Deception - Prologue (PG-13)
by Christina Anton

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. Takeuchi Naoko made it, so it 
stands to reason that it isn't mine. However, the characters that are not in 
Sailor Moon, but are in this story, ARE mine.

Warning: This story contains scenes of mature content, and cursing. 
Nothing graphic, but it's there.

	When Maria was twelve, her fifteen year old brother, Sean, was hit 
by a car and killed while walking home with her from school. She had loved 
and looked up to her older brother very much and  it had devastated her. 
She hadn't eaten or slept for three days after the incident until she 
remembered how her brother had always told her to take care of herself. 
So she followed her beloved late brother's advice and did so.
	Her parents, Jane and Nicholas, couldn't stop arguing. They quickly 
drifted apart after the tragedy. They screamed and blamed, caring about 
their daughter, yet not caring at all.
	Jane and Nicholas Nornan signed the divorce papers three weeks 
before Maria's thirteenth birthday. Her father moved away, still loving 
his dark blonde, green eyed daughter, but always seeing another blonde 
child pushing his little sister on the swing in the playground across 
the street. Nicholas was too broken with his son's death to help his daughter.
	Maria didn't know this though. As adolescents are prone to do in 
hard times, Maria blamed herself for her parent's divorce. She missed 
her brother and her father, and cried herself to sleep every night.
	Three months after the divorce, her mother got remarried. Maria 
hadn't like the man much the first time she met him. Black haired and 
well proportioned, Anthony Levantine was very handsome. His smile was 
charming, and he had a kind word for everyone. Maria didn't like his eyes 
though. They were a dark gray that disturbed her.
	Maria had always looked at a person's eyes when she first me them. 
Sparkling eyes often reflected a happy nature, dull eyes reflected a sad 
one. Anthony's eyes hid things. They were deceptive eyes; Anthony 
Levantine was not all that he seemed.
	Things went peacefully in the new Levantine household for about a 
month. Then, one night when Maria's mother was working late and her 
stepfather was home early, things changed.
	Maria and her stepfather were eating dinner at the kitchen table. 
Anthony had poured the drinks and served the food before Maria had come 
into the kitchen. After about five minutes of small talk and eating, 
Maria had started to get dizzy.
	If the room hadn't been slowly spinning, Maria would have seen the 
mocking concern in her stepfather's eyes as he asked her, "Are you ok, 
honey?"
	It had taken her a few seconds to reply, "Uh... I don't think so."
	"Lets get you up to bed then."
	Maria had felt herself be helped to stand up, and her arm being 
slung around her stepfather's neck. His arm had been around her waist, 
pressing her a bit uncomfortably against him. The room was spinning 
faster then, making her feel nauseous, and she had had a hard time making 
herself move.
	She dimly remembered being guided up the stairs and being layed on 
her bed. Her vision then had been like looking out of a car window while 
it was being taken through a car wash.
	She had felt her shoes being taken off along with her socks after 
that. She felt that something wasn't right at that moment. Why wasn't he 
wondering what was wrong with her, voicing the fears of a concerned parent? 
She had known why when the rest of her clothing was taken off and heard 
her stepfather undressing.
	Whatever he had used to drug her had made her too weak and 
disoriented to resist. Maria would always remember what Anthony had said 
to her after he was done. His breath on her ear had made her shudder. 
"Don't tell your mother now dear. This is just our little secret. Wouldn't 
want your mother to be heartbroken again would we? You know another 
divorce would hurt her so much. Not to mention what I'll do to you." She 
had passed out with his sinister chuckle echoing in her ears.
	When she had come awake again, she had been in pajamas and neatly 
tucked in. She had almost thought it had just been some sick nightmare 
until she realized that she still felt nauseous and sore in places she 
shouldn't have been. Maria had then curled up into a ball and cried, not 
knowing what to do.
	After a little while, she had looked at her clock and realized 
that she had to go to school. Even though she hadn't felt well, she sure 
as hell didn't want to stay at home where her stepfather (No, not that. 
Anthony. Never calling him stepfather again) could get to her. She had 
done her morning routine, then had trudged downstairs to see if she 
could force some breakfast down.
	Her stepfather (Anthony!) had been reading the morning paper while 
her mother made scrambled eggs. Her mother had looked up and said cheerily, 
as if all things in the world were right and perfect, "Good morning honey, 
are you feeling any better? Anthony said you weren't feeling very well 
last night."
	Maria had briefly debated telling her mother what had happened the 
night before, but then had looked over at Anthony. He had a smile on his 
face that would have looked warm and friendly to anyone but her. To her, 
it had been a reminder of how people saw him. A kind gentleman that no 
one had reason to hate, and every reason to like and love. No one would 
likely believe her if she told the truth, and she would just hurt her 
mother in doing so. Only Maria knew what a sick bastard he really was. 
Maria could have sworn that for a moment, Anthony Levantine's eyes had 
been glowing black if that had even been possible.
	Her decision all came down to her mother in the end. Her mother 
deserved to have happiness in her life after what had already happened. 
Maria didn't care about the threat Anthony made to her about Maria herself 
being harmed. If that had been the only thing that he had threatened her 
with, she would have told the whole world just to make him pay. Maria just 
couldn't find it within herself to crush her mother's dreams.
	So, Maria had said, "I'm fine now mom." Anthony, the man the fates 
had cruelly deemed her stepfather, had nodded in satisfaction, and her 
mother had kissed him on the cheek while serving him breakfast. Maria's 
appetite, small as it had been, decided to leave her then. "I think I'm 
going to skip breakfast today and get an early start to school." She had 
then calmly gone up the stairs to the bathroom and retched.
	And that was how the next three years went.

End Prologue

AN: No senshi yet, but there will be in Chapter 1. Email me at 
daylin@sailorsenshi.i-p.com and tell me what you think about Deception so 
far.

Oh, and feel free to visit my website 
http://angelfire.com/anime2/dayanjell/home.html

Until next time readers.