Friendship is a War of Attrition
One cannot simply throw five girls from utterly different planets together and expect them to get along instantly. Let the conflict begin.
Arrive
To understand Mars Rei- to really understand her, you have to know a certain amount about her past. It's the same for anyone, actually, because no matter who you are, it's where you've been and what you've done that really makes you 'you' in the end.
So if you aren't absolutely shocked when she hands you her weapons for safe keeping, or appropriately touched when she fights someone for you it's because you don't know enough about her fiercely self-sufficient warrior upbringing or of the protectiveness which is her greatest outlet for affection.
In other words, you have not studied 'The Way of Rei'. Not that I, or anyone else, could claim to truly understand such a many-layered, enigmatic person. But to ever hope for a clear glimpse into her psyche you need to know how her life as Princess of Mars began, and the circumstances that led to her arrival at the Moon.
The Queen of Mars died when Rei was still a very little girl and her father, though he was a well loved king, wouldn't have known how to raise a son, much less a daughter. So her raising was left to compassionate priestesses. They took Rei in willingly, sensing the clarity and strength of the little girl's aura, and trained her in meditation.
For years, the little princess stayed in the cold temple, and though psychic powers were not officially recognised on Mars, the priestesses guided the young girl subtly, teaching without appearing so, to the point where Rei could concentrate her thoughts into actual visions. Quietly, she would chose to sit in front of the main temple room's fire, her shoulder-length raven hair reflecting the flickering light, and let the disjointed images filter through her mind.
Before she could acquire any sort of skill at these arts, however, her father entered back into her life, pulling her out of this life of quiet contemplation and simple chores,and dropping her into a mould for the life he felt she should lead. Mars was a planet of warriors and its princess would uphold that glorious image.
Rei was nine when she first witnessed the crash of battle and the carnage that her people delighted in. Standing comfortably in the back lines with a massive escort while her father joined in the fun, she watched the armies of Mars converge upon their enemies and decimate them mercilessly. The young girl understood, then, the fervour of her people. She tasted and approved of the wild, passionate energy that the fighting inspired and let herself become swept up in the feverish bloodlust that characterised her planet's people. War was indeed a wonderful thing.
The next few years of her life were consumed by training in swordplay and hand-to-hand combat, grooming her to be the warrior princess her family desired. Occasionally, Rei would catch herself staring idly into fires, held by the hypnotic sway and the tranquil trance that began to come upon her. But inevitably, she was steered away from this part of herself, external pressures and expectations barring her from pursuing the meditation she now hardly remembered.
Her days were consumed with lessons, strengthening and practice. She studied complex manoeuvres and battle formations, learned a variety of underhanded fighting tricks and when to use them, took archery and horseback riding (sometimes at once) and skirmished daily with soldiers many times her size. Her mentors in each area watched her grow with anticipation as they witnessed her flawless attack form and the cold intensity in her amethyst eyes. Rei, in turn, watched the people around her with jealousy as they boasted and reminisced about glorious battles in days gone by. The Martian Princess was eager to take part in war herself. There was not a man or woman on Mars who had not willingly enlisted into the armies at some point in their life. It was the strong common thread that bound their nations together, and the populous thrived on it.
Finally, her trainers deemed her ready, and when she was twelve, Rei was thrown head first into battle.
The empty, arid plains of the Martian wilderness were inhabited by tribes of savages. Occasionally, they banded together to send raiding parties to the cities or barracks, where they were soundly defeated each and every time. The Martian armies could have stormed the expanse of their planet and cleaned the barbarians out in a matter of weeks, but preferred to let them stay there and amuse themselves with the pitiful attack forces.
It was one of these raids that Rei was dropped into the midst of. The chaos and panic in the furious mêlée scared her at first and she relied upon the men surrounding her. At length, she entered the fray in earnest, engaging an enemy soldier who thrust at her with a spear. Her training had more than prepared her for this and she fended him off easily, returning her own attacks. Her first strike was tentative and her second cautious, but her third had enough force to punch through the man's armour and find his heart mid-thrust.
Amazed at what she'd just done, Rei jerked her blade out and was spattered in the ensuing, crimson spray. The wounded soldier fell dead, while the men around her cheered at their Princess' first kill and encouraged her to quickly claim her second.
Feeling dazed and a little overwhelmed, Rei just stood where she was and tried to wipe the blood from her eyes. Another of the enemy was coming at her, intent on ending the black haired girl who bore the insignia of Martian Royalty. She let him come, unfazed and fearless. There was a numbness spreading through her, mind and body. She watched detachedly, as if it were someone else's arm that swept across in a broad arc, slashing the life out of the man before her. It was a cool, all-powerful feeling that permeated her to the core.
While the armies around her clashed and screamed, bled and attacked, Rei unflinchingly cut down anyone foolish enough to come her way. And all the while, a voice in the back of her mind demanded, where was the passion her people thrived on? Where had the hot excitement gone? She felt none of the irrational courage all Martians were swept up by, only power and emptiness.
The battle was over quickly, the Martian army having stomped out all resistance as expected. Furious feasting ensued, no thought given to washing up or mourning the dead. Rei was borne into the dinning hall and into her father's presence upon the jubilant shoulders of the men who had fought beside her. They regaled their King with accounts of her prowess in battle while they fought over the best cut of meat and let the alcohol run freely. Silent, and still numb, Rei sat near the head of the table passively as she was honoured and toasted from the enthusiastic and increasingly drunken warriors she was destined to rule. Over the course of the evening, even her father deigned to thump her on the back and growl, "I expect great things from you, daughter of mine."
It was only much later, as she prepared for bed and the horrific scenes replayed themselves in her mind, that Rei felt her stomach lurch. Stumbling out of her room, she hit the floor before the toilet just in time for it to catch every disgraceful morsel of vomit that passed her lips. It seemed like an eternity that she kneeled there all alone, retching and coughing until nothing came up, while the things she had experienced came back at her, assaulting all her senses.
Afterward, as she lay on the bathroom floor trembling and sweating, she came to a realisation. This was her life. Anyone else could have sworn off fighting, gone on to live a peaceful life and suppressed the painful memories. But not her. This, this fighting, this puking, this sick feeling, this was to be the rest of her life as Princess of the Planet of War. Short of fleeing the kingdom, there was no choice for her, and Rei had never been one to run from her problems.
So she stayed and she fought. Bit by bit, the numbness she felt in battle spread to all other areas of her life until she was colder than the subzero nights of her planet. From the moment she woke to the instant her head touched her pillows, Rei could not help but slip into that space, that frame of mind, where she saw everything and felt nothing. People were unnerved to look into the young girl's eyes and see such profound dispassion.
This was not the attitude her people were expecting or accustomed to from their rulers. She showed none of the weakness that the Martians despised, no, she was unquestionably strong, but the people who watched her in battle knew she possessed none of the ravenous hunger they did. There were those who wanted to question this trait, but there were hardly grounds to do so. Rei was sure to never slip up in public, and as long as she participated in a regular amount of battles, the people were satisfied, their doubts cast aside.
And so the fighting continued. Battles broke out between clans and against the savages. There was even talk of instigating something against Venus while at the same time, testing the waters against Jupiter. Mars it seemed, would do anything to start a new war.
Rei, however, paid little attention to the politics of Mars. For lack of anything better to do, she spent her free time training. She was in the archery yard lining up a tricky, hundred-yard, seventy-degree angled shot whena royal edict from Queen Serenity arrived in the form of rather intimidated messenger. The man fidgeted as he explained to her how the people he had asked for instructions had led him in all different directions until he was horribly confused, wandering around for hours looking for the King of Mars.
Taking pity on the messenger and also indulging in her curiosity, Rei took him to see her father and along the way, was informed that she- the Princess of Mars- was to present herself at the Moon without delay to live there. She and several other princesses were to enter under the service of the Princess Serenity.
Many a new curse word was added to Rei's already expansive knowledge of swears when her father received this news. This was no polite suggestion or cordial invitation that Mars could ignore like usual- this was an order from the lips of the Queen herself. To disobey would be treason. Even Mars and its ridiculously large army would never dare commit such an act.
So, grudgingly, infuriatedly, bitterly and with many mutterings, Rei's father dourly ordered her to don her armour and leave everything else behind. If the Palace couldn't provide for her properly, then that would be a fine excuse for him to bring her back to Mars.
Rei made her way to her rooms and ordered a servant to help her suit up. Her royal red lacquered armour was scratched and worn from much combat but fit her perfectly. It was a fearsome image she portrayed when she wore it, cold eyes shadowed by her helm and her young, slender body empowered by the blood coloured plates. Seeing her sinister reflection in a mirror, she decided against wearing her helmet and tucked it under an arm on her way to join her father. He gave her a quick glance and, satisfied that his daughter looked the part he desired, the King of Mars led his only child to the awaiting escort.
There, standing in a tight square, were the four Royal Guards sent to escort her to the Palace of the Moon Kingdom. They shone in Rei's eyes like guardians of hope and light in their beautiful, gleaming armour with capes of unsullied white draped down their backs. Under a more critical examination, she knew that the armour they wore had never seen battle and that it probably wouldn't hold up if it did. The swords tucked into glinting sheaths at their sides were ninety-nine percent ornamental, and the fact that they wore capes at all was open to ridicule. Still, Rei liked the image this all presented- beautiful, pure soldiers. Warriors who did not fight.
Her father's derision was near palpable as he stepped forth to be greeted by them. They bowed low murmuring 'Your Majesty' in unison. With a snort, the King of Mars casually ignored them and turned to his only child. Laying a hefty hand on Rei's shoulder, he growled, "It's unfortunate that you have to go, when I would rather you stayed and fought here, but it can't be helped. Show Serenity and her pack of court pigeons where Mars stands in this Kingdom."
Rei nodded proudly. With a final pat on her shoulder, the King gave the escort a curt nod and then turned and strode off in clear dismissal.
"Princess Mars," said one of the silver warriors, "we will take you to the transporter now."
She nodded her acceptance and they fell into guard positions around her. Rei wanted to freeze the moment and try and decipher what she was feeling. Trepidation, there was definitely some of that as well as not a small amount of excitement. Maybe hope as well? Hope for what, though? She knew not what to expect of the Moon for Mars held its ruling planet in contempt, but if this escort was anything to go by, perhaps there was something there for her.
Either way, Rei would be glad to escape the fighting for a while. She was always, always fighting here, and for what? She wasn't warring for or against anything she could give a damn about. She was tired of fighting, tired of seeing men bleed out on a field already sopping with blood, tired of standing in the shower waiting for the gore in her hair to rinse out, tired of waking in the morning with brittle eyes, knowing she had cried sometime in the night.
She smirked with dark humour. A battle weary fourteen-year-old. Other cultures might have found it appalling and pitiful. Her own would have spurned and disgraced her if they found out.
The transporter was enclosed in a white stone building. The silver platform that hummed with foreign technology had been Mercury's gift to the Silver Millennium. They stood on all nine planets of the Moon Kingdom and served as two-way portals to the Moon. Rarely was the one on Mars utilised, but the cobalt-haired guard that ran a check through its systems declared it to be in perfect working order.
They all stepped on to it, Rei glancing about somewhat apprehensively. How was this supposed to work? The Moon was millions of miles away and this silver platform was going to take her there in a snap? She studied the shiny metal under her booted feet. It didn't look too special-
Suddenly there was noise all around her, the steady, droning buzz of dozens and dozens of voices carrying separate conversations. Rei's head snapped up to see people milling everywhere in a huge, white walled building. How in the Nine-Hells had they gotten here without her noticing?
Massive crowds of people were moving about their way, either coming from or going to a transporter pad and carefully not stepping on the silver circles that littered the area. The flash of blue Mercurial hair was visible in the sea of people, as were the long, swift strides of Jovians. Audible every now and then was the light, tinkling laughter of Venusians that mixed with the overall cheery voices of Moon dwellers. There was no evidence of Martians anywhere, which was fine with Rei- her people expected things she didn't want to give.
The throng of busy individuals near their transporter pad seemed to have paused in surprise at their arrival. Rei assumed it was because of the silver guards, or perhaps because Mars so rarely deigned to interact with the Moon. It never occurred to her that her own outlandish armour and intense stare stopped them in their tracks. She casually ignored the people passing who gave her curious, speculative glances as they rushed along their way.
"This way, Princess Mars." Her guard spoke.
Mutely, Rei followed her escort as they carved a path through the crowds and led her out of the transport terminal. They exited the building into bright sunshine and clear, fresh air and followed a paved path lined with dense vegetation and striking flowers. Rei found herself squinting against the brilliance of everything. She made sure to open her eyes fully when the palace came into view.
If there was anything the people of the Moon could all take pride in, other than their Queen, it was the palace. Tall, gracefully constructed and gleaming with the purest of white marble, the Moon Palace was a sight that none forgot in their lifetime.
The only word the decorative guards heard the stoic girl utter that day was a soft and wholly reverent, "Woah."
And so it was that Rei arrived, jaded but quietly hopeful, at the shining white palace of the Moon Kingdom.
.o.o.
So . . . Tell me what you thought, what you liked, disliked, what you want to happen, what you had for dinner . . . whatever, just drop me a review.
Cheers.
Krampus