"Well then hurry up," a gruff man yelled at a young blonde girl. Her cornflower blue eyes darted up to him, but other then this quick flick of movement she did not acknowledge his rudeness. She was a princess. She was a warrior. Right now, though, she was a prisoner. She walked in the only plain dress that she was allowed to leave the castle with, and the shoes, dreadfully stiff, had given her blisters. She could feel them each time she took a step, but again they were the only items she'd been allowed to take with her. She sneered at this man and his rude behavior. She had been thinking of ways to snap his neck before he'd yelled at her 'hurry up'. She allowed a slight smile to creep across her lips. Her wrists were chained together with thick metal cuffs attached to a heavy chain that the man was leading her along with.
All she had to do was run up to him, knock his feet from under him, and wrap that chain around his neck. She would choke him and relish the shocked look in his eyes as this sweet little girl drained the life out of him. She could not, however, do this and not endanger her princess; the girl whom she and her sisters had pledged their lives to. It was why she didn't try to rip this disgusting man's heart out. It was why her planetary powers had been allowed to be stifled.
Of course it was her fault that the war had been lost. Queen Serenity had been killed despite Saturn and Uranus's attempts at protecting her. Both had died during the battle on the Moon. She had failed her queen and princess by not defeating the invaders. The new queen, Beryl, had sent Venus and her three sisters of the guard to Earth away from Serenity. The only reason that she could think of was that they didn't want a revolution. The threat of death to the princess could only hold the four guardians at bay for so long. They were quick witted, and Beryl knew it. Beryl, Venus refused to call her queen, had wildly wavy red hair and pasty white complexion. She had neither been a leader of the war but for some reason had been given the right to rule the Moon once Queen Serenity had died. Venus did not understand why. The few times that Venus and her sisters had been in her presence had not impressed any great ability to do more then gloat over the power that she'd acquired. Still Beryl had been smart enough to separate the guardians from each other and their planetary powers. Beryl had been smart enough to threaten the only person any of them valued above all else, Princess Serenity.
The man who had been placed in charge of taking Venus to this small, disgusting place was one of Beryl's strongest soldiers, a captain from what Venus understood. He rarely bathed, if the smell of him was of any testament, and he was beyond narcissistic. He had learned quickly that Venus wouldn't allow him any leeway with his busy hands. She had kicked him hard in the stomach the night she'd caught him trying to climb on top of her. He'd had a sore gut for a few days. He would try to stealthily touch his stomach when he thought she couldn't see. It gave her some satisfaction when he did.
Venus looked up at the house that they were making their way towards. It looked about three stories tall with heavy dark stones covering it. All of the stones where of different sizes that made a pattern that neither looked out of place nor haphazardly thrown together. The windows were stain glass designs that sent rainbows of color peeking out from the dreary dark. The center window on the third floor was the largest of all of them with a gorgeous rose in the middle. The dark green glass thorns that wrapped around the glass stem where menacing. As if the beautiful object, like its live counterparts, was a warning to others that entering this house was to be cautioned.
Rose's House. That was what the smelly, disgusting man had called it. It was a whore house in its frankest sense. Women were sold into bondage to pay off gambling debts by their husbands, fathers, or any man who had held power over them. On Earth women were cattle to be bartered and sold. Venus had heard the stories both on the Moon and her home planet. The times she had ventured onto Earth had always been of a business sense. Those that she had met in Earth Kings castle, the few times she had visit on diplomatic events, had spoken about these practices as if they were distasteful, but not something they could actively oppose. After all, who would they have to entertain them?
Men were in charge on Earth. A mirror opposite from life on the Moon where their Queen was, had, been ruler. That was, of course, until Beryl took over just weeks ago. Venus felt a hot rage boil in her chest. It was so wrong, so evil, that she, a princess and warrior, was reduced to this kind of travesty. One would think that Beryl, being a woman who sought power and obtained it, would not inflict such a foul fate even on her enemies. Venus realized that this was a stupid notion to have held. She was obviously trouble for the new Queen of the Moon. Beryl had to deal with Venus and her sisters as less then human, because they posed the greatest threats. Pluto and Neptune had gone into hiding, and even though Venus felt anger at them she could not blame the two senshi.
Venus and the captain reached the heavy wooden door of the house. For all the beauty and splendor of the architecture and art it was still a whore house. Even the landscape was decorated with roses bordering along the outside walls of the house. The bushes sweet sent were carried along to Venus on a soft breeze. She wanted to enjoy the beauty of what she saw, but couldn't. Rose's House, it seemed, was a high ranking whore house. Venus smirked at the idea that she was at least an expensive commodity. The disgusting man rammed the brass knocker in the shape of a cherub's face three times. Venus felt her skin crawl and the hot ball of rage grow slightly. She didn't know what she was going to do. Run, and her princess and sisters were in danger of death. Walk in, and she would become a play thing for men, rich men, to fondle and grope. It was a cruel situation and she was sure that Beryl was smiling at the thought that Venus and her sisters were about to become no less then dirt underneath her shoes.
The door opened and a small girl stood before the smelly man. He looked at her with a hunger that he'd before only been able to treat Venus to. The small girl allowed him in after he placed a thickly padded envelope into her hand.
"Take this to Adonis, and be quick about it. I don't have your time, girly." The girl nodded and quickly turned and ran away clutching the thick envelope to her chest. The disgusting man turned to Venus with a sneer on his lips.
"Well, princess, looks like our little trip ended." He drew closer to her boldly reaching a hand toward her cheek. She quickly responded by cracking his nose with her elbow. As soon as she had accomplished breaking his nose Venus took her pseudo-submissive stance with both arms near her chest and her head slightly bowed.
"Don't touch me, pig," she growled at him. She bared her teeth in anger, and that hot ball of anger growled with her. What she wouldn't do to beat the crap out of this man. What she wouldn't do to let out her frustrations and anger on his greasy face. The man screamed in pain and surprise. He was covering his now bleeding nose with both hands cupped over his face.
"You little-"
"Well, aren't you a little ball of fire," a voice interrupted. Venus quickly followed the voice in the direction that the small girl had exited. A tall man with short white blonde hair was looking on at the scene as if it was the funniest display he'd seen in a long time. The small girl, Venus could now see, was clinging to his side. Her fingers tangled in the silver cape he wore. She was a pretty girl with a mess of spiral curls cut to her chin and dark hallowed eyes that had seen more then Venus cared to know. Or experience.
"They look my powers not my ability to fight," Venus spoke boldly. She wanted him to know exactly what he was getting himself into, this Adonis. What a ridiculous name.
"Funny," Adonis said smirking. "I was under the impression that was the only way you knew how to fight princess." He began to descend the stairs slowly without taking his eyes off of her. He had cold, ice blue eyes. There was no humanity behind them. Not when he looked at her. He just saw another woman. A woman who knew how to fight, but she was just a woman. Venus didn't respond.
Once he had descended the stairs and began to walk towards Venus the small girl detangled her fingers from his cape. She didn't seem to have any want to be near the woman that had just slammed her elbow into a captain's nose. The girl didn't want to be associated with a willful woman. Adonis's smirk widened. He walked close to her and glanced at the pathetic sight of the man clutching his nose gingerly.
"Must you nurse that bruise?" Adonis asked him sneering a little in distaste.
"My nose is bleeding! It's more then a bruise, you…" He stopped talking. He must have suddenly realized whom he was talking to. Venus stood straighter a small smile was proving hard to displace at that moment.
"Finish your sentence, Captain." Adonis said taking a few steps towards the man. Venus didn't understand how he could stand to be so close to such a filthy person. His stench alone had made her want to throw up the whole trip to this awful place.
"No," he said. "It's nothing General. I spoke out of turn." Adonis's icy glare continued for a few moments.
"Well, you're not as stupid as you seem to be." Adonis handed the man a new envelope and released him. He didn't want this man to continue to be here fouling up his home and making it most unpleasant for his customers. It was almost late evening. Soon the rich pigs of this planet would be making their way to this place to leer and grope the hallowed eyed women of Rose's House. Once the man left Adonis turned back to Venus. She was exhausted. Her feet ached and she was quite sure they bleed from her travel. Although she was disgusted by the Captain's stench she didn't feel much fresher. She knew what she must have looked like, but even then Adonis didn't seem to think of her in the same regard he did the man he'd just sent away. She wasn't sure what the look Adonis gave her was, but she suddenly was under the impression that she wouldn't be treated as just another commodity.
"Do you know what those envelopes contained?" Adonis asked her. She had stayed silent and still, but stood as straight as she could manage under the exhaustion she felt.
"No," she answered.
"That envelope, the one that your Captain treated like a rag, held papers stating that you are not a prisoner of war. Nor are you a citizen of the Moon. Do you know why?"
"If I am not a prisoner of war then I am not entitled to the right to be treated as one. I will not be released back to Venus, because I did not belong to Venus. I belonged to the Moon Kingdom." Adonis smiled.
"So what does that mean, princess?"
"That I belong to no one." Adonis nodded.
"And?" She'd had enough of his games. The ball of rage grew. She knew what he was getting at. She didn't belong to any one planet or the moon. She wasn't not to be given any of the rights attributed to the moon's citizens. She was nothing and no one. Exactly what Beryl wanted her to be so that she could do away with Venus and her sisters as she pleased.
"I have never belonged to anyone but Serenity, and the true Queen of the Moon." Venus spat at him. "I still belong to my princess and queen. Not to you. Not to Beryl. Not to the Earth kingdom." Adonis held Venus's metal chain that still connected to her metal wrist cuffs. He had taken it from the captain when they had exchanged 'pleasantries'. Venus had been watching him gingerly hold the chain in both his hands. Quickly Adonis yanked on the chain causing her to fall forward. Her exhausted feet gave out from under her and Adonis pulled Venus to him.
"Wrong little princess," he said. His breath was sweet and he smelt clean, but his voice was steel and sent a shock through her. He held the chain and her wrist cuffs in his own large and much stronger hands. "You belong to me."
Then, before Venus could put up a defense, the small girl jammed a needle into Venus's thigh. Hot liquid ran into it, burning her, and Venus took one swipe at the girl bashing her foot into the girl's face. The girl let out a short yell of pain and surprise. Adonis continued to hold her in his vice-like grip.
"Don't fight, my dear," he breathed in her ear. "It will only make the medicine work harder." Already Venus felt a light headedness. Her feet, which had already begun to give out, were now trying feebly to find solid ground. When they did she could not seem to make them do what she wanted. Adonis held her. His large hands wrapped around her shoulders as she tried to struggle and failed.
"You shouldn't have hit poor little Lilly like that. She was only trying to do her job." Venus breathed in his clean smell. She hated that he smelt so good, and all the while she knew she was losing herself in whatever drug he'd had that small girl pump into her. Quickly Venus's mind slipped and her eyes grew heavy. Before she could think or move or fight she blacked out.
***
"Why exactly is it that we are going to a whore house?" Endymion asked. He'd been reluctantly traveling with his guard, the four kings, for an hour on horse back. The four kings laughed at him.
"For the naked woman, my prince," Jadeite said cheerily. "What other reason would we go?" He was a man with more jokes then orders. He had sandy blonde hair and wore grey trousers with a white shirt. They were all dressed in similar casual attire because this was supposedly a time of celebration. The Earth Kingdom had fought and conquered the Moon Kingdom. Queen Serenity, ruler of the Moon, had ruled in a period of calm and quiet. But the King of the Earth had slowly been weary of her ability to lead. Or that the Queen of the Moon would not try to eventually begin to take over other planets, particularly the planet Earth. The king had put a woman in power on the Moon, Beryl, whom the four kings were weary of. If a woman in power had bothered the Earth King so much they did not understand how placing another into power would rectify things.
Still all four kings had been in battle for three years. All had decided that getting away from the castle, and going somewhere that they could allow their minds to drift in the company of beautiful woman was a good way to let off some steam.
Kunzite was the leader of the four guards. He was the most organized so it made sense for him to lead. He commanded authority. He was the one who took everything seriously. He also had a tendency to win at everything. Rather, it was more like he had to win. He was the most competitive and forceful. Jadeite was the most playful of the group. Nephrite was the best fighter. Zoisite was the smartest. He was strategic and thought out battles like a chess match. It was because of these abilities that Zoisite was Kunzite's second-in-command.
Prince Endymion blushed crimson, and looked away from Jadeite's very frank observation. Endymion was 19 years old, and one of the most troublesome of charges. Endymion was a stark difference from his father. Where his father was cold and calculating, and, Kunzite had to admit, held very little patience for almost anyone, Endymion was gentle and kind. Endymion had been one of the only ones to express displeasure about his father's decision to invade the Moon Kingdom. Endymion had also been the only who could actually voice such opinions to the King and not suffer accusations of treason. Kunzite was quite sure some of Endymion's protests had to do with the sweet little moon princess, but he could not be sure. Endymion never spoke of the girl, but the few times that she and her guard had visited the palace in times of peace both charges had disappeared more then once. This caused both Kunzite and the princess's guard, a blonde who wore an orange uniform, to run after them.
"It will be interesting to see what Rose's House has to offer. The prince should enjoy such a show at least once in his life." Jadeite laughed. Kunzite was not so sure that Endymion would enjoy any of what the house had to offer, but didn't object to the trip. He wanted to get out of the palace as badly as everyone else. It did not matter where or what. The last three years of war had drained him. He needed to let off steam just as badly as everyone else.
"There it is," Zoisite said. It had been one of the only things he'd said all night. The strawberry blonde haired man leaned forward on his horse's saddle. The house used to belong to a rich man with no heirs. He had sold the house and land at the beginning of the war so that he could retire to a much smaller cabin with less work and upkeep. The house had been sold to a man no older then Kunzite who offered beautiful woman as commodity. It was a distasteful practice for men to sell their daughters into this kind of slavery, but one that had traditionally prevailed for hundreds of years. While Kunzite didn't like the practice he didn't see much need to stop it. Men needed solace from the pressures of the day. This was one of the few ways deemed appropriate for him and his fellow generals. The four would never be allowed to marry or father children. Their lives were pledged in service to their prince who would one day marry and father his own heirs, but never the four generals.
All five men dismounted their horses and handed the reins to two stable boys that greeted them at the front gate. Endymion, Kunzite noticed, seemed to become much more nervous. He was not allowed to 'sample the wine' so to speak. He could only watch. It would be wrong to allow him to father children outside of the monarchy. Bastard children would only cause more strife for a kingdom, and the Earth King had pulled all four generals aside to ensure that they would keep him from bedding with anyone. It was obvious that the king didn't know his son.
"Welcome," a small girl with short, chin-length curls greeted them. She looked far too young to be in this place. Nephrite frowned to Kunzite. Surely such a small girl was not the entertainment. She stepped back and allowed the five men entrance. Four older women, at least in their early twenties, all dressed in silk skirts that started low on their hips and tops made of silk that stopped just underneath the women's busts showing off their flat stomachs, took the men's riding cloaks. The young girl was dressed similarly, but her top covered her whole torso. So this small girl was a hostess of sorts. It was not much better, but Kunzite supposed she'd been sold at a young age. This was a notion that saddened him as she showed the men to a large round table in a room with many smaller and larger tables.
"Please sit and I will bring the wine," the girl smiled and walked to the next room, presumably the kitchen, leaving the men alone as the women whom had taken their cloaks stood at the top of a stage and began to dance in quick seductive movements. Other men dotted the tables in conversation and various stages of drunkenness. The room was dark except for the bright lights that hung over the stage and the small candles that on each table. The smell of incense permeated the room.
"Well this is interesting," Nephrite commented. His face still reflected some disgust at the small girl with spiral curls. She had already shuffled back and had served them wine in glass goblets. Now that Kunzite got a good look at her she seemed no older then fourteen or fifteen. Jadeite was entranced with the women on stage and paid very little attention to the comments of his brothers.
"Yes very," Endymion agreed, taking up the goblet in front of him and sipping at the wine.
"What a nice surprise," a male voice interrupted them. All the men looked up to see a white haired man looking down at them. The young girl with curls was at his side looking down at the floor. Apparently she had gone to tell her master that guests had arrived. The man had a cold look despite his pasted on smile. "My name is Adonis. I own this establishment. I did not expect such royalty to visit my establishment. If I had you would have been properly greeted."
"We were looking for quiet tonight," Kunzite answered him. He did not smile or try to be cordial at all to this man. The longer he looked at the young girl the more he didn't like this place.
"Well if you want quiet, my lord, I have just the room for you to visit." Adonis's smile did not falter. He gestured to the door.
"Please follow me." The five men looked to each other, and each waited until Kunzite stood and took his wine goblet.
"It would be better to go to a room then stay here," he said. "Others might recognize us." The men nodded and stood. Adonis's smile grew a little more.
"Excellent, my lords. You will not regret this."
"For your sake," Kunzite said in a low voice. "I hope not."
***
Her head was blurry. She sat in a red room. The walls were covered in thin red fabric that was all connected in the center of the ceiling and ran along all of the rooms sides draped from hooks. Just underneath the hanging fabric were large red pillows and one very large table that sat low to the ground. She was behind a thin glass dressed in one of the silken outfits that the women wore. Her stomach was bare as were her arms. Her legs were covered in thin blue silk that matched her bustier. She'd had no idea how long she'd been in Rose's House. The hours had all run into each other and time had meant nothing in this room. Her thigh was sore from the injections that Adonis continued to give her, but he no longer needed to force her into them. She was kept in an almost constant state of fogged consciousness.
She knew all that was occurring around her, or at least was aware. She simply didn't have the ability to do more then she was told. Venus, the women who once commanded armies of warriors, was reduced to being a show. She was something to titillate the men who visited and cause them to lavish attentions on the woman that Adonis would tell to keep them company. He wanted her to entertain the men, but not be with them. He had other woman for that, he'd said; she was too precious for him to allow other men to touch. Adonis was a man with eyes that traveled across her body, but did not try to touch her. He did not allow any one near her except for himself and Lilly. She didn't understand this. She was kept so drugged that Adonis could surely take full advantage, but he did not.
His asking price for her show was too much for most of his customers to afford so the men that visited her were often royalty. She knew some of these men, and they might have recognized her if Adonis had not cut her hair to shoulder length and had her wear a thin bit of sheer fabric over her nose and mouth. She could use her dances to entrance a man so well that when another girl acted as her surrogate the men didn't mind. So long as they could see Venus dance the customers left her room satisfied. She swayed her hips in seductive and erotic movements, and sometimes she found herself enjoying the looks that the royals gave her. It had become a game to her, and she found herself getting more and more used to being watched then when she first entered this awful room.
As time passed she realized that she was beginning to loose sight of her former strength and pride. She found it hard to remember that she was more then the pricey girl in the window. She did not know why but sometimes it was hard to even remember her life before this room. Some days it was hard to remember her own name. She was grateful for the mask. It seemed to make the men easier to seduce, and kept her anonymity.
At night Adonis, who had first placed her in this room, came to her and stroked her cheek and kissed her lips. He tasted sweet. As if he had just eaten a fresh strawberry. Sometimes she found herself craving more of the man. But, when his lips no longer tasted of strawberries the man would leave and she would again be alone in that room. She was sickened when she found herself craving his visits. They were the only times that she could have any kind of real interaction beyond Lilly's visits.
The door opened in the red silk room. She could hear the faint sound of women and men walking in. She looked up. Her bangs had grown long and was now just past her nose. Adonis didn't like her bangs. He needed her to grow them out, and soon she wouldn't look like the solider that she had been. Soon she would look like any other girl in this forsaken place. Her cornflower blue eyes darted up and peered through the thin sunny blonde hair. Four of the men were dressed in gray trousers with white shirts and one, a younger black haired one, wore a black shirt with black slacks. Did she…?
One man with shoulder length white hair and light blue eyes seemed familiar didn't he? Hadn't she known him? The black haired one was very familiar as well. Wasn't he?
"Please sit," Lilly said. The men all took a seat on one of the pillows. Three older women had taken their places near them. Another woman carried a tray with fruit, and still another carried wine in gold bottle that had erotic images carved into it. The women were laughing and looking immensely interested in the men although none of them were talking. She could see them through the sheer red fabric and they had yet to take notice of her.
"This is one of our best rooms." Adonis walked in and told one of the women to pull back her curtain. "Our beautiful Morning Star will be very entertaining." Morning Star? Was that her name? What had her name been? She'd just had it hadn't she? Her mind swirled harder and the fog descended on her more fiercely then before. Seeing these men and almost recognizing them had caused her heart to pump harder which made the medicine that Adonis injected her with work harder. One of the girls opened the glass door and Morning Star took her hand. Adonis never allowed her out of the cage. She supposed that the reason he did so now was because this customers were extremely wealthy or there was something to be gained from it. Morning Star. That was what he'd called her. Was that really her name?
"Come here, Star," Adonis commanded her, almost lovingly. She did as she was told slipping her own smaller hand into his strong grip. He leaned into her body and whispered into her ear. "Dance for them." Morning Star nodded and two of the girls who had accompanied the men took out instruments and began to play. She started to dance with the music for the men. She swayed her hips and barely noticed when Adonis slipped out of the room with Lilly in tow bidding the men goodbye and smiling his cold smile.
Before long the men were entranced with her dancing. The way she ran her fingers along her body slowly passing over her hips and lower stomach then up towards her breasts. She marveled in each movement slow and deliberate trying to bring the men into a lull that would both please and satisfy them. None of the girls tried to touch the men at this point. They were waiting for the men to instigate something or for them to fall into a deeper trance, whichever came first. The deeper the men fell and the longer they stayed in this room the more Adonis could charge them. Everyone was to take their time and play their parts.
One of the men stood up. At first Morning Star didn't notice. She simply continued to dance with the music. None of the women moved. None of them seemed to notice what was happening until the man's hands, calloused and rough from hard work, slipped along Star's bare stomach. Star didn't move and suddenly her heart beat so hard that the fog began over take her. His hands felt so warm and good against her skin. She didn't turn. She didn't speak. When the man leaned into her he whispered into her ear. He smelled like the roses outside. The same scent that had greeted her when she had first entered this place. His breath on her ear, his warm body pressing against her back, it was all so intoxicating.
"I know you," the man whispered. He knew her? He knew who she was?
"You do?" she asked. The man nodded. His silver white hair fell from his shoulder and another blast of rose scent hit her. Her heart hammered in her chest. She wondered if he knew what he was doing to her. The man reached for the sheer fabric that masked her face from him. His eyes were in deep concentration trained solely on her face.
"Don't," she whispered. "Please don't." She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't want this. She didn't want him to see her face. Not in this horrible place. If he knew her then he could tell her her name. He could lift this fog from her. She couldn't stop him. She didn't have the strength to stop him from removing her mask. Nor did she relish the up close view of his eyes tracing her face and the sudden realization that he had when he recognized her.
"Venus?" he said slowly. "You're Princess Serenity's leader of her guard?"
Venus…
It was all too much. The medicine had worked its way so well into her system and the fog fell so harshly over her that his realization and her heart finally caused her to black out.