Shadowed Destiny
Chapter 1: The Beginning
by Lessa of Ruatha
AN: this story is part-challenge by a friend of mine. she said that i couldn't write a fic that didn't bash the inners (aka minako and rei) and mamoru. i decided to prove her wrong. yeah it is a little bloody and gore-y, and the deaths are described a bit much, but that's just how i wrote it. okay? read away!
Bodies littered the battlefield that had once been Juuban High School. The school itself was in shreds, all of the different attacks rendering it a huge pile. Shouts could be heard, of both onlookers and attacks.
Chaos was gone, destroyed, vanquished to the deepest depths of the hells of every dimension. But, somehow, even in defeat, he managed to prove himself trouble. Just as he was banished, the beings which the senshi had taken to calling the shinokage had appeared. Though they had no names, the senshi had given them them. Hageshisa. Hakai. Gekido. Iyashii [1]. Four beasts, shadow-creatures, that it seemed, were impossible to kill.
Moon and Pluto were the only senshi on the scene. Because they were the only ones left. All the others had been killed.
Tuxedo Kamen had been the first casualty to the war. In fact, he had never participated in the war with the shinokage. Chaos had managed to bind his lifeforce to that of the Earth Prince, thinking the senshi would never be able to kill Endymion. Mamoru had summoned his Sword of Endymion and stabbed himself in the heart, taking Chaos with him. In his last moments, his eyes had been only for the small girl that had wept bitter tears over the man she had loved, and sworn revenge on the darkness. One Tsukino Serena, who it could be said was no longer so innocent.
Sailor Venus had been the next to die, and the only other to die out of something despite combat. She had gone not even a week after Mamoru. Foolishly, perhaps, she had been trying to tap Ainosei's [2] powers, hoping to boost her own. Instead of channeling the power she had received through her henshin rod, she had simply pulled it into her being. With a sound that haunted Serena's nightmares still, she had exploded in a flare of light that blinded everyone. When it was gone, so was Aino Minako. And the senshi knew that she was gone, that the energy had vaporized her body.
Sailors Mars and Neptune were the next to go. Hageshisa had cornered them during one of the attacks by all four of the shinokage. Desperately, flames and water had intermingled to try and halt Hageshisa, momentarily stun it so they could get out. For running was their only option. It hadn't worked. Their deaths had been violent, blood spilled over the pavement, limbs torn at all angles, every part of their bodies disfigured. Hino Rei and Kaiou Michiru had been killed.
It was easy to say that Sailor Uranus had not been pleased at the death of her lover. Before they had even known she had disappeared, Tenou Haruka had set out to find the shinokage. The senshi had long since learned that the shinokage could locate them when they transformed or used their planet power. Haruka had powered up, past all the regular stages, her anger fueling her. She had come to something the senshi had later called pure planet power. Sailor Uranus didn't exist anymore. There was only Uranus, who had sole control over the winds and sands, able to tap the very power of Tenousei. Gekido had been the one to find her, likely because of her emotions and the connection. From what the senshi had presumed, the fight had been one-sided. Haruka had been found not long after her death, not a mark on her. The creepiest thing was the look of pure terror on her face. That, too, still haunted Serena's nightmares.
Kino Makoto's death had probably been the worst. She had fought Iyashii, and it was because of her death that it had been given that name. The remaining senshi had found what Haruka had, the pure planet power. Jupiter had called down the lightnings to trap Iyashii. It had been reflected. When her body had been found, it was only because of the henshin rod in her hand that they knew who it was. The lightnings had electrocuted her system, and the electricity had burned her skin horribly. Her clothes had been shredded, the proud senshi uniform burned beyond all recognition. She was presumed another civilian until the senshi had said differently.
Mizuno Ami and Tomoe Hotaru had been the true sacrifices in the war. Mercury had called up spears, shards really, of ice, that looked like daggers as they hovered in midair, awaiting her commands. Back-to-back with Saturn, the hair on the back of her neck rose when the younger girl had summoned the very essence of death, imbuing it inside the shards. Both girls had then done what Minako had tried to do, though they succeeded where she had failed. They had called their planet powers, using their henshin rods as focal points for the intricate complexity they were performing. They had then let go. Mercury had let the shards fly as they let raw power burst from their henshin rods to strike the shinokage. They had been like Minako, the energy burning their bodies away.
But even then, their deaths had not killed Tsukino Serena. She had forced herself to pull together, not only for herself, but for the only two remaining people that she loved. Setsuna had been one. The other had been Furuhata Motoki. It was his death that had plunged her into a dark depression.
The last thing Mamoru had told her before he had passed was to move on, to find someone else to love her. The senshi had agreed wholeheartedly. Her magic was powered by her love for the others, and she needed the stability of a relationship to balance her stress. Motoki had always been a dear friend, and with Mamoru's death, he had been there when the senshi had not. He had been the one to comfort her when she cried, to talk to her when she woke screaming with nightmares and couldn't fall back asleep. Things she couldn't remember Mamoru ever doing. Slowly but surely, she had fallen for the blonde man, and he had reciprocated her feelings tenfold. He had listened to her, appreciated what she said, asked her opinion on nonsense things that had given her a feel of normalcy. Something she had always wanted but had never attained.
His death had been the worst, probably because he couldn't fight back. Though he had joined all of the senshi in their created combat classes -really only martial arts and sword fighting with Haruka- but without magic, he had been easily a target. Setsuna had even tried to petition the Higher Ones to grant him some form of magical protection. They had refused, so Serena had turned to the only remaining way.
Tsuki-jinns themselves weren't much for bloodshed, war, or fighting. Oh, they would attend the Arenas of Mars, and their armies were larger than those of Jupiter, and they were easily as deadly as the swordfighters of Uranus, but they themselves never cared to kill. So it had been known that sometimes the Royal Family would fall in love with someone who had no Tsuki-jinn magic. The old marriage ceremonies had changed that.
Under a full moon, Serena and Motoki had been joined together by Tsuki-jinn ceremony. Together, under the moonlight, they had both bathed in the small spring of crystal water. Once done, they had dressed in pure white. Setsuna had chanted the ancient words, repeated the incantations meant to protect the chosen ones. Their palms had been slashed with the ceremonial dagger Setsuna had produced, and their blood fell to the ground as their hands met. The two silver rings had been exchanged. And under the moonlight, Motoki had become the royal consort, and a child of the moon.
But he hadn't had enough time to learn his magic. Not even a month after they had married, the shinokage had found him. He had been found, like Haruka, without a mark except for the look of terror on his face. Neither of the remaining senshi had known what he had faced, and they were not sure they wanted to.
That had been the last straw. Serena had lost all her senshi but one, and both of the men she had loved. Plotting her vendetta on the murderers of her husband and her sisters, she and Setsuna had disappeared into Tokyo, and had stopped using their magic unless they were in mortal danger.
Meiou Setsuna was beyond desperate. She could feel the dark energy congregating, and willed herself to focus on the images she received from the Time Gates. Suddenly, it was as if someone was watching her. She cursed under her breath as she prepared to teleport back to the real world. Out of the glimpse of her eye, she saw the image she needed, and with a triumphant yell, she was gone. She could rarely visit nowadays, for it seemed the shinokage had learned to track that, too.
Setsuna appeared outside of a small house and quickly entered. Once inside, Setsuna wasn't surprised to see that Serena was staring at the shrine,' as Setsuna had taken to calling it. Because the henshin rods had been created by the gods, even though their chosen were dead, the rods had never been destroyed. Also there was Endymion's sword, and the three talismans of the deceased Outer Senshi. The ring Motoki had worn after the marriage was also there, as were the twin daggers that had been his gift from the ghosts of the Royal Family. Beside those were the few possessions Serena had managed to take after their deaths. The Mercury computer; one of Rei's old scrolls; the cookbook Makoto had started to write; Minako's Sailor V mask. But the things that always caught her eye were the two cat collars -one black, one white- that had belonged to Luna and Artemis. The advisors had leapt in front of an attack meant to kill Serena. They had sacrificed themselves, laid down their lives to protect their princess. That had been another strike to the heart for Serena, and another thing she had cried over with Motoki's arms around her.
But she no longer had that.
"Hime-chan?" Setsuna called softly.
Serena turned her head to look at her through dull blue eyes. Her hair hung limply around her. She said nothing.
"I have seen what must be done" Setsuna braced herself. "You must leave Japan."
Serena couldn't summon the energy to protest. She nodded simply. Standing up at Setsuna's gesture, she made her way over to the floor-length mirror they had found somewhere.
"We will have to change your appearance" explained Setsuna.
Serena felt a single tear slide down her cheek when her beautiful, long hair that she was so proud of was cut off an inch below her shoulders. Her appearance was already trying to become Cosmos once more, even with Setsuna still alive. Every day she could see more silver streaks, and every day the silver flecks in her once sky-blue eyes grew larger. Setsuna nodded to herself, that was good enough. No one could even connect this person to being Tsukino Serena, simply because no one had seen Tsukino Serena since she had undergone this change.
"Setsuna." The voice made her stop as she turned away.
"Hime-chan?" Setsuna couldn't help but hope, perhaps, the depression had broken.
"Tattoos" Serena's voice was flat, and hoarse from disuse.
"Pardon?"
"On my back" Serena continued in that same voice. "One for each senshi. One for each man I loved. Their planet symbols, their family crests."
Setsuna's hopes crashed. The depression, it seemed, was only beginning. "Of, course, hime-chan" she waved a hand over the girl's head. Lines converged on the girl's back, forming each of the senshi crests [3]. "And for the mortal?" she didn't want to hurt Serena more by giving the name of the second man she loved.
"Kunzite's mark" she said flatly. "He was, in all essence, Kunzite."
Setsuna nodded once more. A last mark appeared, on the back of Serena's neck. She summoned her Garnet Rod to her. Pressing the tip to Serena's forehead she murmured something.
Serena's eyes glazed over. A few moments after Setsuna stepped back, she blinked rapidly.
"First, I gave you the knowledge of how to speak, read, and write English" Setsuna answered the unvoiced question. Setsuna waved a hand at the few belongings Serena had managed to save, as well as the few sets of clothes. Instantly, all appeared in a dufflebag. The components of the shrine were placed gently into another one, which she made sure the blades couldn't cut through. Setsuna also pulled a small golden key from inside her subspace pocket and but it in the bag. "You will be spending the rest of the summer in England, with your mother's cousin and her family. Your story is that there was a fire that killed your family hence the fact you have so few belongings and you will be living with the Evans' until my house in England is finished. Your name is Raven Aurora Thompson, your parents were Ilene Elizabeth and Kenneth Gregory Thompson. Your brother was Samuel Michael Thompson. And there is one other thing; your second-cousin, their daughter Lily, is a witch. You may or may not be asked to attend her school, I haven't foreseen that far. The final fact of the matter is that the family you are staying with, save Lily, canNOT know about your magic. Especially your second-cousin Petunia. She must trust you."
Serena nodded staring in the mirror.
"What is your name?" Setsuna began the interrogation, making sure Serena remembered her story.
"Raven Aurora Thompson."
"Who were your parents and brother?"
"Ilene Elizabeth, Kenneth Gregory, and Samuel Michael Thompson."
Such went on for about an hour, until Setsuna was positive that, for lack a better term, Tsukino Serena was dead and Raven Thompson was alive. "Now" she nodded. "I have sent a letter through time, so they received it yesterday. They are expecting you." She pointed the key end of her staff at the wall and a portal appeared. "They are house number 21."
And the newly-named Raven walked through Japan and into England. She stumbled, blinking. Hear it seemed to be around dinnertime. Shaking her head as she took in the changes, she quickly found house 21 because ... it was right in front of her. Walking up, she knocked on the door, trying not to shiver in the chill. She had been wearing only a pair of loose, drawstring pants and a tank top.
A woman opened the door. She had wavy brown hair that had been pulled back into a bun. Her warm brown eyes looked at Raven curiously. She was somewhat short and plump, giving her a very matronly appearance. Suddenly, comprehension dawned in her eyes. "You must be Raven, then" she quickly ushered the startled girl into the house. "Jonathan! Girls! Raven's here!"
At the entrance into what Raven guessed was the dining room, a man appeared. He was tall, with dark red hair and cerulean eyes. Two girls also poked their heads around. The younger one, who looked about Raven's age, had her father's red hair and emerald green eyes, and was a little short. The other, who seemed a few years older than Raven, was tall for her age, and had brown hair and dark brown eyes.
"My husband Jonathan" she said, gesturing to the man. "And our daughters Lily and Petunia. And I'm Rose. Rose Evans."
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1 - shinokage means shadow of death,' hageshisa means violence, hakai means destruction, gekido means rage, and iyashii means despicable. i think.
2 - i read somewhere that the japanese names for the planets were these. i dunno if that's right or not, though.
3 - no, this is not just their planet symbols. for the girls, its the symbols in their crystal hensin rods. mars; flaming arrow and mars, mercury; harp and mercury, jupiter; wreath and jupiter, and so on. mamoru is the earth symbol and rose. kunzite is the earth symbol with two swords crossed behind it.
