[FFML] [SM] Daughter of Silence

[Aaron Nowack]

So, how about some fanfiction?

This is just a short little thing, written in one sitting, but any C&C
is always welcome.

Daughter of Silence
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack

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Disclaimer: The world and most of the characters are Naoko Takeuchi's.
Only the words are mine.  By reading this fanfic, you agree to be pulled
away from the wall when the counter-revolution comes.
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        On the night of her tenth birthday, Tomoe Hotaru went to sleep
in the comfort of her own bed, and awoke on another world.  She did not
panic, instead standing and calmly gazing up at the alien heavens.
Bands of softly glowing, crimson clouds swept rapidly across the night
sky, twisting in shapes that almost seemed to form a repeating pattern,
only to break it at the last moment again and again.  The stars visible
through the gaps in the clouds flickered on and off, leaving the young
girl the impression that they were moments from dying out.
        There was no sound, a total lack of the constant noises of the
city that Hotaru never noticed except in their absence.  Nor did the cry
of any animal ring out, nor did the beating of insect wings fill the
air, nor did even the blowing of the wind break the silence.  There was
only the quiet sound of Hotaru's own breathing, which in this place came
softly and deeply, free of the desperate gasping she had grown used to.
        She stood on a raised platform of black stone, amidst a flat
plain of dark earth, broken only by outcroppings of rock and small
patches of plant growth.  In the four corners of the platform, braziers
burned weak, purplish flames.  As Hotaru took a step forward, onto the
the short, stone steps that led down from the platform, the flames
guttered out.  Unthinkingly, she took a step back, but the fires did not
return to life.
        After a moment's hesitation, she walked down the stairs, and
began to walk toward the nearest rock outcropping.  Her light footsteps
left light prints in the ground that seemed to vanish mere seconds
later, leaving no trace of her passing.  Overhead, a band of clouds
briefly twisted into a circle, and bright lightning lit the night.
There was no thunder.
        There was a howl in the distance, and then a closer roar
answered.  It came from what Hotaru had thought to be a mound of stone,
and it stirred, becoming in an instant a creature the likes of which
Hotaru had never seen.  It resembled a dog, if a dog had no fur and
stood taller than Hotaru at its shoulder.  It drew near with surprising
steed, reaching Hotaru before she had time to be afraid.
        Then it knelt down before her on strangely jointed legs.  The
creature's greenish hide was marred by tattoos of black and silver,
forming characters that were not Japanese, or Latin, or of any language
known on Earth.  Still, Hotaru's hand reached out, almost tracing the
letters, and she knew their purpose.  A name, a title, and a number.
"You want me to get on?" she asked the creature, almost wincing at the
seeming loudness of her quiet voice.
        The beast turned to look at her, and she read its answer in the
alien face, noting the bold, black star tattooed on its forehead.
Trying not the shake, she seated herself on its back.  The best let out
a soft rumble, almost a purr, and stood.  Then they were moving across
the landscape with the same incredible speed it had shown in reaching
Hotaru.
        As they traveled, the girl observed the various outcroppings
that disturbed the perfect flatness of the plain.  Some seemed to indeed
be natural rock, others showed signs of having been constructed.  Some
seemed to be more creatures like the one she rode, and others were other
types of beasts.  None that they passed moved.
        Soon, however, another creature drew up alongside Hotaru's,
slightly larger and with a more intricate pattern of tattoos.  It too
bore a passenger, of roughly human shape and size.  Her - for the rider
was clearly female - skin was pale, and seemed to glow in the dim light.
Three golden eyes sat in her face over an open mouthful of needle-thin,
sharp teeth, and though she seemed shaped like a mature woman to Hotaru,
she was only slightly taller than the young girl.  She too had a black
star tattoo on her forehead, although Hotaru saw now other markings on
her skin.
        "I am Witch 43," she said, an unfamiliar accent tainting her
halting, but otherwise perfect, Japanese.  "I am to take you to the
Mistress."
        Hotaru just nodded, not trusting her voice, and the two traveled
in silence.  In the distance, a stepped ziggurat of black stone
appeared, crimson energy dancing around it.  As it slowly drew closer,
Hotaru saw more and more signs of life, and occasional hints of motion,
but nothing came close to the pair of riders.
        Finally, they reached the pyramid, and without halting Hotaru's
steed bounded up a wide stairway.  Her companion followed, and within
moments they neared the top.  As one, the two beasts stopped and knelt
down on a large landing.  Witch 43 got off, and Hotaru followed suit.
The alien woman led her up a short, narrow stairway, but with a gesture
warded her off from following past the top step.
        They had reached the highest point of the ziggurat, and in the
center of the flat roof was a tall throne.  Witch 43 knelt before the
throne, and its occupant rose.  It was another woman, or so it seemed to
Hotaru, though she was a shadowy, indistinct figure.  Her two eyes shone
like stars, brighter than the weak and pale things in the sky of this
world.  She stood much taller than either Hotaru or the Witch, looming
over them like a mountain over two small foothills.  A slightly lighter
patch of shadows formed a star on her forehead.
        "Mistress, I have brought her," the Witch said, still in
Japanese.
        The shadowy woman nodded, and gestured for Hotaru to approach.
Hesitatingly, she stepped off the stairs, and the shadows that made up
the tall woman's face shifted into what Hotaru interpreted as a smile.
"I am Mistress 9, and in the name of Master Pharaoh 90," the shadow
woman said in a voice that sounded to Hotaru like her own, "I welcome
you to the ninth world of his domain, that your people call the Tau Ceti
star system."
        Hotaru knelt.  "Thank you, Mistress."
        Another hint of a smile moved Mistress 9's face.  "Are we not to
become one, child?" she asked.  "There is no need for such formality."
        Hotaru could somehow sense surprise from the Witch who had
brought her here, but the pale alien stayed perfectly still.  "My
father," she began.
        Mistress 9 interrupted her.  "Your father no doubt feared to
offend me," she said, "but I need fear no offense from you.  We are to
become one, after all.  You could no more offend me than I could offend
myself."  Her Japanese was perfect in every respect, Hotaru noted, every
word spoken precisely as Hotaru herself would.  "We are already one, in
many ways," Mistress 9 added, as though Hotaru had made the observation
aloud.  "I know that your father has prepared you admirably for this
day."
        Hotaru licked her suddenly dry lips, remembering what was to
occur.  "What am I to call you, then?" she asked.
        "Soon," Mistress 9 said, "I will be with you always.  You will
be my child as much as you are Germatoid's."  Her meaning was clear, and
Hotaru could tell the woman knew she understood by the smile she made.
"Now rise, my daughter, and we shall speak of what will be done this
day," she said gently, offering the human girl a shadowy hand.
        Hotaru took it, and rose, a smile of her own appearing on her
face.  "Thank you, Mother."

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Author's Ramblings

The idea for this came to me in a dream.  It stuck with me, and the more
I thought on it the more interesting it seemed.  After all, Hotaru was
raised by the Death Busters, and if they'd been a little wiser in taking
advantage of that, the events of Sailor Moon S might have gone rather
differently.

So, I wrote this.  I'm not sure when or if I'll follow up on this; if I
do it will likely be a series of connected short pieces rather than a
longer story.


-- 
           Aaron Nowack
"Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis."
http://www.mimiru.net/