(no subject)
Shock. A Sailor Moon story. A choppy one that I still need to review and edit and tweek, but still, a SailorMoon 'verse story! Enjoy this odd little twist. ^-^
Title: Mirror, Mirror
Author: Raya
Medium: Fanfic
Theme: Myths & Fairy Tales/ Looking Glass
Genre: General
Version: Manga
Rating: G
Words: ~1600
Disclaimer: Simple and sweet today. Takeuchi Naoko owns everything.
Mirror, Mirror
Holding desperately to her courage, the eight year old tugged her long skirts free of yet another sharp branch. “Stupid Jels,” she muttered as she pushed her way tentatively further into the thicket. It was all his fault that she was here in this frightening place instead of in the nice, safe palace drinking tea. He had dared her to find out whether or not the Fountain of Tears really was hidden inside the haunted western corner of the Queen's Gardens. She couldn't back down, of course, no matter how dark and scary it was. If she did, he'd never stop calling her 'baby'.
She tripped over a rock hidden in the weeds and stumbled into yet another bramble with a cry of pain. Tears filled her lavender eyes as the thorns sliced shallow cuts into her delicate skin. The child straightened hastily and shrank away as the thorns turned towards the drops of deep red blood that welled up on the pale surface.
And then, a rustling sound made her freeze. Her wide eyed gaze searched the thorns and brambles as her heart began to race. The sound came again, louder. Closer. It was behind her, to the right. What could it be? It had to be huge to make that much noise!
Panicking now, she turned and fled deeper into the thicket. She sobbed as she forced her way through the brush, glancing back over her shoulder occasionally to see if the monster was visible yet. And then, suddenly, she rammed into something hard.
Her cry of pain and surprise choked off into a gurgle as she flipped head first into an old stone fountain. The brackish water tasted awful and made her cuts sting as she flailed her arms in an attempt to find air once more. Somehow, her knees found the bottom and she righted herself. She gasped and coughed, her face coming perilously near the sloshing surface as she tried to get the awful water out, the unseen monster completely forgotten.
Several minutes later, she finally calmed down enough to look around shakily. “Guess... Guess I found it,” she said as she brushed a lock of wet, dark hair out of her eyes. The fountain wasn't much to look at, more of a pool, really. There was no centerpiece for the water to flow through, no carvings or statues on the walls, just a three meter circle of slime covered rocks holding in a stagnant volume of water.
With a look of disgust, the girl reached for the slime coated wall and struggled to her feet. The bottom of the fountain was covered in thick, deep sludge which made it difficult. “This is it? This is the great Fountain of Tears? Waaiiii!!”
The child flailed frantically for the side of the fountain as something hidden in the sludge under her right foot shifted abruptly. After she regained her balance, she frowned down at the water and used her foot to nudge the offending object up to the surface. It felt like a thick stick, but it was oddly hard. When one end finally broke free of the sludge, she bent down and pulled on it. It came free suddenly, causing her to fall back into the slimy side of the pool.
There was something about the drag of the object in the water that sparked her curiosity. It didn't feel like a stick. Quickly, she pulled it free of the water and held it up. A puzzled frown creased her face as she looked at the oddly familiar shape. “What...?”
She dipped it back into the water and rubbed at the sludge. The slimy residue slipped off easily, and when she raised it from the water once more, she gasped in delighted surprise. “A mirror!” She gasped again as the silvered surface swirled and then reflected a picture. Her nursemaid, Ala, was looking for her in the rose garden.
The girl lowered the dainty mirror quickly and looked down at herself. She couldn't let Ala see her like this. The nursemaid would never let her hear the end of it! Moving as quickly as she could in the slippery fountain, Nehelenia, Queen of the Dark Moon, began her race back to her room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Mirror, mirror in my hand, who's the fairest in the land?” Queen Nehelenia smiled at her silly request as she lovingly traced her fingers over the mermaid that adorned the side of the dainty hand mirror she had found four years before. It was her most prized possession, magically showing her anything she asked.
Of course, it could be stubborn at times. As her lavender eyes watched the swirling, green-blue mist that covered its surface, she knew that this would be one them. Sure enough, writing appeared instead of the picture she expected. “If an answer would you seek, clearer statements must you speak. Hum.” After much trial and error, she had finally learned what it meant: Please clarify. Did she mean fairest as in the most just? Or as in the most beautiful? Or, perhaps as in the most pale? It seemed odd that a magic mirror wouldn't just know what she meant, but perhaps it had become damaged by being submerged all of those years in the Fountain of Tears.
So, which did she mean? Nehelenia shifted against the pillows of her bed as she considered her options. She was tempted to go for the prettiest, but Soren was very, very pretty. And, she wasn't sure she wanted to know that a boy was more beautiful than her. So, she would go with...
“Mirror, mirror in my hand, who's the whitest in the land?”
The mist swirled in the mirror again, and then revealed a scene that made the young queen sit up in shock. A young, regal woman dressed in a long gown of pure white leaned against an alabaster railing and looked out over a vast garden. Snow white locks fell like twin fountains of snow from the sides of her head to her ankles. The only spots of color were her pale silver eyes, her pale pink lips, and the single, burnished gold crescent moon sigil that glowed softly in the middle of her forehead.
“Who... Who is that?” she asked in shock.
The picture in the mirror changed. The woman shrank as the view expanded. She was in a large white building that was very obviously a castle. The castle was in the middle of a large city, which was set in the middle of a vast sea of sand. Nehelenia felt her eyes growing wider and wider as the image continued to expand. That was... That looked like... Her castle. On the moon! Her moon!
Only, it wasn't her moon. Somehow, even though it looked the same, there was something subtly different about it. Something brighter. Something that called to her and repelled her at the same time.
As the picture in the mirror faded, Nehelenia let it fall back to her mattress. Somewhere, out there, was another queen. A queen dressed all in white. The Queen of the White Moon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Queen Nehelenia looked around discreetly, and then slipped off of the path and into one of the hidden pocket gardens that graced her garden. It had been difficult to lose her suitors, but she needed some time alone away from their false smiles and falser flattery. Slipping into a vine shrouded gazebo, she pulled out the magical hand mirror and wondered what the White Queen was doing now.
She delayed looking however. Instead, she ran her fingers over the smooth, golden backside of the mirror and tried to guess where her counterpart would be. In the garden smelling her flowers? Conducting audiences for her courtiers? No... This time, she would be dancing. Nehelenia smiled in amusement at that thought. And her courtier would look just like Jels.
She flipped the mirror over and paused to admire it. Even after eight years, she was still amazed at its fine craftsmanship and sleek beauty. The curves were perfectly balanced, not too large and not too small. The mermaid had so much detail that she looked real, and yet her face was mysteriously devoid of any identifying traits. The little flowers etched into the frame were so dainty that they seemed to float across the curved surface. Even if it weren't magical, she could never find a mirror worthy to replace it.
Nehelenia ran a possessive finger down the mermaid's back, and smiled. How lucky she had been that day.
“Mirror, mirror in my hand....”
She stopped in surprise as the whole mirror began to glow. Before, only the silvered surface had shown any sign of power. Her eyes widened as the mirror began to vibrate and hum. She tightened her grasp instinctively to prevent herself from dropping it, and then gasped as her fingers went right through the handle. Its ghostly image hung in the air before her for another few seconds, and then with a brilliant burst of aqua light, it vanished.
It took her a moment to realize what had happened. “Noooooo...” she wailed as she jumped to her feet. “My mirror! Give it back!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Far away, in the land of the White Moon, a young girl looked up in surprise as a bright, aqua light filled her room. She stared in shock as a beautiful, dainty hand mirror appeared before her, and then slowly, instinctively, reached up to grasp its handle. The Deep Aqua Mirror hummed a joyful sound as the girl transformed for the first time in this lifetime into Sailor Neptune.
Title: Mirror, Mirror
Author: Raya
Medium: Fanfic
Theme: Myths & Fairy Tales/ Looking Glass
Genre: General
Version: Manga
Rating: G
Words: ~1600
Disclaimer: Simple and sweet today. Takeuchi Naoko owns everything.
Mirror, Mirror
Holding desperately to her courage, the eight year old tugged her long skirts free of yet another sharp branch. “Stupid Jels,” she muttered as she pushed her way tentatively further into the thicket. It was all his fault that she was here in this frightening place instead of in the nice, safe palace drinking tea. He had dared her to find out whether or not the Fountain of Tears really was hidden inside the haunted western corner of the Queen's Gardens. She couldn't back down, of course, no matter how dark and scary it was. If she did, he'd never stop calling her 'baby'.
She tripped over a rock hidden in the weeds and stumbled into yet another bramble with a cry of pain. Tears filled her lavender eyes as the thorns sliced shallow cuts into her delicate skin. The child straightened hastily and shrank away as the thorns turned towards the drops of deep red blood that welled up on the pale surface.
And then, a rustling sound made her freeze. Her wide eyed gaze searched the thorns and brambles as her heart began to race. The sound came again, louder. Closer. It was behind her, to the right. What could it be? It had to be huge to make that much noise!
Panicking now, she turned and fled deeper into the thicket. She sobbed as she forced her way through the brush, glancing back over her shoulder occasionally to see if the monster was visible yet. And then, suddenly, she rammed into something hard.
Her cry of pain and surprise choked off into a gurgle as she flipped head first into an old stone fountain. The brackish water tasted awful and made her cuts sting as she flailed her arms in an attempt to find air once more. Somehow, her knees found the bottom and she righted herself. She gasped and coughed, her face coming perilously near the sloshing surface as she tried to get the awful water out, the unseen monster completely forgotten.
Several minutes later, she finally calmed down enough to look around shakily. “Guess... Guess I found it,” she said as she brushed a lock of wet, dark hair out of her eyes. The fountain wasn't much to look at, more of a pool, really. There was no centerpiece for the water to flow through, no carvings or statues on the walls, just a three meter circle of slime covered rocks holding in a stagnant volume of water.
With a look of disgust, the girl reached for the slime coated wall and struggled to her feet. The bottom of the fountain was covered in thick, deep sludge which made it difficult. “This is it? This is the great Fountain of Tears? Waaiiii!!”
The child flailed frantically for the side of the fountain as something hidden in the sludge under her right foot shifted abruptly. After she regained her balance, she frowned down at the water and used her foot to nudge the offending object up to the surface. It felt like a thick stick, but it was oddly hard. When one end finally broke free of the sludge, she bent down and pulled on it. It came free suddenly, causing her to fall back into the slimy side of the pool.
There was something about the drag of the object in the water that sparked her curiosity. It didn't feel like a stick. Quickly, she pulled it free of the water and held it up. A puzzled frown creased her face as she looked at the oddly familiar shape. “What...?”
She dipped it back into the water and rubbed at the sludge. The slimy residue slipped off easily, and when she raised it from the water once more, she gasped in delighted surprise. “A mirror!” She gasped again as the silvered surface swirled and then reflected a picture. Her nursemaid, Ala, was looking for her in the rose garden.
The girl lowered the dainty mirror quickly and looked down at herself. She couldn't let Ala see her like this. The nursemaid would never let her hear the end of it! Moving as quickly as she could in the slippery fountain, Nehelenia, Queen of the Dark Moon, began her race back to her room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Mirror, mirror in my hand, who's the fairest in the land?” Queen Nehelenia smiled at her silly request as she lovingly traced her fingers over the mermaid that adorned the side of the dainty hand mirror she had found four years before. It was her most prized possession, magically showing her anything she asked.
Of course, it could be stubborn at times. As her lavender eyes watched the swirling, green-blue mist that covered its surface, she knew that this would be one them. Sure enough, writing appeared instead of the picture she expected. “If an answer would you seek, clearer statements must you speak. Hum.” After much trial and error, she had finally learned what it meant: Please clarify. Did she mean fairest as in the most just? Or as in the most beautiful? Or, perhaps as in the most pale? It seemed odd that a magic mirror wouldn't just know what she meant, but perhaps it had become damaged by being submerged all of those years in the Fountain of Tears.
So, which did she mean? Nehelenia shifted against the pillows of her bed as she considered her options. She was tempted to go for the prettiest, but Soren was very, very pretty. And, she wasn't sure she wanted to know that a boy was more beautiful than her. So, she would go with...
“Mirror, mirror in my hand, who's the whitest in the land?”
The mist swirled in the mirror again, and then revealed a scene that made the young queen sit up in shock. A young, regal woman dressed in a long gown of pure white leaned against an alabaster railing and looked out over a vast garden. Snow white locks fell like twin fountains of snow from the sides of her head to her ankles. The only spots of color were her pale silver eyes, her pale pink lips, and the single, burnished gold crescent moon sigil that glowed softly in the middle of her forehead.
“Who... Who is that?” she asked in shock.
The picture in the mirror changed. The woman shrank as the view expanded. She was in a large white building that was very obviously a castle. The castle was in the middle of a large city, which was set in the middle of a vast sea of sand. Nehelenia felt her eyes growing wider and wider as the image continued to expand. That was... That looked like... Her castle. On the moon! Her moon!
Only, it wasn't her moon. Somehow, even though it looked the same, there was something subtly different about it. Something brighter. Something that called to her and repelled her at the same time.
As the picture in the mirror faded, Nehelenia let it fall back to her mattress. Somewhere, out there, was another queen. A queen dressed all in white. The Queen of the White Moon.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Queen Nehelenia looked around discreetly, and then slipped off of the path and into one of the hidden pocket gardens that graced her garden. It had been difficult to lose her suitors, but she needed some time alone away from their false smiles and falser flattery. Slipping into a vine shrouded gazebo, she pulled out the magical hand mirror and wondered what the White Queen was doing now.
She delayed looking however. Instead, she ran her fingers over the smooth, golden backside of the mirror and tried to guess where her counterpart would be. In the garden smelling her flowers? Conducting audiences for her courtiers? No... This time, she would be dancing. Nehelenia smiled in amusement at that thought. And her courtier would look just like Jels.
She flipped the mirror over and paused to admire it. Even after eight years, she was still amazed at its fine craftsmanship and sleek beauty. The curves were perfectly balanced, not too large and not too small. The mermaid had so much detail that she looked real, and yet her face was mysteriously devoid of any identifying traits. The little flowers etched into the frame were so dainty that they seemed to float across the curved surface. Even if it weren't magical, she could never find a mirror worthy to replace it.
Nehelenia ran a possessive finger down the mermaid's back, and smiled. How lucky she had been that day.
“Mirror, mirror in my hand....”
She stopped in surprise as the whole mirror began to glow. Before, only the silvered surface had shown any sign of power. Her eyes widened as the mirror began to vibrate and hum. She tightened her grasp instinctively to prevent herself from dropping it, and then gasped as her fingers went right through the handle. Its ghostly image hung in the air before her for another few seconds, and then with a brilliant burst of aqua light, it vanished.
It took her a moment to realize what had happened. “Noooooo...” she wailed as she jumped to her feet. “My mirror! Give it back!”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Far away, in the land of the White Moon, a young girl looked up in surprise as a bright, aqua light filled her room. She stared in shock as a beautiful, dainty hand mirror appeared before her, and then slowly, instinctively, reached up to grasp its handle. The Deep Aqua Mirror hummed a joyful sound as the girl transformed for the first time in this lifetime into Sailor Neptune.