The Ghosts of Tranquility Crater Ch.1
By wingedpixie
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and such do not belong to me. In fact they belong to people with much more money and legal access, so I don't want to get into trouble. ^.^ However, the wording is mine, so I would appreciate it if this was not reproduced without my permission.
The moon was quiet that night. Pale and grey, it hovered above the swirling earth, and even the dust of the Tranquility Crater had settled at the bottom of the giant dip. Serenity lay still.
Long curls of her pale yellow hair twisted among the sheets. Now, in the silence of the dark was the only time she ever saw its natural color, the only time the horrid white powder didn't make her sneeze. It made a gentle shushing sound as she moved, until her back rested against the headboard and her fingers grasped a strand, twining it around one finger like a wedding band.
In her heart she felt a sudden twinge of longing. Her head sank onto the pillows where she could faintly smell roses, if her breaths were deep and her mind determined. Roses. And the image of dark hair, stark in a room of white satin and moonstone.
She smiled, thinking of forgotten things, and felt a coolness slipping down her cheeks. On her lips rested the taste of salt, and a name not quite spoken in the stillness.
But the moon had its own way of sensing, and beneath the eerie, reflected light of its face, its subtle humming began to shape into thought. Across the crater the fine dust of the moon rose like a mist. And from within the deepest core there came a cry, wordless, whispery, and vague, for one long gone.
"It isn't normal," Minako said, the long tails of her red hair bow hanging about her shoulders. As with all members of the Moon Kingdom, the Lady Venus did not grow, old, fat, or otherwise, but her clothing had bloomed into a flood of orange cloth, which shimmered with tiny yellow topazes. At her wrist dangled a golden charm, shaped like a key.
The Lady Mercury chased a noodle with her chopsticks, balancing the bowl on her knee. On the other a plate of shrimp rested, framed by ghostly white leaves that had to be wrestled from the moon's dry surface, and Ami could not imagine where the gardeners found the will. She lifted the noodle to her lips.
Minako waited in silence.
"No, it's not," Ami said, her voice light and calm as the atmosphere.
They sat in the Hall of Pillars, Ami actually on one of them that had fallen during a dust storm. At the bottom the standard ridges had been carved, but as they shot upward the lines began to bow out, becoming the fluid curves of a dress. Arms emerged from the column, clasped in prayer, and crowning the whole a face had been rendered, smooth and almost translucent. Odangos perched on the head.
Ami's particular pillar did not have the long pigtails of the queen, but on its hundreds of sisters elaborate swirls of marble hair wound up and tangled together into an arched ceiling. Each face mirrored the others, identical. All were built of the same cold stone. The Lady Mercury wondered that the artist had not gone mad from the monotony. And yet, perhaps because of the soft, half light of the moon, a hint of tenderness showed behind of each pair of closed eyes.
The Lady Venus shifted her weight, the jewels of her gown tinkling against one another. "She isn't paying attention to politics," she stated with a pleading tone to her voice. Beneath the heavy arrangement of her hair, Minako's face grew clouded. She tapped the delicate charm at her wrist, making it swing.
Still her companion was quiet, though her large blue eyes followed the gleam of the little key. Minako rose and slid one foot back into a red velvet shoe. Automatically smoothing the front of her dress, her hands strayed to the golden chain of her rank, wound around her waist. So fragile were thin links. With a clipping of heels, Minako walked from the room.
After she had left, the Lady Mercury idly swirled the liquid in her bowl. Minako's last comment came back to her, bringing with it the strange sensation that it hadn't been a comment but a question, an asking of permission. She wasn't sure if her silence had been taken for a yes or no.
She snagged a translucent shrimp by its fan tail, shaking it gently to get the moisture off. Above her the elegant pillars clasped their hands, and she wondered what they prayed for.
Minako stood with her head bowed, in the corridor between the west and east wings. In her hand a mottled yellow envelope waited, but her face was buried in one arm, an arm that trembled against the wall. She chanced a look, and suddenly her heart was breaking, her eyes burning with unshed tears.
"Usagi," she whispered, her voice choked. "Usagi, I don't know what man you've been talking about. There is no Mamoru. Not in this court, not on this world, not on any of planet in our domain.
"I want to believe you, Usagi," she said to the envelope, as her finger slid under the flap. The red wax of the seal broke, ruining the emblem of the upside down crescent moon.
By wingedpixie
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and such do not belong to me. In fact they belong to people with much more money and legal access, so I don't want to get into trouble. ^.^ However, the wording is mine, so I would appreciate it if this was not reproduced without my permission.
The moon was quiet that night. Pale and grey, it hovered above the swirling earth, and even the dust of the Tranquility Crater had settled at the bottom of the giant dip. Serenity lay still.
Long curls of her pale yellow hair twisted among the sheets. Now, in the silence of the dark was the only time she ever saw its natural color, the only time the horrid white powder didn't make her sneeze. It made a gentle shushing sound as she moved, until her back rested against the headboard and her fingers grasped a strand, twining it around one finger like a wedding band.
In her heart she felt a sudden twinge of longing. Her head sank onto the pillows where she could faintly smell roses, if her breaths were deep and her mind determined. Roses. And the image of dark hair, stark in a room of white satin and moonstone.
She smiled, thinking of forgotten things, and felt a coolness slipping down her cheeks. On her lips rested the taste of salt, and a name not quite spoken in the stillness.
But the moon had its own way of sensing, and beneath the eerie, reflected light of its face, its subtle humming began to shape into thought. Across the crater the fine dust of the moon rose like a mist. And from within the deepest core there came a cry, wordless, whispery, and vague, for one long gone.
"It isn't normal," Minako said, the long tails of her red hair bow hanging about her shoulders. As with all members of the Moon Kingdom, the Lady Venus did not grow, old, fat, or otherwise, but her clothing had bloomed into a flood of orange cloth, which shimmered with tiny yellow topazes. At her wrist dangled a golden charm, shaped like a key.
The Lady Mercury chased a noodle with her chopsticks, balancing the bowl on her knee. On the other a plate of shrimp rested, framed by ghostly white leaves that had to be wrestled from the moon's dry surface, and Ami could not imagine where the gardeners found the will. She lifted the noodle to her lips.
Minako waited in silence.
"No, it's not," Ami said, her voice light and calm as the atmosphere.
They sat in the Hall of Pillars, Ami actually on one of them that had fallen during a dust storm. At the bottom the standard ridges had been carved, but as they shot upward the lines began to bow out, becoming the fluid curves of a dress. Arms emerged from the column, clasped in prayer, and crowning the whole a face had been rendered, smooth and almost translucent. Odangos perched on the head.
Ami's particular pillar did not have the long pigtails of the queen, but on its hundreds of sisters elaborate swirls of marble hair wound up and tangled together into an arched ceiling. Each face mirrored the others, identical. All were built of the same cold stone. The Lady Mercury wondered that the artist had not gone mad from the monotony. And yet, perhaps because of the soft, half light of the moon, a hint of tenderness showed behind of each pair of closed eyes.
The Lady Venus shifted her weight, the jewels of her gown tinkling against one another. "She isn't paying attention to politics," she stated with a pleading tone to her voice. Beneath the heavy arrangement of her hair, Minako's face grew clouded. She tapped the delicate charm at her wrist, making it swing.
Still her companion was quiet, though her large blue eyes followed the gleam of the little key. Minako rose and slid one foot back into a red velvet shoe. Automatically smoothing the front of her dress, her hands strayed to the golden chain of her rank, wound around her waist. So fragile were thin links. With a clipping of heels, Minako walked from the room.
After she had left, the Lady Mercury idly swirled the liquid in her bowl. Minako's last comment came back to her, bringing with it the strange sensation that it hadn't been a comment but a question, an asking of permission. She wasn't sure if her silence had been taken for a yes or no.
She snagged a translucent shrimp by its fan tail, shaking it gently to get the moisture off. Above her the elegant pillars clasped their hands, and she wondered what they prayed for.
Minako stood with her head bowed, in the corridor between the west and east wings. In her hand a mottled yellow envelope waited, but her face was buried in one arm, an arm that trembled against the wall. She chanced a look, and suddenly her heart was breaking, her eyes burning with unshed tears.
"Usagi," she whispered, her voice choked. "Usagi, I don't know what man you've been talking about. There is no Mamoru. Not in this court, not on this world, not on any of planet in our domain.
"I want to believe you, Usagi," she said to the envelope, as her finger slid under the flap. The red wax of the seal broke, ruining the emblem of the upside down crescent moon.