WANTED: Beta Reader
QUALIFICATIONS: Loves Sailor Moon, reading, excellent grammar and can offer constructive (not destructive) criticism.
REWARD: My love and appreciation, and maybe some awesome home made Xmas cookies.
Summary: Loosely based off of a TV show from 2000. Set in semi-medieval AU. It's about a girl whose parents are killed when she is just a child. Her nursemaid Luna watches after her and her deceased father's best friend Artemis teaches her skill in the art of sword fighting and combat. After several years, she returns home to her father's estate only to find that the kingdom is in ruins and run by a tyrant, Prince Diamond. The kingdom's true heir has disappeared and Diamond is striking fear into the kingdom with his brutal criminal henchmen. Is there a savior who can free them and find the true heir?
~*~*~*~ Prologue ~*~*~*~
It was a warm summer's eve. A large stone manor was glowing faintly in the light of the full moon. All was quiet on the plain except for a large room towards the front of the house. Inside a small child of about 6 years was inside sitting on her father's lap while he read a book. Her father was dressed in a white loose tunic with leather breeches and boots untied. Across from them a woman with pale blonde, almost silver hair was knitting by the large open window.
"Papa, Papa!" the little blonde hair girl called. She pulled on his tunic to get his attention. After several please, the man relented setting down his book.
"Yes little one," he acknowledged, beaming down at the child.
"Tell me the story of Zorro again!" she begged with big blue eyes. Chuckling to himself, her father set her down on the floor. Having heard this story many times, the little girl ran and got the wooden play sword she used when she acted out sword fighting with her father. Handing it to her father, she set down in anticipation of his story. The woman in the rocking chair put down her needles and listened adamantly to the story unfold.
"Okay, okay," the man agreed grabbing the sword from his daughter. "Long ago there lived a beautiful and prosperous kingdom, much like Elysia. The great king and his equally great wife ruled the people peacefully and justly, hearing their complaints and suggestions, resolving conflict and doling out proper consequences. However the king's former ex-lover was very jealous and vowed that beautiful Queen Gaia had stolen the love of her life from her and that she would wreak havoc in retribution. She was very wealthy for a woman of this time and had been successful in hiring goons and thieves to do her bidding for her. Her name was Lady Metallia. She had two children, Beryl the eldest and Diamond, who was thought to be the king's illegitimate son. Her gangs stole, raped and murdered anyone who opposed them. Soon it was hard to tell who to trust of the king's guard as she had bribed over half of them. Suddenly, when it seemed as though all hope was lost, a masked man appeared on his valiant steed. He was handsome beyond belief with his dark brown hair and striking green eyes. He was the heart throb of every woman in the kingdom-"
"Humph," the lady in the rocking chair interrupted.
"What?" he shouted incredulously. "Do you not believe me woman?"
The lady continued her rocking, her pale blue eyes dancing merrily as her husband continued the story. "But this masked man only had eyes for one woman," he picked up. "This beautiful woman was the sun in his morning. And the bright moon to his night. The dashingly handsome masked man fought the bandits and thugs charging with his sword and winning the hearts of everyone, until the kingdom resumed it's peacefulness. Metallia was killed, though not by his hand, and all was fair and quiet in the kingdom once more. Once the work of the masked hero was completed, he found the woman who had stolen his heart and courted her, finally asking her to become his wife. When she became-"
A loud crash was heard from the front of the manor. A woman with long curly black hair in a yellow dress and apron ran from the other room. "Master Solaris, there is a large group of bandits that have crashed through the main door and are coming through the entry way. We have to leave now! Artemis has gone to the stables to prepare the horses!"
Jumping up from his chair, he scooped up his daughter and handed her to his wife. "Selene, take Serenity to the secret room and don't leave until I come for you!" he instructed. Grabbing his sword from it's sheath near the fire place, he ran in the direction of the commotion. Turning towards the woman in the yellow dress, Selene pressed the child into her arms.
"Luna, I need you to take Ren to the bookcase in the library. On the third shelf from the right of the doorway there is a black book with a silver lining. The name of it is 'On a Moonlit Moor," Gently pull back on it and a secret passageway will open. Take her into it and close the door behind you with the lever on the wall. Follow the stairs to the bottom and out the secret passageway. It will lead you to a back entrance into the stables. Meet your husband there and run. Leave two horses still saddled for us. Now GO!" she urged as her husband howled in pain.
"Mistress, what will you do?" the maid asked frightened.
Pulling another sword off the mantle, she bunched up her skirts and turned to run, "I'm going to save my husband!"
"Mama!" the girl in Luna's arms cried. Her mother planted a kiss on her head and turned to leave. The girl struggled in Luna's grasp trying to get free to run after her parents. Screaming and sobbing, she kept yelling for her mother over and over again.
"Hush child," Luna warned. She started to run in the direction of the library. The girl in her arms continued to struggle. "We have to get to safety. When your parents are done they will come and find us, I promise!"
Entering the library, Luna tugged on the book as she was instructed. The fireplace moved and a long dark passage came into view. As soon as she stepped through, a torch lit up the pass. Pulling on the lever, the door closed. Luna pulled the torch from the wall and rushed down the stairs. At the bottom she came to a large room filled with shelves of weaponry, books and chests. A large ring stood out to the side. Looking around the room she found another doorway. Pulling it open she stumbled through the dark passageway until she came out into an opening behind the stables. Running as fast as she could, she found a tall white haired man with 4 horses saddled and ready to be ridden. "Artemis!" she cried out collapsing to the ground and dropping Serenity.
Without a thought, Artemis reached down and scooped up the sobbing child. He reached down and helped his wife to her feet. With a worried expression he asked, "Where are Master Solaris and Mistress Selene?"
As if on cue, a loud blood-curdling scream was heard from the manor house. Inside, Solaris and Selene were no match for the men that had broken into their home. Three servant girls from the kitchen and one of the stable lads were already dead. Solaris was gravely wounded in his shoulder. A woman with blood red hair and a child no older than twelve, came before the two injured partners. "Beryl!" Solaris snarled, grasping his injured shoulder. "What in the hell are you doing here?"
"Come now Solaris. You saw to it that my mother was tried and murdered for her supposed atrocities," she challenged. "I decided to repay the favor in kind. Perhaps I should find your little Serenity and murder her before your eyes she you know what it's like to lose someone who means so much to you!"
A few men came around the corner at that point and addressed Beryl. "Mistress, the child is nowhere to be found."
Beryl snarled and grabbed one of the men's swords. "That's fine then, the mother will just have to do," she stated as she dove towards Selene. Having minimal training in the art of fighting at her husband's behest, she was able to dodge the angry woman's attack. However she was not prepared to watch the sword of another man come swinging down fast on her beloved husband.
"Solaris!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. She lunged for her husband and was able to push him out of the way in the nick of time. However, Selene was not quick enough and the deadly blow that was meant for her husband, landed on her instead. Ignoring his bleeding shoulder, Solaris grabbed his sword and pushed two men out of the way, driving it through Beryl before her mind could register what had happened. Almost forgotten the twelve year old boy with white platinum hair and cold gray eyes, watched as his sister fell and took the dagger at his side and charged at the man who had just murdered his sister. Without missing a beat, Solaris turned around right as the dagger pierced into his heart. Before he collapsed to the ground, he looked at his wife's cold dead face and sent a prayer to the goddess that his daughter was safe.
Mounted on the horses, Luna, Artemis and a detached Serenity waited with baited breath for Solaris and Selene to come bursting out of the secret passage. Minutes crept by that felt like hours as more shrieking and screaming was heard at the manor. Suddenly a dark silence filled the air. Suddenly movement was seen at the front of the manor house. A young boy and several of the men who broke into the house, exited and mounted their horses riding away. Artemis and Luna exchanged looks of sadness, recognizing what it meant. Serenity catching on to their wordless discussion, asked, "They're not coming are they?"
Saddened by the situation, Luna shook her head no. "I'm afraid not dear child. We must make haste and leave this place before they discover us."
Turning their horses towards the forest, Luna gave one last longing sigh and sent a prayer to the goddess that she welcome her two great friends with open arms into her wondrous kingdom. Looking up at her husband, she motioned for him to lead on and followed as a lone tear fell down her face...
A few changes from the original. Namely, I didn't want the king to be evil, since it didn't fit with what I was trying to do later on in the story. I also gave more of a back story as to what happened to cause the appearance of Zorro, as well some other pertinent information. I'm posting this and I will probably post two more chapters (leaving the other chapters up) for now. But once I get to the second or third chapter, I will be completely removing the older chapters as it will get pretty confusing. So hope you like this updated chapter better, it still fits in with the current story line!