In honor of the new Sailor Moon releases, I thought I might want to get back to this series. Here's just a quick one-shot fleshing out my personal guesses about the Silver Millennium. I hope it amuses.
I own nothing.
"Announcing, Princess Rei of Mars!" The Terran nobles amassed in the Grand Ballroom clapped politely as the elegant beauty in dark red stepped down the marble staircase. On the far side of the room, standing off to one side, Endymion nodded approvingly that his subjects had remembered their manners and overcome whatever grumbles there may have been at the presence of their royal guests. For various reasons largely forgotten, there had been bad blood between Earth and the much larger and more powerful Silver Millennium for over half a century, ever since they had made official contact.
Unofficially, there had been rumors of people on the other planets, and astronomers had confirmed a civilization on the moon at least, in addition to numerous folktales of such figures descending down from the stars in interfere in people's lives, but it wasn't until almost eighty years ago, only a decade after the official unification of Earth under one government, that the hegemon queen of the Silver Millennium had officially opened diplomatic channels.
There had been upsets, arguments, debate, and even a few grumblings of war, and yet here they were.
"We have come a long way, haven't we, Kunzite?" he commented to his general and trusted friend.
"Announcing, Princess Makoto of Jupiter!"
"A long way from where, my Prince?" Kunzite asked absently, his eyes firmly on the green-garbed figure descending the staircase.
Which was quite odd, as it was Nephrite who was infatuated with the Amazonian royal. Kunzite's beau, his counterpart among the Silver Millennium's forces, had yet to be announced.
"Announcing, Captain of the Imperial Silver Guard, Princess Minako of Venus!" Ah, there she was. And yet Kunzite still wasn't smiling (which was admittedly normal for him) but was frowning slightly instead (which was decidedly not).
"Kunzite? What troubles you?" Endymion asked intently.
"I fear something has gone wrong, Prince Endymion," he answered quietly. "Were you watching the princesses as they entered?"
"Yes, although not too closely, as-"
"Announcing, Imperial Crown Princess Serena!"
"Ah," he said softly, his eyes drinking in the sight of his intended floating down the stairs, smiling and waving gaily to the room.
"Hmm," Kunzite mused, "perhaps things have not gone too horribly wrong after all?"
"Wrong? What has gone wrong?" Endymion asked as the Princess entered the crowd to meet and greet—they had agreed beforehand that duty must occasionally come first, but they would meet up at the eighth hour to dance.
"I do not know, but Mars's actions concern me, as do Venus's," he murmured. "They seem…ominous. Ill be-fitting a supposedly happy occasion."
"How so?" Endymion asked, scanning the room for those named. He saw Rei in a niche apparently engaged in a heated, whispered argument with Jadeite. "Already? I wonder what Jadeite has done to so quickly gain her ire?"
"So does he, Prince Endymion." Sure enough, when Endymion looked again, he saw a rare expression on his East General's face: confusion and concern. For that matter, Rei's temper this time did not give the impression of a roaring inferno, but of a simmering acid.
Something was definitely wrong.
"He usually enjoys needling her, and gives as good as he gets," Endymion reasoned aloud as the fiery lady turned away from the helplessly gesticulating Jadeite…and began marching toward the two of them. "Oh dear."
"She hid it quickly, but when she was announced at the top of the stairs, for a moment her face was like thunder," Kunzite told him. "Princess Mercury quickly schooled her expression, but for a moment I glimpsed offended shock. Princess Jupiter was merely annoyed, and has mostly let whatever offense it is slide like water from a duck's wing, And Princess Serena suffered only a moment of amused confusion before dismissing the concern."
"Speaking of concern, have you noticed that a visibly angry Martian princess is rapidly closing in on us?" Endymion asked nervously.
"Come now Prince Endymion," chuckled an older heavy-set Count something-or-other. "You can't honestly believe that our guests, no matter how uncultured, would resort to violence at a gathering like this, could you?"
"Uncul-" Endymion began to snap, momentarily distracted from the approaching doom, before Kunzite's monotone interrupted.
"And Minako's reaction was very…off," he continued, using her personal name instead of her formal title. "She seemed almost hurt, in a way, and certainly insulted by whatever it was." Both the other men turned to him as said princess, garbed in gold and orange, materialized out of the crowd and intercepted Rei just out of earshot.
A brief, hushed argument passed between them as Rei tried to rage her way past her nominal superior. But if Rei was fire, then Minako was stone and steel. She didn't flinch, but dismissed Rei with a short, sharp gesture and a few words in a foreign language (Endymion wasn't certain which one but it sounded like Martian—he was only yet fluent in Lunarian, Mercurian, and Plutish).
Rei took a few steps back grudgingly, and Minako said something else conciliatory, yet still with a vague edge of threat. Rei turned to look at the men, and smiled disturbingly before mercifully turning back towards the still confused and nervous Jadeite.
Then Minako herself turned and began stonily marching towards them, and Endymion wondered if Rei's tender attentions wouldn't have been gentler.
"Hail, Prince Endymion. I thank you for your hospitality." She somehow managed to make this seems threatening as she bowed politely to the exactly perfect degree, and then turning to Kunzite. "General Kunzite," she said perfunctorily and bowed again.
Minako wasn't taking the chance to catch up with her suitor. What next, an attack on the castle?
"Princess Venus," Endymion began, once more using her formal title instead of her name, as they were in public. "You seem somewhat aggrieved? If there is an error in my offered hospitality, please tell me, that I may do my best to fix it." The count grumbled something under his breath, earning a sharp glance from both Terrans, but Minako ignored him, struggling to sooth her ruffled feathers.
"Yes, there is. Again," she added through grit teeth. "Are you doing it on purpose, or do you seriously not know?"
"Again? Know what?" Endymion asked.
"Was there an issue with the introductory announcement?" Kunzite inquired, having guessed the most likely prospect. It appeared he hit gold, as Minako took another slow breath, forcing herself to untense a little more, and answered.
"Yes, exactly," she huffed. "Every time our diplomats have been here—every time—we've received what could be taken as either a subtle snub or a blatant insult from your court, myself and my mother included. In the early years of our relationship it was understandable, and we generally let it slide, but when it kept happening it built up some bad blood among our nobles. And now it just got thrown in our face again, by you of all people, at what was supposed to be a celebration of good will and esteem!" Her voice stayed quiet, but the emotions in it lashed out at them. Then she sighed once more, attempting to forcibly control her temper. "So since I have to believe that you wouldn't do this on purpose, Prince Endymion, I have to ask if you even know how insulting you just were, or if it was an honest, idio—ignorant mistake."
"Now see here, young lady," the count said severely. "Princess or not I cannot let that stand. The Terran court has shown you nothing but generosity and perfect decorum. I don't know things are done in your home, but-"
Both of the other Terran noblemen had turned to snap at their elder to keep his nose out of these matters, but all three were interrupted as Minako burst into giggles.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry," she chuckled. "Y-yo-young? Lady!" She finally smothered her laughter.
"I say," the old man began, but this time Endymion was fast enough to silence him with a glance.
"My apologies…count?" Kunzite confirmed the title with a nod. "We should r-respect our el-elders, after all, and I do believe you just answered my question, however unwittingly. I'm now convinced that no insult was intended, and this is a s-simple misunders-standing." She choked down another bout of laughter. "Before I offer apologies of my own, may I ask you to indulge me in another question?"
"Ah," he glanced at Kunzite and Endymion, who nodded, as confused as he was. "Of course, dear girl."
"How old are you, sir?" she asked a touch impishly. "Using the Terran calendar, of course." He looked at her suspiciously, but couldn't find where the joke was, and answered.
"I celebrated my seventieth birthday this past winter," he told her cautiously. Minako's smile widened.
"Seventy. I see. You bear your years well, sir. And I apologize for our earlier…misunderstanding," she added cheerfully, turning back to Endymion and Kunzite. "So. The insult. Let me put it in perspective, please. Kunzite, what is my name?"
She asked it so innocently that he immediately knew it must be a trick question, and calmly reviewed everything they had discussed on the subject.
"Venus Minako," he answered calmly. "You informed me that in the Silver Millennium you used your familial name followed by your personal, and as royalty your formal name is that of your home, much like Endymion is of the line of Terra."
"Mmm, more language difficulties," Minako mused. "And to think people make fun of me for mangling phrases," she added with a laugh. "Now, how was I introduced?"
They shared a look. "Captain of the Imperial Silver Guard, Princess Minako of Venus," Endymion quoted, and frowned. "Now that I think of it, it was mentioned that your personal name was a little…intimate," he realized uncertainly. "Should it not have been used in those circumstances? I felt that Princess Venus of Venus sounded a little repetitive, but should I have used that, or simply Princess Venus?" The blonde shook her head.
"Kunzite…Prince Endymion…what if I were to tell you that a large part of what you just said was wrong?"
"Speak sense, please," the Count chided. Kunzite would have glared at him once more, but Minako's silvery laugh again cut him off.
"Of course, let me part the leaves," she agreed.
"I'm sorry?"
"Oh, oops! Sorry, that's a Jovian expression. Let me…clear things up? That sounds right." The men nodded. "Well, yes, it was improper to announce me as princess Minako. Our personal names are just that: personal. Their use is reserved for friends and family, and being greeted by it by a stranger is like being hugged and kissed on both cheeks by someone you have only just met. Rather disconcerting, no?"
"I sincerely apologize," Endymion said with a brief bow. "That part of Millennial etiquette was not made clear to me, and the error will not happen again. How should you be announced in the future?"
"Well, the bigger problem is the barren bush, not the flowers on the mangrove," she informed him. They stared. "Oh, I did it again didn't I? That's one from my home. Um…the problem isn't what's there that shouldn't be, but what's missing that should be there."
"If you wouldn't mind," Endymion hesitatingly said. Minako sighed frustratedly.
"I'm no good at this. Urgh. Putting in our personal names was bad, but you left something out that was worse. Understand?"
"Why didn't you just say so to begin with?" the count asked sourly.
"Because I speak over a dozen languages that don't always translate well," she snapped. "Leader of the senshi, diplomatic duties, and all that lovely stuff. Look," she continued with a sigh, "you made a mistaken assumption that we should have cleared up, so I guess it's just a shoal spawn during a tsunami."
"Ahem. You used-"
"It's just one of those things," she corrected at the Count's interjection. "So once more, how was I introduced? I promise I'll get to it from this," she added to cut off any objections.
"Captain of the Imperial Silver Guard, Princess Minako of Venus," Endymion said once more.
"And it should have been…?"
"Princess Venus of Venus?" Endymion asked uncertainly. Minako shook her head.
"No, Prince Endymion, it should have been Princess Venus of Iris," she corrected. The others stared at her.
"I'm sorry?" Endymion asked.
"In the Silver Millenium we don't use familial names. Those are written down in genealogies and such, but not spoken aloud as part of your name," Minako clarified. "Venus is my formal name, for use in public with people not especially close to me. It has nothing to do with my being a princess, or with where I am a princess of."
"I, but, we've called it Venus ever since our official first contact," Endymion said. "One of the first diplomats from Ven—from Iris," he corrected at her raised eyebrow, "introduced herself as the Princess of Venus. Maybe even Princess Iris of Venus," he added uncertainly.
"It was a while ago, but I think I said I was the Princess Venus of Iris," Minako corrected archly. "Given that I was still learning Terran for the first time, though, I'm willing to admit I probably garbled it horribly, and that set the stage for everything else." She clapped a hand to her forehead. "Ugh. And we're only just figuring it out now. How embarrassing."
"You said?" the count finally managed to splutter out. "Young lady, that's ridiculous! I wasn't even born when first contact occurred! If this is your idea of a jo-"
Minako shot him a smile as sharp and bright as a knife blade.
"Please mind your elders, good count. I'm almost one-hundred sixty Terran years old."
"One-hun—that's ridiculous!" Minako leaned towards him, her smile still threatening.
"You're forgetting one very important thing about me, count. I'm not a Terran. I want you to look me in the eye and repeat two words to yourself, over and over." Her eyes narrowed. "Not. Human." She held his gaze for three seconds, and then the nobleman swallowed and retreated out of earshot. "About time he left," she muttered.
"Minako," Kunzite said, and she gave him her attention. The General simply raised an eyebrow.
"What? This isn't about my age, is it, because I'm not anywhere near becoming an old maid yet! Heck, my mother isn't anywhere near that line either," she complained with a pout. Kunzite simply looked at her.
"Princess Venus," Endymion said uncertainly, "was that…"
"True? Oh yeah. Like I said, your highness, I'm not completely human. There's been a lot of Lunarian-Terran crossbreeding over the years, but we still average about eight times your life expectancy."
"And…this has truly never come up?" he asked helplessly.
"Hmm…" she considered, pursing her lips. "I'm pretty sure it got mentioned during first contact, but given how hectic things were back then it probably got disunderstood or untranslated or something. After that, when would it come up?" She shrugged.
Endymion's mouth opened and closed for a few minutes, and then he turned toward Serena, who was talking to a group by the buffet table. She smiled brightly and waved at him, which he returned weakly.
"So then…Serena is…?"
"Using your calendar? I think she's turning one-hundred thirty eight this summer."
"I'm almost positive she told me she was sixteen," he said weakly.
"Did she say she was sixteen using your calendar, or that she'd be sixteen if she were Terran? Because she might have been talking about how our physical ages are matched up," Minako suggested.
"You mentioned something about not being human, and cross-breeding," Kunzite rumbled. "Would you care to elaborate?" Minako nodded, opened her mouth…and then clicked it shut and started looking around the room.
"Have you seen Ami anywhere? She's much better at this type of thing."
"She and Zoicite stepped into the gardens a few minutes ago," Kunzite told her. He simply stayed there, watching her, before Minako broke down.
"Okay, fine, I'll do the boring history lesson. Okay. So something like twenty thousand of your years ago, something happened to the planet the Lunarians were originally living on, and they fled across several star systems and ended up here. They made their home on the moon, since there were already people living on Earth, and their magic made the moon habitable."
"Do you know anything about why they originally left?" Endymion asked.
"Well, since there were only about five-hundred of them when they arrived, I'm guessing it was some big war or something. There are probably records somewhere, so we should ask Ami."
"Five-hundred isn't nearly enough to rebuild a population," Kunzite stated.
"Exactly," Minako said with a grin. "That's where the fun starts. They were a completely separate species when they settled on the Moon, but once they realized there were people problems, they used the Ginzuisho to alter themselves."
"They became human?" Endymion asked.
"No, but they made themselves genetically compatible. Then they went down to Earth to…mmm…get to know their neighbors."
"The legends," Kunzite realized.
"Yeah, that's where they come from. I'm not sure how it started, but what ended up happening was that they would watch for wherever there were wars or trouble on earth, go down, and offer to take people away to live with them. The Terrans would want to leave, since they'd probably die otherwise, and even if they didn't marry and Lunarians, their children probably would. But that's also why there are a bunch of bad stories about Earth floating around."
"…I'm sorry?" Endymion asked, lost. Kunzite was quicker on the uptake.
"Moving from violent victimization here to the peaceful and advanced people on the moon probably would leave marks. They'd speak of Earth as a violent and dangerous place, to be avoided at all costs."
"Yeah, something like that," Minako laughed embarrassedly. "Demons, barbarians, and all sorts of monsters. It makes a great setting for romance or adventure novels, though."
"What of the other planets?" Kunzite asked. "Weren't people living there?"
"Not at first," Minako told him. "After a while—I'm not sure why—people wanted to move away from the moon to other planets and set up their own, ah, places. We," she gestured toward herself, Rei, and Makoto, "are the descendants of the leaders of the exp—ixped—our word is lyuuikou?"
"Expeditions?"
"Right!" she said, flashing a smile at Endymion. "That. That's how our families became royalty. Except for Rei," she added. "There was a lot of fighting on Cramoisin, so she's from something like the third or fourth royal family that's been set up over there. Don't tease her about it, though, because her mother got killed in a power-play."
"Duly noted," Endymion said with a wince and a sympathetic look. "So. One-hundred thirty-eight." Minako rolled her eyes.
"Don't make a big deal over it. Once you're married there are some magic stuff that will help you live longer together. And she's still willing to be with you despite the fact that you're nineteen," Minako pointed out drily. The clock chimed eight.
"It's just…I'm almost positive she told me she was sixteen." Minako frowned and hummed.
"Did she say she was sixteen, or did she say she would be sixteen if she were human?" she asked. "She might have tried to tell you, and it got gargled."
"Garbled," Endymion corrected automatically. "And…I think it was that she'd be sixteen if she used the Terran calendar."
"If she used the Terran calendar, or if she were Terran? She might have just been trying to translate," Minako pointed out. There was a stretch of silence and he nodded.
"I'll have to ask her. But we were discussing other things, weren't we? Venus of Iris. And Mars of Cramoisin, you said?"
"Right! And Jupiter of Jova, and Mercury of Melpomene!" she finished brightly.
"Yes? Did you need something, Venus?" a quiet voice asked. She spun around to find Ami and Zoicite linked at the arm behind her.
"Oh! Um, no, sorry Ami. I was just clearing up some misunderstandings. But yeah, there is an idea you could help with. Hey, Zoicite, what's her full name?"
"Is this a trick question?" he asked nervously. "Mercury Ami?"
"Princess of…?"
"Mercury?" he asked helplessly. Ami's eyes widened as she mouthed a silent Oh… Minako smiled smugly.
"Yeah, I'm surprised I figured that problem out before you did," she told the bluenette. "So before we go back I was thinking we should try and get them an outline for a history book to help mop up all the bad blood," she told the bluenette.
"That would…no, I don't think any of the ones from home would work. We'd have to translate them first, and they generally focus only on the individual planet, not how it all ties together. Some of the college courses deal better with the big picture, but they tend to assume that the reader already knows certain basic details. I might need to author an entirely new text for this," she figured quickly.
"Well it would only be what? Your fourth book? Fifth? If anyone can do it, you can," Minako assured her with an eye roll.
"Ami can do what?" a silvery voice asked. They all spun around and the girls bobbed a quick bow to Princess Serena.
"Princess Mercury was just considering writing a text on Silver Millennium history to help to help us Terrans clear up some misunderstandings. We just were speaking with Princess Venus when it became apparent that we still didn't know many things," Endymion told her, and the leaned in for a kiss she eagerly returned. "Are you doing well?"
"Wonderful, now that I'm with you," she said dreamily. "But I'm glad I missed the talk—history was my least favorite class during studies," she grumbled.
"I thought that was math," Minako teased cheekily.
"I remember your literature tutors being rather exasperated," Ami added gently.
"Oh, you all are horrid! Fine, I was poor in a bunch of classes," she admitted, and yanked on Endymion's arm. "Now come on, will you? It's eight and you promised me a dance."
"So I did," Endymion acknowledged. Leading her onto the dance floor, Minako caught the fading end of his question to her, "Incidentally, have I been using your name properly up to now," before they disappeared into the whirl of bodies. Ami was murmuring to herself while Zoicite looked half intrigued with her project and half put out to have lost her attention, so Minako turned to Kunzite.
"Well, that's my good deed done for the night. Do I get a reward?" she asked Kunzite. He extended an arm, and they too entered the mix of bodies, another couple amid the crowd.
Well, I didn't end up mentioning the longer life-spans much, or the way the original Lunarians lived even longer (Sernea's grandmother was going to be nearing her three-thousandth birthday in Earth years) but I'm happy with where this is. Do you like it?