being knocked down, which inevitably happens regardless if someone is taking a swing at me or not, try to heal my injuries on command. Light hasn't been too much of a problem, but so far healing has remained instinctive beyond small cuts that completely drain my concentration. The real fun began when it came time for training with V, though I think I was the only one with any enthusiasm for it. Mercury looked quite dead, Jupiter indifferent, and Mars on the verge of burning something.
In truth, I think my enthusiasm spawned more for my awe of V, which often let her faults fall wayside to her idolization. My friends and I loved her, much like the rest of the country as V was constantly out and about at different functions promoting a positive image for the Golden Kingdom. And with her charm and personality, how could the public not adore her? She was very, very pretty with wavy blonde hair and light blue eyes. Her face was small and round, and despite being of average height, she looked awfully petite. She was always smiling a very vibrant and white smile, and her clothes always cute and hip. V looked every inch an idol, especially with her trademark hair bow, something I wanted to be and tried to emulate (my first step was starting my own signature hairstyle, I'm still waiting for it to catch on).
I wanted to be her friend and be part of that world, and since she's my squad commander, what better chance did I have?
Very little, apparently, as she wasted no time in ripping in to me after I failed a neat tuck roll diversion that left me flying across the practice space. If it weren't for Jupiter's quick reflexes, she would have been rolling with me.
"Mars," V snapped as Jupiter extended her hand to me. Mars swallowed a bit before standing at attention. "You will lead the girls in a sparring match against me, let's see if you can lead them properly."
Mars' face puckered, "Of course, Commander." She motioned for us to take our stances behind her, her lean body compacted and coiled, waiting to be released like a snake. Jupiter took an open stance, her arms held wide and low, almost as if she were a conductor of energy surging through the ground and into her fists. Mercury hung back like usual, her primary task to access and relay information about our target, only stepping in when provided the opportunity. As for me, I was preoccupied brushing grass off of my leg, barely having time to move into my stance before I noticed a flurry of gold and orange rushing towards me.
"Moon, pay attention!" Jupiter bellowed blocking V's blow and pushing her to the side before entering a series of swipes and parries providing Mars with time to formulate a plan.
"Sorry!" I grimaced running over to Mars' side and back into formation, waiting for her next command.
"She's aiming for Moon," Mercury answered Mars' side glance.
Mars growled, "Of course she is, that's dirty."
"That's reality," V replied, maneuvering out of Jupiter's range and making another dash towards me. Mars let off a succession of small fire blasts as I stood motionless, blinded by fear and confusion of being targeted. Normally I was kept in the back since my skills were lacking, and therefore was hardly ever bothered as practices revolved around having to get through the other girls first. V slide through the blasts like a whip, only faltering when Mercury's ice blasts finally made contact with her feet cementing her to the ground.
I sighed in relief, finally catching the idea to move through Mars' more forceful commands, as I watched Jupiter barrel towards V's location about to end the skirmish. V brandish something golden and shiny in the shape of a disk and roughly as big as her hand. "I'd advise to fall back," Mercury informed Mars as the metal object quickly bended into something pointy and, I guess, sharp. I'm sure Jupiter noticed it, but continued to run her course as Mars refused to wave her off.
"She's tied to the ground and Jupiter is more than capable of fending off small weaponry," Mars replied, laughing to herself.
"I believe V knows that as well," Mercury said.
V slammed the sharp metal into the ice ("What, what is she doing?" Mars yelped) and the metal began to expand through the ice like golden lava, cracking and breaking it off. She used her newly freed leg to kick Jupiter away from her, caught completely off guard by V's sudden mobility, before resuming with the other foot.
"May I suggest a diversion tactic?" Mercury asked as Mars switched between furry and embarrassment, launching herself into the action. "Or not," Mercury said quietly to herself, waiting to see who would fall before making another move.
V stood calmly, waiting for Mars to ascend, as I began to gather light in my hands, determined to do something to show I wasn't the weakest link in our team. Mars and V threw a few punches at each other, Jupiter eventually moving in as well, until Mars' frustration took over and hooked Jupiter when V dodged and then tumbled out of the way of an ice shot from Mercury. She waggled her finger at the tactition, tutting, as I was nearly ready to launch my Twilight Flash.
Just as I felt the pressure release from my finger tips, something tight wrapped around my wrists, dragging me forward at lightening speed. Surprised to not only have be snared, but dragged within the vicinity of my teammates with V not even close, I wasn't able to stop the light from exploding from my hands leaving us all in a dazed heap. I felt the pressure release from my wrists, a thin chain of metal, that neatly wrapped itself back into a disc in V's hand.
V tutted some more, looking down at Mars, "I expect you'll improve upon what has been learned today," and left the training field.
Mars has never been good at etiquette, she can tell you that herself, and on top of being in an extremely sour mood from this morning's scrimmage (despite Jupiter's best efforts to cheer her with a delicious pastry that I had cleared in a matter of seconds as a reward for finishing my penalty laps in record time), let's just say etiquette class was becoming my favorite. I wasn't any good at it, either, but at least, for the first time, I could say I wasn't the worst.
Jupiter was by far the best due to her upbringing, and Mercury, while had the mannerisms perfect, was criticized for being cold. Still, as long as she could convincingly go through the motions, it didn't matter, so most of the focus was left on me and Mars' while Jupiter and Mercury were left to learn information necessary to answer questions that may arise at the ball. "Moon, straighten your shoulders- MARS, STOP GLOWERING."
"I thought ladies didn't yell," Mars sneered, the crease of her brow line continuing to furrow.
"That wasn't yelling," the instructor insisted as she battled with Mars' defiance.
I returned to balancing a book on my head, doing my best not to flail my arms about wildly like at the beginning of class. "Perhaps you need another book to help balance out the weight of those odango," a clam and slightly deep voice suggested from behind.
"Odango?" I questioned, whipping around, causing the book atop my head to land squarely on Commander Endymion's foot. He grimaced, sucking in a breath as I wailed apologies between bows, picking up the offending book from his polished shoe. A deep, throaty laugh echoed behind him prompting everyone in the room to quickly abandon their squabbles and studies to salute the Commander and General Kunzite.
"Luna," Endymion called, never taking his rather pointed gaze away from me. "Make sure this one isn't still carrying items on her head at the ball for liability," he pointed at the book and at my hair.
Kunzite laughed again, patting my head, "Don't be so mean, Endymion, people are going to mistake you if you start scorning beautiful girls." I could hear Mars choking with my sputtering, punctuated by a cough from Endymion. Kunzite's smirk mixed in with the silent masked expressions of Jupiter and Mercury, and the incident finally broken by Luna clearing her throat.
"Do not worry, Commander Endymion, I will make sure each of the girls are suitable for public relations."
"Very good," Endymion nodded, "Well then, carry on." He quickly turned towards the door, Kunzite still chuckling and making comments about protecting Endymion's backside as he followed the Head Commander's dark cape through the door.
Once the door closed with a resounding thud, Jupiter began to laugh, her dark curls bouncing against her shoulder. Luna had a good chuckle herself before ordering us back to practice, Mars and the instructor promptly picking up from where they had left off. I turned towards Mercury and Jupiter, the book that had caused all the trouble still gripped firmly in my hands, "Hey guys...is there odango in my hair or something?" I instinctively lifted my hand to the back of my head, feeling my hair buns for anything sticky-like.
This time Mars burst out laughing, ignoring the frustrated instructor. Luna had her face in her hand and Jupiter cracked a smile, Mercury turning back to her studies. "Is there?" I yelped, unfastening my hair entirely and began combing it for white balls.
"No, stupid! He's talking about your hair buns!" Mars snorted while Jupiter began winding my hair back into their customary orbs.
"Oh..." I replied, finally absorbing what had just transpired, "Oh! My hair does not look like food! What a jerk!"
"Moon!" Luna reprimanded, though immediately relented, "That wasn't very professional of him...but you do not speak of your superiors that way!"
"Plus it's true," Mars added walking briskly towards me and squeezing both buns, "'Odango Atama,' has a ring to it." I pulled away from her, grabbing my hair protectively. Jupiter sighed as she reinspected her work to make sure Mars hadn't up heaved them.
"Perhaps we should be using our time as intended," Mercury cut in, breaking her silence about the matter.
"Yes, Mercury is quite right," Luna agreed, stamping her cane against the floor. "Back to work, girls. Especially you, Mars," she pointed her cane at our annoyed leader retreating back to the instructor, "You only have a month to improve."
"I can't be any worse than Odango, here."
"My name is not 'Odango'!"
"At least she'll look more appetizing than you," Luna deadpanned leaving the both of us a bit flustered as I proceeded to place the book back on top of my head, still preoccupied with annoyance towards the Head Commander.
"I'll show him," I muttered as the book fell off once more.
AN: First, apologies if their physical appearances seem somewhat forced. If you'd like visuals, there should be some up on my DA gallery linked in my profile soon. Second, I appreciate the support! AU's can be extremely tricky and unsatisfying for those of us who adore the series as much as we do, and my hope is that this just seems like another version of the series. Suggestions and criticism are welcome.