1 Shattered Tapestry
2 By Makura Koneko
3 Chapter One
Date: 2890
3.1 Eight hundred and ninety years after the Battle of Chaos
Jovia peeked out of the shadow that was the only thing keeping her, hiding her, from death. Or at least a very painful beating and dragging to the Coralation- the prison. To her bosom she clutched the reason for her being chased by the Elite. She looked at it now; an oval ring of brilliant gold, on a chain, with an odd symbol in the center of the oval, tilted slightly. It resembled an ancient terran number '4.' Four was Jovia's favorite number, probably because of the number 'four' shaped birthmark on her upper right arm.
It had been several minutes since Jovia had hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, and not so much as a whisper of the fine cloth that made up an Elite Officer's uniform. Peeking around the corner cautiously, and seeing nothing but a small sewer rat, Jovia breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out into the sunlight, sunlight that was patched because of the breathtakingly complex crisscrossing of bridges and water pipes and overpasses that loomed up ahead. Those bridges were part of Alalia-sky, the upper third of the city of Alalia.
Jovia was a resident of Alalia-under, the ground level of Alalia. Only the dirtiest, poorest, most unfortunate of souls ended up down here. There were elevators and stairways and air-flats that lifted one up to Alalia-between, then on to Alalia-sky (Alalia-sky was the only level that saw more than a two inch speck of sunlight, thus 'Alalia-sky.'). But you could only use them (to go up, anyway; anyone could come down; it was their funeral.) if one had enough proof to prove they were a) rich enough or b) of a noble house. If you were not either…well, there was a reason that the pathways to Alalia-above (what residents of Alalia-under called both Alalia-between and Alalia-sky.) were guarded by the Elite with charged blasters.
Jovia cursed her luck and stupidity for choosing a Cleansing Day (the one day of the week Elite Troops were sent down to Alalia-under to do some 'pest control.') to do her…business.
Jovia examined her new trinket, watching with delight at the way it shimmered in the pale sunlight. It would fetch quite a price with Amarea, that was for sure. Maybe she would sell it to a rich lady, or a wealthy merchant on his way to Cascabanae, the artificial moon that orbited earth the opposite way as Lunaria, Earth's natural moon.
"Pst!" A sharp hiss caught Jovia's always open ears. Her body automatically tensed as she strung the amulet over her neck, poised for a fight…
"Jovia!" A familiar voice hissed. Jovia looked around.
"Nenaphe?" Jovia murmured softly, emerald green eyes darting here and there.
"Yes, it's me! Quick, Jovia, down here! The Elite are coming right this way!" Jovia looked down. At her feet, to her left, was a partially open manhole. Peeking out of the darkness under the manhole cover was a pair of brilliant, sparkling-with-intelligence navy blue eyes, surrounded by wisps of ebony black hair. Jovia dropped down into the manhole after shoving it aside a bit more. Gripping the ladder with both legs and one hand, Jovia pulled the heavy iron manhole back into place without any trouble.
"Took me forever to shove that thing the tiny bit I did!" Nenaphe sighed quietly. Although it was pitch black, Jovia could tell the blue haired, tiny girl was shaking her head. Jovia grinned.
"Hey, you've got the brains, I've got the brawns." Jovia said, giving the girl a one armed hug. Nenaphe smiled as they made their way through the sewers –long dry because the sewer tunnel had collapsed in a section a ways behind them, blocking the refuge. Eventually they made their way to a smaller tunnel that lead off the main one. They ducked into it, Jovia being so tall that it was almost as if she might as well have been crawling. They emerged into a bubble like, cement room. There were two old mats, a few patched blankets, lamps, candles, matches; a small stove made from a few random, usefully shaped metal scraps and a pot of oil.
"Was your…outing successful?" Nenaphe asked, her gentle voice somewhat stiff. Jovia smiled gently; Ami hated the concept of stealing and- wait a sec. Her thoughts froze. Ami? Who the heck was Ami? This was Nenaphe she was talking to! Yet the name, Ami, and directed at the blue haired girl next to her who was rummaging for a few pieces of dried meat…it felt…right…
Jovia shook her head. She must be hungrier than she thought…
"Jovia?" Nenaphe asked, glancing over her shoulder. Jovia blinked, then shook her head again.
"I'm fine, Nephie," She said, forcing a smile. "And the hunt was great." Jovia pulled the medallion out from under her patched and frayed, midriff- baring peasant's blouse, tied under her bosom with a length of twin that went in and out of loops in the material to keep it in place. She held it out to Nenaphe, who hesitantly took it. Her eyes widened in surprise as she examined it.
"What?" Jovia asked, seeing her friend's expression.
"This is the symbol of the Roman God Jupiter!" Nenaphe exclaimed. Jovia's interest perked; she was aware that her name resembled another name for the planet/god Jupiter; Jovian.
"Maybe I'll keep it, then…" Jovia mussed as Nenaphe handed it back.
"I'd agree with you, Jovia," Nenaphe sighed as she lit the pot of oil under their makeshift stove. "But you know how I feel about stealing, and it'd be worse for you to keep it. I wouldn't let you gaffle at all if we didn't need the money, but we're low on just about everything, and that shirt of yours is about to fall off; we need to get you some cloth from Marina."
"Marina? That old witch?" Jovia scowled at the reference to a resident of Alalia-between, one who was generally more friendly towards the residents of Alalia-under. She owned a cloth shop, and her sister, Vrida, owned a engine repair shop right next to it. Nenaphe laughed softly.
"Jovia," She said gently, as a mother would to an errant daughter. "Marina is a very kind and generous woman."
"When she's not being all witchy and mysterious," Jovia muttered. "It's uncanny how someone can be that beautiful and still be a virgin in this place."
"Well it's really not all that much of a wonder, seeing how her sister, Vrida, is constantly glaring at anyone –male or female- who looks at her wrong," Nenaphe pointed out. "And have you seen their muscles? Those don't come from cloth weaving and engine repairing."
"I wouldn't know," Jovia grumbled, taking a shriveled up onion and a blunt knife from Nenaphe's hands and expertly slicing the valuable vegetable and dropping the chunks into a small pot of boiling water over the cup of flaming oil.
"I remember that time when you and Amarea were doing a deal, and Vrida walked by, and you thought she was a man!" Nenaphe laughed in amusement. Jovia grinned as well at the memory. She and Amarea had spent the day tailing 'him,' completely memorized by the 'hunky god of a man' only to see 'him' embrace a breathtakingly beautiful aqua haired woman, with the hands of an artist. Only when the woman, Marina, had called 'him,' 'sister' did they notice the slight bumps under the 'man's loose blouse…
Jovia laughed. Amarea had been so mortified, as had she. The two had never spoken about it since. Jovia was released from her memories as Nenaphe handed her a small chunk of half-dried, half-rotting meat, and Jovia set to cutting off the rancid areas. She handed the rotten chunks to Nenaphe, who went outside to put them in the rat-traps.
A scream interrupted Jovia's task, a scream that Jovia recognized as Nenaphe's. Jovia's blood went cold and she, meat knife in hand, sprang to her feet and ran out the exit and down the tunnel, exploding out into the main sewer tunnel, knife hand raised, eyes flashing, ready to-
Jovia backed up against the wall, chest heaving, her arms quivering with rage; a man in the uniform of an Elite officer held Nenaphe by her chin length hair, his other arm wrapped around her, and a knife to her throat.
"Let her go…" Jovia hissed vehemently. There was no way she was letting these creeps take Ami- Nenaphe to the Corelation! They'd beat her, rape her, brand her, sell her…try to break her…and sweet, gentle Am- no, Nenaphe would be all to easy to break…
4 And why the hell did she keep calling Nenaphe 'Ami?'
"Lita…" Nenaphe whispered.
"S'kay, A – Nephie…" Jovia told her best friend, completely bewildered as to why she had responded to the name 'Lita.' "It'll be fine…"
"Not for you it won't, not if you don't cooperate," Another Elite, to Jovia's right, snarled. Jovia tightened her grip on her knife…she discreetly slipped her bare toes under a nearby, empty rat cage…
With a flash she flung the rat cage into the face of the man holding Nenaphe, lashed out with the dull meat knife at the Elite on her right, slicing open his throat, and spun a kick to the one on her left. Another Elite came at her, and she brought her fist up into his nose, shattering it and sending bone and cartilage splinters driving deep into his brain, killing him instantly.
It would have been an easy victory, with Nenaphe free and Jovia uninjured, except for that neither of them saw fifth Elite…the one with the electric whip…the whip lashed out, two screams echoed down the sewers, and then there was silence.
"Milady," A servant entered the room and knelt on the cold polished wooden floors, hands flat on his thighs, forehead pressed to the ground in the ultimate attitude of humbleness and respect as he addressed the daughter of the most powerful man in Alalia.
"Yes, Frotier?" Sighed a girl of no more than sixteen, sitting on her window seat, basking in the light that came from the newly risen moon, her gown of silver rowdin silk making her glow like a goddess.
"Milady," the servant began. "Milord Altus requests your Radiance's illumescent presence, milady, in the Sky room. Milady, this humble one also conveys the wishes of thy mother that milady do not delay, and that milady don her new pearl robes when visiting Milord Altus."
"Convey my respects to my mother," The young woman said to the servant. "And tell my lord Altus I shall be with him momentarily."
"As my radiant lady wishes," the servant murmured, raising his face, climbing to his feet, bent over very low, his hands raised and clasped above his head as he backed out of the room.
The woman rose to her feet and pulled a large silk rope, summoning her maid. A pair of bright, inquisitive, shining-of-kindness-throughout-years- of-pain violet eyes peeked around the doorframe of the door that connected the woman's suite of rooms to the little maid's.
"Yes, I did, Shinkana," The woman said, smiling at the violet eyed, short, straight-as-a-rod black haired fourteen year old.
"Did you get another suitor summons, my lady Monstrahl?" Shinkana asked, raising an eyebrow as she entered. The woman made a face and nodded as she sat at her vanity.
"Yes….oooooh… I wish mother quit trying to marry me off!" The woman pouted. "It's not as if I'm any trouble." Shinkana gave her mistress a look as she raised her eyebrow at her in the mirror, coming up behind her.
"My lady, I hate to remind you of the escapade concerning your fifth attempt this month to run away to Alalia-between…" Shinkana laughed at her lady's glowering face as she let down her mistress's silken tresses from its intricate weaves and braids.
"Kana, how many times do I have to tell you?" The woman pouted cutely. "Call me Silvra in privet. Or at least Faersilvria if you want to be a little formal. You're my only and truest friend, and I won't have you using titles around me."
"As my lady wishes," Kana teased, and Silvra, exasperated, rolled her eyes, but not without a glimmer of delight in her shining eyes. Then the girl remembered why Kana was doing her hair, and her face fell once more into glumness. Even when pouting and glowering, the youngest lady of the house of Monstrahl was a lovely sight to behold. Eyes as big as the moon and just as bright in their silvery, crystal blue luminescence, and hair that shone like a river of molten astrum; a costly mix of silver, gold, and moonstone dust.
Silvra, as Kana was brushing out her six-foot long tresses, reached over to silver, gold encrusted jewel box and lifted the lid. This particular jewel box, in the shape of the moon and covered with depictions of moon goddesses throughout ancient history, was special, for it held her family's most prized heirloom. Why Silvra had gotten it, when she had three elder sisters far more accomplished in the realm of society than she, was something not even her mother knew.
The contents of the silver moon jewel box was a round, coin sized crystal. Under the moonlight, as it was then, it shone like a silver star. It was nestled amongst cobalt blue velvets and silks, and the silver chain that turned the crystal into a necklace looked like two tiny twin rivers of silver against the dark cloths.
"Do you wish to wear the Crystal this evening, Faersilvria?" Kana inquired. Silvra bit a petite, glossed pink lip in thought, she stroked the crystal…she loved how, in the moonlight, the crystal seemed to shine, and how when she touched it, that shine seemed to absorbed into her fingertips…again she wondered why the crystal had chosen to belong to her… It was a family tradition that every three years, they held a party, and at the party the Crystal was passed, on a stage, to every female member of the Monstrahl household. The person who managed to make it light up got possession of it for another three years.
Silvra had possessed the Crystal since she was three years old, the minimum age to participate in the ceremony.
"It would go quite well with the pearls and crystals I'm going to be putting in your hair," Kana coaxed. She loved it when her mistress –and friend- wore the Crystal. It seemed to bring out the noble lady within her, and everyone seemed to show her more respect when she wore it, as well as Silvra having more respect for herself.
"And it would bring out your eyes, and match perfectly with the pearls and crystals on the new over robe your mother wants you to wear," There, Kana thought, that should get her to want to wear it…
"Very well," Silvra said. "I'll wear it."
"It's 'I shall wear it," milady," Kana smiled. Silvra stuck her tongue out at Kana in the mirror.
"Fine. I shall wear it," Silvra amended. "Happy?"
"It's impossible to be around you and not be happy," Kana laughed. Silvra grinned sheepishly. Kana finished brushing her mistress's tresses, and parted a section of the luxurious hair and began to braid…
"Hey, wait a second…" Silvra said. Kana paused. Silvra tipped her head to one side as she looked at herself in the mirror. She pursed her lips. "Let me try something," Silvra told her. Kana, curious, unweaved the bit she had braided, brushed it out, and backed away. Her hands steady, Silvra parted her hair down the middle of her head, and pulled the right half of her hair over her shoulder. She then went to her left half, and brushed it upwards, securing it with a hair tie…
Kana watched in pleased surprise as her mistress –more of a big, sister, really,- twisted a section of the left hairtail around the base to make a bun, leaving the rest of her hair to cascade down her back to the floor. Silvra did the same with the right half of her hair, fiddling till they were both even and the buns perfectly spherical.
"How pretty…" Kana murmured. It was unique, that was for sure, and rather lovely in its simplicity. Silvra's sisters would never have been caught dead wearing that hairstyle, for indeed it would have made anyone else look ridiculous. But on Faesilvria Monstrahl… It only made her look like a goddess…a moon goddess, with her hair made to look like her patron element; moons.
"Do you think mother will approve?" Silvra asked hesitantly. Kana smiled. "It looks so lovely on you, I can't imagine her objecting," She said, her tone and intuition far to developed and serious for a fourteen year old.
Kana reached over to the silver moon jewel box, lifted the lid, and lifted the silver Crystal. Settling the crystal at the hallow of Silvra's throat, she brought the chains to the back of he neck on either side and clasped together, at the back of her throat. She helped her insert twin silver and pearl and crystal earrings, and then helped her slip into the white, silver trimmed pearl and crystal edged over robe that trailed behind her like a faerie queen's folded wings.
"Perfect," Kana hugged her, and Silvra hugged back.
"Thank you for all your help, Hotaru," Silvra kissed the girl on the cheek, not realizing what she had called her, and turned for the door.
"Pardon?" Kana blinked. Silvra turned back.
"What is it, Kana?" Silvra asked, her face ever so slightly confused and worried that she might have done something wrong…
"What did you call me?" Kana asked, puzzled. Silvra blinked.
"I called you Kana…what else?" Silvra was genuinely confused. Kana blinked, furrowed he brow, then shook her head.
"Nevermind, mistress," Kana told her. "Must have been my imagination." She put in a happy smile for her friend. "Now go down there and knock Altus's socks off! Make him beg for something he can't have!"
"Beg for what that he can't have?" Silvra blinked and Kana laughed.
"You, silly! Show him that while you're kindness and friendship incarnate, he can't have you just because he's got the biggest show boat!" Kana hugged her friend again. "Now go! And for goodness sake, don't trip on that third stair!"
"I won't!" Silvra laughed, and left, leaving Kana to chuckle silently to herself. What had she done to deserve being in a position to be friends with that embodiment of love and friendship? Kana didn't know, but she was grateful for it every day.
Shinkana yawned and went back to her room to get back to sleep, hoping that 'the dream' wouldn't come again…
Amenea looked down at the mini hourglass strapped to her wrist and frowned. Jovia should have been at their trading post hours ago… Her meetings with other…'business associates' had all been done with an hour before, and she had a sack next to her full of trinkets fit to be sold at least at Alalia- between, if not Alalia-sky. Plus… Amenea pulled out a small package out of her pocket, wrapped in a scrap of ice blue cloth and tied with a piece of crystal clear, perfectly clean twin; Nenaphe's birthday gift.
Amenea grinned, tucked a strand of white-gold blonde hair behind her ear (how she kept it clean enough for it to be seen that it was such light shade of blonde, even she didn't know.). She smiled as she thought of the slender, blue haired mouse of a girl, Jovia's best friend since they were little. Amenea had met them when Jovia had hidden her from an Elite that had caught her in the act of smuggling stolen jewels to be sold in Alalia- between.
Amenea would have moved in with them, they had all gotten so close, had Amenea not already had a roommate, and had her living location been essential to her…line of work. Amenea glanced at her hourglass watch again with worried cobalt blue eyes. She ran a hand through her bangs, unable to run her hand completely through her tresses due to the top half of her hair being pulled up into a big red bow. The bow was made of some of the finest ribbon Amenea had ever seen; a gift from Marina on Amenea's previous birthday. Amenea was surprised she remembered her own birthday, let alone some one else's.
She seemed to have been remembering a lot of things lately…noticing more things about herself, about her roommate, Radoria…. Of course, Radoria probably knew more about Amenea than Amenea knew about herself! Radoria was a seeress; she could sense someone's aura, could tell if they were honest or not. That was part of the reason Amenea was the most successful smuggler under twenty in Alalia-under; with Radoria's help, she knew who would be honest with her and who would double cross her.
Radoria was beautiful; the only reason she wasn't with child against her will already was that people feared her and her powers- of course, the fact that she was an expert in martial arts didn't hurt, either.
Amenea frowned suddenly. Radoria had been acting a bit odd, lately. Amenea had asked her best friend if she'd seen something in her 'fire readings,' but she had said no… But she walked around and acted as if she had seen something awful. She also seemed have developed a habit of fiddling with the necklace Amenea had given her for a Mid-Summer's gift. It was a pendant made of a golden oval on a cord of red silk (donated by Marina, of course) and with an odd symbol in the center…like a heart upside down and then tipped on it's side, with an arrow coming out of the point of the heart
Nenaphe had identified the symbol as the mark of Mars, god of war and fire. Amenea had blessed her good luck at coming across something that fit her best friend so well. And it had –ahem- 'come' with a semi-matching piece of jewelry, a ring. Only on this one, the heart was upright, and a 't' was attached to it at the bottom point of the heart, in the center of a golden oval. Amenea now pulled it out from under her shirt, as she kept it on a cord of yellow twine; no one in Alalia-under went around wearing rings. Not unless a) they had a least ten armed guards, b) were stupid, or c) you actually wanted to get raped/mugged/murdered; rings were valuable down here. And a lovely little golden thing like the trinket Amenea now held was worth five slaves, at least…
Amenea sighed and glanced at her hourglass again; all the sand was on the right-side compartment. She couldn't afford to wait any longer. She had to drop of her cache for the day at home, and then it was on to her next 'trading' post…
Amenea threw to the barely visible stars above a full-hearted wish that whatever had kept Jovia wasn't too bad, praying to whatever deity that would listen that her friend was all right. Amenea turned, tucking her ring back under her pale yellow wrap around shirt and ducked into the shadows…
And into the arms of a man who jammed a tranquilizer filled needle into the blonde's neck. The man, in the uniform of an Elite, brushed aside a strand of silken hair, looking at her in pity as he slung her over one shoulder, and the black haired witch over his other. He moved out of the shadows and rounded a corner and tossed them into the back of a truck with the two other girls the Council had requested. He then climbed onto the side of the truck alongside his fellow Elite, signaled the driver, and they headed for the exit out of this godforsaken underworld of a place…
"What do you mean you refuse, you ungrateful wench?" Lord Altus rose from his seat in anger. Silvra sat across from him, hands clasped in hands so tight against shaking that they were white. Her face was pale, also, her eyes wide as she blinked rapidly in an attempt to hold back tears.
"I'm s-sorry, my lord," Silvra swallowed, resisting the urge to clasp her Crystal for comfort… Wait… maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea…it would remind Altus who she was, whose house he was in, and that she had a right –by law, by her father's permission, and by the priesthood's blessing- to deny any marriage proposal she wished.
Slowly, somehow managing to keep her fearful trembling from her movements, Silvra rose to her feet. She raised her eyes to meet the angrily flashing ones of the fifty-year-old ('eeeeeew….' briefly crossed Silvra's mind.) Lord Altus.
"My lord, your proposal for a four year marriage contract is flattering, and I am truly honored," Silvra resisted the urge to gag; honored her butt! "But I am woe to inform you that I do not believe we would make a good match, politically or financially."
Translation: I wouldn't marry you if you paid me!
Apparently Lord Altus also knew the frank translation of Silvra's politically correct words, and it was also evident by the shaking of his fists that he was barely restraining the urge to strike her. Only her father's personal guard at the door and behind the chair she had been sitting in stayed his hand.
Silvra reached up a barely-not-trembling hand to gently stroke the Monstrahl family Crystal at her throat, the gem glittering under the moonbeams that streamed in through the drapes and glanced off it's surface. Lord Altus gave an outraged roar, snatched his hat from a nearby servant, his cloak from another, and stormed out the door and towards Silvra's father's landing pad, where his transport flier was waiting.
Silvra sank down to her chair, burying her face in her hands. The guard that stood behind her chair dismissed the other guards and servants, so they were alone in the room. The guard, a pitch-black haired man in his early twenties with deep royal blue eyes you could stare into for hours, walked around the chair to kneel before Silvra's chair, his hands on either side of her on the armrests.
Silvra took one look at him and burst into tears. The man pulled Silvra out of her chair and into his arms, kneeling on the plush forest green carpet.
"Why do you do this to yourself, love?" The man stroked Silvra's silken hair, nestling his head on top of hers, between her two twin moons of hair. A curiously pleased emotion at the position rose up in him as Silvra snuggled into his chest.
"I can't…" Silvra sobbed. "I just can't marry him! Or any of them! I just can't!" Silvra sniffed.
"You're father won't be around forever, you know," He told her, rubbing her back soothingly. "Already he grows elderly. You know once he is gone you will have no choice but to marry the first who offers his hand, and that person might not be as well off or as kind as even Altus."
"Altus is not kind, you know it, and I don't care!" She said, pulling her head out from under his to shake for emphasis. She looked up at him. "I will never give my heart, body, or soul to anyone other than whom I am destined to be with, Arden, and you know it!"
"Silvra…" The man, Arden, sighed, his deep eyes alight with affection for the young woman he held in his arms. "Silvra, you must choose someone of noble birth, at least to secure your safety and wellfare."
"And have a kid by a man I don't even like? Let alone love?" She shook her head again. "I refuse to do it for the same reason I do this…" She slipped a hand up his chest, around the back of his neck, and brought his face down to hers. Their mouths met in a gentle, massaging, caressing kiss. Arden's arm snaked tighter around her slip of a waist, his other arm traveling up her back to cradle her head gently. Her hands tangled in his hair as both of them poured all their love and devotion into that one kiss…
Only a voice clearing his throat loudly broke the two apart. Silvra and Arden whipped their heads around, staring in surprised horror at the man who stood in the open doorway. Silvra gasped.
"F-father!"
4.1.1 To Be Continued…
Well, thus ends the first chapter installment of 'Shattered Tapestry.' I've never tried anything like this before, and it is my first Sailor Moon fic, so bear with me and be gentle. Don't worry; you'll know what's going on (if you haven't figured it out already) and why I changed their names hopefully in the next chapter. If not, then at least the third.
Hope you all enjoyed! Ja ne!
Hope Makes the Universe Shine,
Makura Koneko
P.S.
For those of you who are rather slow (hey, not an insult; I'm blonde and as slow as slow can get! *sweatdrop* Ask any of my friends!), here are the name conversions:
Serena/Usgai/Sailor Moon = Silvra (short for Faesilvria: German for silver light)
Darien/Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask = Arden (German for Earth/Earthen)
Ami/Amy/Mercury = Nephane (Water in either Italian or French, or something like that…)
Rei/Raye/Mars = Rodica (original)
Makoto/Lita/Jupiter = Jovia (I think we all know where that comes from)
Minako/Mina/Venus = Ameana (modified version of Swedish word for 'love.')
Hotaru/Saturn = Shinkana (Japanese for 'silence.')
Michiru/Michelle/Neptune = Marina (duh)
Haruka/Amara/Uranus = Vrida (German for 'wind.')
That's it! E-mail/review if you have any questions! Ja!
-Makura Koneko
ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY
2 By Makura Koneko
3 Chapter One
Date: 2890
3.1 Eight hundred and ninety years after the Battle of Chaos
Jovia peeked out of the shadow that was the only thing keeping her, hiding her, from death. Or at least a very painful beating and dragging to the Coralation- the prison. To her bosom she clutched the reason for her being chased by the Elite. She looked at it now; an oval ring of brilliant gold, on a chain, with an odd symbol in the center of the oval, tilted slightly. It resembled an ancient terran number '4.' Four was Jovia's favorite number, probably because of the number 'four' shaped birthmark on her upper right arm.
It had been several minutes since Jovia had hidden in the shadows of an alleyway, and not so much as a whisper of the fine cloth that made up an Elite Officer's uniform. Peeking around the corner cautiously, and seeing nothing but a small sewer rat, Jovia breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out into the sunlight, sunlight that was patched because of the breathtakingly complex crisscrossing of bridges and water pipes and overpasses that loomed up ahead. Those bridges were part of Alalia-sky, the upper third of the city of Alalia.
Jovia was a resident of Alalia-under, the ground level of Alalia. Only the dirtiest, poorest, most unfortunate of souls ended up down here. There were elevators and stairways and air-flats that lifted one up to Alalia-between, then on to Alalia-sky (Alalia-sky was the only level that saw more than a two inch speck of sunlight, thus 'Alalia-sky.'). But you could only use them (to go up, anyway; anyone could come down; it was their funeral.) if one had enough proof to prove they were a) rich enough or b) of a noble house. If you were not either…well, there was a reason that the pathways to Alalia-above (what residents of Alalia-under called both Alalia-between and Alalia-sky.) were guarded by the Elite with charged blasters.
Jovia cursed her luck and stupidity for choosing a Cleansing Day (the one day of the week Elite Troops were sent down to Alalia-under to do some 'pest control.') to do her…business.
Jovia examined her new trinket, watching with delight at the way it shimmered in the pale sunlight. It would fetch quite a price with Amarea, that was for sure. Maybe she would sell it to a rich lady, or a wealthy merchant on his way to Cascabanae, the artificial moon that orbited earth the opposite way as Lunaria, Earth's natural moon.
"Pst!" A sharp hiss caught Jovia's always open ears. Her body automatically tensed as she strung the amulet over her neck, poised for a fight…
"Jovia!" A familiar voice hissed. Jovia looked around.
"Nenaphe?" Jovia murmured softly, emerald green eyes darting here and there.
"Yes, it's me! Quick, Jovia, down here! The Elite are coming right this way!" Jovia looked down. At her feet, to her left, was a partially open manhole. Peeking out of the darkness under the manhole cover was a pair of brilliant, sparkling-with-intelligence navy blue eyes, surrounded by wisps of ebony black hair. Jovia dropped down into the manhole after shoving it aside a bit more. Gripping the ladder with both legs and one hand, Jovia pulled the heavy iron manhole back into place without any trouble.
"Took me forever to shove that thing the tiny bit I did!" Nenaphe sighed quietly. Although it was pitch black, Jovia could tell the blue haired, tiny girl was shaking her head. Jovia grinned.
"Hey, you've got the brains, I've got the brawns." Jovia said, giving the girl a one armed hug. Nenaphe smiled as they made their way through the sewers –long dry because the sewer tunnel had collapsed in a section a ways behind them, blocking the refuge. Eventually they made their way to a smaller tunnel that lead off the main one. They ducked into it, Jovia being so tall that it was almost as if she might as well have been crawling. They emerged into a bubble like, cement room. There were two old mats, a few patched blankets, lamps, candles, matches; a small stove made from a few random, usefully shaped metal scraps and a pot of oil.
"Was your…outing successful?" Nenaphe asked, her gentle voice somewhat stiff. Jovia smiled gently; Ami hated the concept of stealing and- wait a sec. Her thoughts froze. Ami? Who the heck was Ami? This was Nenaphe she was talking to! Yet the name, Ami, and directed at the blue haired girl next to her who was rummaging for a few pieces of dried meat…it felt…right…
Jovia shook her head. She must be hungrier than she thought…
"Jovia?" Nenaphe asked, glancing over her shoulder. Jovia blinked, then shook her head again.
"I'm fine, Nephie," She said, forcing a smile. "And the hunt was great." Jovia pulled the medallion out from under her patched and frayed, midriff- baring peasant's blouse, tied under her bosom with a length of twin that went in and out of loops in the material to keep it in place. She held it out to Nenaphe, who hesitantly took it. Her eyes widened in surprise as she examined it.
"What?" Jovia asked, seeing her friend's expression.
"This is the symbol of the Roman God Jupiter!" Nenaphe exclaimed. Jovia's interest perked; she was aware that her name resembled another name for the planet/god Jupiter; Jovian.
"Maybe I'll keep it, then…" Jovia mussed as Nenaphe handed it back.
"I'd agree with you, Jovia," Nenaphe sighed as she lit the pot of oil under their makeshift stove. "But you know how I feel about stealing, and it'd be worse for you to keep it. I wouldn't let you gaffle at all if we didn't need the money, but we're low on just about everything, and that shirt of yours is about to fall off; we need to get you some cloth from Marina."
"Marina? That old witch?" Jovia scowled at the reference to a resident of Alalia-between, one who was generally more friendly towards the residents of Alalia-under. She owned a cloth shop, and her sister, Vrida, owned a engine repair shop right next to it. Nenaphe laughed softly.
"Jovia," She said gently, as a mother would to an errant daughter. "Marina is a very kind and generous woman."
"When she's not being all witchy and mysterious," Jovia muttered. "It's uncanny how someone can be that beautiful and still be a virgin in this place."
"Well it's really not all that much of a wonder, seeing how her sister, Vrida, is constantly glaring at anyone –male or female- who looks at her wrong," Nenaphe pointed out. "And have you seen their muscles? Those don't come from cloth weaving and engine repairing."
"I wouldn't know," Jovia grumbled, taking a shriveled up onion and a blunt knife from Nenaphe's hands and expertly slicing the valuable vegetable and dropping the chunks into a small pot of boiling water over the cup of flaming oil.
"I remember that time when you and Amarea were doing a deal, and Vrida walked by, and you thought she was a man!" Nenaphe laughed in amusement. Jovia grinned as well at the memory. She and Amarea had spent the day tailing 'him,' completely memorized by the 'hunky god of a man' only to see 'him' embrace a breathtakingly beautiful aqua haired woman, with the hands of an artist. Only when the woman, Marina, had called 'him,' 'sister' did they notice the slight bumps under the 'man's loose blouse…
Jovia laughed. Amarea had been so mortified, as had she. The two had never spoken about it since. Jovia was released from her memories as Nenaphe handed her a small chunk of half-dried, half-rotting meat, and Jovia set to cutting off the rancid areas. She handed the rotten chunks to Nenaphe, who went outside to put them in the rat-traps.
A scream interrupted Jovia's task, a scream that Jovia recognized as Nenaphe's. Jovia's blood went cold and she, meat knife in hand, sprang to her feet and ran out the exit and down the tunnel, exploding out into the main sewer tunnel, knife hand raised, eyes flashing, ready to-
Jovia backed up against the wall, chest heaving, her arms quivering with rage; a man in the uniform of an Elite officer held Nenaphe by her chin length hair, his other arm wrapped around her, and a knife to her throat.
"Let her go…" Jovia hissed vehemently. There was no way she was letting these creeps take Ami- Nenaphe to the Corelation! They'd beat her, rape her, brand her, sell her…try to break her…and sweet, gentle Am- no, Nenaphe would be all to easy to break…
4 And why the hell did she keep calling Nenaphe 'Ami?'
"Lita…" Nenaphe whispered.
"S'kay, A – Nephie…" Jovia told her best friend, completely bewildered as to why she had responded to the name 'Lita.' "It'll be fine…"
"Not for you it won't, not if you don't cooperate," Another Elite, to Jovia's right, snarled. Jovia tightened her grip on her knife…she discreetly slipped her bare toes under a nearby, empty rat cage…
With a flash she flung the rat cage into the face of the man holding Nenaphe, lashed out with the dull meat knife at the Elite on her right, slicing open his throat, and spun a kick to the one on her left. Another Elite came at her, and she brought her fist up into his nose, shattering it and sending bone and cartilage splinters driving deep into his brain, killing him instantly.
It would have been an easy victory, with Nenaphe free and Jovia uninjured, except for that neither of them saw fifth Elite…the one with the electric whip…the whip lashed out, two screams echoed down the sewers, and then there was silence.
"Milady," A servant entered the room and knelt on the cold polished wooden floors, hands flat on his thighs, forehead pressed to the ground in the ultimate attitude of humbleness and respect as he addressed the daughter of the most powerful man in Alalia.
"Yes, Frotier?" Sighed a girl of no more than sixteen, sitting on her window seat, basking in the light that came from the newly risen moon, her gown of silver rowdin silk making her glow like a goddess.
"Milady," the servant began. "Milord Altus requests your Radiance's illumescent presence, milady, in the Sky room. Milady, this humble one also conveys the wishes of thy mother that milady do not delay, and that milady don her new pearl robes when visiting Milord Altus."
"Convey my respects to my mother," The young woman said to the servant. "And tell my lord Altus I shall be with him momentarily."
"As my radiant lady wishes," the servant murmured, raising his face, climbing to his feet, bent over very low, his hands raised and clasped above his head as he backed out of the room.
The woman rose to her feet and pulled a large silk rope, summoning her maid. A pair of bright, inquisitive, shining-of-kindness-throughout-years- of-pain violet eyes peeked around the doorframe of the door that connected the woman's suite of rooms to the little maid's.
"Yes, I did, Shinkana," The woman said, smiling at the violet eyed, short, straight-as-a-rod black haired fourteen year old.
"Did you get another suitor summons, my lady Monstrahl?" Shinkana asked, raising an eyebrow as she entered. The woman made a face and nodded as she sat at her vanity.
"Yes….oooooh… I wish mother quit trying to marry me off!" The woman pouted. "It's not as if I'm any trouble." Shinkana gave her mistress a look as she raised her eyebrow at her in the mirror, coming up behind her.
"My lady, I hate to remind you of the escapade concerning your fifth attempt this month to run away to Alalia-between…" Shinkana laughed at her lady's glowering face as she let down her mistress's silken tresses from its intricate weaves and braids.
"Kana, how many times do I have to tell you?" The woman pouted cutely. "Call me Silvra in privet. Or at least Faersilvria if you want to be a little formal. You're my only and truest friend, and I won't have you using titles around me."
"As my lady wishes," Kana teased, and Silvra, exasperated, rolled her eyes, but not without a glimmer of delight in her shining eyes. Then the girl remembered why Kana was doing her hair, and her face fell once more into glumness. Even when pouting and glowering, the youngest lady of the house of Monstrahl was a lovely sight to behold. Eyes as big as the moon and just as bright in their silvery, crystal blue luminescence, and hair that shone like a river of molten astrum; a costly mix of silver, gold, and moonstone dust.
Silvra, as Kana was brushing out her six-foot long tresses, reached over to silver, gold encrusted jewel box and lifted the lid. This particular jewel box, in the shape of the moon and covered with depictions of moon goddesses throughout ancient history, was special, for it held her family's most prized heirloom. Why Silvra had gotten it, when she had three elder sisters far more accomplished in the realm of society than she, was something not even her mother knew.
The contents of the silver moon jewel box was a round, coin sized crystal. Under the moonlight, as it was then, it shone like a silver star. It was nestled amongst cobalt blue velvets and silks, and the silver chain that turned the crystal into a necklace looked like two tiny twin rivers of silver against the dark cloths.
"Do you wish to wear the Crystal this evening, Faersilvria?" Kana inquired. Silvra bit a petite, glossed pink lip in thought, she stroked the crystal…she loved how, in the moonlight, the crystal seemed to shine, and how when she touched it, that shine seemed to absorbed into her fingertips…again she wondered why the crystal had chosen to belong to her… It was a family tradition that every three years, they held a party, and at the party the Crystal was passed, on a stage, to every female member of the Monstrahl household. The person who managed to make it light up got possession of it for another three years.
Silvra had possessed the Crystal since she was three years old, the minimum age to participate in the ceremony.
"It would go quite well with the pearls and crystals I'm going to be putting in your hair," Kana coaxed. She loved it when her mistress –and friend- wore the Crystal. It seemed to bring out the noble lady within her, and everyone seemed to show her more respect when she wore it, as well as Silvra having more respect for herself.
"And it would bring out your eyes, and match perfectly with the pearls and crystals on the new over robe your mother wants you to wear," There, Kana thought, that should get her to want to wear it…
"Very well," Silvra said. "I'll wear it."
"It's 'I shall wear it," milady," Kana smiled. Silvra stuck her tongue out at Kana in the mirror.
"Fine. I shall wear it," Silvra amended. "Happy?"
"It's impossible to be around you and not be happy," Kana laughed. Silvra grinned sheepishly. Kana finished brushing her mistress's tresses, and parted a section of the luxurious hair and began to braid…
"Hey, wait a second…" Silvra said. Kana paused. Silvra tipped her head to one side as she looked at herself in the mirror. She pursed her lips. "Let me try something," Silvra told her. Kana, curious, unweaved the bit she had braided, brushed it out, and backed away. Her hands steady, Silvra parted her hair down the middle of her head, and pulled the right half of her hair over her shoulder. She then went to her left half, and brushed it upwards, securing it with a hair tie…
Kana watched in pleased surprise as her mistress –more of a big, sister, really,- twisted a section of the left hairtail around the base to make a bun, leaving the rest of her hair to cascade down her back to the floor. Silvra did the same with the right half of her hair, fiddling till they were both even and the buns perfectly spherical.
"How pretty…" Kana murmured. It was unique, that was for sure, and rather lovely in its simplicity. Silvra's sisters would never have been caught dead wearing that hairstyle, for indeed it would have made anyone else look ridiculous. But on Faesilvria Monstrahl… It only made her look like a goddess…a moon goddess, with her hair made to look like her patron element; moons.
"Do you think mother will approve?" Silvra asked hesitantly. Kana smiled. "It looks so lovely on you, I can't imagine her objecting," She said, her tone and intuition far to developed and serious for a fourteen year old.
Kana reached over to the silver moon jewel box, lifted the lid, and lifted the silver Crystal. Settling the crystal at the hallow of Silvra's throat, she brought the chains to the back of he neck on either side and clasped together, at the back of her throat. She helped her insert twin silver and pearl and crystal earrings, and then helped her slip into the white, silver trimmed pearl and crystal edged over robe that trailed behind her like a faerie queen's folded wings.
"Perfect," Kana hugged her, and Silvra hugged back.
"Thank you for all your help, Hotaru," Silvra kissed the girl on the cheek, not realizing what she had called her, and turned for the door.
"Pardon?" Kana blinked. Silvra turned back.
"What is it, Kana?" Silvra asked, her face ever so slightly confused and worried that she might have done something wrong…
"What did you call me?" Kana asked, puzzled. Silvra blinked.
"I called you Kana…what else?" Silvra was genuinely confused. Kana blinked, furrowed he brow, then shook her head.
"Nevermind, mistress," Kana told her. "Must have been my imagination." She put in a happy smile for her friend. "Now go down there and knock Altus's socks off! Make him beg for something he can't have!"
"Beg for what that he can't have?" Silvra blinked and Kana laughed.
"You, silly! Show him that while you're kindness and friendship incarnate, he can't have you just because he's got the biggest show boat!" Kana hugged her friend again. "Now go! And for goodness sake, don't trip on that third stair!"
"I won't!" Silvra laughed, and left, leaving Kana to chuckle silently to herself. What had she done to deserve being in a position to be friends with that embodiment of love and friendship? Kana didn't know, but she was grateful for it every day.
Shinkana yawned and went back to her room to get back to sleep, hoping that 'the dream' wouldn't come again…
Amenea looked down at the mini hourglass strapped to her wrist and frowned. Jovia should have been at their trading post hours ago… Her meetings with other…'business associates' had all been done with an hour before, and she had a sack next to her full of trinkets fit to be sold at least at Alalia- between, if not Alalia-sky. Plus… Amenea pulled out a small package out of her pocket, wrapped in a scrap of ice blue cloth and tied with a piece of crystal clear, perfectly clean twin; Nenaphe's birthday gift.
Amenea grinned, tucked a strand of white-gold blonde hair behind her ear (how she kept it clean enough for it to be seen that it was such light shade of blonde, even she didn't know.). She smiled as she thought of the slender, blue haired mouse of a girl, Jovia's best friend since they were little. Amenea had met them when Jovia had hidden her from an Elite that had caught her in the act of smuggling stolen jewels to be sold in Alalia- between.
Amenea would have moved in with them, they had all gotten so close, had Amenea not already had a roommate, and had her living location been essential to her…line of work. Amenea glanced at her hourglass watch again with worried cobalt blue eyes. She ran a hand through her bangs, unable to run her hand completely through her tresses due to the top half of her hair being pulled up into a big red bow. The bow was made of some of the finest ribbon Amenea had ever seen; a gift from Marina on Amenea's previous birthday. Amenea was surprised she remembered her own birthday, let alone some one else's.
She seemed to have been remembering a lot of things lately…noticing more things about herself, about her roommate, Radoria…. Of course, Radoria probably knew more about Amenea than Amenea knew about herself! Radoria was a seeress; she could sense someone's aura, could tell if they were honest or not. That was part of the reason Amenea was the most successful smuggler under twenty in Alalia-under; with Radoria's help, she knew who would be honest with her and who would double cross her.
Radoria was beautiful; the only reason she wasn't with child against her will already was that people feared her and her powers- of course, the fact that she was an expert in martial arts didn't hurt, either.
Amenea frowned suddenly. Radoria had been acting a bit odd, lately. Amenea had asked her best friend if she'd seen something in her 'fire readings,' but she had said no… But she walked around and acted as if she had seen something awful. She also seemed have developed a habit of fiddling with the necklace Amenea had given her for a Mid-Summer's gift. It was a pendant made of a golden oval on a cord of red silk (donated by Marina, of course) and with an odd symbol in the center…like a heart upside down and then tipped on it's side, with an arrow coming out of the point of the heart
Nenaphe had identified the symbol as the mark of Mars, god of war and fire. Amenea had blessed her good luck at coming across something that fit her best friend so well. And it had –ahem- 'come' with a semi-matching piece of jewelry, a ring. Only on this one, the heart was upright, and a 't' was attached to it at the bottom point of the heart, in the center of a golden oval. Amenea now pulled it out from under her shirt, as she kept it on a cord of yellow twine; no one in Alalia-under went around wearing rings. Not unless a) they had a least ten armed guards, b) were stupid, or c) you actually wanted to get raped/mugged/murdered; rings were valuable down here. And a lovely little golden thing like the trinket Amenea now held was worth five slaves, at least…
Amenea sighed and glanced at her hourglass again; all the sand was on the right-side compartment. She couldn't afford to wait any longer. She had to drop of her cache for the day at home, and then it was on to her next 'trading' post…
Amenea threw to the barely visible stars above a full-hearted wish that whatever had kept Jovia wasn't too bad, praying to whatever deity that would listen that her friend was all right. Amenea turned, tucking her ring back under her pale yellow wrap around shirt and ducked into the shadows…
And into the arms of a man who jammed a tranquilizer filled needle into the blonde's neck. The man, in the uniform of an Elite, brushed aside a strand of silken hair, looking at her in pity as he slung her over one shoulder, and the black haired witch over his other. He moved out of the shadows and rounded a corner and tossed them into the back of a truck with the two other girls the Council had requested. He then climbed onto the side of the truck alongside his fellow Elite, signaled the driver, and they headed for the exit out of this godforsaken underworld of a place…
"What do you mean you refuse, you ungrateful wench?" Lord Altus rose from his seat in anger. Silvra sat across from him, hands clasped in hands so tight against shaking that they were white. Her face was pale, also, her eyes wide as she blinked rapidly in an attempt to hold back tears.
"I'm s-sorry, my lord," Silvra swallowed, resisting the urge to clasp her Crystal for comfort… Wait… maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea…it would remind Altus who she was, whose house he was in, and that she had a right –by law, by her father's permission, and by the priesthood's blessing- to deny any marriage proposal she wished.
Slowly, somehow managing to keep her fearful trembling from her movements, Silvra rose to her feet. She raised her eyes to meet the angrily flashing ones of the fifty-year-old ('eeeeeew….' briefly crossed Silvra's mind.) Lord Altus.
"My lord, your proposal for a four year marriage contract is flattering, and I am truly honored," Silvra resisted the urge to gag; honored her butt! "But I am woe to inform you that I do not believe we would make a good match, politically or financially."
Translation: I wouldn't marry you if you paid me!
Apparently Lord Altus also knew the frank translation of Silvra's politically correct words, and it was also evident by the shaking of his fists that he was barely restraining the urge to strike her. Only her father's personal guard at the door and behind the chair she had been sitting in stayed his hand.
Silvra reached up a barely-not-trembling hand to gently stroke the Monstrahl family Crystal at her throat, the gem glittering under the moonbeams that streamed in through the drapes and glanced off it's surface. Lord Altus gave an outraged roar, snatched his hat from a nearby servant, his cloak from another, and stormed out the door and towards Silvra's father's landing pad, where his transport flier was waiting.
Silvra sank down to her chair, burying her face in her hands. The guard that stood behind her chair dismissed the other guards and servants, so they were alone in the room. The guard, a pitch-black haired man in his early twenties with deep royal blue eyes you could stare into for hours, walked around the chair to kneel before Silvra's chair, his hands on either side of her on the armrests.
Silvra took one look at him and burst into tears. The man pulled Silvra out of her chair and into his arms, kneeling on the plush forest green carpet.
"Why do you do this to yourself, love?" The man stroked Silvra's silken hair, nestling his head on top of hers, between her two twin moons of hair. A curiously pleased emotion at the position rose up in him as Silvra snuggled into his chest.
"I can't…" Silvra sobbed. "I just can't marry him! Or any of them! I just can't!" Silvra sniffed.
"You're father won't be around forever, you know," He told her, rubbing her back soothingly. "Already he grows elderly. You know once he is gone you will have no choice but to marry the first who offers his hand, and that person might not be as well off or as kind as even Altus."
"Altus is not kind, you know it, and I don't care!" She said, pulling her head out from under his to shake for emphasis. She looked up at him. "I will never give my heart, body, or soul to anyone other than whom I am destined to be with, Arden, and you know it!"
"Silvra…" The man, Arden, sighed, his deep eyes alight with affection for the young woman he held in his arms. "Silvra, you must choose someone of noble birth, at least to secure your safety and wellfare."
"And have a kid by a man I don't even like? Let alone love?" She shook her head again. "I refuse to do it for the same reason I do this…" She slipped a hand up his chest, around the back of his neck, and brought his face down to hers. Their mouths met in a gentle, massaging, caressing kiss. Arden's arm snaked tighter around her slip of a waist, his other arm traveling up her back to cradle her head gently. Her hands tangled in his hair as both of them poured all their love and devotion into that one kiss…
Only a voice clearing his throat loudly broke the two apart. Silvra and Arden whipped their heads around, staring in surprised horror at the man who stood in the open doorway. Silvra gasped.
"F-father!"
4.1.1 To Be Continued…
Well, thus ends the first chapter installment of 'Shattered Tapestry.' I've never tried anything like this before, and it is my first Sailor Moon fic, so bear with me and be gentle. Don't worry; you'll know what's going on (if you haven't figured it out already) and why I changed their names hopefully in the next chapter. If not, then at least the third.
Hope you all enjoyed! Ja ne!
Hope Makes the Universe Shine,
Makura Koneko
P.S.
For those of you who are rather slow (hey, not an insult; I'm blonde and as slow as slow can get! *sweatdrop* Ask any of my friends!), here are the name conversions:
Serena/Usgai/Sailor Moon = Silvra (short for Faesilvria: German for silver light)
Darien/Mamoru/Tuxedo Mask = Arden (German for Earth/Earthen)
Ami/Amy/Mercury = Nephane (Water in either Italian or French, or something like that…)
Rei/Raye/Mars = Rodica (original)
Makoto/Lita/Jupiter = Jovia (I think we all know where that comes from)
Minako/Mina/Venus = Ameana (modified version of Swedish word for 'love.')
Hotaru/Saturn = Shinkana (Japanese for 'silence.')
Michiru/Michelle/Neptune = Marina (duh)
Haruka/Amara/Uranus = Vrida (German for 'wind.')
That's it! E-mail/review if you have any questions! Ja!
-Makura Koneko
ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY