Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Sailor Moon or Harry Potter (even though
I wish I did). I do own Senshi Star, the new physical description for
Saturn, and basically the story line. I'll be really mad if you take it.
A/N: Hello! This is a new one that I start a while ago. I've been toying with it for some time now and I really like it so hopefully Harry Potter fans and Sailor Moon fans will like it. Still, if you don't wanna see any Sailor Moon bashing, maybe this isn't the place for you. Hehe, just warning you ahead of time so you can't flame me! Enjoy!
Summary: Senshi Star was perfectly content to live out her life as a soldier of the Moon without question or thought. When the wizard prince of Elysian arrives as a peace sign from the Earth with three very familiar friends, her world is turned upside down. Will they find love? Or will they be separated by the doom which is destined to befall the Moon Empire?
"Star!" A tall young lady rushed through an enormous palace shouting out the one name. She had moonlight skin, long blond hair like ripe wheat, and desperate baby blue eyes. Her hair was pulled into pigtails, flowing down to the silver marble floor and swaying in sync with the lady's billowing, elegant white gown. At the moment, her face was contorted in anger, her eyes almost blazing. "Star!" She called again, this time with a note of childish annoyance in her voice. She felt a sharp, playful tug on one of her pigtails.
"No need to shout, Usagi." Another lady grinned at her princess. She was maybe an inch shorter then Princess Serenity (nicknamed Usagi) with ice- white hair pulled into a high ponytail, her enormous bottle-green eyes filled with mischief. She wore a silver mini skirt, silver laced high- heeled boots which came up to her tall knees and a huge silver bow tied to the front of her pure white leotard, very much the same way a sailor's uniform is designed. She wore twin blue stars from each earlobe, a velvet silver choker with another golden star at its base, and a silver tiara with an ice-white gem at the base of her forehead.
The most interesting thing of all was the fact that she wore a mask over her face. It covered her cheeks and her nose, but not her mouth nor the bottom part of her nose. This gave her a very eerie appearance, like a white ghost.
"Quick! I have to choose something to wear! The prince from Earth is coming!" Serenity grabbed the lady, Star as she was called, by her gloved wrist and dragged her into a nearby room. An overly large vanity adorned with a placid oval-shaped mirror reflected the enormous king-sized bed at the other end of the classroom-sized bed chambers. Star glanced at the bed with its silky bed covers laced in gold and silver, sapphires and emeralds embroidered to sparkle even in the soft moonlight.
"Um, Usagi, you DO realize that the Earth has more then one prince, correct?" The calm young woman with hair far too colorless gently scolded the over-excited princess, who glared angrily back at Star for a moment.
"But this isn't just any prince! He's THE prince! He's the one that can speak to Griffons and rules Elysian!" The other lady grinned shrewdly.
"The one your parents forbade you to marry?" Serenity glared at Star again, not liking her dry tone at all. Only Star ever dared to speak to the princess in such a way, and Serenity frankly hated it.
"So what? I'm fifteen tomorrow but you're fourteen until November!" The lady who was actually a young girl waved her hand dismissively.
"Yes, half a year younger and still having to take care of you. You still can't even STAND in high heels without falling on your face!" Serenity dropped the sharp red dress she had been holding over a wall-sized mirror, her glare icy.
"Why can't you ever drop anything?!" Star sighed and sat down on the feathery-soft bed. Serenity returned to her dresses, her face a mask of anger. How DARE Star speak to her in such a way! She was the Princess of the Moon Empire and future ruler of the entire Universe! She threw aside the dress and then wished, and not for the first time, that she didn't have to deal with Star at all. It wasn't fair!
"I still don't understand why you want to get married. I mean, on the Earth we'd be married with a horde of children already screaming at us for constant attention. But not here." Star sat up sharply, for she disliked Serenity as much but maybe not more then the princess did. "Why are you in such a hurry to loose your final freedom?" Serenity snorted and returned to her dresses, a horrible sneer appearing on her beautiful face.
"Of course YOU wouldn't understand. Child."
"Shut up, PRINCESS." Star muttered without even looking at her anymore. She strode over to the huge vanity and sat down, sighing as she did. This was an argument of old; centuries old. Serenity never knew when to quit and when she did, both girls were emotionally drained, calling on all their beliefs as they always did whenever they had a fight about something, which was often.
"Well it's true. Being a Senshi, you probably never get any fun, especially since you don't want to go look for it!" Star sighed again angrily and turned to glare at Princess Serenity coldly.
"I told you to shut up. You've been around Venus too much with all of her sappy love talk. You'd think love was real!" Star began to laugh, as if the very notion was hilarious to say the least. Serenity, however, was not in the least bit amused by Star's horrible statement.
"It IS real! You'll just never find it!" Star whirled on the princess, her eyes blazing with cold, green anger as her emerald eyes flashed. She got to her feet slowly, menacingly, her step very much like that of a panther as she glared at the princess with enough hatred to make even Serenity shiver.
"And that is why your father is almost never here? Why he flaunts with any other woman but your mother? Wasn't love meant to be wonderful?" Star knew that she was striking below the belt but her anger on the subject refused to soften her even the least bit.
"You're just jealous that I HAVE parents, trenta." Star paled. 'Trenta' was the name for a bastard goddess, and it was one of the worst insults one could throw at them. Then Star was blazing with a horrible black light, as black as the space between the stars and just as frightening. It surrounded her like a cloak and halo, completely covering her features.
"Hope your prince charming doesn't mistake you for a sewer rat." Star whispered as she stormed out of the enormous room, her every step outlined in nothing but the purest of anger. She wanted to hit something, to make it feel her pain. She wanted the world around her to stop feeling happy and know how much her heart wanted to stop beating, to make the pain stop.
Normally such stupid insults wouldn't have fazed Star at all. With so little time to listen to gossip, Star always found a way to avoid the royal court or even anyone besides a Senshi or the princess. Star hated nobles and couldn't stand to be around them unless she had to, such as formal balls and such.
As Star swept past the palace, a calm portion of her mind reminded her of how lonely this part of the great kingdom was. The royal family itself lived very far from the lavishly decorated rooms of the other nobles and was always careful not to allow anyone into this part of the palace. And there was another part of the palace, a wing in which not even the princess or the Senshi were aloud. Only the Queen herself and Star even knew of its existence.
Star snuck into this forbidden place, as quietly as a light breeze over a smooth table of glass. The walls were their typical white marble that constructed the entire palace. Star caught flashes of silver and gold, the wealth of the Moon Empire. Her white mask flashed as well in the bright moonlight. She soon came to the most forbidden room of all, softly opening the huge doors while trying to ignore the horrible creak of age.
The doors appeared new, timeless. The phases of the Moon were etched into their dark wood, shining almost like an omen to ward off evil intentions. No evil could have entered without paying a price and that price was always far too high. Any evil that dared enter the doors of Time always lost its existence.
Inside, an enormous fog clung to everything and nothing. The mist was so thick; Star couldn't even see her own hands before her eyes. The floor was nothing but brown dirt, nothing special about it. And yet this was the place of Time, where only one dwelled, alone, guarding the gates of Time forever.
"Who dares to trespass here?!" An angry voice demanded, as deep as a throbbing drum. Star turned calmly towards the voice.
"It's just me, Lu." Star was the only one who ever called the guardian of Time Lu. In fact, she was probably one of the ONLY people who had seen Senshi Pluto at all. The guardian of Time, Senshi Pluto, peered out from the fog she had lived in since she was born, her eyes narrowed.
She was a very tall, slender woman, nearly six feet, with chocolate skin, suspicious amber eyes, and black hair down to her knees, devoid of curls. She wore a black-green mini skirt and a sailor's bow which appeared to be black but was actually one of the darker shades of green. She also wore black high heels, a gold tiara with a dark hunter green stone at its base identical to Star's, and triangle-black earrings. In her white gloved hands she held a seven-foot tall staff, the Key of Time. It unlocked the doors of Time.
"Star?" The woman ventured as she stepped out of the shadowed mists, vaguely making out the white mask that she had always seen on her leader's face.
"Sorry to bother you, Lu." Star murmured softly. Without waiting for an answer, Star hugged her friend tightly. Pluto stiffened but then hugged her back slowly, as if unaccustomed to such closeness.
"That's alright. I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time." Both chuckled at the words. "What's the matter?" Star sighed.
"Love again." Pluto grinned.
"Venus or the princess?" Star grinned.
"The princess. Usagi INSISTS that it's real. But that can't be true, can it? True love isn't real, not after what happened to . . . ." Star trailed off, unable to continue speaking. Pluto sighed. Star never spoke of her past. This was actually a lot for her, to simply mention it was half a miracle in itself. Pluto chuckled softly for a moment though, thinking of Star's words.
"You believe in love between friends and yet you don't believe in true love?" Pluto leaned on her staff, a sad smile on her beautiful chocolate face. Star starred into the mists blankly for a moment, lost in thought.
"I know that true love exists somewhere. If it didn't, Venus would be out of a job." The two goddesses chuckled at the thought. "It's just, I don't think true love is meant for us goddesses, even less so since we're Senshi."
"And the Moon princess?"
"She'll never be a Senshi. Gods forbid anyone should ever give her authority!" They began to laugh again until Pluto touched Star's shoulder gently, her eyes showing kindness only meant for that girl.
"Senshi can love." She whispered gently. In this huge place where Time did not exist, the only place where it could not exist, sound seemed to echo and then die instantly. Whispers lasted longer, were more real. Star's eyes were troubled as she heard the eternal whisper.
"But can THEY be loved in return?" Star asked ominously. Pluto's smile only widened with more warmth.
"Only if you let them." Star nodded and then smiled at Pluto.
"Thanks Lu. You always make me feel better. Now I won't have to go to the other Senshi and force them to train to death!" Pluto grinned.
"Any time, Star." Star waved at her dear friend and swept confidently out of the doors of Time. Pluto watched her go silently, longingly. She never planned to tell anyone, but Star was the only one who truly cared about what happened to that solitary soldier. No one, not even the Queen, truly cared what became of the oldest creature to have ever lived.
Star made her way to the rose gardens of the Moon. The rose gardens were massive, acres upon acres of nothing but roses. Some were reserved for certain colors but other parts were filled with all kinds of beautiful variations. At times there were paths into the center of these places, but Star personally preferred those without paths with nothing but roses in all directions. The Senshi breathed in the suffocating perfume of rich flowers, feeling her head instantly clear from any of the worries that had plagued her until that moment.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" Star glanced at the little girl speaking behind her. She had beautiful long flaming red hair which curled softly around her thin shoulders, pulsing brown eyes too old for someone her age, pale skin like that of the Moon princess', and an eight-foot sickle which was her most lethal weapon. Attention was immediately drawn to the shattered crystal at her chest holding the dark purple sailor's bow in place, a purple mini skirt, gray-green Saturn earrings, and a golden tiara with a dark purple jewel at its base. She also wore laced up boots identical to Star's except for the fact that the little girl's boots were black instead of silver-white. A dark purple velvet choker was easily visible at her creamy, pale throat.
"Yes, they are very beautiful." Star closed her eyes placidly, feeling the stars singing above her, singing just for her. Senshi Saturn also looked up, her face unnaturally somber for such a young girl, as she basked in the moonlight. Saturn had never been to the Moon Empire but once, and yet that time had been so long ago. Now Saturn could properly know this beautiful place.
"How was your mission, Yin?" Star asked quietly, using her favorite nickname for Senshi Saturn, Goddess of Silence and Rebirth.
"Successful as always. Uranus and Neptune met for the first time, just like you wanted them to. I think they have become lovers now." Saturn murmured into the soft but somehow forbidding wind.
"I knew it. Those two were meant for each other."
"I suppose you're right. They've agreed to come tomorrow to greet the Prince. All of the Outer Senshi coming to the Silver Millennium Empire for the second Time. And you as well, Star; our wondrous leader." Star could hear the smile in Saturn's expressionless voice. Others might have thought that she was being rude and sarcastic.
"Yes, I'll be here. To meet the Prince that Usagi is forbidden to marry but has sworn to me that she would." Saturn sighed.
"The princess is a liar."
"So are several of my Senshi." Star turned to Saturn with true rage in her emerald eyes. She was no longer a young girl but a leader. "Such as Neptune and Uranus. I TOLD them not to bring their servants and they promised not to, and yet I find them here anyway." Saturn repositioned her staff nervously.
"I know." The little girl murmured. Star looked over the roses, her gaze filling with more and more anger as she thought of all her troubles. The little red-haired girl could hear the fury in her leader's usually musical and placid voice, nervous of it.
"Next, I demanded that Mars bring Phoebus and Demos. They turn up, yes; of course they do, nearly three years later." Star knelt to touch the straining roses, which delighted in the goddess's healing touch. "Twenty years before this, I asked Venus to update me on the meteor cluster passing by her planet. I'm forced to destroy nearly a Moon's worth of rock heading straight for us!" Star tightened her hold on one particularly sharp rose, drawing a drop of blood. Saturn stiffened considerably, showing fear for the first time.
"Be careful that the blood doesn't touch the ground! You'll condemn the Empire to its death!" Star, knowing perfectly well what her blood had the power to do, lifted the bloody finger, which had already begun to stain her crisp white glove. The rose which had pricked her withered and dissolved on the spot. "This won't hurt." Saturn muttered as she knelt beside Star. As she closed her beautiful brown eyes, a soothing white light began to cascade through her fingers and escape into Star's hand, healing her.
"Thank you Yin." Star whispered distractedly.
"You're welcome, Star." Star sighed, closing her eyes.
"So that leaves only half of my Senshi still loyal to me. Exactly half." Saturn blinked in her surprise.
"What of Senshi Venus and Mars? Certainly they didn't mean to do what they did." Star smirked, opening her eyes slyly.
"Well, Mars has a thing for Usagi. Unfortunately for her, Usagi's about as straight as a person can be. And Venus is only too happy that Usagi agrees with her wonderful love-talk. Besides, Mars has always been furious that she didn't become the second-in-command before Venus, ever since I made my decision."
"True." The two goddesses stood. "Will you even see the Prince? It might seem rude to know that you're here but not present to meet him." Star was silent for a moment, thinking.
"I love masquerade balls." She said suddenly. "The wonderful masks and the costumes hide the people so well; no one can recognize you at all. We have one every year, you know. The Queen usually has them for special guests or important nobles. She must want us seen not to have one immediately at the Prince's coming."
"Will you meet him?" Saturn asked, unfazed.
"I suppose I must. I can't very well hide behind a mask this time." Both Senshi grinned at the thought since Star could very well hide behind a mask.
"I can't remain here for very long. There's been evidence of a new enemy near my planet and I must tend to it." Star nodded knowingly. She knew that her Senshi were always hard at work, never faltering when it came down to real work and protection.
"You'll like Pluto. She's going to be leaving her gates for two days but then she'll have to return."
"I've always wanted to meet her. And from what you've told me, I'm sure I could pick her out of a crowd." The two Senshi giggled and began making their way into the cold palace, encountering four girls along the way.
The first was Star's height with thick but also short dark blue hair, pale skin, and owlish sapphire eyes. She wore a royal blue mini skirt, triangle shaped blue boots that came above her calves, a soft ice blue sailor's bow, a velvet blue choker, and three connected pearl blue earrings. At her forehead nearly hidden beneath her blue bangs was a golden tiara with a light blue stone like a moonstone set at its heart. She smiled quietly when she saw her leader.
The second girl was an entire head taller then Star and the blue haired girl. She had a softly freckled face, muscular arms, large green eyes, and long tanned legs. She wore a green miniskirt the color of oaken leaves, a pink bow was tied perfectly before her chest, a velvet green chocker shone at her long creamy neck, and pink rose earrings glittered magically at each of her earlobes. Her auburn brown hair was tied into a ponytail very similar to Star's and at her forehead sparkled a golden tiara with a soft green jewel at its base.
The third girl was half a head shorter then the brown haired girl. She was slender with long raven-black hair which glistened red in the light surrounding her, her hair coming down to below her slim waist. Her sharp amber eyes glowed in her tanned face beneath low hanging bangs and her golden tiara with its crimson red stone. She wore a red mini skirt, red high heels, a large purple bow, scarlet six-star earrings, and a red choker around her tanned throat.
The fourth and final girl was the same height as the raven-haired girl. She had long, shimmering blond hair the color of gold which reached to below her waist tied securely into a half pony tail by a red ribbon and large blue eyes in soft pale skin. She wore a yellow miniskirt, a dark royal blue bow like that of a sailor's bow, a yellow velvet choker, yellow high heels like the raven-haired girl, twin yellow pearls on each earlobe, and a gold tiara with an orange stone like a topaz at its base.
Senshi Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus (in that order) bowed their respect to Star and Saturn.
"Have you heard the news?" The excited blond started to say. "The Prince from Earth is-,"
"Coming tomorrow. Yes, Usagi already told me." Star said. Venus' blue eyes glazed over in her joy as she smiled dreamily, clearly not there.
"Just think about it! If Usagi and the Prince fall in love and secretly elope to the Earth, then they would be going against the odds and defying their laws and planets for each other! Forbidden love! I wonder if I could be the maid-of-honor." All of the Senshi began to snort with laughter.
"Slow down, V-babe! You've no idea what the prince even LOOKS like! You don't even know his name." Senshi Venus grinned viciously, ignoring all of them as she starred at the blue crystal-like planet hanging above them.
"He WILL be Usagi's Prince Charming! Just like that beautiful story written on the Earth about the princess being rescued from the evil sorceress! He'll be Usagi's or he'll be one of ours!" All of the girls giggled. Venus turned to her friends seriously. "Hey! The prince MUST have guardians with him like Usagi! They'll be ours for the taking!" The girls chatted a little more, Mercury and Saturn saying little, until Princess Serenity joined them. She took one look at the friendly and happy group and swept in dramatically.
"Venus, you've GOT to help me pick something to wear! Come on Goddess of Love and Beauty, help me out!" Serenity and Venus rushed off, both looking excited. Star sat down on a marble chair, her face impassive.
"Maybe she should stop to think. If her wonderful 'true love' exists then he shouldn't care whether she wore ribbons or rags. If he was looking at her that closely, you would think that he wanted more then her innocent affections."
"Men are like that." Mars said with a grin, her voice a soft thrumming, like rain fall. "All they say they want is a night of good time but then they end up being worse then youmas after your powers!" They all laughed.
"At least youmas are honest about what they want!" Jupiter commented with a twinkle in her oak-green eyes.
"Maybe you don't believe in true love because you've been around these two for too long." Saturn commented with a calm yet teasing smile.
"Yup! Sram and Piter have been terrible influences on my! At least Ice hasn't been corrupted!" Mercury smiled weakly. "By the way, when is the Prince coming tomorrow?" Mercury opened a little ice blue hand computer with the symbol of her planet in gold on it.
"At noon." She said as she typed with agile fingers. "He's bringing five friends and five guardians with him." Jupiter grinned and stretched her shoulder for a moment excitedly.
"Great! So ten guys for nine Senshi and a princess!"
Please review! This is basically laying out the first few characters. Hope everyone likes it so far. Anyway, next we get a little peak at the ever popular prince of Elysian. Some of you will definitely be shocked by who it is. Others, well, don't give away the secret! ^.^ Review!
A/N: Hello! This is a new one that I start a while ago. I've been toying with it for some time now and I really like it so hopefully Harry Potter fans and Sailor Moon fans will like it. Still, if you don't wanna see any Sailor Moon bashing, maybe this isn't the place for you. Hehe, just warning you ahead of time so you can't flame me! Enjoy!
Summary: Senshi Star was perfectly content to live out her life as a soldier of the Moon without question or thought. When the wizard prince of Elysian arrives as a peace sign from the Earth with three very familiar friends, her world is turned upside down. Will they find love? Or will they be separated by the doom which is destined to befall the Moon Empire?
"Star!" A tall young lady rushed through an enormous palace shouting out the one name. She had moonlight skin, long blond hair like ripe wheat, and desperate baby blue eyes. Her hair was pulled into pigtails, flowing down to the silver marble floor and swaying in sync with the lady's billowing, elegant white gown. At the moment, her face was contorted in anger, her eyes almost blazing. "Star!" She called again, this time with a note of childish annoyance in her voice. She felt a sharp, playful tug on one of her pigtails.
"No need to shout, Usagi." Another lady grinned at her princess. She was maybe an inch shorter then Princess Serenity (nicknamed Usagi) with ice- white hair pulled into a high ponytail, her enormous bottle-green eyes filled with mischief. She wore a silver mini skirt, silver laced high- heeled boots which came up to her tall knees and a huge silver bow tied to the front of her pure white leotard, very much the same way a sailor's uniform is designed. She wore twin blue stars from each earlobe, a velvet silver choker with another golden star at its base, and a silver tiara with an ice-white gem at the base of her forehead.
The most interesting thing of all was the fact that she wore a mask over her face. It covered her cheeks and her nose, but not her mouth nor the bottom part of her nose. This gave her a very eerie appearance, like a white ghost.
"Quick! I have to choose something to wear! The prince from Earth is coming!" Serenity grabbed the lady, Star as she was called, by her gloved wrist and dragged her into a nearby room. An overly large vanity adorned with a placid oval-shaped mirror reflected the enormous king-sized bed at the other end of the classroom-sized bed chambers. Star glanced at the bed with its silky bed covers laced in gold and silver, sapphires and emeralds embroidered to sparkle even in the soft moonlight.
"Um, Usagi, you DO realize that the Earth has more then one prince, correct?" The calm young woman with hair far too colorless gently scolded the over-excited princess, who glared angrily back at Star for a moment.
"But this isn't just any prince! He's THE prince! He's the one that can speak to Griffons and rules Elysian!" The other lady grinned shrewdly.
"The one your parents forbade you to marry?" Serenity glared at Star again, not liking her dry tone at all. Only Star ever dared to speak to the princess in such a way, and Serenity frankly hated it.
"So what? I'm fifteen tomorrow but you're fourteen until November!" The lady who was actually a young girl waved her hand dismissively.
"Yes, half a year younger and still having to take care of you. You still can't even STAND in high heels without falling on your face!" Serenity dropped the sharp red dress she had been holding over a wall-sized mirror, her glare icy.
"Why can't you ever drop anything?!" Star sighed and sat down on the feathery-soft bed. Serenity returned to her dresses, her face a mask of anger. How DARE Star speak to her in such a way! She was the Princess of the Moon Empire and future ruler of the entire Universe! She threw aside the dress and then wished, and not for the first time, that she didn't have to deal with Star at all. It wasn't fair!
"I still don't understand why you want to get married. I mean, on the Earth we'd be married with a horde of children already screaming at us for constant attention. But not here." Star sat up sharply, for she disliked Serenity as much but maybe not more then the princess did. "Why are you in such a hurry to loose your final freedom?" Serenity snorted and returned to her dresses, a horrible sneer appearing on her beautiful face.
"Of course YOU wouldn't understand. Child."
"Shut up, PRINCESS." Star muttered without even looking at her anymore. She strode over to the huge vanity and sat down, sighing as she did. This was an argument of old; centuries old. Serenity never knew when to quit and when she did, both girls were emotionally drained, calling on all their beliefs as they always did whenever they had a fight about something, which was often.
"Well it's true. Being a Senshi, you probably never get any fun, especially since you don't want to go look for it!" Star sighed again angrily and turned to glare at Princess Serenity coldly.
"I told you to shut up. You've been around Venus too much with all of her sappy love talk. You'd think love was real!" Star began to laugh, as if the very notion was hilarious to say the least. Serenity, however, was not in the least bit amused by Star's horrible statement.
"It IS real! You'll just never find it!" Star whirled on the princess, her eyes blazing with cold, green anger as her emerald eyes flashed. She got to her feet slowly, menacingly, her step very much like that of a panther as she glared at the princess with enough hatred to make even Serenity shiver.
"And that is why your father is almost never here? Why he flaunts with any other woman but your mother? Wasn't love meant to be wonderful?" Star knew that she was striking below the belt but her anger on the subject refused to soften her even the least bit.
"You're just jealous that I HAVE parents, trenta." Star paled. 'Trenta' was the name for a bastard goddess, and it was one of the worst insults one could throw at them. Then Star was blazing with a horrible black light, as black as the space between the stars and just as frightening. It surrounded her like a cloak and halo, completely covering her features.
"Hope your prince charming doesn't mistake you for a sewer rat." Star whispered as she stormed out of the enormous room, her every step outlined in nothing but the purest of anger. She wanted to hit something, to make it feel her pain. She wanted the world around her to stop feeling happy and know how much her heart wanted to stop beating, to make the pain stop.
Normally such stupid insults wouldn't have fazed Star at all. With so little time to listen to gossip, Star always found a way to avoid the royal court or even anyone besides a Senshi or the princess. Star hated nobles and couldn't stand to be around them unless she had to, such as formal balls and such.
As Star swept past the palace, a calm portion of her mind reminded her of how lonely this part of the great kingdom was. The royal family itself lived very far from the lavishly decorated rooms of the other nobles and was always careful not to allow anyone into this part of the palace. And there was another part of the palace, a wing in which not even the princess or the Senshi were aloud. Only the Queen herself and Star even knew of its existence.
Star snuck into this forbidden place, as quietly as a light breeze over a smooth table of glass. The walls were their typical white marble that constructed the entire palace. Star caught flashes of silver and gold, the wealth of the Moon Empire. Her white mask flashed as well in the bright moonlight. She soon came to the most forbidden room of all, softly opening the huge doors while trying to ignore the horrible creak of age.
The doors appeared new, timeless. The phases of the Moon were etched into their dark wood, shining almost like an omen to ward off evil intentions. No evil could have entered without paying a price and that price was always far too high. Any evil that dared enter the doors of Time always lost its existence.
Inside, an enormous fog clung to everything and nothing. The mist was so thick; Star couldn't even see her own hands before her eyes. The floor was nothing but brown dirt, nothing special about it. And yet this was the place of Time, where only one dwelled, alone, guarding the gates of Time forever.
"Who dares to trespass here?!" An angry voice demanded, as deep as a throbbing drum. Star turned calmly towards the voice.
"It's just me, Lu." Star was the only one who ever called the guardian of Time Lu. In fact, she was probably one of the ONLY people who had seen Senshi Pluto at all. The guardian of Time, Senshi Pluto, peered out from the fog she had lived in since she was born, her eyes narrowed.
She was a very tall, slender woman, nearly six feet, with chocolate skin, suspicious amber eyes, and black hair down to her knees, devoid of curls. She wore a black-green mini skirt and a sailor's bow which appeared to be black but was actually one of the darker shades of green. She also wore black high heels, a gold tiara with a dark hunter green stone at its base identical to Star's, and triangle-black earrings. In her white gloved hands she held a seven-foot tall staff, the Key of Time. It unlocked the doors of Time.
"Star?" The woman ventured as she stepped out of the shadowed mists, vaguely making out the white mask that she had always seen on her leader's face.
"Sorry to bother you, Lu." Star murmured softly. Without waiting for an answer, Star hugged her friend tightly. Pluto stiffened but then hugged her back slowly, as if unaccustomed to such closeness.
"That's alright. I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time." Both chuckled at the words. "What's the matter?" Star sighed.
"Love again." Pluto grinned.
"Venus or the princess?" Star grinned.
"The princess. Usagi INSISTS that it's real. But that can't be true, can it? True love isn't real, not after what happened to . . . ." Star trailed off, unable to continue speaking. Pluto sighed. Star never spoke of her past. This was actually a lot for her, to simply mention it was half a miracle in itself. Pluto chuckled softly for a moment though, thinking of Star's words.
"You believe in love between friends and yet you don't believe in true love?" Pluto leaned on her staff, a sad smile on her beautiful chocolate face. Star starred into the mists blankly for a moment, lost in thought.
"I know that true love exists somewhere. If it didn't, Venus would be out of a job." The two goddesses chuckled at the thought. "It's just, I don't think true love is meant for us goddesses, even less so since we're Senshi."
"And the Moon princess?"
"She'll never be a Senshi. Gods forbid anyone should ever give her authority!" They began to laugh again until Pluto touched Star's shoulder gently, her eyes showing kindness only meant for that girl.
"Senshi can love." She whispered gently. In this huge place where Time did not exist, the only place where it could not exist, sound seemed to echo and then die instantly. Whispers lasted longer, were more real. Star's eyes were troubled as she heard the eternal whisper.
"But can THEY be loved in return?" Star asked ominously. Pluto's smile only widened with more warmth.
"Only if you let them." Star nodded and then smiled at Pluto.
"Thanks Lu. You always make me feel better. Now I won't have to go to the other Senshi and force them to train to death!" Pluto grinned.
"Any time, Star." Star waved at her dear friend and swept confidently out of the doors of Time. Pluto watched her go silently, longingly. She never planned to tell anyone, but Star was the only one who truly cared about what happened to that solitary soldier. No one, not even the Queen, truly cared what became of the oldest creature to have ever lived.
Star made her way to the rose gardens of the Moon. The rose gardens were massive, acres upon acres of nothing but roses. Some were reserved for certain colors but other parts were filled with all kinds of beautiful variations. At times there were paths into the center of these places, but Star personally preferred those without paths with nothing but roses in all directions. The Senshi breathed in the suffocating perfume of rich flowers, feeling her head instantly clear from any of the worries that had plagued her until that moment.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" Star glanced at the little girl speaking behind her. She had beautiful long flaming red hair which curled softly around her thin shoulders, pulsing brown eyes too old for someone her age, pale skin like that of the Moon princess', and an eight-foot sickle which was her most lethal weapon. Attention was immediately drawn to the shattered crystal at her chest holding the dark purple sailor's bow in place, a purple mini skirt, gray-green Saturn earrings, and a golden tiara with a dark purple jewel at its base. She also wore laced up boots identical to Star's except for the fact that the little girl's boots were black instead of silver-white. A dark purple velvet choker was easily visible at her creamy, pale throat.
"Yes, they are very beautiful." Star closed her eyes placidly, feeling the stars singing above her, singing just for her. Senshi Saturn also looked up, her face unnaturally somber for such a young girl, as she basked in the moonlight. Saturn had never been to the Moon Empire but once, and yet that time had been so long ago. Now Saturn could properly know this beautiful place.
"How was your mission, Yin?" Star asked quietly, using her favorite nickname for Senshi Saturn, Goddess of Silence and Rebirth.
"Successful as always. Uranus and Neptune met for the first time, just like you wanted them to. I think they have become lovers now." Saturn murmured into the soft but somehow forbidding wind.
"I knew it. Those two were meant for each other."
"I suppose you're right. They've agreed to come tomorrow to greet the Prince. All of the Outer Senshi coming to the Silver Millennium Empire for the second Time. And you as well, Star; our wondrous leader." Star could hear the smile in Saturn's expressionless voice. Others might have thought that she was being rude and sarcastic.
"Yes, I'll be here. To meet the Prince that Usagi is forbidden to marry but has sworn to me that she would." Saturn sighed.
"The princess is a liar."
"So are several of my Senshi." Star turned to Saturn with true rage in her emerald eyes. She was no longer a young girl but a leader. "Such as Neptune and Uranus. I TOLD them not to bring their servants and they promised not to, and yet I find them here anyway." Saturn repositioned her staff nervously.
"I know." The little girl murmured. Star looked over the roses, her gaze filling with more and more anger as she thought of all her troubles. The little red-haired girl could hear the fury in her leader's usually musical and placid voice, nervous of it.
"Next, I demanded that Mars bring Phoebus and Demos. They turn up, yes; of course they do, nearly three years later." Star knelt to touch the straining roses, which delighted in the goddess's healing touch. "Twenty years before this, I asked Venus to update me on the meteor cluster passing by her planet. I'm forced to destroy nearly a Moon's worth of rock heading straight for us!" Star tightened her hold on one particularly sharp rose, drawing a drop of blood. Saturn stiffened considerably, showing fear for the first time.
"Be careful that the blood doesn't touch the ground! You'll condemn the Empire to its death!" Star, knowing perfectly well what her blood had the power to do, lifted the bloody finger, which had already begun to stain her crisp white glove. The rose which had pricked her withered and dissolved on the spot. "This won't hurt." Saturn muttered as she knelt beside Star. As she closed her beautiful brown eyes, a soothing white light began to cascade through her fingers and escape into Star's hand, healing her.
"Thank you Yin." Star whispered distractedly.
"You're welcome, Star." Star sighed, closing her eyes.
"So that leaves only half of my Senshi still loyal to me. Exactly half." Saturn blinked in her surprise.
"What of Senshi Venus and Mars? Certainly they didn't mean to do what they did." Star smirked, opening her eyes slyly.
"Well, Mars has a thing for Usagi. Unfortunately for her, Usagi's about as straight as a person can be. And Venus is only too happy that Usagi agrees with her wonderful love-talk. Besides, Mars has always been furious that she didn't become the second-in-command before Venus, ever since I made my decision."
"True." The two goddesses stood. "Will you even see the Prince? It might seem rude to know that you're here but not present to meet him." Star was silent for a moment, thinking.
"I love masquerade balls." She said suddenly. "The wonderful masks and the costumes hide the people so well; no one can recognize you at all. We have one every year, you know. The Queen usually has them for special guests or important nobles. She must want us seen not to have one immediately at the Prince's coming."
"Will you meet him?" Saturn asked, unfazed.
"I suppose I must. I can't very well hide behind a mask this time." Both Senshi grinned at the thought since Star could very well hide behind a mask.
"I can't remain here for very long. There's been evidence of a new enemy near my planet and I must tend to it." Star nodded knowingly. She knew that her Senshi were always hard at work, never faltering when it came down to real work and protection.
"You'll like Pluto. She's going to be leaving her gates for two days but then she'll have to return."
"I've always wanted to meet her. And from what you've told me, I'm sure I could pick her out of a crowd." The two Senshi giggled and began making their way into the cold palace, encountering four girls along the way.
The first was Star's height with thick but also short dark blue hair, pale skin, and owlish sapphire eyes. She wore a royal blue mini skirt, triangle shaped blue boots that came above her calves, a soft ice blue sailor's bow, a velvet blue choker, and three connected pearl blue earrings. At her forehead nearly hidden beneath her blue bangs was a golden tiara with a light blue stone like a moonstone set at its heart. She smiled quietly when she saw her leader.
The second girl was an entire head taller then Star and the blue haired girl. She had a softly freckled face, muscular arms, large green eyes, and long tanned legs. She wore a green miniskirt the color of oaken leaves, a pink bow was tied perfectly before her chest, a velvet green chocker shone at her long creamy neck, and pink rose earrings glittered magically at each of her earlobes. Her auburn brown hair was tied into a ponytail very similar to Star's and at her forehead sparkled a golden tiara with a soft green jewel at its base.
The third girl was half a head shorter then the brown haired girl. She was slender with long raven-black hair which glistened red in the light surrounding her, her hair coming down to below her slim waist. Her sharp amber eyes glowed in her tanned face beneath low hanging bangs and her golden tiara with its crimson red stone. She wore a red mini skirt, red high heels, a large purple bow, scarlet six-star earrings, and a red choker around her tanned throat.
The fourth and final girl was the same height as the raven-haired girl. She had long, shimmering blond hair the color of gold which reached to below her waist tied securely into a half pony tail by a red ribbon and large blue eyes in soft pale skin. She wore a yellow miniskirt, a dark royal blue bow like that of a sailor's bow, a yellow velvet choker, yellow high heels like the raven-haired girl, twin yellow pearls on each earlobe, and a gold tiara with an orange stone like a topaz at its base.
Senshi Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus (in that order) bowed their respect to Star and Saturn.
"Have you heard the news?" The excited blond started to say. "The Prince from Earth is-,"
"Coming tomorrow. Yes, Usagi already told me." Star said. Venus' blue eyes glazed over in her joy as she smiled dreamily, clearly not there.
"Just think about it! If Usagi and the Prince fall in love and secretly elope to the Earth, then they would be going against the odds and defying their laws and planets for each other! Forbidden love! I wonder if I could be the maid-of-honor." All of the Senshi began to snort with laughter.
"Slow down, V-babe! You've no idea what the prince even LOOKS like! You don't even know his name." Senshi Venus grinned viciously, ignoring all of them as she starred at the blue crystal-like planet hanging above them.
"He WILL be Usagi's Prince Charming! Just like that beautiful story written on the Earth about the princess being rescued from the evil sorceress! He'll be Usagi's or he'll be one of ours!" All of the girls giggled. Venus turned to her friends seriously. "Hey! The prince MUST have guardians with him like Usagi! They'll be ours for the taking!" The girls chatted a little more, Mercury and Saturn saying little, until Princess Serenity joined them. She took one look at the friendly and happy group and swept in dramatically.
"Venus, you've GOT to help me pick something to wear! Come on Goddess of Love and Beauty, help me out!" Serenity and Venus rushed off, both looking excited. Star sat down on a marble chair, her face impassive.
"Maybe she should stop to think. If her wonderful 'true love' exists then he shouldn't care whether she wore ribbons or rags. If he was looking at her that closely, you would think that he wanted more then her innocent affections."
"Men are like that." Mars said with a grin, her voice a soft thrumming, like rain fall. "All they say they want is a night of good time but then they end up being worse then youmas after your powers!" They all laughed.
"At least youmas are honest about what they want!" Jupiter commented with a twinkle in her oak-green eyes.
"Maybe you don't believe in true love because you've been around these two for too long." Saturn commented with a calm yet teasing smile.
"Yup! Sram and Piter have been terrible influences on my! At least Ice hasn't been corrupted!" Mercury smiled weakly. "By the way, when is the Prince coming tomorrow?" Mercury opened a little ice blue hand computer with the symbol of her planet in gold on it.
"At noon." She said as she typed with agile fingers. "He's bringing five friends and five guardians with him." Jupiter grinned and stretched her shoulder for a moment excitedly.
"Great! So ten guys for nine Senshi and a princess!"
Please review! This is basically laying out the first few characters. Hope everyone likes it so far. Anyway, next we get a little peak at the ever popular prince of Elysian. Some of you will definitely be shocked by who it is. Others, well, don't give away the secret! ^.^ Review!