Hullo again all.  Well here’s the start of yet another story.  Which, I’m glad to say, is not all that long… only twelve or so parts counting  pro and epilogues.  There is a small thing about certain scenes later on in which a couple of the characters make out – it doesn’t get explicit (or so I think at least) still it does get heated so you are now warned.

Anyway you all know that Sailor Moon is not mine, otherwise my obsession with angel wings would have demanded that Sailor Moon had them full time.

Synopsis: They were mages out of their own time, mysteriously snatched from Death's embrace and born anew.  Now and ever their purpose is to protect.  She is a Guardian, born and bred to uphold the Law of Selene.  Fate has decided that they must meet... but what god decided to send those dreams?  Oh!  That one…

The Law Keeper: Prologue

The first in the Book of the Renewal.

By Draegyn

            To most mortals, gods are all powerful beings that are capable of anything.  In truth, gods are nearly all powerful beings that can do almost anything.  They form the Universal Council; it is to them that the task of governing the cosmos falls.  At times, there seems to be multitudes of the almost divine beings and then things change and barely a score guide the sectors of space.  Though their numbers are variable, their duties are not.  They must defend civilisation, life and those elements that make life civilised.  In a star system in a distant sector of space, an ancient evil arose.  The people fought against it valiantly and even though every planet in the solar system united to fight, all of the planets, except one, were sacrificed.  On the sole surviving planet, civilization fell and the entire world was invaded by barbarianism, the native sentients reduced to savagery.  Even with such casualties it was clear that the war with the evil had not been won.  The evil merely slept until such a time when the sentients of the world had developed far enough to be useful once more.

            The Universal Council knew of these events and, though they regretted them deeply, they could not intervene.  Instead, they were required to appoint one of their number to guard the star system until such a time that the war had truly been won and the sentients were adequately developed to rejoin the rest of the universe.  The goddess Selene, known as Serenity by her people, volunteered for the duty, since she had opposed the evil before.  Of all the gods, she was the best prepared to ensure that the evil did not escape the interdicted star system, no matter the final outcome between the system’s surviving sentients and the evil.

            She settled herself, and those of her people who had followed her, upon the sole satellite of the single surviving world.  Together they created the Silver Keep from where they could stand guard as sentries over the system.  Selene then turned her attention to the needs of the surviving sentients.  They had devolved to a brutal and primitive existence, losing much of their spiritual strength along with their civilisation.  Seeing this, Selene and her people understood that when the evil next revealed itself, the sentients would not have the skills required to defend themselves.  Thus they made it so that the souls of the greatest of the star system’s heroes to oppose the evil would be reborn when the evil was about to rise once more.

***

            “Princess?” a soft voice interrupted the white haired tutor.  Both of his students turned to see an elegant woman with purple-black hair and golden-brown eyes standing in the doorway.  The tutor’s blue eyes lit up at the sight of his life mate and for an instant both adults forgot everything else other than the sight of each other.  Their souls reached towards each other and, for the briefest moment, merged, exchanging thoughts, emotions and love, before they both recalled themselves to their duties.

            The tutor smiled for the benefit of the two children and replied, “Yes Luna, she is here.”

            Luna walked through the doorway towards the two children and held out her hand towards the girl. “I am sorry to interrupt your history lessons Princess but your mother has requested that I coach you in some new spells.”

            The young girl grimaced to her brother and then stood with a sigh.  She was about to take Luna’s hand when a thought came to her and she whirled around and threw herself into her tutor’s arms.   He laughingly hugged her back.

            “Thank you Artemis,” she grinned at him before returning to take Luna’s hand.

            “Artemis, my Prince,” Luna nodded to each in turn and then led the girl out of the room.

            “Later Toki!” the girl called over her shoulder.

            “See ya Usa!” shouted the boy before he grinned and added, “And don’t turn anyone into a frog today huh?”

            There was silence for a minute before the girl’s red face popped back around the doorframe, long enough for her to poke her tongue out at her brother before she disappeared again.

            The young prince turned back to Artemis with a cheerful expression and the tutor could not help but smile with him.  Both Prince Tranquillity and Princess Serenity, or Motoki and Usagi as they were also known, had sunny dispositions and infectious smiles and laughter.  He and his twin were seven standard years old, twenty-six solar years according to the orbit of the star system’s third planet.  Their blonde hair was a luminescent golden only shades darker than their mother’s silvery white.  Their eyes were identical shades of sapphire blue that shone with the internal light that all of their blood seemed to radiate and on their brow, the crescent insignia that revealed them as the children of Selene glimmered.

            “I thought she had improved,” Artemis commented mildly.

            Tranquillity grinned up at him, “She has but it’s fun to tease her about it.”

            Artemis looked down at him and the boy wrinkled his nose cutely.  “I wonder what would happen if she were to learn of the time when you changed yourself into a cat and could not change back?”

            The grin disappeared from the boy’s face and he blushed.  “You won’t tell her about that.  Will you Artemis?” he nervously whispered.

            Artemis winked and asked, “About what?”

            Tranquillity let out a huge sigh of relief.  “Thanks.”

            Artemis nodded.  “Now back to our lessons.  Our people are here to aid and accompany your mother while she maintains the interdiction that bars all outside traffic from this star system.  The interdiction will stand until such time as the sentients of this system are prepared to rejoin the rest of the universe as equals.”

            “How will she know when they are?”

            “When their species has evolved enough so that it is capable of producing an individual that will soul-bond with one of our people then we know the time is approaching.”

            Tranquillity frowned, “I don’t understand.”

            “I am referring to the legend of the Eternal Couple,” Artemis replied.

            “No,” Tranquillity persisted, “What I mean is, how can a soul-bond be formed if none of us can go there?”  He motioned to the window and Artemis followed his gaze.  The view from the large window revealed a spectacular vista shown from the northern-most spire in the Silver Keep.  The white crater marked landscape met the darkness of space and just rising above the horizon was the blue bulk of the planet their little moon orbited.  Both prince and tutor knew that the beautiful blue world was inhabited by barbarians, people that were still centuries away from discovering the rest of the universe.  Indeed the cultures that existed there seemed to have grown darker of late, as religious fever swept the land, as did the beginnings of a horrific plague.

            Artemis looked back to where the boy was staring in the direction of the blue world that its inhabitants simply called Earth.  “One day some of our people will travel there,” Artemis told him and the boy’s eyes swung back to his teacher.  “When the evil reveals itself again,” Artemis continued, “Then your mother will send an observer to monitor events.  He or she will watch over the heroes reborn but will not be allowed to interfere.  The watcher will help guide the sentients so that a limited association between our peoples can be formed but until the Eternal Couple appears, the sentients will not know who or what we are.”

            The boy looked back at the glowing sphere in the sky in awe and Artemis smiled inwardly.  “Well now my prince, that won’t be for centuries yet, in either standard or Earth years.  There is plenty of time to prepare ourselves.”

            Tranquillity nodded reluctantly.  Artemis cocked his head at the boy and said after a pause, “Why don’t we cut it short for today?  You can seek out Reika and spend some time with her until your weapon lessons.”  Tranquillity grinned at the thought of seeing the pretty girl again and Artemis reflected that the prince was very lucky to have found his soul mate so young.  Many of their people were forced to wait centuries for their life mate to come and one amongst them would need to wait until Earth produced a sufficiently enlightened soul.  Artemis glanced out the window once more before he left the room. He did not envy that poor individual.  He or she would have a very long wait.