The Ghosts of Tranquility Crater Ch.5
By wingedpixie
Disclaimer: Odd … I don't seem to be named Naoko Takeuchi; I guess that means I don't own Sailor Moon.
AN: Hello again. Finally some action in this plot! ^.^ No really. I mean it.
The Lady Mars pressed a hand to her lower back, where dull prickles coursed along her spine. For many hours the golden flames of oracle fire had tossed in the cupped hands of the Idol, its black marble lips open slightly and leis of pink and white flowers dangling about its thick neck. Only rarely did she visit this tiny temple, tucked beneath the violent green clouds of the outpost planet Neftup, but the head priest's scroll, tied with white ribbon and smelling heavily of incense, had been urgent, frightened at the sudden miracle, or death omen as some called it.
A young apprentice had wandered in with the night's dark hours, a female friend on one arm, a bottle of wine in the other. Both had come stumbling out, screams tearing from their throats and their eyes rolling wildly. Within seconds the Idol had been discovered, its palms aflame and the air surrounding it icy cold. "Come quickly," the letter had said. "The people are frightened, and we of the brotherhood know not what to tell them."
Rei herself knew not what o tell them. As she had arrived, the sound of many excited whispers and softly padding feet had reached her before she had turned into the great oblong bowl where the brothers waited. A surge of airy beige robes had greeted her, and many gentle hands had touched her raven hair, the bright charms and rusted amulets that hung from her sash. They had closed the stone doors of the inner sanctuary behind her.
And Rei had knelt, gazing into the mysterious fire with a cloak of dark crow feathers resting on her shoulders for warmth. Within the reckless, dancing flames, vague shapes had flung themselves at one another, casting sparks onto the floor. Golden figures had seemed to sprout mouths, only to howl mutely and plunge back into the formless burning. In waves the fire had moved or curled upward like a serpent, never quite leaving the broad, black fingers of the Idol.
And then in a flash it had gone, the light and the fierce flames. And though the cavernous hall had been overrun by shadows, the air had begun to warm. It was as if the fire could produce no heat of its own and had drawn its life from the atmosphere.
No smoke hinted at its existence. Indeed, except for the faint metallic scent lingering in her nostrils, the Lady Mars could find no evidence that the fire had ever burned.
He back hurt. Lifting pale arms above her head, she stretched, casting the Idol a resentful look. Slowly her ribbon-bound feet awoke, tingling unpleasantly from being bent back underneath her for so long. With a final glare at the rough-hewn statue, she strode across the cool tiles to the carved double doors.
"Aid, brothers," she called, the cue for the priests without to haul open the heavy stone. Her fingers brushed at a stubborn strand of hair too short to be tucked behind an ear. Carefully she reviewed the events of the past day, still unable to draw reason or cause from her thoughts. Soon she stood before the intricate carvings of vines and pointed flowers, but the doors did not budge, nor could she hear the rustle of monastic robes.
"Aid, brothers," she repeated, a tinge of annoyance coloring her voice. Rising in her chest, a sudden rage fought to burst forth, to race through the thoughts of the Lady Mars and thrust itself into her words. Only after many years of militant meditation had she conquered those angry impulses, and at the moment her thin control over them was wavering. Still no priests came to assist her.
Silently fuming, she thrust a shoulder against the door and winced as her cramped muscles rebelled at the strain. Slowly the door scraped open, the shrill sound making her teeth ache, until a narrow slice of the temple gardens could be seen. With a gasp Rei tottered back from the threshold, her heart fluttering wildly, for there on the floor a limp hand had fallen, and the peach-colored sleeve that covered it was streaked with red.
Rei rushed forward, her anger forgotten, replaced by a muffled apprehension, as though her premonitions were shrieking at her from beneath a pile of wet towels. Catching he hand up in her own, she was startled by its dry warmth, but no pulse met her fingertips. For a moment she simply stood, trying to reconcile the idea of a dead body with that of a peaceful outpost temple and failing. Gently she twisted the hand, until the lifeless palm was turned up toward her face, and she could see a mass of angry purple lines pulsing beneath the skin.
"Gods," she whispered, barely choking the word out. The priest's arm fell to the ground with a thump, as the Lady Mars clutched her raven feather cloak and tried not to remember what the Lady Venus had written in her reports.
"They shot little pellets of poison at us. Hundreds of tiny spheres whipped through the air without a sound, but you could hear them hit the soldiers. Every time a man was struck there would be a "thwick" and then a thud when he collapsed." Rei recalled the pages where Mianko had described the casualties, the thousands of strangely heated corpses with swollen purple veins.
But that had been years ago in the Crilla galaxy. For Rei the reports had been something of a gruesome bedtime story, beginning with "once upon a time" and ending before the villains could reach the glinting belt of icy asteroids that marked the border of the Moon Kingdom, and Neftup, though certainly an outpost, was well within that boundary.
Yet there before her a dead priest sprawled, blood trickling down his broad sleeve from the penetration wound and his veins choked with toxins. It seemed that for one side at least, the War of Comets was not over, a fact they had failed to mention at the treaty signing.
She ran, hurling herself at the doors and plunging out into the gardens. Her sandal caught in the robes of the dead man, but she didn't pause to untangle it; she did not want to see his face. With a yank her foot came free, and up the small tree-sheltered hill, Rei fled, her amulets slapping against her chest and her hair swishing from side to side.
"Find them, find them, find them," her inner voice chanted in time with her footfalls, as her legs, burning from exhaustion, carried her into the sweet- smelling grove of white-flowered trees. The wind hissed through their branches and into her face; it carried drops of sweat off her skin. It stirred the green clouds into confused shapes, which twisted about and sprinkled beads of moisture over the world below.
For a brief moment Rei felt hope. Over the next crest the bowl where the Brothers congregated would be visible, and she could call to them, scream at them to run to the imposing tower of rock where the city government resided. Painfully her lungs pulled at the air to prepare for a shout.
But it never came. Only a short "wa" escaped her, as she staggered over the hilltop and looked down at the grounds. Hundreds of beige robes fluttered in the breeze, the crumpled forms beneath them lolling on the floor of the bowl.
Not a sound disturbed the ghastly scene, except for a soft "thwick" followed instantly by a searing pain that streaked up her leg. Every nerve in her body blazed with agony, and it felt as though she was being dissolved from within.
"Nooo!" she screamed, but it never left her lips. By the time she hit the earth, her heart had already stopped beating.
By wingedpixie
Disclaimer: Odd … I don't seem to be named Naoko Takeuchi; I guess that means I don't own Sailor Moon.
AN: Hello again. Finally some action in this plot! ^.^ No really. I mean it.
The Lady Mars pressed a hand to her lower back, where dull prickles coursed along her spine. For many hours the golden flames of oracle fire had tossed in the cupped hands of the Idol, its black marble lips open slightly and leis of pink and white flowers dangling about its thick neck. Only rarely did she visit this tiny temple, tucked beneath the violent green clouds of the outpost planet Neftup, but the head priest's scroll, tied with white ribbon and smelling heavily of incense, had been urgent, frightened at the sudden miracle, or death omen as some called it.
A young apprentice had wandered in with the night's dark hours, a female friend on one arm, a bottle of wine in the other. Both had come stumbling out, screams tearing from their throats and their eyes rolling wildly. Within seconds the Idol had been discovered, its palms aflame and the air surrounding it icy cold. "Come quickly," the letter had said. "The people are frightened, and we of the brotherhood know not what to tell them."
Rei herself knew not what o tell them. As she had arrived, the sound of many excited whispers and softly padding feet had reached her before she had turned into the great oblong bowl where the brothers waited. A surge of airy beige robes had greeted her, and many gentle hands had touched her raven hair, the bright charms and rusted amulets that hung from her sash. They had closed the stone doors of the inner sanctuary behind her.
And Rei had knelt, gazing into the mysterious fire with a cloak of dark crow feathers resting on her shoulders for warmth. Within the reckless, dancing flames, vague shapes had flung themselves at one another, casting sparks onto the floor. Golden figures had seemed to sprout mouths, only to howl mutely and plunge back into the formless burning. In waves the fire had moved or curled upward like a serpent, never quite leaving the broad, black fingers of the Idol.
And then in a flash it had gone, the light and the fierce flames. And though the cavernous hall had been overrun by shadows, the air had begun to warm. It was as if the fire could produce no heat of its own and had drawn its life from the atmosphere.
No smoke hinted at its existence. Indeed, except for the faint metallic scent lingering in her nostrils, the Lady Mars could find no evidence that the fire had ever burned.
He back hurt. Lifting pale arms above her head, she stretched, casting the Idol a resentful look. Slowly her ribbon-bound feet awoke, tingling unpleasantly from being bent back underneath her for so long. With a final glare at the rough-hewn statue, she strode across the cool tiles to the carved double doors.
"Aid, brothers," she called, the cue for the priests without to haul open the heavy stone. Her fingers brushed at a stubborn strand of hair too short to be tucked behind an ear. Carefully she reviewed the events of the past day, still unable to draw reason or cause from her thoughts. Soon she stood before the intricate carvings of vines and pointed flowers, but the doors did not budge, nor could she hear the rustle of monastic robes.
"Aid, brothers," she repeated, a tinge of annoyance coloring her voice. Rising in her chest, a sudden rage fought to burst forth, to race through the thoughts of the Lady Mars and thrust itself into her words. Only after many years of militant meditation had she conquered those angry impulses, and at the moment her thin control over them was wavering. Still no priests came to assist her.
Silently fuming, she thrust a shoulder against the door and winced as her cramped muscles rebelled at the strain. Slowly the door scraped open, the shrill sound making her teeth ache, until a narrow slice of the temple gardens could be seen. With a gasp Rei tottered back from the threshold, her heart fluttering wildly, for there on the floor a limp hand had fallen, and the peach-colored sleeve that covered it was streaked with red.
Rei rushed forward, her anger forgotten, replaced by a muffled apprehension, as though her premonitions were shrieking at her from beneath a pile of wet towels. Catching he hand up in her own, she was startled by its dry warmth, but no pulse met her fingertips. For a moment she simply stood, trying to reconcile the idea of a dead body with that of a peaceful outpost temple and failing. Gently she twisted the hand, until the lifeless palm was turned up toward her face, and she could see a mass of angry purple lines pulsing beneath the skin.
"Gods," she whispered, barely choking the word out. The priest's arm fell to the ground with a thump, as the Lady Mars clutched her raven feather cloak and tried not to remember what the Lady Venus had written in her reports.
"They shot little pellets of poison at us. Hundreds of tiny spheres whipped through the air without a sound, but you could hear them hit the soldiers. Every time a man was struck there would be a "thwick" and then a thud when he collapsed." Rei recalled the pages where Mianko had described the casualties, the thousands of strangely heated corpses with swollen purple veins.
But that had been years ago in the Crilla galaxy. For Rei the reports had been something of a gruesome bedtime story, beginning with "once upon a time" and ending before the villains could reach the glinting belt of icy asteroids that marked the border of the Moon Kingdom, and Neftup, though certainly an outpost, was well within that boundary.
Yet there before her a dead priest sprawled, blood trickling down his broad sleeve from the penetration wound and his veins choked with toxins. It seemed that for one side at least, the War of Comets was not over, a fact they had failed to mention at the treaty signing.
She ran, hurling herself at the doors and plunging out into the gardens. Her sandal caught in the robes of the dead man, but she didn't pause to untangle it; she did not want to see his face. With a yank her foot came free, and up the small tree-sheltered hill, Rei fled, her amulets slapping against her chest and her hair swishing from side to side.
"Find them, find them, find them," her inner voice chanted in time with her footfalls, as her legs, burning from exhaustion, carried her into the sweet- smelling grove of white-flowered trees. The wind hissed through their branches and into her face; it carried drops of sweat off her skin. It stirred the green clouds into confused shapes, which twisted about and sprinkled beads of moisture over the world below.
For a brief moment Rei felt hope. Over the next crest the bowl where the Brothers congregated would be visible, and she could call to them, scream at them to run to the imposing tower of rock where the city government resided. Painfully her lungs pulled at the air to prepare for a shout.
But it never came. Only a short "wa" escaped her, as she staggered over the hilltop and looked down at the grounds. Hundreds of beige robes fluttered in the breeze, the crumpled forms beneath them lolling on the floor of the bowl.
Not a sound disturbed the ghastly scene, except for a soft "thwick" followed instantly by a searing pain that streaked up her leg. Every nerve in her body blazed with agony, and it felt as though she was being dissolved from within.
"Nooo!" she screamed, but it never left her lips. By the time she hit the earth, her heart had already stopped beating.