The Fiction We Live Chapter VI, a sailor moon fanfic

"The Fiction We Live" Chapter Six

by Greta

Empty eyes stared at her, waiting for the command of her voice.

Grinning maliciously, Galaxia stared at Beryl, her deep-red eyes thoughtful. This young woman had proved herself to be worthier than she had ever anticipated her to be. Most people dared not even respond to a simple question the golden Queen asked, dared not even move their bodies out of sheer terror that crept through them. But this red-haired damsel had not only talked back fearlessly; she had also kept up fighting her power even once her body was broken and crumbled.

"But no one … No one can live without their light, can they, Beryl?" she whispered into the haunting stillness of the vast room they were still in. Her low whisper of a voice resounded around them, making her light voice seem menacing.

"No one, Queen Galaxia, no one," the obedient Beryl answered, her eyes lowered to the addressed person's feet.

Yes, no one. Galaxia had robbed this human of her light, leaving her as an empty shell, just as she had wanted her to be. She had crushed the woman's essence between her very fingers, leaving her gasping at her feet, ready to follow the golden queen without another thought. For now there was nothing but Galaxia for her, no trace of her former life remained. Her innermost feelings, thoughts and secrets, the memories that had formed her character, everything that added up to what she had been up to that point. Gone within a moment.

Brushing her long strands of hair behind her shoulder, Galaxia slowly got up from the throne-like seat she had been sitting on, taking drawlingly slow steps towards her newest servant. The low clicking of her shoes echoed around them sharply with every step she took, stopping only when she stood ever so closely in front of her little puppet.

"You were strong, Beryl. Admirably strong. Your mind and soul tried to resist me for such a long time," she spoke softly, tracing one finger down Beryl's jaw line. She traced the soft cheekbone, softly touching the wound with which she had marred the pretty face of the young woman. But no sound of pain left the young woman, no beating away of the hand which had inflicted the pain followed. Lifting one finger to tilt her chin upwards, Galaxia gazed into Beryl's eyes, which remained just as empty. "But no one resists me."

Luna was, to say the least, surprised.

It began with the fact, that it was just far too early for something like this. It continued with her Princess wearing only her nightgown, which according to etiquette was as good as naked, the Senshi of Venus looking like she had just mud-wrestled, and that two of the three boys she had never seen before, were fighting with those two young woman.

Placing her hands on her hips, she tried to look fierce and intimidating, much like her mother did in situations like these.

"What by the Gods is going on down here?"

Ten startled eyes were raised to look at the young woman standing across from them. Bright blue eyes scrunched up, her black hair billowing around her, Luna somehow failed miserably in doing what she had attempted to do though. Upon seeing only her young advisor, the silver-haired Princess returned to angrily hissing at one of the young man, and upon seeing her do so, the other ones failed to be intimidated by Luna as well.

Hmm. She would have to work on that.

But knowing she still had an ace up her sleeve, she moved over to them with heavy stomps, breaking into their middle easily. "One: Princess, get dressed, now. Two: Venus, have a bath, now. Three: Young men, follow me to the Grand Hall, as your Princess is already sick with worry, now." Her arms crossed across her chest, Luna eyed them squarely, making it clear that she was in earnest with what she had said and was not about to back down.

"But, Luna! This, this – young man, as you called him, has been-"

"Usagi, stop it, now. You are inappropriately dressed, Venus looks just as indecent, and they are your guests! Have you no manners? And if you won't listen to me, maybe you will listen to Armina?"

Gulping, the fair Princess bit her lip. Luna's mother Armina was worse by far. Her eyebrows raised unbelievably high, her aura crackling with electricity, her mother's advisor could be quite scary at times. Stomping heavily on the floor with her right foot once, she stuck out her tongue at no one in particular. "This is unfair!"

Gripping the young woman by the upper-arm, Venus hissed at her to be quiet, before pulling her along down the corridor to their rooms. She was just not in the mood to face Armina right now, as the woman could easily rival a dragon at times.

Watching them disappear down the corridor, Luna smiled in satisfaction. Hah. She could do it after all. Turning to face the three boys, she smiled warmly. "You know, she won't listen unless you force her to. I am Luna, advisor of the young Princess Usagi. And now let's get you to your own Princess, shall we?"

Breath rattling from the icy cold that surrounded him, he tried in vain to warm his stiff hands with breathing on them as he pulled his shabby coat around his shivering body tightly. Pace quick, his eyes narrowed as he passed dark alleyways, the looming shadows in the shabby cobblestone corridors daring anyone to come closer still, hungry eyes and dirty hands waiting to pull whoever passed by too closely to them. Clenching his teeth, his fingers now curled into tight fists, his pale lips in a grimace. Oh, this planet definitely presented what it stood for in great variety. Cold and unpredictable, it never once allowed its millions of inhabitants to live a normal life; misery and poverty abided, and everyone, everyone from the smallest of children to the oldest that had lived most of their lives in their memories of better times, were constantly hungry, hungry not only for food but also for the warmth of a normal life, a life filled with happiness and hope they had never experienced. The glorious Silver Millennium, was it now? Greatest kingdom of the universe, greatest monarchy of all; all powerful, all good. Hah! HAH! What a joke! What a miserable trick! For who would ever doubt the words that silver Queen so far, far away on the White Moon said about her kingdom? That Queen that knew nothing about their desperate misery in the end, and that did nothing, nothing to help at all? For, after all, how convenient it was to have a planet of death, a planet where one could shove all unwanted people of the galaxy to. How convenient it was, to have a place where one could put all that were said to be deceiving and cheating, to be thieves and tricksters, to be the very worst of what human nature could be. How convenient for the rich and powerful.

Feeling a cry of rage build up inside of him, he clenched his eyes shut tightly in anger as he breathed in the ice-cold air deeply, trying hard to control his anger. The air stung inside his body like countless ice-crystals, pricking his lungs sharply; but he breathed in deeper still, pushing the oxygen down into his body as far as he could, savouring the painful sting, the pain that brought his mind back from wandering in desperate thoughts that would get him nowhere for the time being. Not until he had at last reached his destination …

His quick steps thudded heavily on the ice-covered ground beneath his feet, the little snow that covered the thick crusts of frozen water crunching quietly. Trying to quicken his pace all the while, he bit into his lips that were already stiff from the pitiless cold, as his eyes and ears strained to find what they sought for.

" … For, what has that oh-so-wonderful kingdom, that beautiful and gracious Queen ever done for us? …" a voice dripping with sarcasm screeched with all its might in the far distance, bringing a small smile of satisfaction to his face. Breaking into a slow jog now, he forgot to care about slipping on the icy ground, desperate for the company of others that not only felt as he did but also voiced their thoughts.

"What, I ask you? Nothing! Nothing! I say, this Queen, this rich damsel that has no sense of reality doesn't give a single damn about us! She doesn't know that we exist, she doesn't know anything of our lives, and why, even if she did she wouldn't care!" Standing on a provisory stage of wooden crates, a young man who was wrapped in a tattered coat was shouting out loudly the words that seemed to burst from his mouth, a strange fire burning in his eyes that were fixed on the crowd surrounding him. The crowd was cheering for him and repeating his cries, their fists thrown into the air, their faces full of angered agreement.

"We were never a part of this Silver Millennium, of this kingdom that is supposed to be so grand and rich; we were always kept on the outside! Monarchy never touched this planet, as magic never did, never allowing us to be equal to the other planets of this galaxy! We were always the under-dogs! Always!"

Now he too had reached the thriving crowd that was pulsating with energy, pulsating with the fire of these people's souls. Pushing himself to the front of the crowd, he felt his heartbeat quicken in rhythm with the deafening cheers that spoke his very own thoughts. Already he could feel the cold withdraw from his body, the heat of the moment spreading to his fingertips instead.

"But, I ask you now, why have we been putting up with this for such a long time? Why, why? I will tell you why; because we did not use to believe in ourselves. Without any faith there is no path. But, when we finally did find that faith, we were robbed of that chance to rise at last! Robbed by the warriors of that kingdom we are supposed to be a part of!" The young man clenched his eyes shut in blind rage, as he punched the air in anger with his tightly clenched fists. He paused his speech for a moment now, but the crowd never minded, as his words had now kindled a fire deep inside their souls, making them shout and cry in indignation. Scanning the crowd with his ice-blue eyes, he suddenly found a face he recognized. Standing there at the front of the crowd, a man, not much older than himself and just as shabbily dressed as he was, was staring up at him, a smile playing on his lips. Nodding at him, he returned the smile, before turning his face to look at the crowd once more.

"But no, we have learned from our mistakes. We have not lost faith, have we?" Loud cries of denial reached his ears, making his smile spread wider. "No, we have not! We are the people, and we will overcome all obstacles in our way! Saturn's people will rise once more, and this time, we will not let ourselves be pushed back by anyone, and may it be the Queen herself! We will rise once more! Rise!" His cries were carried to every one of the people surrounding him, and every one of these people knew, felt it with their heart, that he spoke the truth, their truth. Their time was about to come – the people of Saturn would rise once more.

"Seiya, Yaten, Taiki. I'm so glad to see that you are safe." Her hands clasped in front of her chest, the red-haired damsel smiled a smile of pure warmth as she watched the three young men she had so anticipated seeing enter the Grand Hall of the Moon Palace. Upon seeing their golden-scarlet princess, their steps quickened as they descended the stairs leading into the room, smiles equalling hers spreading on their handsome faces.

"We are horribly sorry if we worried you, Kakyuu-sama. We arrived quite well, just a bit, erm, off-course," the auburn-haired young man said, as he dropped to his knee just as his two companions. "We are glad to see you are safe as well," he added warmly. "We already missed your presence, Princess."

Her red eyes rested upon his lilac stare that was so endlessly sincere, as she reached out her hands first to him and then to the three young men at large, motioning for them to get up. A warm glow of golden light was reflecting on her pale fingers, making the rings and bracelets she wore sparkle and shine as she stretched her graceful digits out towards them, the sun now having risen high enough to enter through the vast windows behind her back. Her dress of red and golden silk clung to her small body softly, making her appearance that of a sunbathed, blood-red angel.

Drawing in his breath slowly, Seiya took in her beautiful appearance with marvelling eyes. She looked so much like a beautiful glowing light in that moment, that he felt he would never be able to take his eyes from his Princess. It was only when Taiki had uttered the words that he had suddenly realized just how true they were. They had been separated for mere hours, but there already had been something missing; her warmth was of the most pure he knew, and her presence held an energy that was hardly describable. Rising slowly from the cool marble, he smiled at her as well.

"Princess …" he said quietly under his breath, as her red eyes met his.

"I am very honoured to meet you, young men," a voice suddenly cut through the high hall, high-heeled shoes clacking as they slowly made their way towards the addressed. Eyes snapping up, they saw a woman approach them slowly from the far end of the room. Her light-lilac eyes moved slowly from one attentive face to the other as she drew closer, the white gown that hugged her figure trailing unto the ground behind her. Silver hair spilled down her back, reflecting the light just as the red hair of their princess was doing; but her shine was entirely different. There was a warmth as well, but it was more mature and less innocent, and oh so heavy with power at the same time. It was without a doubt the Queen of the Silver Millennium.

"I hope you arrived safely, and that your journey was somewhat comfortable. Trans-galaxy travel can be exhausting." Coming to a halt close to their Princess, she nodded graciously at them while smiling.

Fascinated up to then with this strange power that hovered about her, Seiya never remembered his manners until he saw his two companions drop to their knees once more. Mirroring their action hastily, he could feel the heat cross his cheeks as his eyes fixed on the marble beneath his feet once more. How stupid he felt, but by far not only from forgetting to show his respect. He rather felt that the few words she had spoken to them did much more to make the colour rise in his face, as they referred to a very sore spot of his. Trans-galaxy travel could be exhausting, yes, but especially if you had no magical powers that were normally needed for it to work. His fingers tightened slowly into fists as the old mixture of anger and embarrassment seared inside of him, while he forced himself to accept what had been said as the gracious and not at all ill-intended comment it had obviously been meant to be.

"Please rise." She was still smiling at them, her eyes now studying their separate faces. "I welcome you humbly to the Solar System. Please do refrain from being overly formal with me." Her smile widened for a short moment, before she motioned for Luna to come closer, who had been keeping back by the open doors until now.

"You have arrived at such an early time that half of my Palace is not yet awake and about yet. I therefore deeply apologize that there is no bigger or more formal welcoming at the moment as I had intentionally planned for you to receive later this evening."

"Serenity-sama, please do not say such a thing. We are very sorry to have arrived earlier than intentionally planned and to therefore bring such inconvenience upon you," Kakyuu said, bowing in the older woman's direction. "My mother must have gotten something mixed up along the way, as she insisted rather forcefully that we leave when we did."

It did not go unnoticed that the Queen closed her eyes for the merest moment too long upon hearing the Princess speak by Yaten. Narrowing his olive eyes at the woman that was still so beautiful for her age, he felt the emotions rise in her like a storm, suddenly and out of nowhere, and with a surprising power. Cocking his head, his face thoughtful, he tried to reach for those emotions, grasp unto them as they spread in the Queen's body, like he always did when he tried to decipher people. Anticipation, fearful anticipation, soiled with dark visions and sinister thoughts, pictures of death and war, spread before his inner eye, and most of all fear, a horrible fear … Gasping, he suddenly felt himself being pushed away without warning from those thoughts and feelings that were not his own, leaving him to feel as if he had been thrown off-balance. The silver-haired woman was staring deeply into his eyes that were now rapidly blinking after they'd been left open for too long, her eyes slightly narrowed. What had he just experienced for that small moment when he had tried to read her mind? Legends of the great Silver Millennium existed all over the universe, stories and songs of the wonderful power and light of the beautiful Solar System. But that – that vision, spoke nothing of those legends. Holding the stare that was being bestowed upon him, his eyebrows knotted heavily as the Queen shook her head ever so slightly at him, before turning to his Princess once more.

"You are too kind, Princess. I will let Luna show you to your rooms in the Western Wing of the Palace. After that you can come and attend breakfast with the Princesses and get acquainted, if you wish to. My door is always open for you, so please do not hesitate to come and talk with me if you should need to," the Queen now spoke once more, no trace of her thoughts in her steady voice.

"You are too gracious, Queen. I thank you for accepting us so kindly," Kakyuu answered as she bowed slightly once more, the warmth still radiating strongly from her, as she looked into the taller woman's lilac eyes that were so very different from the only other Queen's she knew. Her mother, Queen Kakyoko of the by far much, much smaller Red Cercis Kingdom, had a strikingly scarlet appearance just as herself, very much unlike the silver Queen, just as age was by far more visible on her mother. Sighing softly, she pushed the thoughts of her cheerfully natured mother away, sensing it was not the time to dwell right now.

"It is my pleasure," the Queen replied softly, a small, but strangely sad smile playing on her lips. A pleasure? Maybe she was not being quite honest with that. It would have been a pleasure, had times been careless, and frankly normal. Her eyes rested on these young people standing before her, their separate shines strong and clear, their bodies full of youth and the curiosity for life it brought along. How she despised not being able to offer them what she wished them – a time that held no worry. And so she smiled at them, swearing to herself that she would not spoil the last of normality that was still there for them to enjoy, until it was unavoidable at last.

Running, running as fast as her feet could carry her, the cold wind whipping at her bare legs, breath short in gasps. Eyes closed, she let her instinct carry her along for a moment, her body becoming one with the wind blowing around her and that was playing with her tousled hair and heavy cloak.

"Haruka!" a voice close behind her called out, similarly out of breath.

The addressed woman glanced over her shoulder at the young woman hot on her trail, aqua hair billowing around her. Slowing her pace slightly, she let her step fall into the same rhythm as her companion's while reaching for her gloved hand. A small smile spread on her lips, and blue eyes met blue for a short second.

But both snapped their eyes back to the icy path they were running on suddenly as their ears recognized a loud and threatening sound that was not being made by the stormy winds or the sinister woods surrounding them.

"Are they …?"

Tugging at her companion's arm heavily, Michiru broke their mad pace on the slippery ground beneath their high-heeled feet suddenly, pulling her roughly against a tree that framed the uneven path. Raising her forefinger to her cold lips, she motioned for Haruka to push up against the rough bark of the spindly tree just as she did. Doing what she was being silently told without question, Haruka narrowed her stormy blue eyes at the rough stone building they had been running towards seconds earlier. It was a low building made out of roughly hewn black stones, its age obvious not only from the crumbling stone but also from the dead vines ranking about it in heavy tangles and knots. But even so, old and falling apart, it still held a strange aura. The wind's howl seemed to grow silent as it passed over the dark stones that were carved with ancient runes, the silence about it strangely eerie.

But a mob of people was closing in on the old building, drawing closer with each second as cries of rage left their bodies, cries that came from their very souls. Was she now only imagining things because of her lack of sleep and exhaustion, or was the energy that hovered about the old crypt now crackling with indignation over being disturbed in its unearthly silence?

"They are mad …" Michiru whispered in a low voice, as she shook her head slowly and with disbelief as she saw them moving closer still, raising not only their fists into the air but now also heavy stones and wooden crates with which they seemed ready to attack anything and everything that got into their way.

"But what shall we do?"

"We don't have to worry about the crypt … It is sealed so heavily that I highly doubt our combined powers would be able to grant us access."

Nodding at her partner's words, she never let her eyes leave the mob that had now stopped in front of the entrance to the old stone crypt that was being held up by pillars of times long gone. Closing her eyes tightly for a moment, she clenched her teeth, feeling the anger rise in her chest. Her fingers curling into her palms, she let out a breath of anger in frustration, before her eyes rose to look back at the crowd, where a tall, silver-haired man had now gotten up on a large rock that lay in front of the crypt and had started talking animatedly with the people surrounding him. How had this happened, how?

It reminded her so heavily of the events of five years ago, of those horrible events, that she felt like laughing and crying at the same time. Five years ago … what an incredible long time it seemed to be. It was now five years ago, that events very similar to what she was witnessing right now had started arising all over the cold planet of Saturn. They had started meeting like this, had started shouting out harsh words of what was only partly the truth, and had started organizing themselves. And they had rebelled. They had risked the little they had to stand up to what was the enemy for them, the Silver Millennium itself. How well she remembered those days now, how the images of those days were still branded in her mind. How helpless they'd been! They Queen had not allowed them to attack the rebels and their followers, instead trying to plead to their senses, trying to plead that the blood-spill and pain a rebellion brought along with it would not make anybody's situation easier. But they had laughed, laughed and sneered as they had burned down every building that had ever been built under the Queen's name on their planet and as they sought after the few rich and wealthy that lived among them. It seemed that they didn't mind blood-spill and pain in the slightest.

But they had made one mistake, one heavy mistake that finally brought the Queen's wrath down on them. They threatened her; they threatened to rip down the walls of the ancient tomb of Saturn, and they threatened to come as far as the White Moon that was the heart of the kingdom they so despised, and kill the follower to that throne, the Princess Serenity.

Flames of fury had burned in the Queen's eyes as she had finally given the order to do what had to be done to keep the rebellions under control. No matter what the cost … The words still echoed in Haruka's ears, as the Queen had repeated them over and over again in a voice so cold and heartless that it had startled her right to the very core. And so they had acted. The army of the Silver Millennium and the two senshi of Uranus and Neptune had fought for months upon months. In the end, it had taken them two years to finally bring back order to the planet of death and destruction. And so they had succeeded, but at what cost she still refused to think about. But nothing had now happened for three years –

"Three years!" she hissed angrily to no one in particular, her thoughts having made their way to her mouth.

"I don't think we could have expected them to remain quiet for any longer …" Michiru whispered, her eyes glazed over and fixed on a spot somewhere in the distance, while her delicate hand reached for her partner's once more. Gently squeezing the ice-cold hand that sought hers, Haruka sighed.

"Maybe …"

"But what do we do now?"

"Pray and hope?"

Michiru turned her head back swiftly to her companion, her eyes narrowed. "That is not the soldier of Uranus I know that is speaking right now …" Raising her hand to brush over the smooth cheek of her lover, she pressed her body against Haruka's taller one softly. "I love you; you know that, don't you?"

Burying her face in the soft locks beneath her chin for a second, the blonde woman hugged her smaller companion to her tightly for a moment. Feeling the fingers on her back curl into her cloak tightly as if holding on to her, she leant down and kissed the beautiful woman that was her very life, the one thing that made her whole. "We'll never be apart, be it in life or death." Pale fingers that felt cold like ice intertwined with her own tightly, before the weight of the other body was lifted from her own.

"Let's do what we have to do."

Purple eyes shot open suddenly, as her mind started screaming at her out of absolutely nowhere; it was screaming and shouting while sending jumbled images through her mind, confusing her deeply. Gasping in pain, she felt her knees buckle beneath her feet while her hands remained at the side of her pounding head, grasping her skull tightly. Breathing in deeply, she tried to concentrate, tried to see the pictures clearly that had come so out of nowhere upon her. She knew what she was experiencing; but she had not envisioned anything for the longest of time, never once since she had left her home-planet to live at the side of her Princess.

"Visions are powerful things, Mars-sama. Never let yourself drown in them. Never allow yourself to be controlled by what you are seeing. It is a great and seldom gift of the Gods that has been bestowed upon you, especially as you are a Princess. Never forget, that you must remain in control. It is your body, and your mind."

Eyes snapping open, she breathed in deeply once more, as she remembered the words she had been taught when she had still been a small child. Clasping her fingers in front of her chest, she forced her breath to slow down, while she repeated what she had learned with such a fascination all those years ago. As her eyes relaxed slowly, she drew her upper body up straight, as she bit into her lip harshly. Control … My body, my mind … Control is what I need … Mouthing the words along, she forced them to seep into her panicked mind, forced the words to spread inside of her and break through the painful images still vivid in her head.

And then she saw. Saw the blood spill as screams of pain echoed inside of her, bodies of energy slamming into all that stood in their way. She felt a cold and dread that was not her own spread through her body right to her fingertips that she still held tightly to her heaving chest, making it feel as if ice was running through her veins. But her mind only grazed those images, while it travelled on relentlessly, making its way through crumbling stones of old, leaving the shouts to be replaced with a silence that was by far more unsettling.

My mind, my body … My mind, my body … She never ceased repeating those words to herself, her eyes shut as tightly as she could. But she couldn't control the fast beating of her heart and its pace that seemed to quicken only more and more with each shaking breath she took. For she knew the thud that was now echoing slowly in her mind was not of her own body – it was not her own heartbeat she was listening to. The slow thud grew in noise as her mind led her through a darkness that was so thick she could not make out a thing but that horrible noise that was rapidly growing; down dusty steps she was led, down, down, to seemingly nowhere, endlessly downwards.

Thud … Thud … Thud …

My mind, my body, my mind, my body, my mind, my body … She forced herself to say to herself as she felt the noise slowly consume her, slowly spread to her every fibre, and make her whole being fall into its rhythm.

She stopped. Stopped the words she had been grasping unto, stopped the strange journey she was being lead through. Her eyes shot open as she gasped for breath noisily, her hands now pressed painfully to her chest.

For she had finally seen what her mind had intended her to see; a tomb, carved into a wall of black stone, a tomb that was covered in runes of the old Lunarian language of Selene, a tomb that held something captive. No, not something, someone. And that someone was slowly awakening.

Right, tell me what you think if you have the time.

Greta