Fractured Loyalties, Chapter 1, Part 1
This is the first part of the first chapter of the 'What If?' story I mentioned briefly in some of my comments on my last post here. I've decided to post the chapters for it in sections because they're going to be quite long, and it will let me post them more frequently.
So welcome to the first part of what I hope will be an interesting ride. There'll be evil Senshi, good Shitennou, evil Shitennou, good Senshi, and confusion about what's going on and who to trust. Let's get started.
Fractured Loyalties
Chapter 1: A Darker Turn, Part 1
By Contrail
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi, not me, and I'm using the characters and setting without her permission. I'm not making any money off of this.
Chronology Note: While the timeline this story takes place in branches off prior to the beginning of the Sailor Moon series, the events of the first two acts take place as shown in the manga because the changes don't directly affect those events. The first scene takes the place of the first scene of act three, then it jumps forward to the middle of act three, where events will diverge for good.
Jadeite knelt before Queen Beryl, having just finished his report on what had happened at the Crystal Academy, including the awakening of another Senshi. The two other continental commanders of the Dark Kingdom were standing behind him, having come at his Queen's request to listen to his report first hand.
Silence pervaded the great hall for a time as Queen Beryl consider what he had told her. Finally, she spoke in a stern voice. "Jadeite. That's two failures in a row. You had best be prepared."
Jadeite bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Yes, your Majesty. I apologize."
Nephrite spoke up then, from where he was lounging against a wall behind him, a tumbler half full of wine dangling in one hand. "Your soldiers are puppets made of dirt, after all. That's why they're so fragile." Nephrite chuckled, and Jadeite felt a flash of irritation. His youma could handle any attack an ordinary human could produce. They just weren't designed to handle foes as strong as the Sailor Senshi.
Nephrite moved away from the wall and continued speaking with conviction. "Queen Beryl, entrust this task to me, Nephrite, in charge of the Dark Kingdom's North American division! I will efficiently gather energy for offering to our great ruler, and I will obtain the Phantom Silver Crystal without fail!"
"The Sailor Senshi must be searching for the Phantom Silver Crystal as well, if it is not already in their possession. It was one of the Moon's greatest treasures, they would not leave it in others' hands once they knew of its whereabouts," the third commander mused from where stood apart from the other two, light glinting off his short cap of straight silver hair and knowing pale green eyes. Jadeite always hated the way that man lorded his more extensive memories of their past lives over them, unwilling to just explain things but always dropping tidbits to remind him that he knew more than they did.
Nephrite scowled; He hated the mysterious and all-knowing act even more than Jadeite did. Turning to their Queen, Nephrite broached a question to her. "Queen Beryl, I ask that you tell us. Just what is this Phantom Silver Crystal...?"
Queen Beryl was silent for a few long moments before answering Nephrite's question. "As I understand it, the Phantom Silver Crystal is the stone that is the source of all energy, that carries unfathomable and unlimited power. And the one who obtains it can become ruler of the entire universe." Her voice took on a note of longing when she spoke of the crystal's power.
Her demeanor growing fierce once more, she continued, "There will be no mercy for those who stand in the way of our Dark Kingdom, no matter who they are. Jadeite, head of the Far Eastern division! For now you will postpone the search for the Phantom Silver Crystal! I am going to give you one last chance, Jadeite."
Jadeite knelt before Queen Beryl again, pressing his clenched fist to his heart. "Understood. By my hands, I will eliminate those eyesores, the Sailor Senshi!" He would come up with a plan to defeat them once and for all. He couldn't let a pair of teenage girls defeat him, no matter what powers they held!
As Usagi walked back down the shrine steps back towards the bus stop with Luna in her arms, she couldn't help dwelling a bit on what she'd just seen. Those people, accusing Rei of causing the kidnappings, just because she didn't think her sixth sense would be able to find where the girls were taken. She could tell that Rei really was concerned about the kidnapped girl and hurt by the accusations. "Poor Rei-chan..." Usagi said to herself.
As if taking that as a signal to start talking, Luna mused aloud, "I can't get a read on the intentions of the enemy. If this is the enemy... They must be searching for the Phantom Silver Crystal, but I can't read their actions."
"The enemy's looking for this Phantom Silver Crystal thing, too?" Usagi asked.
"That's right," Luna confirmed. "But, Usagi-chan. Remember this. The Phantom Silver Crystal absolutely must not fall into the hands of the enemy."
Usagi checked the time on her watch as she continued walking down the street, noting absently that a bus was coming down the street towards them. "So it's getting to be six."
Luna gasped. "Usagi-chan! That bus!! It's odd! The destination sign is flashing red!!"
Taking a closer look at the bus, Usagi saw that Luna was right. As she continued to watch the bus, she spotted Rei through one of the windows, slumped against it and apparently asleep. Rei-chan!? No way! The bus continued on towards a wall, a disturbing looking black hole opening before it. A hole, a gaping hole in the wall!?
"Is this 'the devil's six o'clock bus'!?" Usagi exclaimed as everything came together in her mind. "I have to save Rei-chan!!" She tossed the Luna Pen up into the air, the jewel on the top of it sparkling in the light, and cried out, "Moon Power! Change into a stewardess!!" Light flashed around her and her clothing shifted into a stewardess's uniform.
"Usagi-chan!? Why a stewardess!?" Luna asked as Usagi dashed towards the bus.
"My mission is to ensure a safe and pleasant trip for the passengers!" Usagi replied, then leapt up to catch hold of an open window towards the end of the bus and start trying to pull herself up into it. Luna leapt up to cling to her legs, but Usagi's attempts to get into the bus involved a lot of thrashing of her legs, and Luna soon fell off with a soft cry.
Usagi looked back over her shoulder when she heard Luna's cry. "Luna!?" That moment of inattention is when her grip slipped and she lost her hold on the window, toppling backwards. "Aaaah!" Before she could hit the ground, familiar arms wrapped around her, strong and warm, easing her fall. Before her eyes, she saw the bus pass fully into the hole, the hole closing behind it. "Rei-chan..." she whispered, staring at the place where the bus vanished.
"Are you alright?" the man holding her asked, and she turned to look up into Tuxedo Mask's familiar features.
"Yes... No... I couldn't hold on," she said quietly.
"And what would you have been able to do to help the kidnapped girls if you had been able to stay with the bus?" he asked gently, but with an underlying intensity.
"I-," she started to answer before realizing that unlike the previous times she'd met Tuxedo Mask, she wasn't Sailor Moon, she was just using the power of the Luna Pen to disguise herself. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. I really have to go now!" She pulled herself away from him abruptly, leaving him with a expression of surprise on his face and an arm reaching out towards her. Scooping up Luna, she dashed off, wondering exactly how much he'd seen and heard, if he'd figured out that she was Sailor Moon...
Jadeite frowned as he drove the bus through the dark passageway that joined their castle to the Earth's surface. For a moment, just before the bus entered the portal, he thought he had sensed another presence on the bus but no, the sole passenger was the shrine maiden he'd... persuaded to board the bus. He would just have to continue on with the charade until he lead the Sailor Senshi to their doom.
As he reached the room where all of his previous victims were sleeping, he let the Phantom Bus dissipate and turned to examine his latest captive. Kneeling down beside her sleeping form, he reached out to stroke her glossy hair gently out of her face. "So beautiful," he whispered to himself. "I've been attracted to her since I first saw her, this girl." Letting his hand rest gently on her forehead, an unusual sense of heat began to follow up his hand. Clearing his mind and concentrating on feeling her presence, he began to sense a buried power within her, like a banked fire ready to blaze once more when given the right fuel.
Withdrawing his hand, he watched her with a considering gaze. She was almost certainly the carrier of the power of one of the planets, destined to become a Sailor Senshi and thus his enemy. But Queen Beryl had already proved that the hearts of the planetary guardians were not immune to her powers of dark persuasion, and she would undoubtedly be pleased to add a warrior to their own ranks while depriving their enemies of a potential ally.
The knowledge of the pain the process of conversion would undoubtedly cause the girl almost made him hesitate, but the prospect of having her fight by his side and watching her blossom under his tutelage into something beautiful and deadly was too enticing to pass up. The pain would pass quickly enough, after all, and then she would be one of them.
Gently gathering the girl into his arms, he made his way through the shadowy hallways of the Dark Kingdom towards Queen Beryl's throne room. Part of the way towards his destination, Nephrite emerged from a side corridor and fell into step next to him. After a few moments of silence while Nephrite examined what Jadeite was carrying, he finally asked in a sardonic tone of voice, "So this is your choice for a match to my little apprentice?"
Jadeite looked at the other man through narrowed eyes. "Perhaps. She does hold potential for great power within her." Jadeite quickened his pace, and Nephrite allowed himself to be left behind the other commander, knowing that further prodding wouldn't get him anywhere at the present time. He had his own duties to attend to as well.
Finally reaching Queen Beryl's throne room, he found her seated on her throne, apparently waiting for him. "What brings you before me when I have not summoned you, Jadeite? Have you perhaps fulfilled your task already?" Her gaze rested levelly on what Jadeite was carrying in his arms.
Kneeling before her despite the awkwardness caused by his hold on the shrine maiden, Jadeite respectfully replied, "The Sailor Senshi still live, your Majesty, although I am certain they will be drawn into my trap soon. But I do bring an unexpected gift to you. I believe if you examine this girl, you will find the power of one of the guardian planets sleeping within her."
Queen Beryl arched one elegant eyebrow at him, before rising from her throne. "We shall see." Gliding to where Jadeite was holding the girl before him, she reached down and placed one fingertip on her forehead and channeled a weak amount of dark energy into the girl. She moaned a little in her sleep, and the planetary sigil of Mars flickered with red light on her brow for a few instants. Drawing back, Queen Beryl said, "You have done well, for once, in bringing her to me, Jadeite. Once I am done with her she will be quite an asset to our cause." A cold smile graced her features before she turned, gesturing sharply for him to follow her.
Queen Beryl left the throne room and led him downwards, deeper into the earth, until they entered a chamber he didn't remember having been in before. It was quite bare except for the rectangular slab of stone in the center of it, which had pieces of rope attached to its surface, obviously intended to be used to keep someone laying on the surface immobilized.
"Strap her down," Queen Beryl ordered, waving a hand imperiously at the stone slab. "I don't want her thrashing to disrupt my concentration."
Jadeite did as his Queen bid, making sure the shrine maiden was securely fastened to the surface. He backed away as Queen Beryl took up a position at the head of the stone slab, resting her long fingers on the girl's face. Dark energy flowed from those fingers into her, seeking for weaknesses in her heart that would allow Queen Beryl to twist her mind and memory, to mold her into a warrior that would serve the Queen's dark cause. The shrine maiden's body attempted to twist and turn, struggling to get away from the darkness, although she couldn't move much in her bonds. Her head was the only thing that remained still, locked into place by the touch of the Queen's hands. The only sign of struggle there was the red sigil of Mars that blazed brightly on her forehead.
The shadows deepened around Queen Beryl as she intensified her efforts to remake the girl before her into what she wished her to be. The sigil of Mars began to flicker and dim, a sign that the shrine maiden was weakening. As he watched Queen Beryl pour yet more energy into completing the girl's transformation, a small part of Jadeite wondered if this could have been done to him as well. He couldn't remember not serving Queen Beryl, of course, but from what he'd seen of the other girl that didn't necessarily mean anything... With a mental growl, he pushed the stray disloyal thought to the back of his mind. Serving his Queen was the reason he had been born and given the powers he held. That's all there was to him, and all that had ever been.
Shadows finally drifted across the girl's forehead and consumed the sigil until it turned completely black. A flare of dark power rippled down her body, transforming the shrine maiden's outfit she wore into something more... appropriate for a warrior of the Dark Kingdom. The Queen pulled herself away from the girl and Jadeite barely waited for her to motion him forward before approaching the slab and beginning to remove the ropes that held the girl to the table.
As he undid the bonds that held her, he examined the girl's new attire. Her fitted jacket was not that dissimilar to his own, although pure black instead of gray like his. It has no epaulettes and the high collar was replaced by a sailor-style one. An ornate brooch held the jacket closed at her right shoulder, while two smaller jeweled buttons fastened it at the waist. The jewels were a dark red that matched the piping and collar of the jacket. The pleated mid-thigh length skirt was dark red as well, and the high heeled shoes on her feet. Other than the footwear and accent color, it was almost identical to the outfit the other girl wore.
As he removed the last of the ropes binding her, she began to stir. Slowly she sat up, swinging her legs off the side of the table and holding a hand to her head. Her eyes were open but unfocused, seeming not to be taking in her surroundings. The sound of Queen Beryl's voice seemed to cut through the haze left by her experience, causing the girl to straighten herself and her eyes to focus on Queen Beryl's face.
"Who are you?" Queen Beryl questioned her. "And who do you serve?"
The girl rose to her feet and took a few steps towards Queen Beryl before sinking to one knee before her, although she did not lower her gaze. "I am the Dark Senshi of Mars, who wields the destructive fury of the flames, and I serve you, my Queen," Mars replied. "What tasks do you have to set before me?" she continued, her violet eyes glinting with anticipation.
Queen Beryl smiled with cold satisfaction before she began giving her instructions.
So welcome to the first part of what I hope will be an interesting ride. There'll be evil Senshi, good Shitennou, evil Shitennou, good Senshi, and confusion about what's going on and who to trust. Let's get started.
Fractured Loyalties
Chapter 1: A Darker Turn, Part 1
By Contrail
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon was created by Naoko Takeuchi, not me, and I'm using the characters and setting without her permission. I'm not making any money off of this.
Chronology Note: While the timeline this story takes place in branches off prior to the beginning of the Sailor Moon series, the events of the first two acts take place as shown in the manga because the changes don't directly affect those events. The first scene takes the place of the first scene of act three, then it jumps forward to the middle of act three, where events will diverge for good.
Jadeite knelt before Queen Beryl, having just finished his report on what had happened at the Crystal Academy, including the awakening of another Senshi. The two other continental commanders of the Dark Kingdom were standing behind him, having come at his Queen's request to listen to his report first hand.
Silence pervaded the great hall for a time as Queen Beryl consider what he had told her. Finally, she spoke in a stern voice. "Jadeite. That's two failures in a row. You had best be prepared."
Jadeite bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Yes, your Majesty. I apologize."
Nephrite spoke up then, from where he was lounging against a wall behind him, a tumbler half full of wine dangling in one hand. "Your soldiers are puppets made of dirt, after all. That's why they're so fragile." Nephrite chuckled, and Jadeite felt a flash of irritation. His youma could handle any attack an ordinary human could produce. They just weren't designed to handle foes as strong as the Sailor Senshi.
Nephrite moved away from the wall and continued speaking with conviction. "Queen Beryl, entrust this task to me, Nephrite, in charge of the Dark Kingdom's North American division! I will efficiently gather energy for offering to our great ruler, and I will obtain the Phantom Silver Crystal without fail!"
"The Sailor Senshi must be searching for the Phantom Silver Crystal as well, if it is not already in their possession. It was one of the Moon's greatest treasures, they would not leave it in others' hands once they knew of its whereabouts," the third commander mused from where stood apart from the other two, light glinting off his short cap of straight silver hair and knowing pale green eyes. Jadeite always hated the way that man lorded his more extensive memories of their past lives over them, unwilling to just explain things but always dropping tidbits to remind him that he knew more than they did.
Nephrite scowled; He hated the mysterious and all-knowing act even more than Jadeite did. Turning to their Queen, Nephrite broached a question to her. "Queen Beryl, I ask that you tell us. Just what is this Phantom Silver Crystal...?"
Queen Beryl was silent for a few long moments before answering Nephrite's question. "As I understand it, the Phantom Silver Crystal is the stone that is the source of all energy, that carries unfathomable and unlimited power. And the one who obtains it can become ruler of the entire universe." Her voice took on a note of longing when she spoke of the crystal's power.
Her demeanor growing fierce once more, she continued, "There will be no mercy for those who stand in the way of our Dark Kingdom, no matter who they are. Jadeite, head of the Far Eastern division! For now you will postpone the search for the Phantom Silver Crystal! I am going to give you one last chance, Jadeite."
Jadeite knelt before Queen Beryl again, pressing his clenched fist to his heart. "Understood. By my hands, I will eliminate those eyesores, the Sailor Senshi!" He would come up with a plan to defeat them once and for all. He couldn't let a pair of teenage girls defeat him, no matter what powers they held!
As Usagi walked back down the shrine steps back towards the bus stop with Luna in her arms, she couldn't help dwelling a bit on what she'd just seen. Those people, accusing Rei of causing the kidnappings, just because she didn't think her sixth sense would be able to find where the girls were taken. She could tell that Rei really was concerned about the kidnapped girl and hurt by the accusations. "Poor Rei-chan..." Usagi said to herself.
As if taking that as a signal to start talking, Luna mused aloud, "I can't get a read on the intentions of the enemy. If this is the enemy... They must be searching for the Phantom Silver Crystal, but I can't read their actions."
"The enemy's looking for this Phantom Silver Crystal thing, too?" Usagi asked.
"That's right," Luna confirmed. "But, Usagi-chan. Remember this. The Phantom Silver Crystal absolutely must not fall into the hands of the enemy."
Usagi checked the time on her watch as she continued walking down the street, noting absently that a bus was coming down the street towards them. "So it's getting to be six."
Luna gasped. "Usagi-chan! That bus!! It's odd! The destination sign is flashing red!!"
Taking a closer look at the bus, Usagi saw that Luna was right. As she continued to watch the bus, she spotted Rei through one of the windows, slumped against it and apparently asleep. Rei-chan!? No way! The bus continued on towards a wall, a disturbing looking black hole opening before it. A hole, a gaping hole in the wall!?
"Is this 'the devil's six o'clock bus'!?" Usagi exclaimed as everything came together in her mind. "I have to save Rei-chan!!" She tossed the Luna Pen up into the air, the jewel on the top of it sparkling in the light, and cried out, "Moon Power! Change into a stewardess!!" Light flashed around her and her clothing shifted into a stewardess's uniform.
"Usagi-chan!? Why a stewardess!?" Luna asked as Usagi dashed towards the bus.
"My mission is to ensure a safe and pleasant trip for the passengers!" Usagi replied, then leapt up to catch hold of an open window towards the end of the bus and start trying to pull herself up into it. Luna leapt up to cling to her legs, but Usagi's attempts to get into the bus involved a lot of thrashing of her legs, and Luna soon fell off with a soft cry.
Usagi looked back over her shoulder when she heard Luna's cry. "Luna!?" That moment of inattention is when her grip slipped and she lost her hold on the window, toppling backwards. "Aaaah!" Before she could hit the ground, familiar arms wrapped around her, strong and warm, easing her fall. Before her eyes, she saw the bus pass fully into the hole, the hole closing behind it. "Rei-chan..." she whispered, staring at the place where the bus vanished.
"Are you alright?" the man holding her asked, and she turned to look up into Tuxedo Mask's familiar features.
"Yes... No... I couldn't hold on," she said quietly.
"And what would you have been able to do to help the kidnapped girls if you had been able to stay with the bus?" he asked gently, but with an underlying intensity.
"I-," she started to answer before realizing that unlike the previous times she'd met Tuxedo Mask, she wasn't Sailor Moon, she was just using the power of the Luna Pen to disguise herself. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. I really have to go now!" She pulled herself away from him abruptly, leaving him with a expression of surprise on his face and an arm reaching out towards her. Scooping up Luna, she dashed off, wondering exactly how much he'd seen and heard, if he'd figured out that she was Sailor Moon...
Jadeite frowned as he drove the bus through the dark passageway that joined their castle to the Earth's surface. For a moment, just before the bus entered the portal, he thought he had sensed another presence on the bus but no, the sole passenger was the shrine maiden he'd... persuaded to board the bus. He would just have to continue on with the charade until he lead the Sailor Senshi to their doom.
As he reached the room where all of his previous victims were sleeping, he let the Phantom Bus dissipate and turned to examine his latest captive. Kneeling down beside her sleeping form, he reached out to stroke her glossy hair gently out of her face. "So beautiful," he whispered to himself. "I've been attracted to her since I first saw her, this girl." Letting his hand rest gently on her forehead, an unusual sense of heat began to follow up his hand. Clearing his mind and concentrating on feeling her presence, he began to sense a buried power within her, like a banked fire ready to blaze once more when given the right fuel.
Withdrawing his hand, he watched her with a considering gaze. She was almost certainly the carrier of the power of one of the planets, destined to become a Sailor Senshi and thus his enemy. But Queen Beryl had already proved that the hearts of the planetary guardians were not immune to her powers of dark persuasion, and she would undoubtedly be pleased to add a warrior to their own ranks while depriving their enemies of a potential ally.
The knowledge of the pain the process of conversion would undoubtedly cause the girl almost made him hesitate, but the prospect of having her fight by his side and watching her blossom under his tutelage into something beautiful and deadly was too enticing to pass up. The pain would pass quickly enough, after all, and then she would be one of them.
Gently gathering the girl into his arms, he made his way through the shadowy hallways of the Dark Kingdom towards Queen Beryl's throne room. Part of the way towards his destination, Nephrite emerged from a side corridor and fell into step next to him. After a few moments of silence while Nephrite examined what Jadeite was carrying, he finally asked in a sardonic tone of voice, "So this is your choice for a match to my little apprentice?"
Jadeite looked at the other man through narrowed eyes. "Perhaps. She does hold potential for great power within her." Jadeite quickened his pace, and Nephrite allowed himself to be left behind the other commander, knowing that further prodding wouldn't get him anywhere at the present time. He had his own duties to attend to as well.
Finally reaching Queen Beryl's throne room, he found her seated on her throne, apparently waiting for him. "What brings you before me when I have not summoned you, Jadeite? Have you perhaps fulfilled your task already?" Her gaze rested levelly on what Jadeite was carrying in his arms.
Kneeling before her despite the awkwardness caused by his hold on the shrine maiden, Jadeite respectfully replied, "The Sailor Senshi still live, your Majesty, although I am certain they will be drawn into my trap soon. But I do bring an unexpected gift to you. I believe if you examine this girl, you will find the power of one of the guardian planets sleeping within her."
Queen Beryl arched one elegant eyebrow at him, before rising from her throne. "We shall see." Gliding to where Jadeite was holding the girl before him, she reached down and placed one fingertip on her forehead and channeled a weak amount of dark energy into the girl. She moaned a little in her sleep, and the planetary sigil of Mars flickered with red light on her brow for a few instants. Drawing back, Queen Beryl said, "You have done well, for once, in bringing her to me, Jadeite. Once I am done with her she will be quite an asset to our cause." A cold smile graced her features before she turned, gesturing sharply for him to follow her.
Queen Beryl left the throne room and led him downwards, deeper into the earth, until they entered a chamber he didn't remember having been in before. It was quite bare except for the rectangular slab of stone in the center of it, which had pieces of rope attached to its surface, obviously intended to be used to keep someone laying on the surface immobilized.
"Strap her down," Queen Beryl ordered, waving a hand imperiously at the stone slab. "I don't want her thrashing to disrupt my concentration."
Jadeite did as his Queen bid, making sure the shrine maiden was securely fastened to the surface. He backed away as Queen Beryl took up a position at the head of the stone slab, resting her long fingers on the girl's face. Dark energy flowed from those fingers into her, seeking for weaknesses in her heart that would allow Queen Beryl to twist her mind and memory, to mold her into a warrior that would serve the Queen's dark cause. The shrine maiden's body attempted to twist and turn, struggling to get away from the darkness, although she couldn't move much in her bonds. Her head was the only thing that remained still, locked into place by the touch of the Queen's hands. The only sign of struggle there was the red sigil of Mars that blazed brightly on her forehead.
The shadows deepened around Queen Beryl as she intensified her efforts to remake the girl before her into what she wished her to be. The sigil of Mars began to flicker and dim, a sign that the shrine maiden was weakening. As he watched Queen Beryl pour yet more energy into completing the girl's transformation, a small part of Jadeite wondered if this could have been done to him as well. He couldn't remember not serving Queen Beryl, of course, but from what he'd seen of the other girl that didn't necessarily mean anything... With a mental growl, he pushed the stray disloyal thought to the back of his mind. Serving his Queen was the reason he had been born and given the powers he held. That's all there was to him, and all that had ever been.
Shadows finally drifted across the girl's forehead and consumed the sigil until it turned completely black. A flare of dark power rippled down her body, transforming the shrine maiden's outfit she wore into something more... appropriate for a warrior of the Dark Kingdom. The Queen pulled herself away from the girl and Jadeite barely waited for her to motion him forward before approaching the slab and beginning to remove the ropes that held the girl to the table.
As he undid the bonds that held her, he examined the girl's new attire. Her fitted jacket was not that dissimilar to his own, although pure black instead of gray like his. It has no epaulettes and the high collar was replaced by a sailor-style one. An ornate brooch held the jacket closed at her right shoulder, while two smaller jeweled buttons fastened it at the waist. The jewels were a dark red that matched the piping and collar of the jacket. The pleated mid-thigh length skirt was dark red as well, and the high heeled shoes on her feet. Other than the footwear and accent color, it was almost identical to the outfit the other girl wore.
As he removed the last of the ropes binding her, she began to stir. Slowly she sat up, swinging her legs off the side of the table and holding a hand to her head. Her eyes were open but unfocused, seeming not to be taking in her surroundings. The sound of Queen Beryl's voice seemed to cut through the haze left by her experience, causing the girl to straighten herself and her eyes to focus on Queen Beryl's face.
"Who are you?" Queen Beryl questioned her. "And who do you serve?"
The girl rose to her feet and took a few steps towards Queen Beryl before sinking to one knee before her, although she did not lower her gaze. "I am the Dark Senshi of Mars, who wields the destructive fury of the flames, and I serve you, my Queen," Mars replied. "What tasks do you have to set before me?" she continued, her violet eyes glinting with anticipation.
Queen Beryl smiled with cold satisfaction before she began giving her instructions.