The constant light cast by the earth shone through tightly drawn curtains causing the room to be bathed in a red glow. The ebony fireplace contained a roaring fire which kept the room cozy but not too hot. In the center of the room on the large bed a girl no older then seventeen lay staring up at the ceiling. Her wide amethyst eyes winced every minute or so.
She could feel the warmth of the Mars crystal in her chest its power still adjusting itself to her body. The girl somehow knew it would take a while for her to adjust to this new level of power, but the knowledge made the transition no easier. She couldn't sleep, she could feel every flame in the palace, but that wasn't what kept her eyes from closing in slumber.
In the room next to her behind large golden doors emblazed with the symbol of Venus, Rei could sense the presence of dozens of small candles their small lives a soft comfort to the drowsy Martian. But one particular candle no more then 20 feet from her, parted by white marble walls, would spark to life then no more then a minute later would be extinguished. This constant on and off had kept the Martian up for the last 2 hours and she had just about had enough.
How could she be expected to sleep like this? The constant flare to life followed by the cold hollowness of extinction was playing havoc on the Martian's heightened senses. What was the blond doing?
With a low growl Rei made her way to her bedroom wall, gingerly placing her hands on the cold stone. She had to be extra careful she was still unable to fully control her newly gained power; the various puddles of wax in the adjacent room were proof. And the Martian didn't want to hurt the infuriating blond just shock her a bit, hopefully enough to stop torturing the flame.
Rei shut her eyes in concentration, focusing only on the single small flame which had been the source of her sleeplessness. She could feel it flickering; if she added just the smallest amount of power to it Rei knew the candle would fare up and melt all the way down. But before she could apply the needed power, it went out. Again.
It hadn't even been a minute yet!
Amethyst eyes shot open, irritation causing her eyebrow to twitch. With a grunt of pure frustration the Princess of Mars smacked her palm against the wall, causing every candle in the wing to suddenly go out.
Roughly five hours later found the Princess of Mars standing in an archery lane next to the training yard. She was dressed comfortably, her wrist protected by leather bracers which matched the dark fabric of her sleeveless shirt and fitted pants. Her hair was tied back, confined into a rare ponytail. The only noticeable sign of the dark Princess's sleepless night were here red rimmed eyes.
The target before her was pot marked with holes, testimony of the time Rei had spent in the archery lane. The long bow she held was the color of a flaming sunset and coincidentally enough the rising phoenix on her back. This bow was the gift left to Rei by her older sister, a gift from one warrior to another.
Archery required calmness and a centering of oneself which had always been attractive to the dark haired loner. When she was younger she had spent many long hours practicing the art even though it wasn't part of her training regime. And now with her powers attempting to find equilibrium once again Rei found the activity helpful for focusing herself.
In archery, Rei's world was confined to the arrow shaft and the target, little else existed. Even those constant thoughts about the training she would receive as a senshi, the concerns about being in a new place and the thoughts of home seem to lazily drift through the Martian's conscious.
But even in this sacred activity the blond haunted Rei.
Thunk. Another bulls-eye.
That damnable Venusian was like a shadow glued to Rei's steps. Every time the blond got close all the ebony haired Martian could see, were her dreams and memories of what the fire had shown her.
Thunk. Bulls-eye.
Even when Rei was around the Venusian and not thinking about her dreams, all she could focus on was the sway of Minako's hips or the way her hair caught the light. Or the fact that ever since she made the comment about the red bow the infuriating girl had worn a red bow in her hair.
Thunk. Bulls-eye.
Rei frowned at the target, it was littered with arrows. The ebony haired Martian reached back toward her shoulder and felt for how many arrows she had left, three. After a moment of contemplation the dark princess unstrung her long bow and put it away.
With a wild grin spread across the usually stoic face Rei purposefully reached out her hands, careful to reign in the unbalanced power within her. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow as she slowly drew her left hand into a fist. As her hand closed a bow of flame burst from her fist and Rei raised it toward her target. Her right hand pulled back from her left and a flaming arrow was born; sweat trickling down her face from the train of keeping the unstable power in check. And every couple of seconds the arrow would flare slightly threatening to flame out of control.
This use to be easier, before she received the Mars Crystal, but the new power was still adjusting to her body and spirit, and Rei had a sneaking suspicion it was also adjusting to her soul.
She was grateful for her rigorous training on Mars because just forming the bow and arrow had taken a massive amount of control. Rei knew she wouldn't be able to hold it for more then a couple minutes. But she would hold on to her shaking control for as long as she could.
The Martian Princess's breaths were labored, and sweat dripped steadily off her chin but she stood silently with her fiery arrow pointed toward the target. With her muscles screaming for release Rei finally let the arrow fly, and with amazing speed it zoomed toward the target instantly incinerating the wood upon impact.
Rei let a soft sigh escape as unreadable eyes watched the wooden target turn to ash. The Martian always got a quiet thrill after utterly destroying something. It was a darkness that laid at the edge of her conscious; she was used to keeping it there.
"Your not suppose to destroy the practice yard, you know"
The tired princess instantly stiffened, it looks like the sun had come out for her shadow had returned.
"A practice yard is useless if I can't practice properly"
Rei kept her eyes glued on the ashes of the target as she wiped her face.
"I guess we will have to find targets that don't easily burn"
The Martian chanced a glance over her shoulder catching the blond haired girl's gaze focused a little lower then it should have been. Rei quickly averted her gaze she didn't want the blond to know she had been caught, or so she told herself. Being around the usually charismatic Venusian made the dark princess pull in on herself, and hide behind a wall of indifference, despite wanting to laugh and talk freely with the blond. It seemed, to the reserved Martian, that her reaction was impossible to overcome and the ebony haired Martian didn't want to delve into the reasons why.
" I'm sure the servants would jump at the chance to serve Mars-sama" Rei couldn't see the blonds' face and something in her voice made the Martian pause.
" Why do you say that?"
"It seems half the palace is enamored with you while the other half fears you"
Rei could hear the smirk in the Venusian's voice but chose not to rise to her bait. Instead she kept her eyes centered ahead of her as a silence fell over the two girls. For her part Mars was using every ounce of control she had left to keep herself from fidgeting.
The awkward pauses gnawed at Rei until finally, the Martian turned and regarded her blond companion for a few quiet moments, inwardly she marveled at how her heart sped up at the mere sight of the other Princess.
"Don't light and relight the same candle for hours."
Shock bloomed over the other girls face but was quickly hidden under another unreadable emotion.
"That was you, wasn't it?" the blond demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Rei sniffed, feigning ignorance.
" The candles! Last night every candle in my room and up and down the hall went out and couldn't be relit. That was you, wasn't it?"
Rei frowned at the girl in front of her. She wasn't sure why she was acting this way and it baffled the Martian, normally she would simply take responsibility. But now she wanted to confess what she had done to the blonde, it was wrong and she knew it.
The Martian's frown deepened, where had that last thought come from? She had done nothing wrong. Realization sparked and Rei's eyes met the imploring cerulean in front of her. The compulsion to confess to the blond rose up in the Martians throat once again as their eyes met, and now Rei knew for sure what the Venusians gift was.
"Get out of my head" Rei ground out, her eyes blazing.
The Venusian for her part jumped slightly as if coming out of a daze. Instantly the feeling left Rei and the Venusian in front of her had the decency to look guilty.
"I'm sorry"
The agitation the Martian felt vanished like smoke under the Venusian's guilty gaze. A flower of compassion bloomed inside Rei's chest for the blond.
"It's difficult to control since you received the crystal, isn't it?" Rei offered gently.
"How did– the candles!" A little smirk tugged at the corner of the blonds' mouth as she instantly grew more confident under the warm gaze of the Martian.
" I heard you put out every light in the wing" the blond smiled approvingly.
"Fire is my element after all, Princess"
" Mine is love", the Venusian offered proudly
Rei stopped, confusion lighting her face, love wasn't an element. It was well known that the element of Venus was metal. But when she voiced her thoughts the blonds' face flushed in anger and Rei's face flushed for a completely different reason.
The blue haired princess of Mercury sat down gracefully on a patch of grass next to the sulking Martian. A soft smile graced her features as she gently laid a hand on the Martian's arm.
"Let me see your face Rei"
Rei merely turned away, using the curtain of her dark hair as cover.
" I'm a trained healer"
When the dark haired princess turned further away Ami tried a different tactic.
" Rei, won't you let a friend see your face?" , at this the Martian sighed a soft curse and allowed the Mercurian to have a peek.
There was an angry red hand mark on the left side of the Martian's face which had caused Rei's face to swell slightly.
"That was quite a hit" the blue haired Princess commented her fingers trailing along the swollen skin.
Rei trained her eyes forward, watching the movement of two fighters sparing, her steely silence communicating just how upset she was.
"You should be careful not to arouse her anger; you know she is the commander after all. We are destined to follow her."
"She should be careful not to arouse my anger!"
Angry amethyst met cool aqua , "In reality they should be careful not to arouse our anger" the Martian corrected.
Rei scowled in response and sniffed in indignation, " I know the legend Ami."
"I've seen what they don't tell. I know the first Senshi of Mercury was known as the Black Warrior of the North" The Martian nearly barked. "I know how Venus was the first guardian planet but don't forget that the first senshi came to Mars because of our vision, then to Mercury for their logic, and lastly to Jupiter for their strength. And that person–"
The Martian roughly thrust her finger toward the Venusian in question which was in a friendly sparing match with the Princess of Jupiter. The Martian's eyes paused briefly to watch the form of the blond as she dodged the Jovian's attack expertly before shaking the image from her vision.
"That person " Rei continued, "thinks love is an element!" the Martian concluded in a scandalized whisper.
" The inner planets make up the four guardian gods, we all know this. We are taught the story from birth. Mercury with all its knowledge and logic flows with the ancient power of water, able to be calm and deep like a river or angry and powerful like a tidal wave. Venus the brightest planet due to its reflective clouds reflects the condition of the heart with the strength of metal. Mars as unpredictable and fierce as the fire it was born from burns with spiritual power. And lastly Jupiter as grounded, steady, yet ever changing as the wood that so populated their planet. I know the story Ami, and love is not one of those elements" The Martian concluded with a huff.
"What does she expect to do? Throw hearts at our enemies with her love power and cause them to orgasm to death?"
Ami's amused smile turned into full on laughter at the Martian's outburst and she attempted to put a calming hand on the upset Martian. At Ami's laughter Rei bristled even more resembling a disturbed cat.
"This is serious, her element is metal!" Rei bit out in a weak attempt to stop the Mercurian's laughter.
Before Ami could answer a clear voice echoed through the practice yard, cutting through the easy atmosphere. Four pairs of eyes turned toward the sound of the voice to see a small black cat standing importantly at the entrance of the practice yard.
"Good, everyone is here. I take it you girls have noticed a change in your powers since receiving your planetary crystals."
All activity stopped and the four fledgling planetary guardians made their way to Luna. The ebony haired Martian trailed a bit behind Ami allowing the smaller Princess to pull her along by the wrist. The act didn't go by unnoticed by the Venusian and the Jovian who looked on with jealous eyes.
The Lunarian advisor gave a brief speech on how the changes were normal and that the planetary crystals were acclimating to the new senshi. Their senshi training would begin the following week.
" Princess Rei" The Lunarian started, her eyes barely concealing her contempt.
"Advisor" the Martian answered matching the cat's cold tone. She made no attempt to hide her dislike for the lunarian advisor and ignored the cat as much as possible.
" As you know your training will be slightly different due to your unique talent-"
"Martian Clairvoyance is rarely considered a talent Advisor Luna, it's a highly sought after gift." Ami cut in much to the advisor's obvious resentment. The flustered advisor couldn't argue with the calculated words of a Princess of Mercury whose genius was considered a prodigy even on her own planet.
The cat bowed stiffly and continued with a forced cough, "Yes, well Princess Rei you are to meet with the Time Guardian after lunch for your instruction. Queen Serenity's orders" the advisor quickly added.
The Martian nodded her head in acknowledgement, she had already suspected this to happen since the green haired woman had been present the first time she met Queen Serenity. Rei didn't hear the rest of the advisor's words as she pondered her meeting with the Time Guardian. Unknown to her a pair of cerulean eyes had been watching her very closely.
Again thank you for reading, i'm sorry this update took a bit longer to put out. I have been caught up in the holidays, but I will try to not be as long with the next update. Also I had originally wanted the dialogue to go a bit differently but I like this version better. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years. Again all comments, concerns, rants, and complaints can be directed right here.
Rikku's twin- Thank you very much and your right caps really are the icing on the cake. lol
heatqueen- Thank you, i hope you continue to read
trusuprise- You might be able to tell but I really despise that cat. Speaking of haunting, during PGSM I got the feeling of Minako being almost like a ghost in the sense that she almost seemed to haunt the other senshi by always being in the background. Maybe it's just my feeling. And yes ambiguity is great isn't it? I love it ! Without it subtext wouldn't be as fun.
DavisJes- I enjoyed how you left a comment after each chapter. Thank you for reading.
LunarMiko07- I think answering a question with a question is just awesome anyway, it usually makes the other person very flustered. I suggest everyone do it. lol