Chapter Text
Luna frowned as she was reading the latest report she received from her home planet. It wasn't uncommon for raven haired advisor to receive reports from her home planet. Usually, they were just little updates on how her home planet was doing now that she was living on the Moon as Queen Serenity's adviser. However, this time she received no good news.
Before her was a concerned letter from the Guardian and ruler of her home Planet Mau, Lady Ariel. Both Luna and her partner were close friends with Lady Ariel so, whenever she received words from home Luna was always looking forward to hearing from her friend. Not that she will admit it, especially not to Artemis, but sometimes Luna missed her home Planet. Despite all the problems that were happening on Mau, she was born on that Planet and it would always be home for her.
As Luna was rereading the letter her concern for Mau grew.
Dearest Luna,
It has been far too long since I sent you a letter. I wished I could've sent you one sooner but my duties on Mau have kept me busy and now, with this latest development, it is only a matter of time before The Council make things more difficult for me. They have been more and more demanding lately, insisting that I should be removed from Whisperclaw Fortress. Unfortunately for them, as we both know, as the Guardian of the Planet Mau, I am perfectly capable of protecting and governing our Planet.
That is why I decided to ask for yours and Artemis help.
There has been a murder on Mau. Whilst the three of us are no strangers to this horrendous crime, this isn't like anything we have seen before and I must admit that I am completely baffled by what I have seen. There are no indication that a weapon as been used. There are no cuts on the body, no blood left on the ground, no signs that this person has been stabbed. We are unsure of how this person died. There are a few witness but they haven't given us anything concrete. They told us that that they heard the victim screaming and that she fell to the ground, having died on impact.
I believe the person responsible for all of this has been using magic. Not the same battle magic that we are accustomed to but something far more sinister. I asked Carmentis for the autopsy report but she hasn't given me much. When she examined the body we noticed a few burnt marks and a few symbols on the victims body. However, we are unsure of what these symbols mean and what they do to the person body. We checked the library to see if any of the books had anything relating to these symbols but we haven't been able to find anything yet. My only guess is that these symbols are related to the elements, these ones were probably related to fire seeing as there are burnt marks on the victims body.
I have included photographs of the victims body, as well as a close up shot of the symbols. I was hoping you might be able to deceiver them. If my memory is correct, I believe that there is a section in the Moon Palace's library dedicated to symbols, runes and ancient writings. Perhaps you might be able to find any connection to these symbols in the library.
Please, Luna, you know I would never ask you for anything but I really need yours and Artemis help. Without knowing more about what this murderer is capable of, it is only a matter of time before they strike again.
From, Ariel
Luna placed the letter down on the table. Whilst she wasn't surprised that Lady Ariel had asked her for help, seeing as The Council wouldn't help her without asking for something first, what really surprised her was that whoever the murderer is was using a form of magic that unfamiliar to her people. Mau was not like the other Planets in the universe. Whilst magic was not forbidden on the Planet, hardly anybody was gifted with magical ability and the ones who were gifted with magic ended up using it for either battle magic or healing.
There were no Kings or Queens on Mau. Instead the Planet was governed by a democracy and the people in charge were mostly men, which is what The Council was made up of. Every member of The Council contributed something different to Mau - whether it was their wisdom, their knowledge, their strategies, their work maintaining trade between the different Planets, their work on law and order. They were respected by their people, even though their views and opinions were completely controversial if you compared it to the other Planets.
Although women were treated fairly, to some they were treated as nothing more then objects for men. They were treated as objects for breading, unless you were in born into high society. The members of The Council had the same opinion but their view were far more horrible. They were no women on The Council. They diminished a women's intelligence, they would often berated women and they wouldn't listen to them.
Nobody could ever challenge them due to their place in power and control of the Planet.
Unfortunately, their control over the Planet was hinder by Lady Ariel.
The people of Mau had a different way of crowning there rulers. The position could be challenged at any given time. If somebody wanted to become ruler then they would have to compete in a series a tests and combat challenges. Every single one of them were designed to test a person's intelligence and skills in combat. Weapons were allowed to be used during the combat tests. The intelligence test were more of a series of puzzles and riddles, each one was more difficult then the next.
Ariel had decided to compete in these tests. During that time, Luna had asked her if she was going to conceal her identity. But, the brunette told her that if she was going to make a statement by finishing the test and becoming the ruler of Mau then people needed to see her face, they needed to know that a women was capable of handling the tasks before her and winning the final combat test.
Naturally, Ariel ended up winning against her final opponent.
Of course, the overseers were not happy with the final outcome - even though Lady Ariel had won fair and square. They rebuked her claim, insisting that she cheated whilst she was competing. That she bribed the judges to turn away whenever she sabotaged the other contestants, or that she bribed the other contestants so that they wouldn't fight back against her.
Ariel denied the accusations. She told that she wouldn't have enough money to bribe everybody and that the tests are monitor closely. she wouldn't have enough time to sabotage another contestant if she was too busy working on her own task. Then she showed them the actual reason as to why she made her claim in the first place.
Her claim was strengthen by the fact that she had the Chrysoberyl crystal. Many had thought that Chrysoberyl crystal had been lost so many years ago so, once Lady Ariel had shown the overseers the crystal, The Council had no choice but to instate Ariel as their ruler. Chrysoberyl crystal allowed Lady Ariel to become Sailor Mau which meant she was the guardian and the protector of the Planet. Whilst being Sailor Mau, Lady Ariel had been given magical powers much like the Sailor Soldiers Luna had seen around the Moon Palace. However, the brunette refused to use her gifts and instead relied on her fighting abilities.
Ariel was just as capable as fighting as any other person.
And, when she was crowned as the ruler of Mau, Ariel had promised that things would be different. That the women would no longer be treated as objects by men and that everybody would get equal opportunities.
She picked up one of the photos before her. Luna recognised the medical room that was in Whisperclaw Fortress, having received her own medical treatment inside the hallow halls. The was a body of a young women on the bed, she had ginger hair and fair skin. Her clothes had been removed, revealing the burns on her skin. There wasn't much Luna could take from this image. She couldn't tell if the young lady had been burnt to death or not. It was a possibility, there were no cuts on the body, but by the looks of things the women wasn't set on fire.
Maybe the symbols had something to do with it?
Luna picked up the second photo. It was a close up shot of the women's arm. There was a collection of the same symbols on the women's elbow. The design was simple enough. It was a shape of a triangle. That could mean anything, Luna thought. Maybe that's why Lady Ariel had trouble deciphering the symbol. Sometimes the most simplest things are the hardest to solve. Luna has seen her far share of runes and symbols, yet this one was unfamiliar to her. She hoped the Palace's library would have the answers she needed.
The door to her chambers opened. A man with long, white hair and purple eyes and entered the room. He was dress head to toe in white with a long necklace with two crescent moon pendants on it, the top one was gold and the bottom one was white. On his forehead was a crescent moon. His name was Artemis. He was the advisor to Queen, just like Luna, but now that Princess Darlene was living on the Moon he was her advisor. He also trains the Princesses in combat whenever they needed to do Sailor Senshi training.
"Long day, Artemis?" Luna asked.
"Long is an understatement." Artemis grumbled. He took a seat in the available chair and placed his forehead on the table. "Why did I agree to train the Princesses again?"
"Because you were the one who trained in combat." Luna remarked. Artemis just groaned in response. Luna shook her head. "What happened this time?"
"Princess Aithne and Princess Darlene were fighting again. I just don't know what been going on with those two lately. Whenever they are training together they like to push themselves beyond their limits but lately it just been getting out of control." Artemis explained. "I believe Princess Aithne is frustrated about something, and it has something to do with Princess Darlene. But, Princess Halimeda and Princess Josephine won't tell me anything. I didn't want to pry in case it was something more personal but, if they don't stop this, then somebody's going to get hurt. I'm just glad that Princess Darlene has managed to perfect her shield or she would be getting first degree burns from Princess Aithne."
Luna tried not to grimace when Artemis brought up burns. "I'll have a word with the Princesses the next time I see them. They're hiding something, Artemis. Princess Serenity was suppose to attend an etiquette class with her Sister yesterday, yet only Princess Harmony was present. I asked her if she had seen Serenity but Harmony told that the time she saw her Sister was at breakfast."
"Has Princess Serenity been skipping her lessons again?" Artemis inquired.
"Yes. Do you know what the strangest thing is, Artemis? Whenever Princess Serenity goes missing, one of the other Princesses goes missing as well. It started with Princess Darlene, and now the others are doing it as well." Luna told him.
"Hmm. That is strange. Do you think we should have a word with Queen Serenity? Artemis questioned.
"Maybe. I don't want to tell Queen Serenity that her one of her daughters has been missing her lessons again, she already has enough on her plate dealing with the conflict on Earth with Queen Amaryllis as it is." Luna replied. "We should focus on the Princesses for now. See if we can figure out what's going on without making them suspicious of us."
Artemis nodded, seeing where his partner was coming from. The conflict on Earth was getting more and more worse by each passing day, and it was only matter of time before a rebellion started. Queen Serenity and Queen Amaryllis were doing everything in their power to put an end to conflict on Earth, even though it was forbidden for Lunarinas and Earthlings to meet with each other. But, there was so many false rumours about the Lunarians that needed to be dealt with in peaceful manner.
Eventually, Artemis noticed the letter on the table.
"Is that from Lady Ariel?" Artemis asked.
"Yes. You better read it, Arty. Lady Ariel has requested our help." Luna replied.
Help? Curiously, Artemis picked up the letter and started to read it - Though, his expression changed as he got further and further through the letter. Luna couldn't blame him. It wasn't easy reading about murder, and she could only imagine what Artemis was going through at the moment.
"There's been a murder on Mau and she wants our help?" Artemis said. "I'm not sure what we can do to help her here, Luna."
"I think she wants us to come back to Mau." Luna said.
"Go home? Return to Mau?" Artemis questioned. Luna raised an eyebrow at. Was he really questing the possibility of visiting their home planet. "It -its not that I don't want to go back to Mau. Its... Well, we have our duties here, don't we? Queen Serenity choose use for a reason, and its not like we can abandon our duties here, is it?"
Whilst Artemis did have a point there, there was another reason as to why Artemis didn't want to return back to Mau. He had a rival back on Mau by the name of Leo. Both he and Leo would often fight with one another, with each battle ending in a stalemate. The last time they fought was the day before they left Mau, and it ended with Artemis loosing. It shouldn't bother him, it was nothing more then another pointless battle between rivals.
Even though he could never prove it, Artemis believed that Leo cheated that day. Both of them were swordsmen - Well, one of them was seeing as Artemis gave up that profession as soon as he came to the Moon. He claimed that there was something different about Leo's sword and that it was channelled by magic. Unfortunately, the members of The Council refused to helped him because nobody else saw the battle. Leo was born into a wealthy family, and they could easily bail him out of trouble for a sum of money. The members of The Council didn't seem to mind.
Sensing her partner's inner turmoil, Luna reached forward for his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, Arty. If we have enough time, I'm sure Lady Ariel will be able to help us clear your name."
"How did you know?" Artemis said perplexed
"Because I can tell when you are upset, Arty. It wouldn't be bothering you if you weren't upset about it." Luna pointed out. "Besides, I think your forgetting something dear. Since we are the only ones who are more accustomed to magic, we would be the one ones to recognise it. There's always going to be some doubters. We just have to make them believe."
"So, you believe me?" Artemis questioned.
"I never doubted you for a moment. Even if this rivalry between you and Leo is a bit silly." Luna replied.
"Silly? Next time we meet I will best him in battle. Then we will see who has the last laugh." Artemis grinned.
Luna just rolled her eyes as she went to pick up the photo with the symbols on the arm. She brought the photo closer to her eyes, trying to figure out what the symbol mean. Yet, nothing was coming to mind.
"Is there something wrong, Luna?" Artemis asked.
"I'm trying to figure out what these symbols are." Luna replied, as she lowered her hand. "I think they are responsible for the young ladies death but I can't figure out what they mean. Somehow the victim has burnt marks on her body, yet nobody saw the person being set on fire."
"Maybe there was a gasoline on the ground and somebody used a fire spell to ignite it as soon as the women walked over it." Artemis suggested.
"That's one possibility. But, Lady Ariel would've included that in her letter, so there has to be something else going on, Arty." Luna said. "Here. Have a look for yourself."
Luna handed him the photo, he also picked up the remaining photo from of the table as he started to compare the two photos. How were a collection of the same symbol capable to doing this much damage? If the women was set on fire by gasoline, then does that mean the symbol had some sort of connection to fire? If so, then where was the person who put the symbol on the victim's skin? That had to be some sort of moment where the murderer place the symbols.
Perhaps they managed to break into the women's house? Security wasn't the best on Mau - another thing Lady Ariel was trying to fix - so maybe the murderer was able to break into the women's house and place the symbols onto the women's skin whilst she was sleeping.
Then when he got an idea.
"Say, Luna, doesn't King Remus know something about symbols?" Artemis asked.
"He does, but I don't want to bother him with something trivial as this." Luna replied.
"Trivial or not, Luna, if you believe that these symbols are responsible for the women's death then we need to figure out what they are before the murderer strikes again." Artemis remarked.
Luan hummed as she considered his replied. He had a point, even Lady Ariel seemed worried about what might happen next. They needed to know what this symbols were and, if that meant asking the King for help, then she guessed that they had no other choice.
"Alright." Luna sighed. "Let's go and asked King Remus for help."
They stood up, tucked the chairs under the table and picked up the two photos and the letter. It would've been pointless to leave them behind and they needed to show them to the King and Queen anyway. They knew Queen Serenity and King Remus would listen to them but, without showing them severity of the situation, they wouldn't be able to get the advice they needed.
Unfortunately, with regards to matters relating to Mau, that's the one thing they can ask for. The people of Mau were hospitable towards outsiders but, if the members of The Council were to hear that they got help from another Planet or a satellite - mainly from another women who just so happens to be the Queen of the Moon - then they would be easily dismissed. They would never accept help from a women and, considering they were already receiving trouble with Lady Ariel, they wouldn't want to anger them further.
With that in mind, they left the room and made there way to royal chambers.
Queen Serenity was reading when she heard a knock at the door. Strange, she wasn't expecting any visitors and she didn't asked for anything so it couldn't be any of the maids or servants. It couldn't have been Selene, Harmony or Apollo. Her daughters were having tea with the other Princesses, and Apollo was in the library. She exchanged a look with her husband. Remus had been working on some important documents when they heard the knocking. The blonde was just as confused as she was.
Serenity's gaze went back to the door when she heard they knocking again. She allowed the person to come in. Other the other side of the door was Luna and Artemis. As they were walking towards her, she could tell that there was something worrying them. When they were near Remus's desk, Luna curtsied to them whilst Artemis bowed. Placing her book down on the side table, Serenity stood up gracefully and went to stand next to her husband.
"Luna, Artemis, is there something wrong?" You seem worried about something." Queen Serenity asked.
"I'm sorry for the intrusion, your majesties, but I was wondering if we could borrow a minute of your time?" Luna requested.
"Of course you can, Luna. You know I would anything to help a friend." Queen Serenity replied. "What is it?"
"We received troubling news from our home Planet. There has been a murder on Mau and our ruler, Lady Ariel, has requested our help." Artemis told her.
He handed her the letter. It only took a few moments for her to read the letter, as she was reading she was shocked by what she read. She knew there were some cruel people out there but, to use such a brutal method to kill somebody, she didn't know what to think. She could only imagine the victim went through as she was being burnt alive, she could only guess at what it might of looked like if she was standing there and watching the horrifying scene.
"How dreadful." Queen Serenity commented. She handed her husband the letter and turned to look at Luna and Artemis. "Were either of you close to the victim?"
"I'm afraid not, your majesty. We may have seen her passing by a few times in the market place but, apart from that, we didn't exactly know her." Luna replied. "I can only imagine what her family is going through."
Queen Serenity though her eyes was fixed on her husband. The Moon Queen noticed that he was biting his lip and, though she couldn't see it properly, there was mournful expression on his face. Her heart ached for him. Remus had seen his fare share of conflict and death. On his home, the Solaris Nexus, there were so many battles being fought every single day. Everybody wanted the Sun Kingdom for their own gain, but Remus never wanted it. He was glad that he moved to the Moon when he did.
She placed her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and saw her smiling at him. He knew that she was there for him, offering comfort without saying any words. He returned the smile before the couple turned back to the two advisors.
"What can we do to help?" Queen Serenity asked.
"In Lady Ariel's letter she mentioned something about symbols being on the victim's body. Unfortunately, neither we or Lady Ariel know what the symbols mean. Luna believes that the symbols are responsible for the victim's death." Artemis explained. "We were wondering if King Remus would know what these symbols."
King Remus nodded. "Very well. I'll see what I can do."
Artemis handed him the photo with the symbols on the arm. It had only taken his a few minutes for him to identify what the symbol was and what it meant.
"Its a symbol used in Witchcraft. This one is for fire." Remus identified.
"Witchcraft? Queen Serenity said. "I thought that type of magic was only seen on Earth. How did it end up Mau?"
"I'm not sure, dearest. Perhaps somebody on Earth managed to find away to get Mau." The blonde replied.
He turned to Luna and Artemis. It didn't surprise him that they were looking at him in confusion. After all they weren't familiar with this type of magic. Even Serenity had a vague idea of what it was. She had spent sometime down on Earth helping Amaryllis - it was before she and Captain Asher became a couple. There had been reports of monster attacks on Earth and Amaryllis had asked Serenity and her fellow Planetary Princesses for help. Serenity had learnt from the Earth Queen that her home Planet had various types of magic, all ranging from witchcraft to restoration to illusion to necromancy to enchantment to incantations to divination to astrology. And, Remus was certain that there was more out there.
"Witchcraft is another form of magic but this one involves spells and black magic. It was used on Earth for sometime until the Witch hunters decided to put an end to it. Many were burnt at the stake, including those who were not familiar with witchcraft." Remus explained.
"But, my Lord, how do you know about this?" Luna questioned.
"The Solaris Nexus wasn't just home to warlords and madmen. We have a few witches and Warlocks of our own." Remus replied.
"Luna nodded, satisfied with the answer but not certain on what to do next. Witchcraft. How do you deal with Witchcraft? And, how exactly do you explain that to the members of The Council? Luna knew they weren't going to accept that answer, that they would never listen to her. And, that really hurt. She had the knowledge to help her home Planet yet the members of The Council would refuse her. She didn't know what to do.
"Luna?"
"I... I don't know what to do, Artemis." Luna admitted. "The Council will never listen to us. They might listen to you, but would they accept our findings? Magic is a uncommon on Mau and, seeing as witchcraft is a form of black magic, they would have a hard time believing it."
"Do you mind if I give you some advice, Luna?" Queen Serenity asked.
"No. Not at all, your majesty." Luna replied.
"There's no need to take this to The Council. Tell Lady Ariel instead. Not only is Lady Ariel the ruler of your Planet, but she's also a friend of yours. If anybody will listen to you, its her." Queen Serenity told her.
Luna nodded. She was right. Lady Ariel would be the only one to listen to her and, seeing as she would be the only one who would be investigating the murder case - unless she managed to find help on Mau - she would be able to accept the idea of witchcraft. It also helped that Lady Ariel already distrusted The Council so going to her would be the right decision. That, and Lady Ariel was already accustomed to magic so she would easily recognise it.
That's when Artemis realised something.
"Wait a minute, your majesty. Are you allowing us to travel to Mau?" The white haired man asked. "What about our duties here?"
"Your friend requested your help, did she not? I know there is a loyalty issue on Mau, she wouldn't have requested the two of you if she didn't already trust you. " Queen Serenity replied. "You cannot abandon your friend in her time of need."
"She's right, Artemis. We are the only ones who can help her now." Luna agreed.
They spent the rest of their time together planning for the voyage to Mau. Despite the current problem on Mau, they wouldn't be able to leave until morning. They would need time to pack for the voyage and King Remus told them that they needed to do some research on witchcraft. Thanks to their connection to Queen Amaryllis she sent them some much needed reading material. Besides, the ship wouldn't be ready until the morning anyway and Lady Ariel would be to protect Mau until they arrived.
At least now they were one step closer to helping there friend.