Chugging another bottle of asprin, Setsuna Meioh, otherwise known as Sailor Pluto had to repress her gag reflex. She felt worse than she'd been in ages. Not only had things taken a turn for the worst, but, in retrospect, they'd been her fault from the beginning.
The Silver Millennium... A time of peace and prosperity... Or so it was thought by most... Those like herself, those that could remember knew the truth behind that time. And it was actually quite disturbing...
For the first 200 years of the Silver Millennium, Orpheus, the King of the Moon ruled. He was a kind and just king, one that treated everyone in the kingdom as equal, and had pride for his homeland. He loved his wife, who had died shortly after the death of their second child, due to illness. He tried to treat both his children well. The eldest of the two was his son, Remy, and his second child was his daughter, Serenity. He had high hopes for both of them. But he was slightly afraid.
Orpheus's son had no intention of being ruler, even though he was next in line. All he did was roam around the moon, protecting those who couldn't defend themselves from robbers, thugs, and such. Remy called himself the "Moonlight Knight". He had white robes that looked suited for living in a desert, an Arabic sword, and the clasp on his cap was the crescent moon symbol of the moon kingdom.
His daughter was every bit of a sophisticated, educated lady, but she was cold-hearted. He could tell the only person she cared for was herself, and that to her anything else could go to hell. She was a w woman of high-standing, but she would snub it in people's faces, and act like a total brat.
Orpheus knew one thing… Neither of his children were fit to rule the throne. His son had heart, and cared for the people, but lacked knowledge of royalty and conduct suiting nobility; while his daughter did have the education and such, she had no heart.
Soon, however, there would be bigger fish to fry. The Orochi came about... It was the Spirit Guardian of the Earth, and it was tired of being abused by the people of planet Earth. The Orochi was defeated; it's remains sealed away, and the warriors of the Orochi, the Hakkeshu sealed away as well. But the remnants of its power remained... "And that caused quite a ruckus..."
The Moon Kingdom was affected by the Orochi power. Remy knew that this power could bring no good to anyone, it was a feeling deep in his bones. He had the feeling that anyone who would try to harness it would suffer a horrible fate, and Orpheus agreed, but Serenity... She wanted it... She could feel the power of the Orochi making her stronger... So she went to one of her closest allies. The princess of Pluto... Setsuna...
"I should have just slap the frigid bitch right then and there..." Setsuna thought gravely. But she knew she couldn't blame the Queen outright. Back then, she herself was a rather greddy bitch. Back then, Setsuna excelled with magical sciences, and Serenity promised her that if what she wanted to do would succeed, then Serenity would make sure that Setsuna would be well rewarded. Setsuna was tempted by the offer and accepted. Serenity asked her to make an object that could hold the Orochi power... For Serenity believed that whoever could hold the power of the Fallen God Orochi, would rule this universe... Setsuna, after months of working, and experimenting with the Orochi power came up with a device... The Imperium Silver Crystal. It could harness the Orochi power, and not let any of the negative energies destroy the user. Serenity used the crystal, and sucked up any loose Orochi power floating around in the Moon's atnosphere that she could get. Then she attacked her father. He couldn't stand up to the Orochi power she had, and she killed him. Serenity had gone insane. The Orochi power corrupted her still... But not now the Imperium Silver Crystal kept it from destroying her...
Remy saw what happened to his father and attacked Serenity. She was also too powerful for him. As she looked at his eye not covered by red bangs she poke to him.
"FOOL! You and father were fools! You just wait around and waste your resources on the people. They are nothing, and it is they who should give to you... But don't worry... I'll fix all of father's mistakes..."
"And so she killed her brother too," Setsuna winced. The Moon Kingdom came under the control of Serenity. She changed the crest of the Moon Kingdom, turning it 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so the points of the crescent moon symbol pointed up instead of to the right. This new symbol became the one of her rule, the one she would brand on the planets she would defeat. And so Serenity began to attack the other planets as well... They fell one-by-one except for the earth, which was protected by the Kusanagi, Yasakani, and Yata clans, the very clans that had defeated the Orochi.
Soon though... Soon Serenity began to grow weaker... Setsuna understood why she was losing strength and told her that she was using up the Orochi power she had, and once she used it all, she would have no more. Serenity knew that if she lost her Orochi power, she would be done for. So Serenity decided to 'bluff' with the earth. She made a contracted promise that if the earth surrendered one of the Hakkeshu to them even the weakest one, then the Moon Kingdom and its forces would leave the earth alone for good. Wanting to end the fighting with the moon and eight other planets that Serenity conquered, the royalty of Earth agreed, and had the Yata surrender the weakest of the Hakkeshu… The Hakkeshu of Shadow…
Serenity was thrilled to get one of the Hakkeshu. As soon as Serenity got the Hakkeshu of Shadow she started to drain her of her power into the Imperium Silver Crystal. The child was in pain from being drained, but her pleas fell upon death ears. Soon Serenity had reenergized her crystal with Orochi power, and was determined to keep the Hakkeshu of Shadow alive... She would become a living battery and so, was VERY important to Serenity...
Soon Setsuna came to cash in her favor, "Partly out of curiosity, and partly out of pity for the Hakkesu..." She told Serenity that she would need soldiers to protect her from the earth, and to strengthen the bonds of loyalty the other kingdoms had to her. Serenity knew this to be so, and she agreed. Setsuna suggested making "Pseudo-Hakkeshu", which would act as Serenity's personal bodyguards. Serenity liked the idea, and allowed The Shadow Hakkeshu into the care of Setsuna.
Setsuna started the 'Sailor Project' and studied the Shadow Hakkeshu and copied all the data she could with her test subject. She designed outfits and powers, seeing how the soldiers should look. She dubbed the Shadow Hakkeshu, her prototype Sailor as 'Sailor Saturn', since Setsuna knew she would have to do this to all the princesses of the planets and since Saturn didn't have a princess, did this to fill the gap... Setsuna then got two allies of her own, the Princesses of Uranus and Neptune to be her test-run. She infused them with Orochi elemental powers like the Hakkeshu had, giving Haruka the power of earth, and Michiru the power of water. When she was done, she had brought 'Sailor Saturn', 'Sailor Uranus', 'Sailor Neptune' for inspection before the Moon Queen. Serenity was so satisfied with the results that she wanted the project made effective immediately. So she had the other planets under her power to give-up their princesses for the project. Thus the 'Pseudo-Hakkeshu' became known as the 'Sailor Senshi', "And giving myself what I thought was the greatest power of all. Time."
Time went on as it always does. Serenity had an iron grip on the plants she controlled, still lusting after owning the Earth as well... "But, I sensed that Serenity should turn her attention somewhere else." For what Pluto could see was that Serenity's kingdom is crumbling. Serenity was angered and demanded an explanation. Setsuna gave her one.
"My Queen, if we do not change the way things are, all will be lost. Sailor Saturn cannot last forever, her health has deteriorated over the millennia because you have drained her of her energy to feed your crystal, and the Senshi's powers drain her as well whenever they use it. And all this had had a negative backlash. A new universe has been created by Sailor Saturn's despair, her nightmares given form. A Universe of negative energy. Should you continue abusing her, that universe will reach into our own, and the consequences will be devastating! Your Kingdom will crumble taking all the planets you conquered with it. I know this to be true. I have used the powers of Sailor Saturn to make the Gates of Time, which allow me to see into the past, present, and future! You must stop abusing the one child and find another source of energy or else… We are all doomed!"
Serenity knew that what Sailor Pluto said had to be true. To avoid this outcome, she decided to play on the 'romance' between her daughter and the prince of earth. Should they marry, then the earth and moon kingdoms will be one. The earth will allow them to take the Hakkeshu, and then Serenity will have the power to live for eternity!
"Fortunately for us, it didn't go as smoothly." Setsuna thought smugly. The Negaverse eventually showed up and attacked the Moon Kingdom, completely destroying it. The Kingdom that lasted for 1,000 years, with 800 of it under Serenity's rule is gone in an instant, with nothing left. Serenity used the last of her power to send her people to the future, to hopefully, rebuild her lost empire.
"And 230 years after the downfall of the Moon Kingdom, the current head of the Yasakani clan released the Hakkeshu. The Yasakani were attacked by their cousins, the Kusanagi, and the Hakkeshu helped the Yasakani became the Yagami clan, and of Orochi blood. And the Yagami and Kusanagi Blood Feud has continued ever since..." Setsuna sighed.
This recent turn of development was the real kicker for Setsuna. Ami was a half-breed and could very well power herself. And even though Serenity never planned for it, there was another reincarnation. The Moon Prince had returned as well.
"And as Ami's father no less..." Setsuna sighed, popping another asprin into her mouth.
Overall, Setsuna had a feeling that if this latest headache didn't do her in, then the past was going to bite her in the ass.
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(Posted Sun, 04 May 2003 12:27)
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