Title: Sailor Moon N(ouveau)
Chapter: 2. From the Dark Moon
Rated: PG-13
“What do you mean you can’t find her!?” Modoky slashed at the nervous messenger, with his razor sharp claws. The messenger went silent, as his head slid from his neck, and to the floor. Modoky withdrew his claws into his knuckles. His face was extremely lined with anger, and no one dared to mess with him.
“How hard is it for you to find a girl who may possess the very thing which may destroy you?” growled Modoky, “It should be as simple as finding a lit match in a blackened room!”
He sat back in his throne chair and closed his eyes to calm himself. He was getting tired of these worthless humans and wanted to just kill them all. But the Dark Lord said not to destroy all of them, so he hesitantly obeyed his master. But it didn’t stop him from questioning why the Dark Lord wanted there humans alive.
He shook his head and opened his eyes to see a red frog, double there of normal frogs, sitting on his lap. His eyes were black and lifeless, he kept a smile on his face at all times, and his fingers had slits for where claws protruded.
“What do you want Midare?” asked Modoky in annoyance.
“I may have some answers to your quest for this girl that you seek.” hissed Midare.
“Then talk already!”
Midare shook his finger, “Uh, uh, uh! We must not be so impatient!” Modoky slapped at him to knock him off his lap, but Midare simply jump up and fall back down safely onto Modoky’s lap.
“You are really starting to annoy me, you know?” sighed Modoky. Midare was supposedly his advisor, sent by the Dark Lord. Modoky never understood why the Dark Lord was so suspicious. He had been a devoted soldier under Shogun Yoiyami’s regime for 2,000 years now, but it seemed that he never gave Modoky too much trust. Modoky had always felt like he was a son to Shogun Yoiyami and they could talk about anything. But it seems that as Modoky rose in the ranks, he lost touch with father… err…Shogun Yoiyami.
“Well, do you want to know or not?” smirked Midare.
“Very well! Tell us what you know, when you’re ready.” said Modoky.
“Thank you.” Bowed Midare, “I begin by saying that this tale has not been told for over 1,000 years, when the people still had hope. It is the tale of a young Princess Serena. She was the heir to the throne of the Moon, but Queen Beryl attacked and destroyed Serena’s home. In a last attempt, Queen Serenity sent Serena and her court to the earth, where she hoped, would promise a bright future for them.
“As Serena grew, she was able to gain her new powers at age fourteen and began to become the strongest form of Sailor Moon. But it was our Shogun Yoiyami, who finished off the girl forever! Then he began his attack on the earth, which quickly fell under his assault.
“The years began to pass, and the people lost more and more hope of their princess ever returning. They attempted to bring her back, by building a secret temple by the sea. It is only visible now to the bearer of the Silver Imperial Crystal, which shines brighter than any star, and gives the moon princess her power.”
“But what good does that do me?” yelled Modoky.
“Once the girl finds the temple, it will reveal only reveal itself one time for five minutes, allowing her enough time to get inside. After that only time, the space in which the temple hides will collapse and she will not be able to go back.”
“Then we’ll just have to keep her from going in side!” said Modoky slyly, “Bring in the girl!”
The guards opened the doors and let pass a set of militia, who held Takura in their chains.
“My liege!” said the captain, “I present you with the girl who is in close ties with the one of which you seek. I trust that you have met our request?”
“Of course!” said Modoky as he signaled for the guards to bring over the chest. It was made of a dark wood and had gold plating on the insets of the panels. They had black painted circles on them, to signify a new moon. All around it was a writing that the captain had not seen in his life.
“I don’t mean to be suspicious of you my lord. But what does this writing say?” asked the captain.
“It’s a story about the Dark Moon and it’s… surprises that it holds inside,” explained the winged beast.
The captain was hesitant, but accepted Lord Modoky’s answer and proceeded to unlatch the lock and open the chest lid. Impending doom was the last thing the captain felt before, it hit.
Shakunage jumped down from the rocky cliff that she had just scaled. It had been three days since she had slept in that cave, and had been walking down the shore line continuously looking for any remnants of the temple. She stopped to catch her breath. As she looked at the endless blue sky meeting with the calm aqua waters of the sea, she thought to herself that she might never find the Moon Temple. And that her family and friends would be under the Dark Lord’s tyranny. Then she began to notice something.
She felt a warm flash come from inside her pocket. She pulled out the crystal, to see it flicker a light softly, but she hadn’t noticed it before, maybe it was some kind of homing device that would lead her to the temple! She walked along the shore and the flicker became faster and brighter. Then it stopped. She looked around to find nothing, but a rock in front of her.
She felt disappointed and proceeded to put the crystal back in her pocket, when she noticed something on the rock. There was a seven inch circle carved into the stone, which surrounded a depression that looked familiar to the top of the crystal. Shakunage placed the crystal into the stone… perfect fit! Then, it began to turn on its own, and as it turned, she saw a portal open right in front of her eyes.
The air and space had parted, to reveal a pair of redwood doors with heavy gold knockers and handles on them. They had moons and stars carved all along the door molding, and a crescent moon sat at the top as the crown molding. A bright and ghostly sand hourglass appeared in front of it, and began to run. Shakunage looked at it with an _expression of ‘why?’ on her face.
“That is to let you know how much time you have left to get into the temple,” Shakunage turned to see Modoky, “you better hurry up, or else you’ll miss your only chance.” Modoky pulled a struggling Takura from behind his back.
“Let her go!” yelled Shakunage, “She has nothing to do with this!”
“Oh, but she does!” smiled Modoky, “Just like your town militia, she knows things that could make my rule – how do you say – difficult? Fortunately I don’t have to worry about the militia any more.”
“Why? What did you do to them?” asked Shakunage.
“I didn’t do anything,” smirked Modoky, “but my daemons did!” He snapped his fingers and a dozen gray robed figures slipped out of the shadows of the cliff. They were lean creatures with red glowing eyes the only exposed part of their bodies, with the exception of their claw-like, gray hands.
“I have a deal for you Shakunage,” hissed Modoky, “if you give me the crystal I’ll set your friend free. If you don’t, I’ll turn my daemons lose one her and the rest of your family!”
“Please Shakunage! I don’t want to die!” cried Takura.
“Huh? Takura I thought you were braver than this,” said a stunned Shakunage. Then it all made sense. This wasn’t Takura! It was an illusion that would lead her into a trap! Then again, Takura could have been scared out of her wits watching the daemons slaughter the militia. She had to do something to make sure that this wasn’t Takura.
“Takura, what was it four days ago?” asked Shakunage.
“Uh, a Wednesday?” replied Takura.
Shakunage was convinced, “I don’t think so Modoky! That isn’t Takura, for she would know that it was my birthday.”
Modoky let go of the Takura imposter, who bowed and a billow of smoke formed around it. When the smoke dissipated, another daemon was left standing where the fake-Takura was before.
“I’m guessing that you don’t even have the real Takura, do you?” asked Shakunage while crossing her arms.
“Oh, I have Takura,” sneered Modoky, “I just didn’t bring her incase you would have fallen for my trap. But I guess I’ve underestimated you for the last time. Get her!”
Modoky snapped his fingers and the daemons began a quick dash for Shakunage. She shrieked and ran towards the door. She picked up the crystal, opened the door, and quickly closed it. As she closed the door, a shadowy figure slithered in above her.