Dark Ambitions Of The Orphic Hunt! Awaiting The Conqueror's Return From The Stars
In a dark, twilit forest, a boy sat cross-legged on a carpet of thick moss.
He was young- twelve or thirteen, perhaps- with smooth bronze skin. A wreath of delicate stars wrapped around the sides of his head, peeping out through his untidy blue hair. His short, blue-and-black Grecian robes were trimmed with gold, and the straps of his close-toed sandals wrapped halfway up his calf. Golden cuffs and chains adorned the edges of his ears... Which were longer than they should have been, and tapered off to a graceful point.
Eyes closed, he ran his fingertips over the backs of the cards fanned out on the ground in front of him. The intricate gold patterns glowed faintly at his touch, until at last, one seemed to jump into his hand.
Picking it up, he turned it over. The Reverse Four of Cups.
Smirking, he put the card face-up next to him, reaching out and trailing his fingers along the deck again. The Seven of Pentacles, the Knight of Swords, and-- here he stifled a snort- the Wheel of Fortune. Well, THAT was a little on-the-nose, wasn't it?
"What are you doing, brat?" A voice demanded. With a shimmer in the air, someone- a young man, or maybe a teenager- appeared a few feet away, arms folded as he loomed over the boy.
He was handsome, in a pale, byronic sort of way. His long, dark hair gleamed with hints of blue and green, woven with strands of what almost looked like pondweed. His white shirt was open to his chest, his black leather pants were tight, and a tattered kind of overskirt hung from his waist. He had the same pointed ears, and on his forehead, something gleamed- a jagged purple mark, almost like a star.
The boy looked up, seeming unimpressed by the new arrival. "A reading," he said, rolling his eyes. "Duh- what does it LOOK like?"
His bangs shifted, revealing an identical star on his brow.
The young man scoffed, tossing his head. "Oh, really-- while the High Oracle's in his chamber communing with the spirits as we speak? What, you don't think he's up to the job, hmm?"
"There's no RULE that says I can't, is there?" The boy retorted. "Anyway, Vivianite- the Oracle's premonitions only cover the really big stuff... Y'know, the basics on what we're s'posed to do next. Even he says I'm better at the smaller stuff than him... Do YOU think his opinion's no good now, huh?"
The youth bristled.
"Why, you little--" he began. Then he relaxed visibly, sighing and brushing his hair back from his face. "Whatever," he grumbled, waving a hand. "Well, alright, then... What are your little cards saying, Zuri?"
The boy- Zuri-- rolled his eyes again, putting the cards down next to him. "I wouldn't expect YOU to understand- it's a little complicated. But, basically..."
He tapped the small stack of discarded cards with a fingernail. "It's saying that this is our time to take action... Something to do with them, I think."
"Them?" Vivianite asked, raising a dubious eyebrow.
Zuri rolled his eyes even harder this time. "You know- themmmmm. The invaders. See?"
Picking the topmost card up from the discarded pile, he flashed it between two fingers.
"Sure, the Wheel of Fortune could just mean- y'know, changes, chances, karma, fortune... But I've got a feeling it's supposed to be taken a little more literally this time."
"...Hmm," Vivianite muttered, slightly less dubiously this time. "Okay, okay... So? Was that it, or...?"
"Of COURSE not-- duhhhh," Zuri retorted, putting the card back down. "If SOMEBODY hadn't interrupted me..."
Running his hand over the backs of the deck again, he closed his eyes, humming softly. As the next card jumped into his fingers, he flipped it over, squinting at it with one eye. "Ooh- the Five of Wands," he announced. "Conflict."
Vivianite rolled his eyes again. "Oh, yes-- that's VERY enlightening. 'Conflict'- tell me, Zuri, do your little cards have any BROADER messages they could relay? I feel like we're getting a little too caught-up in the fine details..."
Zuri ignored him, tossing the card lightly aside and going for the next one. "Alright. The King of Swords-- reversed," he announced, putting his head on one side and squinting at it. "Interesting..."
Vivianite bristled somewhat, apparently offended that Zuri was ignoring him. "Uh-- HELLO??" He demanded, bending over at the waist and snapping a black-gloved hand in the boy's face. "Anything to SAY, smart-boy?"
Scoffing, Zuri batted it away with his free hand, eyes still fixed on the card. "Let's see here," he muttered. "Now, this could represent quiet power-- or... A-HA!"
His eyes widened, and he grinned. "I got it- THIS one's the Conqueror." Instead of discarding it like the others, he set it down face-up in front of him.
"The... Conqueror?" Vivianite repeated, straightening up and cocking a doubtful eyebrow.
Zuri rolled his eyes again. "Ugh-- haven't you been paying ATTENTION?!" He demanded, already going for a new card as he shot the youth a disgusted look. "The one the Oracle's been talking about! Him! And- oh-- heeey, wouldja' look at that..."
Rather than one card hopping into his hand, this time there were two. Pulling the first one, he flipped it over, examining it and grinning eagerly again.
"Well, well, well! The Six of Cups! Looks like he's finally coming back, huh?"
This actually seemed to make Vivianite take an interest. "Wait- is he really?" He asked, leaning over and raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, the cards don't lie," Zuri shrugged, turning over the second card. "And-- oop..." His eyebrows raised, and he smirked even wider. "The Three of Pentacles!"
"And?" Vivianite asked, the obvious disdain in his voice not quite able to mask the slight tinge of intrigue. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"
"It means teamwork," Zuri replied, waving a hand. With a faint shimmer of blue and gold light, the cards lifted up, stacking themselves neatly into his palm. "Y'know, collaboration, learning from each other... There's a reason the Oracle's been waiting for him to come back, right? Whatever he's planning..."
The last of the cards folded into his hand, completing the stack. "It's gonna need the Conqueror from the Stars to pull it off."
"Uwah-- Zuri, you're soo smaaaaart!!~"
Without warning, someone tackled the blue-haired boy from behind, knocking him over.
Vivianite jumped back, actually rising into the air as the newly stacked cards went scattering across the ground. "Pff-- HAHAHA!" He cackled, clutching his stomach and wheezing. "Nice one, Zuri! What-- your precious little cards didn't warn you about THAT?! HAHAHAHA!"
"Ack-- A-ALMANDINE!" Zuri choked, trying to pry the pair of strangling arms from around his neck. "G-Get off... Get OFF! Right NOW, you-- you annoying little BRAT!"
After a few seconds, he managed to detach his assailant, shoving them away roughly. Staggering, the tackler fell backwards, landing hard on their backside with an "Oof-!!"
Zuri whipped his head around, glaring at the fallen newcomer. "What is your PROBLEM, Almandine?!" He demanded, wobbling to his feet as Vivianite continued to laugh. "How many times do I have to tell you to STOP DOING THAT?!"
The newcomer- Almandine- pouted, raising a fist to her cheek.
She was a young girl, maybe a few years younger than him, with light brown skin. Her pale orchid hair was pulled up into two high, thin twintails, trailing down across the ground behind her. The skirt of her short, plum-colored dress flared out like flower petals, and a large bow sat at the back of her neck, almost like a pair of undersized wings. Like Zuri and Vivianite, she had delicate pointed ears, and the same glowing mark on her forehead.
"No fair, Zuri," she sniffled theatrically, rubbing her eye as if wiping away a tear. "You pushed me...!"
"Oh, knock it OFF!" Zuri retorted, planting his fists on his hips and scowling. "Quit it with the cutesy little-baby act-- you're not fooling anybody!"
Almandine sniffled a few more times, lip wobbling.Then all her affected misery dropped away in less than an instant.
"Oh, well--" Shrugging, she rose-- not standing up, but hovering into the air, then landing lightly on her feet.
"It was worth a shot," she announced, brushing down her skirt as Vivianite finally wheezed his last bit of laughter. "Well, Zuri? Were you surpriiiised~?"
Zuri scoffed, shooting both her and Vivianite a glower. "Tch-- yeah, 'surprised'... That's DEFINITELY the word I'd use."
Kneeling down, he started re-gathering the scattered cards. "I swear, Almandine, the NEXT time you try something like that again, I'm gonna send you into or--bit..."
His voice faltered as he picked up the first card, turning it over.
Almandine and Vivianite blinked, exchanging a look.
"...What is it?" Vivianite asked after a second, cocking his head suspiciously. "Bite your tongue off, or what?"
"...The Tower," Zuri muttered. "Disaster, upheaval-- or... A warning." Slowly, he started picking up the rest of the cards.
Almandine and Vivianite exchanged another look. "A warning?" Almandine asked, shuffling a little closer with her hands behind her back. "About what?"
Zuri flipped over two more cards. "...Opposition," he replied. "The Ten of Swords and Seven of Wands-- somebody's gonna try and stop us."
Vivianite gave another bark of laughter, tossing his hair back. "HA! Oh, yes-- who?! The humans? Or maybe those metal trespassers?"
"I dunno," Zuri shot back. "But--"
"You don't mean those accursed warriors, do you?" Vivianite interrupted. "The so-called 'Golden Heir' and his little blonde bimbo of a wife? They're on the other side of the world, remember?? They don't even know we exist!"
"Hmmmph..."
Almandine pouted theatrically. "Vivianite, don't pick on him!" She scolded, skipping up to Zuri and attempting to throw her arms around his neck again. "He may be a big meanie sometimes, but his cards are AAALWAYS right! Isn't that right, Zuri?"
Ducking out of the way, Zuri scrambled to his feet, pointing an accusing finger at the girl."BACK OFF!" He yelled, panting a little. "I wasn't kidding-- next time you try and choke me out again, I'm going to--"
"Silence," a voice interrupted. It wasn't very forceful, but echoed as if amplified somehow, loud enough to fill the entire forest.
Nearby was a small, rocky mound or hillock. It had been still and silent up until now, but, with a faint rumbling, a section of stone slid down, like a futuristic door. Inside, there was a brief glimpse of a chamber, bathed in purple light by jagged spires of crystal.
A slim, young-looking figure stepped out, clad in white and gold. The deep hood of its winglike cloak was up over its face, the thick fur trim obscuring nearly all its features.
"Zuri," the figure stated. It was the voice of a teenage boy- fifteen or sixteen, perhaps. "Continue. I'd like to know more about the ones who would oppose us."
"Uh..."
Shaking his head hard, Zuri looked around at the cards still scattered on the ground. "Uh-- r-right... Right, High Oracle. Yeah- uh..." Hurriedly, he waved a hand, and the cards were gathered up by another sheen of blue-and-gold energy.
"Reveal our enemies," he ordered, waving again. "One card-- for one opponent. Who will seek to stop us?"
Fluttering like a cloud of moths, almost all the cards stacked themselves, dropping back into his hand. Six cards remained floating in front of him, rotating slowly.
"Our enemies are..."
One by one, the cards stopped rotating, revealing their images to the watching Oracle.
"...The World-- the High Priestess-- the Empress-- Strength... Death... And- the Sun."
Silence fell.
Almandine shuffled closer to Zuri, peering curiously at the still-floating cards. "And?" She asked, tilting her head. "What does that mean?"
Zuri bristled, looking a little defensive. "Look-- I don't know!" He protested. "It's not like I'm looking them up online, or in a phone book or anything! It doesn't work like that!"
"Enough," the Oracle interrupted, waving a hand.
Stepping forward, he reached out, taking the Sun card. "Thank you, Zuri," he said after a moment. "This has given me a lot to think about..." He turned the card over in his white-gloved fingers, examining it thoughtfully.
"But no matter. Whoever these enemies of ours are--" Tossing the card casually back to Zuri, he turned on his heel.
"--Destiny is on our side... They'll regret the day they came to oppose the rightful people of the Earth." Raising a hand, he snapped his fingers.
With more shimmers in the air, shadowy figures appeared. Some were hovering, while others were standing... Some leaning casually against gnarled trees, or peering out from behind them.
"Brethren!" The Oracle declared, spreading his arms wide. "The Conqueror from the Stars is finally making his return!"
The sound of eager mutterings and gasps filled the air, and the Oracle basked in it for a moment.
"Now is the time," he continued, beginning to pace back and forth as he spoke. "If we ally ourselves with the Conqueror and his faction, the spirits have foretold that this planet will be as good as ours. And-- when we've finally reclaimed this planet..."
An unseen smile curled his lips.
"He and his followers will go the way of the OTHER metallic invaders... The ones foolish enough to ally themselves with the accursed humans."
An even more intense muttering swept the air- partly jeers and hisses of derision, and partly eager murmurs of anticipation.
Reaching into the folds of his robelike suit, the Oracle retrieved something... A chunk of blue crystal, glowing faintly in the darkness.
"This--" He brandished it triumphantly. "Is our key to finding them. No matter which faction finds it first, the other is sure to follow... And when they do, our Eidolon, planted wherever the alien substance taints our world, will be waiting."
He clenched his hand. The crystal shattered, crumbling to pieces in his grip and scattering around his feet.
"Now is the time," he declared, brushing his hands together. "For the Orphic Hunt to rise from the underworld, taking the planet back from the filthy vermin called 'humans'!"
The unseen crowd-- along with Zuri, Vivianite and Almandine, who'd been watching him speak with rapt fascination-- erupted into cheers.
The Oracle smirked beneath his hood. "Now- go," he ordered, snapping his fingers again. "Prepare to strike at any moment... Today, upon his flying fortress, the Conqueror and his acolytes will witness a power that they'd be foolish to refuse. Offered by the Guardian of Knowledge himself... The Sphinx."
He turned sharply on his heel again, the wing-shaped hem of his thin white cloak swirling out behind him. Then, with a shimmer in the air, he vanished, leaving the triumphant shouts and cheers of the watchers behind him.
Author's Notes:
Wow, real confident there, huh, Oracle, buddy? Yeah, it's DEFINITELY all gonna go your way, nooo problem.
I'm-- not a hundred percent happy with this, but... Look, it's just gotta get out there, or I'm not gonna be able to write anything that comes after it.
Is the purple forehead mark/crystals thing too obvious, though?
...Meh. I don't care.
Anyway-- just BTW, the 'main characters' of this aren't actually gonna be Usagi and the Inners. It's actually going to be a teenage Chibiusa, the Sailor (formerly Amazoness) Quartet, and Hotaru. Oh, and Diana. The other Senshi might show up as, like, side characters, or cameos or something, but this is going to be a Chibi-centric story. Chibiusa haters DNI.
Also, I ship Chibiusa/Hotaru, not Chibiusa/Helios. Helios is... Fine, I don't have a problem with him or anything, but Chibs and Hotaru's relationship is a lot more compelling to me than Chibs and Helios's.
If you don't like that, you can leave.
For the tarot cards, I started off using the Morgan-Greer guidebook, because I actually have that deck. I also supplemented it with a whole lot of googling, so this might not be accurate. No disrespect meant to any tarot stans out there, but my only experience is my deck and Jojo, so... Yeah. (Please don't dogpile me, tarot/astrology people, I'm doing my best but I'm stupid and y'all kinda scare me)
Anyway, I've actually picked out corresponding tarot cards to mean specific characters. I stuck with either the major arcana or the anthropomorphized minor suits (page, knight, king, queen... Or ace).
The six cards in question here are:
The Sun= Chibiusa. She's actually the Sun in the official SMC tarot deck, so that one was pretty easy. I thought about doing the Moon for her, but I decided the actual meaning of the card would work well for a different character I might introduce later.
Death= Hotaru. Obviously. Hopefully, no further explanation is needed.
The World= Cere/Sailor Ceres. (I chopped off the repeating parts of the Quartet's names, BTW.)
It has plants on it, and it means fulfillment and stuff, so I thought it'd fit for Ceres, AKA Demeter, AKA the goddess of plants and fertility and stuff.
The High Priestess= Palla/Sailor Pallas. Since 'Pallas Athena', the goddess of wisdom.
The Empress= Jun/Sailor Juno. She's really the one whose whole deal is the hardest to figure out, and astrology didn't help, really. Her celestial object's all about bonds, but the only major arcana I thought would work would be the Lovers, which doesn't really fit her vibe that well. Eventually, I just went with the Empress, since, like... Juno= Hera. Queen of the gods and all that.
Strength= Ves/Sailor Vesta. The art for the card is a lady holding a lion, so. That kind of goes with her whole beastmaster/animal tamer thing, which I don't think got explored enough in either the anime, manga or Crystal. I'm planning... THINGS... With that. I'm gonna have a lot of fun.
Also, the Reverse King of Swords is Megatron. Just in case that wasn't clear.
The name of the villain group:
Orphic- from the Greek cult/religion of worshipping specifically Dionysus, but also the concept of descending/returning from the underworld. Hunt- as in 'the Wild Hunt'. Google if you want more info. I changed the name like 5 times, I'M STICKING WITH IT THIS TIME. I SWEAR.
'Zuri' is shortened from the Japanese pronunciation of '(lapis) lazuli', BTW. Yeah, I'm doing the time-honored Sailor Moon move of naming all these villains after rocks/minerals... Except for the High Oracle. You're going to have to wait for his name, though.
(Minor point, but. I actually created/designed the Hunt with a very specific theme in mind, that I'm really excited to elaborate on.)
(There's also more of them than just these four, but Zuri was always the one who was gonna do all the foreshadowing/exposition, and I guess Vivianite and Almandine are just my favorites.)
(I also designed Almandine after the lighter pink/purpley variant of the gemstone, not the dark red one.)
(NBD, I just wanted to explain that.)