ARROWS OF DESTINY

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SAILOR MOON


Chapter 7: Mars – Part 1

Rei finally opened her eyes after the transportation. She stared at the bright fire and intense heat around her. Mars was everything she had expected, and perhaps more.

"How wonderful, such intensity…" She smiled briefly at the searing land, and then promptly wiped the smile off her face.

She hadn't even taken two steps yet, before she started cursing at the length of her dress. Unfortunately, the dress reached all the way to the floor and the fabric seemed to be no match for the charred earth. Rei quickly ripped the hem of dress off before it completely burned in the fire.

Rei sighed and picked up what's left of her dress and started walking. She looked up in the sky and found it smoking and grey. It was not a pretty sight, but it comforted her for some reason.

"Now where am I supposed to go?" She asked herself. Rei was experienced as both her role as Hino Rei and Sailor Mars on earth, but she has no idea what to do as the princess on her own planet.

"I should have gathered more information." Rei said irritably.

Just above her head, something swooped down past her. Rei flashed out her ofuda, or holy talismans instantly, prepared to attack.

But to her joy, it was not her enemies that found her. She was greeted by her two longest friends, Phobos and Deimos. Her pet crows squawked loudly at her as Rei ran towards them.

"Phobos, Deimos!" She reached her hand out to pet them.

The two birds felt delighted at her touch. They slowly landed on the ground and shape shifted into two spirits with long jet black hair.

"Princess, it's been a long time." Phobos said.

"We have been waiting for your arrival." Deimos added.

"My friends, I missed you both dearly." Rei replied with tears in her eyes. Phobos and Deimos have been her friends for as long as she could remember. They were with her when she trained as a priestess and they continued to watch over her when she accepted her destiny as Sailor Mars. But they did not have an expanded lifespan like Rei did. By the time of Crystal Tokyo, her crows have passed on while Rei continued to serve her queen. There were times when Rei felt so alone without them, but she never thought she would see them again, and on Mars too.

"Us too, princess. Please, we would like to take you to your castle on Mars." Phobos said, as she and Deimos transformed once again.

"My castle?" Rei said puzzled.

"Yes, as you can see, the heat of Mars makes living on the surface impossible. The Martians built their palace underground. Castle Phobos-Deimos rests in the valley of Valles Marineris. It is there the Martians await your return." Phobos and Deimos said together.

"There are still Martians on Mars?" Rei said in shock. She never thought there were still people waiting for her to return.

"Of course." The birds led while Rei hurried to catch up.

The crows had Rei followed them up what looked like a volcano. Strangely, the heat didn't bother or affect Rei too much.

When she got to the top of the volcano and looked down, it was filled with a pool of scorching lava.

"Now what?" Rei asked as heat lit up her cheeks and sweat dropped from her face.

"We dive." The birds said in unison.

Rei screamed and almost fell off the edge when the birds dive right into the pool and out of sight.

"No!" Rei couldn't believe her friends to be so reckless. The heat could have easily killed them!

She broke down and felt the tears flow down her face. Why did they just lunge into their own death?

But there were no answers for her. Rei buried her face into her palms and sobbed. Yet a flutter of wings grabbed her attention. She looked up and saw Phobos and Deimos alive and well in front of her.

"Phobos! Deimos!" She jumped up.

"Please, come with us. It's the entrance to the castle." Deimos called.

"You mean by diving down into the lava? But I could be killed!" Rei replied.

"You are the Princess of Mars, the daughter of fire! You should not show fear to the element you command." Phobos chided.

Rei wiped the last of her tears off her cheeks and stood up on the edge. If her friends said it was the way, then she would trust and put her faith in their words.

Rei looked down as a gush of smoke raised, she exhaled and leaped down.


When she woke up, she found herself in a simple black and red robe, similar to that of her priestess uniform. Phobos and Deimos were out of sight. Only an elderly man was sitting in the room besides her.

"Princess, you are awake!" The man said merrily.

"Yes, who are you?" Rei asked defensively.

"I am Nergal, Chief Divinator on Mars. I have seen you in my vision and know you would make your way here. Hence, I sent Phobos and Deimos to guide you." He chuckled.

"Where are they now?" Rei asked immediately.

"I understand they are the only ones you trust here. As the guardian spirits of this planet, they are resting at the moment. I shall be your guide from here on."

"Guardian spirit?"

"You are in the Phobos-Deimos, the great castle of Mars. The will of the planet took on a material form to guard you when you have reincarnated on earth. In time you grew stronger, at least strong enough for them to leave you and return here to prepare for your return. That is why you should never have to feel afraid or lonely in this castle, because they will always watch over you." Nergal explained.

Rei felt speechless. It was hard to believe her friends were actually the ancient souls of Mars.

"Please get some rest, Princess Rei. I will show you around tomorrow when you feel more at home." Nergal smiled.

"No!" Rei jumped out of bed, "I have to get started."

"You mean your mission of true love?" Nergal said with a straight face.

Rei's face blushed instantly and she looked away speechlessly. It was hard to look someone straight in the eyes and speak of something so private.

Nergal chuckled. "Do not feel shy, my dear. I'm an elderly man who has seen much over the years. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"May as well get started. I think it's going to be difficult for me." She shrugged.

"You have much to learn about life. Don't be so sure." He winked at her and left smiling to himself.


Rei felt much better the next day. Though she was eager to start the search, her hopes were actually pretty low. But nevertheless, she was not one to quit without trying first.

"Since Your Highness does not remember the past, please allow me an introduction to our magnificent planet. Mars has a matriarchal society. That is to say women make up our military and government. Men, on the other hand, are mostly employed as artisans of some particular skill. Mars has the best craftsmen for weaponry. You can find the finest arms on our planet alone. But though we have the skills, our metals are mostly from Venus. That is why we are on such friendly terms with them for most part.:

Rei nodded. Now she understood why Minako and she have a much stronger bond than others. This could also explain why Venus was the captain of the scouts while she was second in command.

"Unfortunately, Venus has been almost destroyed in the last war. Now it's pretty much a barren planet with very few contacts with outsiders." Nergal said sadly.

Rei looked at him hesitantly. She was curious about what happened to Venus, but decided not to ask in the end. Instead, she raised a question.

"Mars is a matriarchal planet, but you're a man and the leader of our people. Why is that?"

Nergal chuckled. "You catch on fast, princess. That is correct. Though I am a man, my position is relatively important. You see, men on Mars are mostly workers, but there were a few born with the gift of divination. Those selected few are allowed to practice divination, in service to our planet. While the divinators serve as the eyes to our future, the warriors of Mars act as the shield and blade."

"So…what if a woman has the gift of sight?"

"There has never been a woman with the gift. You were the first female warrior in our history to have the gift. We call you Werre-Ege, the Warrior-Eye. It was quite an honour."

Rei never realized her power had such a history. She only thought she was blessed as a Shinto priestess. But apparently there's much more to her powers.

They continued to talk about many things when they came across the training field. Women around her age were testing each other with sword plays. Rei's attention flew to the women.

Nergal saw the shift of attention and smiled, "Princess, why don't you go join them?"

Rei looked uncertain, "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude after all."

"Not at all. It would be their pleasure to have Sailor Mars teaching them a thing or two." He encouraged.

Rei wasn't surprise at all for Nergal to know her other role as Serenity's protector. He seemed to be intuitive about many things.

She nodded and walked towards the field. Before opening her mouth, a woman stopped her. "Halt! How dare you interfere with the practice!"

Rei frowned. The woman looked like she was in charge of the group. But her attitude bothered her.

"Speak up, girl!" The woman commanded highhandedly.

"Stand down, whoever you are. I'm only here to train like the rest of these women and I would ask if I may have permission to join your group." Rei asked, thinking it's best not to expose her identity.

The woman, or Captain Odessa shook her head and examined Rei suspiciously, "Permission denied. I have no reason to trust a stranger and don't know how you got into the palace. But leave if you plan on staying healthy!"

Rei was about to give her a tongue lashing when Nergal laughed openly behind them.

"Chief Nergal!" Odessa bowed in respect, as did all the soldiers.

"Oh, Odessa, lighten up. This is a glorious day for all of us." Nergal said after controlling his laughter.

Odessa looked confused at him.

"Have you forgotten my words only days ago?" Nergal shook his head.

"Of course not. How could I? The princess is to return to us shortly…Wait, you don't mean…" She slowly turned her head to see Rei waving nervously at her.

"Your Highness!" Odessa and all of the soldiers saluted. Their loud voice carried across the field and soon everyone around them either saluted or knelt on their knees.

Rei was taken back by the grandeur of the display. She peered at Nergal for help while Nergal pretended not to notice.

Frustrated and embarrassed, Rei coughed, "At ease and carry on everyone."

Finally, it was a relief to see others go on about their business.

"Princess, forgive my rudeness. I did not know it was you. We Martians usually have a distrustful nature." Odessa said in shame.

"It's alright, Odessa. I don't really take the princess thing too serious anyways." Rei said backhandedly, but also surprised to find their temperament so similar to her own suspecting personality.

"Princess, you must not take lightly of your position. You are the representative of Mars and the noble Werre-Ege. It is not something to be taken for granted." Odessa chided with a serious expression on her face.

Rei, in turn, stood speechlessly and stiff. She mentally swore at herself for being so inconsiderate of others.

"Yes, I shall be more careful from now on."

Upon hearing her words, Odessa finally put a smile on her face.

"Now, it would be my honor to have the princess practice with us today. Alright girls, form up. Show the princess how Martians fights!" She commanded.

For the entire afternoon, Rei had a wonderful workout with the girls. Odessa was tough and demanding as a teacher. But overall, Rei was extremely pleased to see her people so well trained in the art of war.

After the training, she invited Odessa to take her around while Nergal attended other pressing businesses. She was beginning to enjoy the captain's company. Odessa, was much like herself, being domineering and extremely cautious around others.

"Princess, allow me to show you something. Something I think you will rather enjoy." Odessa said mysteriously.

"You know, I'm not too fond of surprises." Rei remarked. In her experience, surprises were usually very tricky and never produced the intended results.

"You'll love it, I promised."

"Fine…" Rei sighed.

Eventually, Odessa led her into a dark room.

"Odessa, it's pitch dark in here. I can't see a thing." Rei complained.

"Just give me a minute. Ah, here it is…" Odessa exclaimed as the lit the torches on the wall.

When the room was lit up, Rei found herself in a room surrounded by weaponry. She could only stare at them in awe.

"These weapons…They're beautiful." Rei said breathlessly.

"These were some of the best weapons produced on Mars and also, it was your personal collection. Nergal thought you might like a reminder of your belongings. But the surprise has yet to come. Please follow me." She beckoned.

Rei tailed after her as Odessa led her to the wall in the back of the room.

Odessa pointed to an area on the wall. "You see the hand print here? It only reacts to your print. Go ahead, give it a try."

Rei wasn't sure what the point of it was, but she trusted her friend enough to do what she asked. Slowly, she placed her palm on the print of the wall.

The whole wall started moving, revealing the surprise behind it. Behind the wall there hung the most amazing sword she has ever seen. The blade was made entirely black by some unknown metal while the hilt of the sword shone in majestic gold and rubies. The design was simple but powerful.

Rei couldn't help herself. She walked towards the sword and took it off the wall. It felt perfect in her hand.

"Odessa, this sword…It's flawless. I've never seen a weapon so…complete in my hands." Rei said as she gently brushing the smoothness of the sword.

"This sword was your most valued treasure. You called it 'Mystere'."

"Mystere…" She whispered the name, "I'm home…Home to where I'm supposed to be…"

"I'm glad you realize that…because I have the exact same thought, Red…"

"Who's there?" Rei held the sword up and glared around the room. Odessa pulled her own weapon out and quickly took her place near the princess.

"There's no need to get nervous. I'm not a danger to you." The voice laughed.

"Show your face, coward!" Rei hissed.

"If you insist," The voice sighed, "Really Red, you're still as demanding as ever."

Suddenly, the rubies on Mystere flared. Rei tensed as she felt a scorching heat coming out of the sword. She immediately thrust the sword to the other side of the room and transformed into Sailor Mars.

When the intense light died down, Mars found herself face to face with one of her greatest threats.

"So we meet again, Jadeite…"


So here's the first part of Rei's story. Hope all of you enjoy it. I did thought about writing it more thoroughly but it would take the focus of Minako and Kunzite away. Who knows? I may just write one about others some day. Anyways, next chapter, Mar's sizzling awakening!