A/N: So, just a notice for all y'all. I am going to be going a bit more seriously into this fanfic than I have originally thought I would. In fact, this whole thing would never have been typed if not for my good friend (and fellow Moonie) Stephen. When he was a bit curious to know exactly why Dark Makoto hated the rest of the senshi, but primarily Rei and Ami, I told him the truth behind her. He actually found it fascinating, and so I was inspired by him to write it down in a full story format. So, thanks to the guy who is one of my good friends for having me give him spoilers.
Warning: This fic contains adult language, dark themes, and violence. This WILL get darker as it progresses. Okay, not as dark as Courage-less, granted, but it won't stay as light-hearted as it is now.
With love,
Korrupted.
Special thanks to: Everyone who has been reading this. Seriously, I kinda feed off of that.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sailor Moon.
Makoto panted heavily as she struggled to stand again, the Moonlight Guardsman that was instructing her on hand to hand combat not giving her a moment to rest as he rushed her again, knocking the child back down to the packed dirt floor of the training room. "Get up, Princess Sailor Jupiter! The enemy will not give you a minute to catch your second wind!" Keiton told her in a cold voice, his golden eyes just as icy.
As she tried to push herself back up, her left leg gave out of her, falling back to the floor with a hiss of pain. "I said, get up!" Her trainer commanded.
"Hey! What the hell is the matter with you?!" A young female voice shouted, footsteps drawing closer to the dizzy girl.
She felt someone pull her off the ground, seeing concerned midnight blue orbs peering into her exhausted emerald, a few other sets of hurried foot falls following. "Michi, get Lacira, now. Setsuna, I need a cup of water, quickly." The blonde ordered, the other two hurrying to obey before she addressed the man who was scowling at them. "What in the name of Uranus is your deal? Can't you see she's wiped out?"
Makoto could feel her sweat starting to soak Haruka's blue tunic, panting loudly as she took the small reprieve from combat, drinking deeply when a cup was placed to her lips. "Easy, easy. Not too fast, Makoto." Setsuna urged.
"She's no good with unarmed combat. How is she supposed to protect the Princess if she can't hold me off?" He sneered.
Setsuna glared at the man, her entire aura cold feeling. "She's not even six yet! You're setting her up for failure with those expectations, Keiton!" Her pink gaze softened as she took charge of the wooden vessel again to get more water.
"What in the name of the Queen is going on here?" The barely controlled fury in Lacira's voice was clearly evident, even the relentless man jumping at the sound.
The woman swept in, her gown billowing behind her as lightning jumped along her frame, her olive green eyes alight in rage. Her tan face had the slightest reds of fury, a metal spear with a lightning bolt as the head in her right hand. The air around her was commanding, enraged, crackling with electricity; Princess Sailor Jupiter was truly a sight to behold. Behind her came Selene, the woman dashing over to Makoto and taking charge of the cup from Setsuna, trying to coax her to drink slowly. "I asked you a question!" Lacira barked at the man, his eyes growing wide.
Keiton was stammering wildly, fearing the notorious temper of the Jovian warrior that was being directed at him, so Haruka took the liberty -and pleasure- of answering for him. "Keiton was putting her through drills at double pace, Ma'am. He expects the success of someone at my level when she just started a few months ago. He was not allowing her to rest, and so I stepped in."
The elder brunette turned to face the now shaking man, her expression deadly. "Is this true?" Her words were hissed, low, and dangerous.
Before he could stammer out an answer, a blast of harsh air struck him from behind Lacira, Princess Sailor Uranus to the Queen stalking up in clear fury. Makoto noted that the woman with long, pulled back, dirty blonde hair sported the same gold cuffs on her arms, marking her as the one who had taken the Vow for the current queen. "SKY FALL!" She shouted, another blast of air striking the man to the dirt.
"Aqua Freeze!" A voice full of soft anger commanded, Keiton finding his wrists frozen to the floor as Princess Sailor Mercury stalked closer, her pale blue hair as short as Haruka's.
"Venus Chain Embrace!" A woman with strawberry blonde hair called out, her bright sapphire gaze enraged as a coil of golden metal studded with rubies began wrapping around the Guardsman's body and starting to tighten.
"P-please! I meant no harm! I just-"
Lacira cut him off by slamming the stave of her spear onto the dirt, lightning sparking even brighter on her body. "You were being reckless again. No more excuses, no more chances. We warned you that much when you broke Princess Sailor Venus Minako's arm. You are not fit to stand among the Moonlight Guard, let alone train the future warriors."
She stood aside, Princess Sailor Mercury stepping up to glare down at him with ice blue eyes, her gaze as frigid as the coldest ice of her planet. "You are henceforth stripped of your rank. For thrice being confronted for your reckless actions and taking no heed, you shall serve life imprisonment on the comet Freya. May the Moonlight save you, for none of us will." Her soft voice was full of deadly hate, turning towards the door she had entered from. "Moonlight Knights, take this pathetic man to be transported to Freya. I will inform the Queen of this ruling after I prepare the required documents."
The Princess Sailor Mercury swept out of the room, three Knights hurrying forwards to pry the banished male out of the grip of ice and metal, dragging the disgraced soldier out of the training room. The other women strode over to the group of children, Selene helping Makoto sit up with her sore muscles. "I let a Guard handle your training, and this happens. I am sorry, Makoto." The elder princess of Jupiter apologized.
"Whu... What was th-that about?" The emerald eyed warrior in training panted out, feeling just a little better now that she was resting. Her whole body throbbed, her skin almost pulsing against the metal cuffs.
"Keiton has a bit of a stupid streak. He first messed up by trying to double pace Sets, then me. I passed out mid-training and got my ankle sprained. Last time, Minako was put through training at Setsuna's level, and her arm was broken." Haruka supplied. "They warned him that if they caught him trying to double pace another trainee, he would be banished. I guess he just never learned."
The child nodded, wincing as her muscles burned in agony, hissing through her teeth. Her leather clothing clung to her uncomfortably, her reddish brown hair sticking to her face as it shone with sweat. However, she felt a pair of arms just a bit bigger than her own hoist her up, hearing the grunt of Haruka. "C'mon, Tiger. Let's get you to bed." The girl informed her, Michiru and Setsuna trailing behind her.
About halfway to her room, Makoto seemed to realize that she was being carried, her Jovian pride making her fidget. "Haruka, I can walk on my own!" She protested, though didn't actively try to climb down from the warrior of the sky's arms.
"Hush. You're hurt. Just let me be nice, dammit." The blonde grumbled, her midnight blue hues still looking ahead.
As they neared the corridor that housed their rooms, Minako popped out of the kitchen door with Serenity, both sneaking away with far more ice cream than was reasonable. Typically, Haruka would scold the leader of the Inner branch of the Senshi for letting the princess have that much at once, but the leader of the Outer branch was currently occupied with carrying the sore child half her age, her face starting to turn red from the effort. Thankfully, Michiru hurried ahead and opened the door for her comrade, the warrior of the winds plopping Makoto onto her bed rather gracelessly. "Th-there... You rest today. Sets? Could you get some water? I'll get some food. Roasted boar and potatoes, right?" She waited for the girl to nod as the Neptunian helped her slid under the covers. "Alright. I'll be back."
Makoto watched her strong friend leave, a part of her hoping that she could be as strong as Haruka one day. Michiru brushed a bit of hair out of her face, the action making her feel homesick once again. Only four months ago had she been ripped from her planet and family, and she missed her twin terribly. Tears burned the emerald eyes, prompting Makoto to impatiently rub at them with the back of her hands. "It's okay, Makoto. You can cry if you need to." She heard the aqua haired girl soothe, her lower lip quivering slightly.
Try as she might to fight them, the stubborn Jovian girl felt the hot tears run from her eyes, crying as quietly as she possibly could. It was so hard to be away from her mother and Sakura, and being put through Keiton's harsh training had pushed her past the point of being able to hold back her sadness. She missed the stormy skies, the sounds of rain and thunder. She missed how lightning would lance across the darkened clouds, the trees whispering their secrets to her. Makoto knew that it was a very rare gift for any member of the royal family to be able to listen to the forests, the trait only showing up once every several generations, while it was almost completely unheard of in commoners. Her head lifted at the sounds of rushing boots on stone crystal floors drew near, her door thrown open to see Haruka panting in the frame, struggling to catch her breath. "I... I h-he-heard Ma... Makoto crying..." She managed to wheeze out, clearly having run all the way back from possibly near the great hall, which was a very good distance away.
The lightning child sniffled, rubbing her eyes against the back of her arm to try to clear them. "I'm f-fine... How did you h-hear that, anyways?" Her voice was a bit of a grumble, clearly unhappy at being caught crying by her friend.
"She hears things on the wind. Here, have some more water." Setsuna offered as she strode past the still panting and gasping warrior, a cup in her hands. "Us Outer branch Senshi have some sort of precognitive trait that we may inherit. Mine is that I can see various futures when I look through the flow of time, however it only becomes truly clear which one will happen when the needed events have occurred for it." The Plutonian girl answered, sitting next to Makoto on the bed and handing her the cup.
Michiru continued as Makoto took slow, steady sips of water. "I can see warnings and bits of the future in my mirror, but that's it. Haruka is the only one of us three who can hear the present. The winds carry images and sounds to her, and she has to make her choices based on that." The pre-teen blinked her royal blue orbs before arching her aquamarine eyebrow at her young friend. "What about you? Did you inherit your planet's trait?"
Makoto nearly choked on her water, her eyes wide in shock as she sputtered and coughed; how had they known she could hear things?! When she could speak clearly, the stubborn child furrowed her auburn eyebrows at Michiru, her voice carefully level. "Why would I have a trait like that? I'm part of the Inner branch, not Outer."
Haruka walked over with a wide grin, her posture playfully macho. "Ah, yes you are part of the Inner group, but your planet is in our territory. You're both, really." She shrugged with an exaggerated motion. "Jupiter resides in the outer part of the solar system, with our planets, making Princess Sailor Jupiter a link between the Inner branch and Outer branch. You might be classified as one of them, but you're also one of us. Your planet has a trait, but it's far rarer than ours due to that."
Makoto blinked several times, thinking on the explanation her friends had just given her as she stared at the cup in her hands. That could be why the trio of older girls took special care to watch over her, seeing her as one of them due to her home planet being one of theirs. Minako mainly stuck with the princess, but she still tried her best to look out for her. However, she was younger, still a child herself and not truly the leader she would one day be. It had to be safe to tell these three about her ability, right? They had just shared their own with her, and hers was fairly useless away from the forests and trees that spoke to her, telling her of changing rivers and roaming animals. "I... I can hear the forests talking. Since my planet is mostly trees, and there is little battle, it's mostly just were the rivers have moved to, or where berries are. Sakura loved it when I could tell her where the pack of Lightning Wolves were so we could spy on them."
Haruka grimaced. "And I bet you feel really cut off being away from forests, huh?" It had to be painful for the girl to be away from everything familiar, and then having no trees around to allow her ability to thrive.
Makoto nodded, tears once again stinging at her green hues. "Sakura is my twin, and I miss her so much... Being without the trees is one thing, but without her... I feel so alone." The Jovian confessed as tears trailed down her face again.
Suddenly, strong arms encircled her. "Hey, it's okay. You aren't alone. You have the Order. You have us." Haruka's voice dropped to an even softer tone. "You have me." The blonde gently tightened her embrace. "We'll be here for you, no matter what. Okay, Tiger?"
Makoto hugged the ten year old back firmly, crying into her shoulder as Michiru gently hugged her from behind, her slender arms wrapped around the young girl's waist. Setsuna gently stroked the reddish locks of the lonely princess, hoping that the child would soon bounce back from the separation each of them had to endure.
Selene was looking at Lacira as the tall, powerfully built warrior strode about her room, clad in only a loincloth and breast band. "He had no right to do that to Makoto! Ohhhhh, if Talia hadn't smacked him down with Sky Fall, I would have ended him." The Jovian seethed, olive orbs full of barely contained fury as she paced her wooden floors.
The seamstress rolled her blue eyes as she brushed back a lock of her silver-blonde hair behind her ear. "Yes. You have said that seven times now, Cira. Now get your ass in bed and cuddle with me. I am undressed you know." She snapped, the lightning warrior blinking before heeding the demand.
When the brunette's arms tugged the slender form of the dress maker against her own body, Selene sighed in content, her cheek nestled against her lover's well-proportioned bust; there were women with larger breasts, but she always preferred her feisty Jovian's modest chest. "I should never have let a Guardsman take over her training. Akira would have killed him and me if she had seen that!"
Again, blue eyes rolled with a heavy sigh. 'Not this again.' She pushed herself up to lean over the grumbling woman, her annoyed gaze meeting frustrated scowls. "Lacira, I swear to Serenity that I will throttle you if you don't stop talking about this. You assigned her to be trained because we both know you are awful at hand to hand combat. If it bothers you that much, why not have Talia's niece take over her training with Lysander to supervise?"
The fuming senshi of courage opened her mouth to protest, instantly snapping it shut again when she couldn't actually find fault in her idea. In fact, it sounded quite brilliant. The younger warrior of the wind did excel at unarmed combat, and Lysander would be a great person to watch over them. "Fine. But I still want to rip his head off..." The Jovian finally conceded.
"Cira, shut the hell up. I'm trying to snuggle, for Serenity's sake!"
Makoto had fallen asleep at some point, the other warriors leaving her room so she could rest in peace. A soft knock on the door that connected her room to Princess Serenity's woke her, the worn out girl sitting up groggily. "Mmm... Yeah? Come in." She called out to whoever had knocked, certain it was the blonde that she was sworn to protect.
She was proven right when the door opened and the white dress covered with crescent moons was visible, Serenity shutting the door behind her. "Are you feeling alright? Minako told me as soon as Michiru told her." Her bare foot scuffed the wooden floor shyly. "I'm sorry you were hurt. Here, I brought you ice cream! Ice cream always helps me feel better!" She held out her right hand, a large bowl of the frosty treat offered to the now grinning child.
"I'd love some. Thanks Serenity." Makoto took the dessert and grinned wider when she noticed there was honey, bits of dried fruits, and various nuts mixed in; the Princess must have discovered her favorite toppings. "Really, thank you. It means a lot that you would get this for me."
The older girl jumped up onto the bed and propped her chin on her palms, smiling at the brunette warmly. "It's nothing, really. I would do the same for any of my friends." After a moment, the curious princess hesitantly dropped her eyes to the bangles on her guardian's biceps. "Do those hurt?"
Makoto paused with the spoon shoved into her mouth, the result somewhat comical before she put the utensil back in the bowl, her verdant gaze lowering to her left arm. "Not really. Just feel weird still. I figure that when I get too big, I'll get new ones."
The young princess of the moon partially extended her right hand, her brilliant blue eyes meeting emerald warily, as if waiting for permission. When she received the tiny nod, the blonde girl lightly touched the golden surface of the left cuff, her fingers tracing the designs gently. Her motions ceased as she touched the crescent moon that was etched into the surface of the jewelry, blinking sadly. "I asked Mother to exclude this. I didn't like the idea of someone being forced to only focus on my needs. She said it was tradition, and that she couldn't get you out of it even if she tried. I'm sorry that you have to be like this, Mako. Really I am." The last few sentences had come out amid sniffles, the heir to the Moon Kingdom crying softly.
Makoto had set aside her nearly empty bowl to pull the blonde against her body, stroking her hair gently. It was almost unbelievable that once upon a time, the lightning warrior had thought she would be cold, aloof, cruel. "Shhhh... It's fine. Hush." She soothed, sitting up more.
Her body felt immensely improved, but a bit weak still, however she was to be the closest guard of all to the future queen. Her duty was supposed to be to Serenity and no other, not even her sister; but Makoto knew that Sakura would always be the most important to her right after. "Hey, Serenity." She prompted, the teary princess looking at her with bleary eyes, the Jovian girl grinning impishly.
"Wanna go get more ice cream?"
A/N: Don't forget to review for this! Comments feed me like a mana from the heavens. If I get enough mana, maybe my Druid can get upgraded to fight Diablo! Oh, wait... Wrong kind of mana... Oops.