Part 1: Orsus
Section 1: Adaption
Chapter 7-Tennousei Akatsukinosora
The sandy blond-haired girl woke up stiff and sore, which was not an uncommon occurrence. She remembered yesterday's events rather sourly, when Luna and Fujiro had given them their first lesson in transferring energy. Although they had only done it among themselves, Luna had told them it was possible to channel power to those with magic but that it was not recommended because of the risks. Haruka shivered slightly, not because of the cool night air, but because of what this sharing of power meant. It was giving a part of yourself to another person, or more than one person, and receiving parts of them in return. Something sacred, something wonderful, something painful. It was many things, this power of theirs. "Michiru? Are you awake yet?"
They had given up on the suffixes among each other, proof of how close they were. Without the use of even -chan, which suggested closeness, they used only their first names without any added endings. Usually, names without suffixes indicated family, childhood friends, or adult lovers. The only relationship that really couldn't apply to them was the last one.
"Unfortunately, yes. Do we have to get up yet? The sun isn't even up yet!" she complained sleepily but without real annoyance.
Climbing down the rickety ladder, for she had the upper bunk, she yelped softly as her feet came in contact with the freezing cold ground. Grumbling, she began to get used to the temperature after a few minutes and began stretching. "You'd think that we'd become immune or something to the cold by now. It's been three years, and we still hate mornings on the Moon."
Smiling as she also got out of bed, Michiru grabbed a hairbrush and ran it through the tangles in her shoulder-length waves of hair. "I guess you've never woken up on Neptune. Trust me, it's a lot colder than this because of the breeze from the oceans."
"Please, don't share anymore with me," she begged, shuddering, "you're making me feel colder than I have to be." There was that word again: sharing. Already a major factor in the years before, she could see that in the next two years, it would play an even bigger part.
~~~~*~~~~
A few days later, Haruka was sharing punishment duty with, surprisingly, Minako. Craning her head around the doorway to glance at the blonde, who was staring out the window, she hissed, "Hey! Minako?"
She turned around and smiled brightly at her. It seemed that despite their customary differences, she still kept her most summery outlook and smiles for anyone. "Hai?" [Yes?]
"How can you be so cheerful? Artemis is going to murder us!! And we could be in deep trouble with the queen!"
Minako merely shrugged and continued smiling rather dreamily. "It wasn't that bad. We didn't kill anyone, and we _did_ return the Lunar mobile."
That morning, while the others had been at market, Haruka and Minako had snuck off to admire some unattended Lunar mobiles. They were all alone...and so irresistibly unwatched.... The sandy blond-haired girl, having seen the drivers of the sleek and beautiful machines pilot the mobiles, and noticed the ignition key in one of them and promptly hoped in to "try it out." Minako had followed suit tolerantly, although she hadn't been expecting what was going to happen next. With an evil grin, Haruka had driven off as fast as possible without knowing exactly how to drive. With some strange gift from the heavens, the pair had not only survived but wrecked a majority of the nearby marketplace, enraged the owners of the Lunar mobile, embarrassed and angered their guardians, disgraced themselves and the queen...the list went on and on–in the words of Artemis and Soyakaze. Even Luna had been disappointed in them.
Despite all of it, Haruka had enjoyed the rushing of the wind against her face, the playful breeze that had ruffled her hair. The speed and the feeling of it altogether was exhilarating and uncontrollable. It was a sensation she was beginning to liken to the one of using her newfound powers. She had found that once she had undergone all the pain and the confusion, she liked the heady rush of power it gave her. The guardians strongly warned against "misuse" and "playing" with these magical talents, but Haruka listened to the things it told her. She found that by bending it to her will with the slightest thought and careful domination, she could eavesdrop on nearly anything she wanted–not that listening to Queen Serenity and her advisors was extremely interesting. Still, she was careful not to let out exactly how much she used the magic gifted to her by Uranus, and she didn't use it just for pleasure. She was new at using them, and she had found out rather quickly–and with more than slight dismay–that when she was angry, bad things tended to occur when it was windy out. A sweet breeze drifting along would suddenly become a raging whirlwind. There had been numerous tornadoes in the specially-protected training rooms, and there was that one time by the Sea of Serenity where Haruka had created an entire sandstorm by herself...
Clearing her throat, interrupting Minako's pensive train of thought, she offered, "I could...you know...listen to their discussion. You could probably hear it, too, if I tried hard enough. Do you think I should?"
"No. We're in enough trouble already, and they can probably sense that you've been exhausting your magic. You use it too much, Haruka. Give it a rest." Her compassionate smile softened the harsh, tired edge of her words, and she leaned back, closing her eyes.
Forgetting their present predicament, the other inquired hospitably, "Dajibou?"
The blonde didn't open her eyes, just nodded slowly. "Dajibou. I'm just having these very strange feelings. Ever since our powers were activated."
"Like Michiru and I, with the oceans and the winds. She feels as if there are typhoons coming, and I just sense hurricanes."
"Doubled, one after another, nearly the same exact way but different. How odd. Have you spoken to Suna?"
"She's becoming more and more closed-mouthed. She just sighs and looks into the distance, then, after awhile, she remembers that I'm still here and murmurs something about how troubled times are far off. That's still not comforting." Their discussion came to a grinding halt when Artemis appeared, looking solemn and disgruntled, and announced their punishments: long essays reviewing the code of conduct for senshi, extra hours of practice and training, the loss of certain privileges (including returning to the market for quite a while), and a formal apology to the owners of the marketplace...and Queen Serenity. Haruka and Minako had blanched upon hearing that, but Artemis was adamant, loud, and clear. They merely nodded and accustomed themselves to their fates without much complaining. And Haruka still thought it was worth it. After the incident she and the other blonde were on much better terms through some unspoken agreement, but she would have been surprised to discover that Minako felt the same.
~~~~*~~~~
Shortly after they had finished their punishment duty and regained free time, the guardians had announced a new area of study–greeted, of course, with much enthusiasm. Queen Serenity had decreed that it was imperative for the senshi to learn how to play an instrument famed on their planet for "entertainment purposes."
It was by this way of thinking that Haruka found herself seated before a massive black creation with shiny white and black keys. Makoto was sitting sulkily holding a cello nearly as tall as her seated form, while Rei was inching away from a fire harp that made them all perspire with its heat. Minako sat brooding moodily, unlike her usual cheery self, holding an intricately-designed lute. Ami was similarly backing away from her ice lyre, which was across the room from the fire harp. In the middle of the room, the powers of extreme heat and frigid cold countered each other to about normal room temperature, where Michiru, Setsuna, and Hotaru resided. The aqua-haired girl held a wooden instrument with five strings, the second, a black one with silver keys and numerous holes. Hotaru had a silvery flute and a rather bewildered expression on her face.
Soon, Luna, Phobos, Deimos, Aoao, Koori, and Fujiro trailed in, looking extremely grouchy. Luna beckoned wordlessly (with a rather disgruntled expression on her face) to Minako, who followed obediently and silently. Phobos and Deimos then took Rei and Ami into the same room. A few minutes later, Deimos and Ami left–hastily–with a half-melting lyre. Aoao took Makoto and Uzushio, while Setsuna and Hotaru departed with Koori. Haruka was left alone with Fujiro, who smiled warmly at her. "It's all right, Haruka. The piano isn't that hard to learn."
"It's a humongous monstrosity," she grumbled.
Ignoring her ill temper, the black-haired woman continued to smile and asked, "Are your fingers warm?"
"After being flamed by Rei's harp and frozen by Ami's lyre? I guess they're somewhere in between."
Fujiro was about to answer when a few odd screeches emanated from the room across the hall, followed by the loud slamming of five doors. Wincing, she was about to comment when a loud squeak came from next door. Neither said anything else as she began to teach Haruka about the history and crafting of the instrument and playing it in general. It appeared that they had a long way to go before the girls would be sufficiently adept at producing music of any kind.
~~~~*~~~~
As more disturbing noises issued forth from the section of the palace known as the Hall of the Senshi, the entire population of the Moon Palace sighed and went about their business with tongues-in-cheek. They, like the guardians, were not sure they approved of Serenity's addition to the girls' curriculum. Nowhere was it listed that musical talent was a necessity for senshi, but they too accepted the task with few complaints. After all, their fate had been sealed when a rather unfortunate noblewoman had brought the issue up with the Queen, complaining that it was ruining her beauty rest. Serenity had merely raised a delicate, silvery-lavender brow wordlessly. The other had backed away at the icy expression on the Queen's face after the query, and everyone had followed suit and kept their respective mouths shut.
It was late one night, during an hour of free time, when Haruka found herself banging away at the instrument she had previously deemed unplayable and purposely out to get her–only this time, there was actually music flowing. Not perfect music, for there were a few sour notes, but her nimble fingers had adjusted flexibly to their curved position. She found that there was expression in this, fingers dancing across the keyboard. How strange. She had never been able to dance this gracefully, but it seemed that her hands could. Her emotions could be discerned from the music: angry, fast, choppy staccato notes for impatience and hurt, a wandering, minor melody for confusion and the lostness she felt. Then there were blending chords and sweet harmonies to represent the acceptance and sisterhood she had found.
"Life is music. And music...is life."
The blonde spun around, fingers falling away from the piano to leave it soundless. "How long have you been watching me?"
Her guardian smiled softly and tousled her sandy-blond hair. "Long enough. I may not be able to teach music, Haruka, but I can appreciate it. I'm glad to see you've accepted it. Acceptance is important."
"I guess."
"Music is something private for you, ne?" Her azure blue eyes shone gently, unlike her usual brisk manner.
"I like playing for myself and not other people. Is this something else that I'll have to share?"
Soyakaze's expression melted away to a more neutral, closed one. "Yes, and I'm sorry for it. But for now, it can remain private. However, when you are a senshi...few things can remain private."
"I understand."
Her gaze sharpened, and she asked, "Do you?"
"Yes." ‘I understand. To be a senshi, you must give up everything. Privacy. Private lives. Love. Family. Security. Everything for one woman? Or the entire Solar System...which one is it?'
~~~~*~~~~
History was one of Haruka's least favorite classes, and today was the day they were going to summarize a part of the history of the Moon Kingdom. Luckily, they were only on the written portion–for now. She didn't even want to think about the ancient history that historians and archaeologists had been able to uncover and piece together to form a shaky theory. There were only four millennia to go through today, but that meant that there were forty centuries worth, four hundred decades... Setsuna and Hotaru had the first one, the Copper Millennium; Haruka and Michiru had the Bronze Millennium; Rei and Ami would be presenting the Golden Millennium, and Minako and Hitohana had the events in the Silver Millennium leading up to around a decade ago.
The green-haired girl began, her velvety voice rich and smooth. "The Copper Millennium was the only time period to be considered B.S., Before the reign of Serenity. The name Serenity has been around for approximately three millennia, six centuries, and seven decades. Since the first written history of the Moon originates at about this time, we can deduce that there used to be no civilization on other planets. Instead, there were ten houses of power, and the head of each house was a female. Thus, the planetary senshi are also female to honor our history, although power has shifted dramatically to the males in the most recent millennia."
"So these ten houses were at war with one other until the House of the Moon decided it was time to make peace. Because their ruler, named Selenity, was able to come up with terms acceptable to all the houses, it was decided that the House of the Moon would be the supreme ruler over all the others. Over time, the name Selenity changed to become Serenity, and when all Moon Queens began taking the name of Serenity, D.S. beg an: During the reign of Serenity. D.S. continues and is our present era."
"While the House of the Moon began wide-spread colonization of this satellite, the other nine houses left to colonize the other planets. The ones known as the Outer Houses traveled the farthest, to the four Outer Planets. Neptune is particularly interesting, because it had four subdivisions. Currently, only two of those four remain: Leverrier and Galle. The Gold, Blue, Red, and Green Houses went to Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. The last house went to Earth. When the Silver Imperium Crystal was discovered by Queen Serenity IX, the Solar System entered the Bronze Millennium."
Haruka cast a surreptitious look during the end of the recitation towards her aquamarine-haired friend. However, Michiru was looking nowhere at anything else besides the speakers, seemingly in deep concentration, but the sandy-haired blonde could see the tightness of her lips and tiny lines creased in her forehead, despite the hard-won neutrality of her expression. Leverrier was the current ruling house of Neptune, although it often had competition from furious Gallens that claimed that the throne should be theirs. There had been a talk of alliance between Michiru and a son of the Galle house before she had left Neptune.
As Setsuna and Hotaru sat down to the applause of the others and their tutors, Haruka and Michiru stood up. Michiru began, flicking her wavy, sea-green hair over her shoulders. "The discovery of the crystal further solidified the influence of the White House over the other eight houses, which accepted the rule of Queen Serenity as law–except for the Gold House, or the House of Venus, which had been the second most-powerful house. There was a brief war between the House of the Moon and the Houses of Venus and Earth, which joined together against the Moon. Earth by then had discovered the Golden Crystal, which paralleled the power of the Silver Imperium Crystal. Had anyone been so foolish as to put the crystals to use against one another, it would have been a stalemate. Used together, the holder or holders would be unbeatable. The battle was a stalemate and resolved nothing. Besides that event, the creation of the planetary senshi occurred when Queen Nephrenia and the Dead Moon Kingdom were sealed into the core of the Moon. It was also agreed upon that the common language be the one we currently speak. While the planets are identified by their oldest names, the ones the houses were named by, the senshi are named by the current language. It's rather handy in differentiation."
"There were eight senshi, split into the Inner and Outer Senshi, by their houses. Meiousei-sama, Kaiousei-sama, Tennousei-sama, and Dosei-sama made up the Outer ranks, while Kinsei-sama, Suisei-sama, Kasei-sama, and Mokusei-sama were the Inners. There was no senshi of the White House, only the Queen. By the time of the origination of the senshi, they were up to Queen Serenity XVIII. During this millennium, war was more prominent than ever, and weaponry was taken to a whole new level. After the Terran-Venusian War, Saturn and Uranus were particularly antagonistic towards each other, being neighbors, but Mars was the planet of war. Most of the weapons and masters of those weapons were from Martian storehouses. The fact that the core of the planet holds a great deal of iron is probably attributed for reasoning. Senshi were sworn not to participate in the wars amongst houses, now more widely thought of as planets. To this day, senshi may not interfere in inter-planetary wars. They may only go to war if something threatens the Silver Alliance. But in the Bronze Millennium, the Silver Alliance was not formed yet, so anything threatening the Milky Way as a whole was dealt with by the senshi."
When her throat was beginning to get hoarse, Michiru took over once more. "Particularly famous battles include the Battles of the Asteroid Belt, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud, Caloris Basin (on Mercury), the Three Battles of Planitia (Venus), and the Tharsis Massacre (Mars). The Silver Imperium Crystal was deemed usable only by the Moon Queens, who infused it with power to punish anyone who attempted to use it that was not of the White House. Very few people had magical powers, but the Queens of the Moon had always been born with substantial power. The Imperium Silver Crystal originally granted only the senshi powers, but gradually more and more evidence of powers in other people began to surface. The War of the Magic and the Unmagic began as a result, ending the Bronze Millennium."
They took their seats once more, and Rei and Ami came up together. The raven-haired girl went first. "Previously, the House of Venus had been at odds with the House of the Moon. This millennium is called the Gold Millennium for the color of the house. It was also the millennium in which Venus was named as commander of the sailor senshi, because it was the second most powerful house. Queen Serenity LXX was nearly overthrown by the King and Queen of Venus, who fought as equals. It is evident that by this time, males had begun their ascent to power."
"After the Venusians were appeased by their senshi's position, the universe began to settle down. Things like technological advances and peace were desired instead of war and bloodshed. The most improvements in science and daily life were made during this era. At the very end of the Gold Millennium, the Silver Alliance was negotiated by Queen Serenity CDXI."
Makoto and Minako were last, and the brunette girl spoke first. "The Silver Alliance included the nine planets which had senshi but not Earth. Earth has never had a senshi, and we don't know why this is. Because of the slight dealt to the planet, Earth refuses to become a part of the Silver Alliance. Although we are on slightly shaky terms, there has been no open hostility since the last wars on Venus, in the mountains of Maxwell Montes and Sif Mons."
"We are currently entering the last century of the Silver Millennium. Shortly after the ascension of Serenity MC, Tsukino Usagi, a new millennium will begin, although no name has been chose as of yet. The last battle has been between all the planets, especially the Moon, against the dark planet Nemesis. Its leaders are now trying to avoid civil war within the planet, and the Moon has earned the title of the Kingdom of Light."
~~~~*~~~~
A few months later, Haruka scowled at the little pen she had been given. They had spent the _entire_ afternoon attempting to transform, and her head was aching from various shouts of "___ Power, Make Up!" Whoever had designed transformation phrases was obviously an asinine idiot with no originality whatsoever.
And then there was the whole power activation thing–not only had it hurt more than anything else they had ever experienced, their powers weren't exactly available to them yet. Sure, they could see the colors in their minds during meditation, but no attacks were working. They couldn't even transform, which was a very big problem. Setsuna had just shrugged simply and said that when the time came, it would come–which didn't make very much sense to the others. And then the girls learned something else new: each senshi had attacks unique to them. Therefore, they didn't even know their attack phrases. It was a wonderful world.
She was perched on a stone balcony overlooking the extensive formal gardens, knees drawn up to her chest as she looked across the greenery. Usually, this was one of Makoto's favorite spots, but she and Hotaru were having an extra training session. Haruka's sky-blue eyes were dreamy as she remembered her home and racing her horse against anyone who was crazy or daredevil enough to accept her challenge of a terrain that she had explored well. She knew it better than the back of her hand. It had always given her high-and-mighty opponents a shock when they had been beaten by a girl not even half their age.
Sadly, on the Moon, there was no such freedom. Personal freedom was disappearing, and she was afraid of being caged. For now, they were all like hawks with their wings clipped to keep them from flying too far away. Was that all senshi were? Women to obey and carry out the orders of the Moon Queen, whichever number Serenity was on the throne? They were just exotic little creatures, like the ones that made up a menagerie, to be admired by the public.
"Haruka?"
The tension in Setsuna's voice fairly crackled, and Haruka wiped away a single tear escaping from her eyes and looked up at her. "Nani? Is something wrong?" She was surprised to see that the older girl held her staff, able to call it without being transformed.
"There's band of youma near the dark side of the Moon. We probably won't need to transform. There'll be a squadron of soldiers and most of the guardians accompanying us, and some of the soldiers also have magic that they will be able to use. Take whatever weapon you feel comfortable with: either a broadsword, rapier, or saber–but make sure you have safety daggers." Her deep garnet eyes were serious and dark with worry.
"Okay," she replied softly. As she strapped on her sword, Haruka felt her heartbeat speeding up and her body releasing adrenaline. When she was done with her sword, she checked her daggers: one hidden in her belt, another in her boot. Just as she was wondering exactly where
she was supposed to go, Michiru ran in, aquamarine curls bouncing around her shoulders. "Where have you been?"
She blushed darkly. "None of your business. Have you seen–oh, thanks," she said as the other handed her the saber she was looking for.
Feeling a strange sense of calm rush over her, the blonde commented, "I bet you were flirting with Tomadoi-san, ne?"
"None of your business!" she squealed.
But from the scarlet in her cheeks, Haruka it was true and laughed. "Come on, Michi. We're going to be late."
Tying her hair up into a neat ponytail in two quick strokes of a hairbrush, Michiru ran out the door after her friend and roommate. "Are you nervous?"
When they halted outside a practice room, seeing the other girls, she nodded shortly and answered softly, "Yes. What about you?"
"Me too. But at least we won't be alone."
‘Not yet, at least.' She smiled at her friend and the rest of the senshi-in-training as they filed out wordlessly. As long as they were together, sharing and having clipped wings would be okay. She didn't want to think about the time when they would be fighting alone.
~~~~*~~~~
AN: Planet information taken from a website titled "The Nine Planets" (http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html). Um...so...credit to them, sort of? If you were confused about all the weird things, like Caloris Basin, those are actual things are the planets.
Caelum
