Beyond the Veil
"Who is he?"
"Handsome -"
"Earth's soldiers, they say they -"
Walking through the babbling crowd of courtiers who'd been drawn to the Moon, Jadeite could hear the murmured comments on himself and his fellow guardians – most of them made in feminine tones.
He sighed. He hadn't really wanted to attend this formal meeting, especially since it was a rather ridiculous affair – only for show as far as the prince was concerned. He'd been meeting with the princess for three weeks now, and no one knew about it except for the princess and her guardians, and the prince's guardians, of course.
Today Endymion had to pretend he and the princess had never met as he payed homage to the Queen of the Moon Kingdom, thanking her formally for her protection and consideration. It was an ancient rite that hadn't been obligatory in almost one hundred years, but Endymion had insisted to his father that it was only proper that they reinstate it – though Jadeite knew he had other motives for visiting the Moon besides formality.
He sighed again – he hated crowds. The constant buzz of other's thoughts which annoyed him to no end always increased exponentially when he was in a mob of people – especially silly, chatty women who wanted to flirt with him. It annoyed him to no end and put him in a bad mood. That, and his uniform itched.
He tried to scratch it without appearing to do so, managing to jostle Zoisite's elbow and cause the other young man to glance at him in amusement – he was probably loving all this attention – the peacock.
After Earth's mild summers the Moon Kingdom seemed rather cold, and a little empty. Everything was confined to the formless bubble of the sparkling silver city and palace where almost all the court lived.
Today, however, Jadeite feared he would be forced to converse with the entire population of the moon.
"There you are," he heard Zoisite murmur, and train his eyes on the approaching royal party. Though the crowd separated the Shitennou and prince from the princess and her inner court, he still had a clear view of the famed 'Beauties of the Silver Millennium'.
He tried to find the girl that Zoisite was so intent on speaking to. He saw, to his surprise, that the fierce guardians he'd heard about from his friends were none other than simple, though admittedly beautiful, princesses.
Telling himself that he was doing a routine check, though secretly he was intensely curious, Jadeite reached out faintly to peek into each of their minds with his powers.
The first of the princesses, a tall, auburn-haired girl who reminded him of a leggy filly, was gazing at the scenery surrounding them with great interest.
Inside her head, however, ran the following thoughts:
Nutmeg, and then I think some chocolate, dark and milk? That might be too much...Serenity really doesn't need any more sugar...she certainly is excited enough already...I wonder if...
He pulled away, surprised. So this was what the planetary princesses, the avatars of the gods and goddesses, though about? Recipes for fudge? How bizarre.
He caught the blue haired princess and delved into her mind next.
Her theorems were completely incorrect in that second test – why can't she remember the basic formulas we went over since yesterday? I simply – oh, gods, he's here! Don't look at me, don't look at me, don't let him – oh, no!
Jadeite tried not to laugh as he realized that this was the woman Zoisite could not shut up about since the last week when he'd bumped into her while infiltrating the Moon Palace to deliver a message to Princess Serenity. So the little scholar, the Princess's tutor, had caught his eye? Interesting. Jadeite mused that Zoi would have a hard time winning that lady – she'd probably set him in his place within the hour. And that was something he simply had to see.
With great pleasure and anticipation he jumped into the mind of the gorgeous blond beauty, the avatar of Venus that he'd heard so much about.
There's the strapless number...I wonder if that's his type? Should I try cute and innocent or slightly seductive? He probably wouldn't go for that. Who touched my arm just now!? Oh, it's that bore from Saturn, goddess can't these men take a hint? Now, where was I? Maybe he'd like something a little more tom-boyish and flirty – I can definitely do that. What was that flash? Oh, just a dress sword. Too far from the princess's radius to be concerned, but still...I'll have to keep an eye on that one.
Jadeite shook his head. That was possibly the most confusing mental conversation he'd ever eavesdropped on. What kind of woman was this Venusian? She was all woman, on the one hand and he secretly envied the lucky bastard who'd caught her eye – but on the other, what was that about the sword?
He turned around to see who wore the dress sword and found a man nearing his seventies standing about fifty feet away. How had she even seen that?! Let alone thought it could be a possible threat to her princess's safety.
"She's more paranoid than Kunzite." he murmured.
"But a lot cuter." he added.
With a regretful sigh he turned to find the last of the princess's guardians, the one who'd never visited the Earth. What was she called? The Princess Mars. That was it. He glanced her way and quieted his mind to listen.
And he heard...nothing.
He blinked and tried again – and again he heard nothing.
How could that be? She was standing right there, and he hadn't miraculously lost his powers - so why?
He tried again...with the same results, but this time when he looked up he gasped to see that she was staring at him with her quiet, secretive violet eyes.
What is she thinking?
For the first time in his life, there was no way to know.
She continued to gaze at him, her face betrayed nothing except an unusual wisdom and peace beyond her years. She seemed more like a mother deity looking down on an errant son than a fourteen year old princess staring at a handsome man four years her senior.
She suddenly, slowly, smiled. It was a very small smile that could barely be called one, but there it was on the corner of her mouth.
He felt an overwhelmingly passionate urge to know exactly what she was thinking to make her smile at him that way. And her thoughts were silent! It was maddening.
This had never happened before.
He had to know, absolutely had to know why he couldn't hear her thoughts – he had to know who she was – he was convinced in that moment that she held more mysteries behind the veil of her eyes than could be contained within the universe.
He made a vow in his heart and mind, in that moment when their eyes met, that he would not rest until he had uncovered every last secret there was – beginning with that infuriating, captivating smile.