Sailor Moon
"Betrayal of the Fifth Planet"
By Koy Kragh (koyn@utdallas.edu)
Chapter 1 - "The Battle for the Moon"
--- Disclaimer
Sailor Moon is a great anime series, but it's not my idea. That credit
goes to Naoko Takeuchi and Kodansha. The North American dub (and all rights
to the series thereabouts) belong to DiC. I'm overjoyed that DiC is bringing
the series back to NA, and I'm not attempting to infringe on their or
anybody else's rights.
This is a fictional story, any similarities between the characters in
this story and any person/people living or dead are not my fault.
--- Author's notes
This will be one BIG story by the time I'm done. If you don't want to be
reading TONS of chapters, then don't start this fanfic.
You probably would have figured it out pretty quickly on your own, but
I'm basing this story 1,000 years ago, in the Moon Kingdom. I haven't found
much background/research material for this time-period in SM, so I made up..
er.. embellished a few things to add atmosphere. If you want to see a quick
breakdown of what I envision the Sailor Moon past was like, then look in
the MOONHIST.KOY file that should be available with this fanfic.
One last thing . . . OK, say you read this, you like it/hate it/want to
kill me, etc. Praise, comments, flames, snaps and the like can be sent to
koyn@utdallas.edu. Death threats, curses, virii, etc. should be mailed to
harf@moron.org. Marriage proposals can be sent to me, please include picture
of Grand Cherokee.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1 - "The Battle for the Moon"
Between the planets Mars and Jupiter spins Rona. It is a planet whose
name means scholarship, intelligence, and magic to the people of the Moon
Kingdom. Throughout the ages, the Ronans have cultivated and guarded the Art
of magic. Their love for the Art flows through their very veins; for only
those with Ronan blood are gifted with the ability to practice magic. Now,
however, the current ruler of Rona, King Tor, hopes to change the planet's
place within the Kingdom forever.
---
The great palace of Rona stands near a cliff face, overlooking the capital
city. Tonight, as the sun sets far into the western sky, King Tor stands at
the edge of this cliff. He gazes over the city, towards the barely visible
Ronan moon, Crayos. Behind and to the left of the King stands Prince
Travis, the crown prince of Rona.
As the two stand, silently staring westward, an attendant from the palace
approaches and hands the prince a message. Reading it, Travis dismisses the
attendant and steps beside his father.
"Your Majesty," interrupts the prince, his tone one of false reverence.
"The troops are ready, the invasion is set. However, there does appear to be
one difficulty." He pauses, attempting to gauge the King's reaction, sensing
nothing from his father he continues. "It seems that some of the council
princesses are returning prematurely."
Hearing this, the King's brow furrows slightly, showing his annoyance. He
pauses a moment more, perhaps weighing this new development and its
implications on the upcoming battle. Then, a smile touches his lips, and he
replies, a hint of amusement in his voice, "It is of little consequence,
Commander. Even if they all return it would not matter, we would just lose a
few more men. No, nothing can stand in the way of our victory now." Turning
to face the prince, the King continues, "However, we must remember to let Liam
know how disappointed we are in the way he has carried out his duties.
Commander, make the final preparations, we leave within the hour."
Bowing, the prince heads towards the palace. Still smiling, the King turns
back to the cliff, and stares westward once more. This time, however, he
does not look to the moon of Rona, but to a point in the sky near the planet
Earth. Though his eyes cannot see it unaided, the King knows that he looks
toward the Moon. He stares greedily into the sky for a moment more, and then
follows his son towards the palace.
---
"Rei is right, Serenity, making us turn around to get something you forgot
isn't a very princessly thing to do." Smiling, Ami turns away from the Moon
Princess and looks out of the window. The small yacht the girls are traveling
in has already reached the imperial landing pad, so there really isn't
anything to see; Ami just isn't as good at teasing Serenity as the others, so
she has to hide her laughter.
"Thanks a lot for your support, Ami," replies Princess Serenity, her voice
sounding genuinely hurt.
"Just what's so important that you have to drag us all back here so you can
get it, anyway?" asks Rei, her question half-serious.
Blushing a little, Serenity lowers her head a fraction and states weakly,
"that's a little hard to explain."
"I'll bet it's some silly gift for Endymion," accuses Rei.
"Here's where it gets ugly," whispers Minako to Makoto. Makoto nods, and
looks towards Ami. The three of them sigh softly and turn to watch the
fireworks, knowing that they can do nothing to stop these two until they've
burned themselves out.
"So what if it is?" asks the Moon Princess, defensively.
"Come on, Serenity, he's never going to go for you," states Rei, her
posture changing to one of overt provocation. The princess from Mars has taken
the friendly argument to a new level. "You're nowhere near his type."
The Moon Princess, her fury hiding the pain and doubt Rei's words have
surfaced within her, stands imperiously. "Is that so, Rei?" Her voice
wavering a bit, and her eyes glazed with tears, Princess Serenity turns and
glides to the door of the ship. "Well, I'll just show you how wrong you are
Rei. One day, Prince Endymion and I will be married, and then we'll see which
one of us is laughing." At that, the Moon Princess turns and exits the ship.
For a few moments, silence lingers within the ship. Rei's self-sure smile
seems a little dampened by Serenity's words.
"Was that really necessary?" asks Makoto, looking at Rei with a look of
disappointment. "We're supposed to be her guardians and her friends, Rei.
Instead we always seem to be causing her pain."
"I didn't mean to go that far," responds Rei with a hint of apology evident
in her tone. "For some reason we always seem to end up arguing, and she
usually ends up getting hurt by the end."
"Well, no use in brooding over it in here," suggests Minako. "Let's go
wait in the palace. Who knows how long she'll be looking for whatever it is
we came back for."
---
The Moon Princess's rooms are a mess. Her bedchamber appears as if a
particularly vengeful tornado has swept through the area, tossing furniture,
baubles and clothing everywhere. Inside, the princess herself ransacks the
room in hopes of finding the object of affection for the Prince of Earth. The
attendants who were helping her gave up after she wouldn't tell them what
exactly she was looking for; besides, the rooms that they struggled so hard to
keep immaculately clean were being devastated.
While the Princess searches the room, her spirits sink a little lower. The
shock that ran through her when she realized she had left her gift behind had
worn off long ago, but the comment that Rei made in the yacht was still
bothering her. Doubt gnawed at her while she searched for the gift that she
was no longer sure she would have the courage to give.
Feeling sorry for herself, she pauses and makes room on her bed to sit down.
However, her reverie has barely had a chance to begin when she is startled by
the sound of her bedchamber door closing. Not remembering the door being
opened, a sense of unease descends upon her; she quickly stands and faces the
entrance to her private chambers, fully expecting to see a menacing agent of
evil here to confront her.
Instead she sees a young woman, perhaps a few years older than she, dressed
in the garb of a Ronan attache to the Royal family. The woman appears almost
as surprised as the princess is, but regains her composure quickly. Glancing
around nervously, the woman turns to the princess and speaks, a hint of fear
or perhaps worry in her voice.
"Your Highness, you should be on your way to Earth by now. Does Advisor
Liam know you've returned?" As she asks this question, the woman seems to
hold her breath, as if terrified of what the answer might be.
Princess Serenity, still a little flustered by the woman's entrance, is
confused even more by her odd reaction to the name of her mother's new Chief
Advisor. "I don't think so, we haven't been back for long."
Hearing this, the woman seems relieved. "Good," is all she says, and then
stares at the floor thoughtfully.
"How odd," thinks the Princess. "Who are you?" she asks after a short,
uncomfortable pause.
"What?" asks the woman, surprised out of thought by Serenity's question.
"Oh! I apologize for not introducing myself earlier, Your Highness. It's
just that things seem to be falling apart rather rapidly today, and I have a
lot on my mind." She pauses, biting her lip in hesitation. Not knowing
exactly how to say what is on her mind, she stumbles ahead, hoping for the
best. "My name is Evelyn, and I'm afraid I have some terrible news to
report."
"Go on," prompts Serenity.
"Well, perhaps you've heard the rumors of Ronan rebellion against the
Queen?" asks Evelyn, still a bit flustered.
"I have heard something about that," replies Serenity, "but Advisor Liam and
King Tor assuaged our doubts and we had discounted them as mere rumors. Are
you suggesting there is more to them?"
"I'm afraid so, Your Highness. In fact, we have believed for a while now
that the Ronans will make their move soon, and Liam suddenly sending all of
the princesses back home seems suspicious," explains Evelyn, glad that she has
voiced her fears, but worried about how the news will be accepted.
"Just who is we?" asks the princess.
"Er.. a small group of Ronans loyal to Queen Serenity. I realize that this
sounds a little far-fetched.."
"More than a little," interrupts the princess. Sighing deeply, the Princess
crosses the room to the door. Opening it, she gestures for Evelyn to precede
her out. "Come on, I'm not sure what to think about what you are saying, so
I'll take you to the Queen. Tell her what you have told me, and we will see
what she wants to do about it."
Her nervousness returning, the woman exits the room and awaits the Princess
in the hallway. Closing the door, Serenity catches a glimpse of the
devastation within. "Perhaps I wasn't meant to give it to Endymion in the
first place," she thinks sadly. She pulls the door shut, and walks out into
the hallway. Seeing Evelyn, she says, "Follow me, please," and both of them
walk towards the large staircase that will lead them downstairs and to the
sitting room where Princess Serenity hopes to find her mother.
---
Rei sat with the others in the largest sitting room in the palace. The
Queen would often accept visitors in this room, but recently, she had been
meeting here with her generals to discuss the rumors of a Ronan uprising.
Now, however, they simply sat and small-talked, catching up on palace gossip.
Rei wasn't listening to the others. Instead, she couldn't stop thinking
about how the Princess had reacted earlier. She hadn't meant to hurt
Serenity's feelings, just to joke around with her a bit. But now, it seemed
as though the Princess was more serious about Prince Endymion than Rei first
thought. That in itself didn't bother Rei very much, but her own reaction to
the knowledge that Serenity was in love with Endymion had her quite confused.
She wasn't sure how she felt about Serenity and Endymion, she just knew
that how she felt wasn't right. She knew it wasn't jealousy. At least,
she hoped it wasn't jealousy.
Unfortunately, before she could come up with an acceptable answer, Rei was
startled out of her thoughts by the sound of running footsteps in the hall.
Someone was running towards the sitting room, and from the sound of it, they
were wearing light armor.
A Lieutenant in the Imperial guard ran in, short of breath from running so
far. Everyone in the room had heard his approach, and now sat looking at
him, each curious why he had entered so unceremoniously. The Lieutenant
stood in the entrance for a few moments, catching his breath.
"Lieutenant Stile with an urgent message for the Queen!" exclaims the
man.
"Go on," replies Queen Serenity.
Forming his thoughts, the soldier pauses a moment. "Your Highness, the
lead forces of an invasion army have been spotted heading this way."
If the Lieutenant was going to say anything more the Queen stopped him
by rising from her seat. "Thank you," she said, "return to your post and
tell my generals to prepare for an assault on the palace." Turning to the
side exit of the room, the Queen dismisses Stile and calls for Liam, her
chief advisor and the leader of the Imperial Magi.
As Liam entered the room, Rei thought she saw fear and anger flash on his
face. He recovered quickly, and left Rei wondering if she'd only imagined it
in the first place.
"Your Majesty," greeted Liam, "I see some of your personal guard were unable
to make it off-planet."
"Only a minor delay, advisor," answered the Queen. "Under the circumstances
it seems to be a bit of good luck."
Liam seemed to smile at that. "Yes, Your Majesty," is all he said, however.
"I assume you wish me to have the palace's magical defenses readied."
Queen Serenity sighed at Liam's small disrespect, but seemed to realize
there wasn't time to bother with it at the moment. She sent Liam on his way,
and he left with only a worried glance towards the senshi. At least, he
seemed worried to Rei.
---
"The Queen should be in the sitting room with our personal guard. We are
almost there." Princess Serenity leads Evelyn through the hallways of the Moon
Palace. The people she sees seem busier than usual, but she discounts that as
the last of the preparations for the princesses' return home. The Princess
enters the large sitting room, but her mother seems to be in a meeting with all
of her generals.
The senshi sit near the doorway, not actually a part of the meeting, but
listening in case they are needed. The Moon Princess walks towards Minako and
gestures for Evelyn to follow.
"What is going on, Minako?" asks the Princess. "I don't remember my
mother scheduling a meeting now."
"There you are," says the princess from Venus. "We were about to send
someone to get you. An invasion force is approaching the palace. Your mother
is seeing to the city's defense, that's why the generals are here."
Hearing Minako's words, a wave of fear descends upon Evelyn. She recovers
a bit and tells the Moon Princess, "I told you, they are coming even as we
speak."
"Told her what?" asks Minako.
"That the Ronans plan to overthrow the Moon Kingdom," replies Evelyn with
urgency in her voice.
"If they are Ronans then we will need to use magic in our defense," says
Princess Serenity.
"Yes, but your mother has already sent Liam to see to that," responds
Minako with a smile.
"Liam!" exclaims Evelyn, her eyes wide with shock. Everyone in the room
turns to her to see what brought on the outburst. Evelyn uses the attention
to her advantage saying, "Your Majesty, I understand that you sent Liam to
see to the palace's magical defenses?"
"That is correct," replies the Queen. "Why?"
"I apologize for my lack of courtesy Your Majesty, but there is no time.
My name is Evelyn and I am a member of a group of Ronans who have been
attempting to stop King Tor from attempting to seize power. It is King Tor
and the Ronans who are attacking you now, and Liam is one of them. You can
not trust him or any of the Ronan Magi in your employ to defend the palace
Your Majesty. I'm afraid this battle is lost before it even begins, we must
get you and your entourage out of the city at once!"
As Evelyn speaks the faint buzz associated with great magic being worked
fills the air. "It seems your fears are unfounded my dear," says one of the
generals. "The magical shields are going up even now."
"That isn't shield magic being worked," replies Evelyn, fear creeping into
her voice. Everyone in the room who has had any magical training immediately
knows why; they sense immense destructive energies gathering nearby.
Suddenly, the entire palace shakes with the force of magic. The Ronan
invasion has begun. . .
---
Queen Serenity takes control of the situation at once. Amid the chaos of
the shuddering palace, she calmly gives orders. "Generals, to your posts,
have your men defend the palace as best they can. The Sailor Senshi will
protect my daughter and myself. Luna and Artemis, come with us. Evelyn, I am
sorry we doubted you. You suggested evacuation, do you have a plan in mind?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," says Evelyn sadly. "Our organization is usually
better prepared than this, but in the last week we have come under attack by
Ronan special forces set up to engage and defeat us. I have been unable to
get in touch with my contacts, and I am the only one of my group left alive
within the palace area."
"Your Majesty," interrupts Luna, "there is a way out of the palace that
should allow you to escape the city. However, it is nearly on the other side
of the palace."
"Then lead the way Luna," says Queen Serenity. "Everyone follow Luna and
Artemis out of the palace."
As the group of eight exit the sitting room the palace shakes violently
one last time. The walls have been breached, and the Ronan forces swarm into
the palace. The Imperial soldiers fight valiantly, but their dying screams
can be heard by those in the Royal procession.
"Hurry!" screams Luna as she rounds a corner leading to the rear section of
the palace. She stops almost immediately, however, when she is confronted by
a large group of Ronans. "We have to get by them somehow!" she screams to the
others.
"Fire Soul!" screams Sailor Mars as she launches a ball of flame at the
Ronans. A few in the front are caught by surprise and are immediately engulfed
in flames. The rest conjure magical shields and disperse the energy of her
attack.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" yells Sailor Jupiter, and a crescent of pure
energy flies towards their foes. But it has no effect. The Ronan Magi have
re-organized and call for some of their soldiers. Meanwhile, they begin
forming magics of their own.
The Queen begins to pull out her scepter, but Evelyn stops her. "Your
Majesty, nothing we can do will have any effect. Ronans created all of your
talismans, and they know the best way to counter them each. We can't defeat
them, we must evade them."
"Perhaps I can help with that," says Sailor Mercury. "Shabon Spray!"
Thousands of bubbles appear in front of the Sailor Senshi, obscuring them from
their enemy's view.
"Good work, Mercury," cries Artemis. "This way, we can get around them!"
---
Within a small ante room near the rear of the palace stand eight figures.
Two are dressed in formal gowns, four stand in their uniforms, one is dressed
as an Imperial Mage, two are cats, and all are trying to catch their breath.
"How much further Luna?" asks Sailor Venus.
"Not much farther is a wall with several tapestries. Behind the one with
a horse on it is a hidden door," replies Luna. "That door leads to a tunnel
that will let out near the stables. Once there, you can get your mounts and
we can escape the city."
"Escape will be nice," says Evelyn, "but our freedom will be short-lived if
we don't know where to go."
"There is no one you can contact to help us, Evelyn?" asks the Queen.
"No one that I can be sure is still alive," she says in response. "Plus,
all of those I know I *could* contact have gone into hiding. I won't be able
to find them in time to help us."
"I have an idea," suggests Princess Serenity. "We could contact Prince
Endymion on Earth. Perhaps he can aid us."
"Serenity," snaps Rei, "how is he going to help us from Earth?"
"The Moon Princess may have a point," interrupts Evelyn. "I believe Prince
Endymion has been keeping up with our movement for some time. He may know of
the location of someone who *can* help us. Unfortunately, I am the only one
who can establish a connection with him, and I can't ask him while I'm doing
it. One of you will have to get the information we need."
"I will ask him," says Princess Serenity.
Taking a deep breath, Evelyn says, "Okay. Just give me a few seconds to
set up the connection."
With that, Evelyn closes her eyes and takes three deep breaths. She then
holds her hands together with the palms facing each other. Slowly, she moves
her hands further and further apart until she seems to be holding an invisible
globe, about two feet in diameter. Suddenly, the invisible globe begins to
take on a visible form. Soon, the interior of another palace can be seen
through it. Within moments, the face of the Prince of Earth appears.
"Endymion!" cries Princess Serenity.
"Serenity!" he replies. "We didn't know if you were alive or dead. The
Ronans are broadcasting their attack to everyone with an open public
connection. I was afraid that you were killed or captured."
"We are safe, for the moment. However, we need a bit of help. We think we
know of a way out of the palace, and from there out of the city; but we don't
know what to do after that. Evelyn said you may know of someone we can
contact on the Moon that can help us."
"Evelyn is still alive as well?" asks Endymion. "Good, at least you have
one Ronan there that you can trust. Okay. Serenity, once you exit the city,
head westward. Not more than a few days ride that direction is a town called
Prosperity, head there. Once you have entered Prosperity, find the 'Black
Wolf Inn'. Be careful, the regulars there can be a little rough. There you
should be met by . . ." The Prince is suddenly cut off as the connection is
severed. The globe quickly fades away, and everyone looks to Evelyn to see
what went wrong.
Evelyn's eyes are wide, and glazed over. She stares directly ahead, seeing
nothing. Her mouth moves slightly and she whispers, barely audibly, "Run. . .
quickly. . ." Then, she falls forward and is caught by Princess Serenity. A
throwing dagger sticks from Evelyn's back. Behind her stands Liam.
---
Liam laughs mockingly at the group. Shaking his head, he says, "That wasn't
very nice making me go out of my way to find you, Highness. You must realize
now that you can not escape us. We shall soon have control of your palace,
and you shall be captured and used to legitimize our overthrow of your own
government."
Grinning, Liam takes a step closer. The Queen begins to reach for her
scepter, but she remembers Evelyn's words and realizes there is nothing she
can do against Liam's magical shielding. As Princess Serenity sets Evelyn down
on the ground, the Queen begins to take a step forward in response to Liam.
"Your Majesty, Princess, run!" For a few moments, it is unclear where the
shout came from. Then, Luna and Artemis can be seen running towards Liam. The
Ronan is taken off guard and doesn't have enough time to modify his shields to
repel the two small animals. They leap clawing and scratching onto Liam,
buying time for the others with their sacrifice.
The others waste no time and run to the hallway leading to the room Luna
described. They quickly find the hidden door behind the only tapestry with a
horse on it. Just as Luna said, they exit the palace very near the stables.
Within moments, six white horses can be seen leaving the palace area, heading
west.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
