// Disclaimer(s): Not mine. Theirs. *points to Sailor Moon Creators*
All of the scouts names are Elven(taken from Tolkein's works), so that may be why they're a bit funny. A.N.s: I have a chart of everyone's names and meanings around here somewhere. ^^; (I may put it as a separate chapter. X.x; )
Warnings for Language and Implied Rape. But just in this chapter, no worries. Oh, and nothing happens. Trust me. These girls are smart enough not to get raped. ^^
Oh, and It's still being Beta-read, I just wanted it up and online. ^^ //
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Forgotten Truths Arc (pt.1)
Prologue: (In the beginning)
Naori's P.O.V
~By Hannah, aka VoltZip
Walk without footprints
Breathe without breath
Our lives leave no trace
~ Motto of the Assassin's Guild
I've always disliked starting stories, especially my own. I never know how to start, on what topic, or how subtly. I was told once that I was a good writer, but I think he was only trying to flatter me. So, straying from the topic a bit eh? Don't mind my ramblings; they'll pop up whenever I feel necessary. I think I'll start, however, by telling you who the Forgotten Truths are: Forgottenfury, Forgottenfayth, Forgottenfrenzy, Forgottenfear and me, Forgottenfyre. We represent the part of people, deep down inside, the places where people forget to look.
Anyhow, back to the subject (I seem to be doing this a lot of late). The five of us had never met before our Coronation. Coronation of the Powers, to be precise, Fayth had already been crowned; her mother had died recently. Actually, whenever we transformed, we ended up calling out to each other with nicknames. I was Hell, Fayth was Angel. Fear was Shadow, Fury was Berserker, and Frenzy was Ghoul. It was all very complicated, but it was easier than calling out five or more syllables.
Now, to stray yet again off topic, you'll notice how the heirs to the thrones are all female. That's because the line of reign lies within the female line, not the male. Of course, the male lineage in the royal line was always recognized, and they usually ruled beside they're sister/cousin/niece et cetera, until the female was married. I had always thought it skewed logic, but I had never taken my place as High Queen, so I didn't know the point.
So, the coronation day came, and to put it bluntly, it was all very… blah. I know, you must be thinking, 'How could a coronation to exquisite powers be… blah?!' I don't know, to be honest. I suppose it just wasn't what I had expected. It was all very formal. We got our weapons, henshin bracelets (which were pretty neat, actually), did a little showoff-y spectacle, was cheered upon, there was a reception (which was probably the most interesting part), and it was over. So, do you agree? Blah.
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"You know, it'd be nice to know what I'm supposed to do with this thing. I mean, there isn't any evil on your planet, is there?"
The three of us had gathered in the reception hall with all of the guests. Needless to say, there were thousands of them. Ok, not thousands, but you get my point, right? They red head was tossing a dagger, one of her new weapons, into the air, leather-clad hip leaning lazily against a table laden with cups and drinks.
"Eeek! Fear, be careful! They might break!" I swear the redhead jumped a foot into the air at this prompt. The voice itself was not startling, but the fact that it had suddenly come from behind us.
Fear blinked. "Fayth, for God's sake, they're weapons of mass power. You'd think they'd break if I dropped them?" The color had drained from the delicate face that accompanied the girl. "Let's just see, shall we?"
The younger girl, Fayth, squeaked, and pulled on my sleeve. "Make her stop, Fyre!"
I sighed in defeat. It was just so hard to say no to the girl. "C'mon Fear, I know they won't break, if it's any consolation, so stop scaring the poor thing."
The girl glared at the both of us, but slipped the dagger into it's sheath by her boot. We had only met an hour prior, but it was so easy to talk with them; it was like we had known each other for ages. Fury and Frenzy hadn't arrived yet, so I took the time to study the hall. I suddenly wondered why I hadn't done so yet, it was, unbelievably, hard to miss.
The entire room was nearly taken up by the dance floor, which had been magiked to look as it you were dancing on glass. Under that glass, clouds floated in massive amounts (In truth, I had stopped dancing after a while; it was making me dizzy). The hall hadn't been covered in lace and streamers as I had suspected earlier. Instead, bubbles were floating around the room, and every once in a while, a bubble would pop with a tiny squeak, and shower the room with gold and silver glitter.
The smaller girl, who had been come to known as Fayth, had taken special delight in this, for reasons unknown to the rest of us. The other half of the bubbles, those that did not pop, had been transferred light, so the hall was cast in an eerie light, the kind when the not-yet-nighttime-stars came out. Vines climbed up the walls, and the chairs and benches where made out of stone. Silk black curtains hung from the doorways that led to the balconies outside. Occasionally, they would flutter lightly from the breeze that drifted up the coastline.
"Eh… what?" I blinked, suddenly brought back to the real world, realizing I had been spoken too.
"Look!" Fear hissed at me, and I did. Coming down the steps, linked arm in arm, were our missing companions, Frenzy and Fury. They were both dressed in exquisite folds of silk and velvet. Frenzy was adorned in richly dark oranges and greens, standing out immediately. Fury, however, was dressed more subtly in dark purples and mossy blacks. Both wore their hair in complicated twists, and bangles stood out in the ethereal mystic-lights.
"Good God. It's like some sort of spectacle, more people to marvel over them!" I announced.
"Isn't it?" Fayth said dryly.
Fear nudged me in the ribs again. "Haughty. Look, neither of them have their weapons!"
I blinked. Fayth, Fear, and I had dressed accordingly to how our weapons were accommodated in our clothing. Fayth had a white blouse and a white leather vest, and a deep red skirt that reached just past her knees, the shrunken trident hidden in the folds and ruffles.
Fear had chosen usual attire for herself, black leather pants, a black blouse, and a forest-green half-jacket made of cotton that fell around her knees. For reasons unknown to anyone, she wore her weapons as a sword on her left hip, and a dagger in her boot, instead of the accustomed double swords, or twin daggers.
I didn't feel the need to dress up either; I just threw on something vaguely formal- jeans and a black and red shirt. My scythes, just as Fear's and Fayth's weapons, were disguised. Currently they were two black, foot length poles, and hung around my legs, just below my waist.
I glared at the other two women in disgust. Fear was right. With their long, flowing dresses, neither had room for their weapons. My gaze flickered across the room to Frenzy and Fury's mothers, who were previously conversed in idle chat, waiting for their daughters to appear. I wondered if they had noted the significant lack of weapons. They did.
I could have sworn I heard their jaws hit the floor, until Fear had pointed out later that this would have been impossible, seeing as they didn't actually touch the floor. Both women stared at their daughters in open horror, who were drawing attention to themselves from every angle around the room. Eventually, the two girls had to look for what was drawing their spectator's attention away from them. The tension in the air could've been cut with a knife.
Reading the expressions on their mother's faces (how couldn't they?), the two hurried out of the hall as fast as they could in their dresses. I was amazed neither tripped. Fear let out a laugh, and soon, the three of us were clinging to each other, trying desperately not to fall over from the force of our laughter. Needless to say, we drew more attention than Fury and Frenzy.
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"You know," I began, "I'd probably punish you myself, but I'm sure your parents' did a more than adequate job." I paused for effect. "What on this planet possessed you to do something like that?! On your Coronation, no less?!" I was trying desperately to contain my rage. Fortunately for the two that sat on my bed in shame, I managed to do so. "So? What did they do to you? No, wait, I don't want to know." I cut them off.
Behind me, Fear pouted. "I wanted to- Ah, nevermind."
She was lucky; that would have snapped my temper. I sighed, and noted in some contempt, that they both were clutching their weapons with dear life. Frenzy had a chain made of diamond wound around her waist like a belt. Hanging on each end of the chain were two diamond-shaped stones; one orange, the other pink. Fury had the blades of her weapons clutched in her hands, twelve circular disk with rigged edged. The blades were carried on her belt, and expanded to hand-length when needed. Currently, they were the size of large paperclips.
Surprisingly, they both looked truly sorry, and voiced their apologies to Fear, Fayth, and me. We all accepted their apologies, though with some hesitation.
"After all, we do need you to save the world. And stuff!" Fayth said cheerfully, and I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help grinning.
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It was amazing how our friendship had progressed from there. The other four had moved into our castle, as dutifully required, and we had one gigantic suite, all connected together.
A month had passed since our Coronation, and another celebration was required: Fear's birthday. Alas, this day was one that we all wished had not happened.
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_I was conned into this._ The white and gray bird ruffled it's feathers moodily, and glared down and Fear from it's perch on her arm. The girl, surprisingly, giggled.
"Oh, c'mon, you love us. We know you do." The bird huffed out its chest, and cuffed Fear in the side of the face with it's wing. She blinked, and then growled. "Alright, then, if that's how you wanna play, then I suppose it's time we found out if you are a girl or a boy." She said, wickedly, and her fingers crept up towards the bird's tail-feathers.
It squawked, and hopped over to land on my head. _I am male, thank you._ I giggled, and reached up to pry the bird from my hair.
"Don't mind the crypt keeper," Fear goggled at me, "she's not that insensitive. So, do you have a name?"
The bird paused from its…his preening, and blinked with large, blue eyes. _Ah…_
Fury grinned. "How 'bout Arauka? It means swift."
_But… but… that's a girl's name!_ Four collective glares shot at him (With the exception of me, seeing as he was still on my head). The bird make a suspicious squeak, but agreed. _Alright. But only in you call me Rau. Deal?_
We agreed. He flapped his wings, and launched himself into the air, landing on a lightscone on the wall, and continued to preen haughtily.
"If I ever meet a guy like that, make sure I don't do something stupid, alright? Like… kill him, or anything." Frenzy announced, sending us into fits of laughter.
"You know," I asked her, "what did he mean about getting conned into being our Guardian?"
"He was probably bribed with fish or something."
_Actually,_ I jumped at the voice in my head. _It was smoked rabbit._
Needless to say, that sobered us quickly.
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"So… you were human once?"
I had left the hall earlier, and the bird had followed me. The breeze that floated off of the ocean ruffled my hair, leaving it traced with salt. Currently, I was sitting on the railing of the patio, facing the large french doors that led back inside. Back silk hangings that covered the open arches flitted silently from the wind off the ocean. I had always loved the sound and feel of the ocean at night. Nearly every night I sneaked from my room and down to the ocean. All in all, it would have been very romantic, if my companion hadn't been a bird that was perched on the back of a chair.. .
He blinked his eyes in agreement. _Yes, I was. You see, your Grandmother, the Lady Alfirin, concealed me in this form as punishment. Anyhow, she had erased all of my memories except those of my crimes, and trapped me here, like this._
I blinked, and self-consciously circled my right wrist with my thumb and forefinger of my left hand, where my bracelet hung. He must have done something horrible to deserve that, but I didn't push it; he'd tell me when he wanted to. "So that's why you couldn't remember your name."
I suppose he would have agreed then, if not for the shriek that came from inside.
"What the-?!" I blinked uncharacteristically, and jumped down from my perch on the landing, dashing inside. What I saw, however, confused me more than it did horrify me.
Inside, bodies littered the dance floor in an unceremonious heap. There was no blood, however, but instead, every single person that lay in the hall had there eyes open, wide with terror, and their lips parted as if in a scream. Their eyes were dull, and lifeless, as if their soul had been sucked from their bodies. Literally. The people hadn't been screaming, their souls had been ripped from their bodies, through their mouths.
_Hnn. The Kiss of Death. Literally._ The bird had flitted through the curtains after me, and had landed on my shoulder.
"Well, you have to admit- it's rather fascinating." My eyes traveled across the hall to the double doors that led to the main entrance of the palace. A woman was leaning against her friend, horrified, and had a hand clamped over her mouth. Luckily, her friend was far more stable, and had an arm wrapped firmly around her companion's shoulders.
"But… wouldn't we have heard someone scream?"
_Someone didn't want us to hear. They put a dampening field on the hall so we couldn't hear. Wait. Where are your Companions?_
I blinked numbly. He had a point. Where were they? I closed my eyes, and reached out along the mental path that connected the five of us. And stopped. I had reached the end of the path, like someone who had been running, and slammed into an invisible wall, catching them completely off-guard.
"Rau," I started, voice rising with panic, "I… I can't find them; feel them. They must be d-"
_Don't you dare say it, girl. Yes, I know the only way to cut off your MindMerge is to kill your Companions, but you'd also instinctively know if they were dead. Tell me, do you? Do you know for a fact that they're dead?_
I breathed a sigh of relief. "No, I can't feel them dead; they're just… gone."
I expected a response, but got none. I had felt the weight of the bird on my shoulder disperse, and turned questioningly; he wouldn't have just left with no reason, or warning.
"Rau? Rau… oh, hell."
"Precisely."
I had turned to meet ruby-red eyes, glowing in the fantasy-like light of the orbs that were mimicked from our coronation. Behind him, the delicate bird lay in a tattered heap on the floor. I couldn't tell if he was alive or dead until I saw the light gray crest-feathers rise, but ever so slowly.
"I decided to let him live… for now. You see, bird tastes so much better freshly killed."
I blanched, and he continued.
"However, I dislike human. Too chewy. " He ran a tongue over bloodless lips, causing me to shiver in disgust. "So, I was thinking I'd just leave you here. Granted, it would be much more fun to leave you dead, wouldn't you agree?"
"Shit, no."
"Ah, then you'll be sorely disappointed, won't you?" And faster than I could follow, his right hand had snaked up my front, and had my throat in a deathly grip. I could literally feel my own windpipe crushing under his hand.
I let out a strangled cry.
Ok, I really don't like this guy.
Fortunately, he had left my hands free.
Ah, you didn't do your research.
I gave a crooked smile, but alas, he had missed it, too busy staring at my chest. I groaned inwardly, and rolled my eyes. Pervert. There was no doubt of what he was going to do after I was dead. Granted, I wasn't quite sure why he hadn't opted to do so before I was dead, but I counted my blessings.
Reaching my right hand up, I pressed my fingers against his arm. And swore violently. Gloves, why the hell did I wear gloves tonight?
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, and burned. I knew the fire would leave scars; it would have been confined by my gloves, however, without them I would have been fine. But alas, the fire swirled through the fabric of the glove, smoldering it into an inferno. My hand was covered with flame, and I smiled. The pain coming from the burn was rather… refreshing; clarifying. Interesting, no?
NO. I suddenly realized in a daze that I had become high on the patterns of fire, the immense heat. I ripped my own way back to reality, and sent a smoldering gaze towards the demon man in front of me, who had already started to recover from the burn on his wrist.
I snorted. "I usually get my way. Find that out next time you try and assassinate someone." And in that instant, I knew. I knew my companions had escaped this fate, this horror. And I knew how; I knew where.
Yet again, I reached out along that mental path, but not for my Companions, but for the bird.
_Rau. Are you alright?_
_I'll live. Ya' know, if he decides to skip his lovely feast of bird tonight._ Ah, there was that sarcasm. Perfectly fine, then.
"Well, it's been simply lovely almost dying with you, and stuff, but I'm afraid I have other obligations." Here, I swept a mock-bow. "Like… living, ya' know?"
He watched in both awe and rage as I raised two fingers of my burned hand to the spot between my eyes. My fingers started to glow with the same, unearthly light that echoed the bubbles floating around the room, and whipped around my body like strings.
"Like I said, simply lovely. Let's do it again sometime, no?"
And with that, I was gone. Untraceable. Simply… gone.
[End, Forgotten Truths, Prologue, August 18, 2003, 12:37]
In reference to the names(Skip over this if you want. ^^' Also, the chart may be pretty messed up when I upload it, so… Yes. X.x; )
Name/Pronunciation (meaning) Person
Naori/Na.yor.ee (Fire) Fyre
Nim/Nim (White) Fayth
Merka /Mer.ka (wild) Frenzy
Dae/Day (shadow) Fear
Rutha/Roo.tha (anger) Fury
Arauka/A.ray.oo.ka(Rau/Ray.oo) (Swift) Birdie! ^^
Maikar/Mae.kar (Demi-God) Birdie's human
form ^^;
Lith/Li.eth (ash) Naori's and co.
surname
Vamina/Van.a.mah (beautiful) Naori's mother
Farim/Fare.em (prey) Dae and co.
surname
Estella/Es.tel.la (hope) Nim and co.
surname
Altara/All.tar.ra (mother) Nim's mother
Gillitath/Gil.lee.ath (stars) Rutha and co.
surname
Kirya/Keer.a (ship) Rutha's mother
Henneth/Hen.neth (window) Merka and co.
surname
Collanta/Col.lan.tah (mask) Merka's mother
Harna/Har.naa (ruler) Evil main lady
Chebin/Cheh.ben (kept) Evil main male
Cath/Ca.th (cat) Secondary Evil
female
