Silver Millennium Part 2: Years of Silver Light
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Sailor moon, I simply own the storyline and characters which I have created.
Stories of the Silver Millennium in order:
I. Silver Millennium: Prologue
II. Silver Millennium Part 1: Dominion of Knights
III. Silver Millennium Part 2: Years of Silver Light
IV. Silver Millennium Part 3: The End of All Things
Chapter 1: Gathering the Senshi
First Millennia of Queen Selene Serenity's I's Reign 2478
The Crystal City, The Moon
Crystal Palace
Essential Briefing
Setsuna stood before her queen in her new uniform. It was different than anything she had been required to wear before, but then this was a new Millennia, one which would concentrate on the recent threat to their kingdom and she would be fighting along with them. She wore a bright white blouse from which a garnet bow was sown on proudly and a black skirt was added to complete the ensemble. Along with this new uniform came the garnet orb of reckoning, her father had left to her resting a top a long silver staff in the shape of a key which Serenity had given to her to wield in battle.
The unique key shape of the staff was due to the status it held, as a makeshift key to the gates of time for the time senshi's use and her use only. The queen looked upon her childhood friend with the love and the respect she offered to all whom she knew.
"Are you ready to complete this task, Setsuna?" Queen Serenity asked gazing down at Setsuna from her throne, with great care and worry echoing in her cobalt eyes.
"Of course my Queen, I have been more than adequately trained in these past few years and my abilities have increased tenfold. I truly believe that I am within all of my power to say that I can complete any task which you ask of me." Setsuna replied standing up straighter before her queen.
"It was not of your abilities of which I was speaking, Setsuna." Stated Serenity worriedly gazing upon her friend.
Setsuna bowed her head sheepishly and allowed her dark green bangs to shield her eyes from her friend's ever present concerned gaze.
"His death did take its toll on me, it is true…but I truly loved him and to know that his passing marked the ending of all of the old life so dear to me is an unbearable piece of knowledge. The knights of old are no more, the Royal stars will not rise up to save us now nor will the warriors of Galapagos. Everything has changed…I am the only one left. I am trying the best that I can, but my efforts are not enough. I promised that I would carry this weight upon my shoulders with courage and honor, to that end, I swear to you my friend that I shall serve you and your people with the kingdom as a whole's best interest at hand." Setsuna replied casting a determined resolve to her queen.
The queen studied the youngest monarch of Pluto silently. Then she stood from her throne and descended the steps leading up to it. Buried was the easy going childhood friend of old whom had always been at her side for every new adventure, but she was not gone.
Hope was ever present and although the fate of the Senshi of time was sealed in this millennium, it would not be for the next. Still, what a heavy burden Setsuna was so willing to carry in the name of queen and kingdom. Serenity walked up to her closest friend, her most loyal defender and enveloped her in a comforting hug.
"You know there is no one I would trust more with this mission." Serenity said pulling out of the comforting embrace, "But if you are still not ready, I will send one of my chamberlains to attend to the job."
"No I will do it, I will collect the Senshi." Setsuna stated firmly, shaking her head. "I will start with the Outers and then after they have received their training, I will embark with them to the inner planets to collect the Inner senshi. The Inners will then be brought to the palace upon the moon for training."
Then without another word, Setsuna departed her queen's company and left the throne chamber.
"Be careful, my friend." Serenity whispered to the lonely room, "In your loyalty to me you will make enemies of your closest friends, you will make friends of your most irritable adversaries. Be weary whom you trust."
Serenity then watched her friend leave and sighed sadly before returning to her throne.
First Millennia of Queen Selene Serenity I 's Reign 2478
The Imperial City, Uranus
Castle Deagelle
Senshi Recruitment
Setsuna stood quietly on the landing bay for all those requested or otherwise whom were preparing to enter the Uranian castle. The time senshi had traveled alone so the Uranian guards had had no troubles in approving her entry.
The castle's large bronze gates began opening on its rusted hinges, being pulled imposingly upon by two large golden horses and several men suited in golden suits of armor. As soon as the gates were opened, two tall and lithe men dressed in navy blue cloaks and golden colored armor made of bronze walked up to Setsuna's side.
"We have been assigned by King Earnil III & his wife, Queen Eilinela, to escort you into the palace, my lady." One of the guards removed his horse hair crested golden helmet, and bowed his head to Setsuna.
Setsuna could not quite place it, but this young guard looked very familiar. He possessed dark blonde hair, the characteristic of every healthy Uranian, and teal eyes, the very trade mark of the royal family. Then convinced that she knew the young man's identity, Setsuna walked forward with a kind smile on her face and clasped the guard's hand affectionately in her own.
"You have grown a great deal, Prince Ethuil of Uranus, I almost did not recognize you and I doubt I would have done so had your eye not betrayed you to me." Setsuna said smiling at the young guard who was no longer the child she remembered, but clearly a man.
The young guard smiled in return at Setsuna and took her arm gently leading her into the richly decorated entry chamber of the Uranian stone palace. The young Uranian prince thought fondly of his last moments with the Plutonian princess, as her title had once proclaimed. It was long ago, when his father had ruled the planet Uranus, the good King Aegelle, as his subjects called him then. Prince Ethuil was only a small boy at the time, but he remembered clearly what was and what had been destroyed with the fall of the knighthood.
The young prince turned sheepishly to Setsuna and smiled apologetically at her.
"I am sorry for your loss." the prince murmured as Setsuna's original soft smile disappeared returning a frown to her beautiful features, "Nathaniel Diem was a fine prince and an even greater man, my family mourned his death."
Setsuna looked back up at the young guard before her and smiled sadly.
"Thank you for your kindness." Setsuna stated to him sincerely and then she turned her head and stared straight forward down the archway framed corridor which they were walking down.
Setsuna tried to take her mind off from the recent comment by gazing around at all of the architecture of the vast corridor. The high ceiling was carved with ancient designs in gold and marble, to bring the Uranian royal family good fortune and wealth. The walls were covered in curtains of rare and rich fabrics, sometimes woven into tapestries; scenes of ancient legend for the planet's glory days.
The stones of the floor seemed to be carved in marble of many different colors, each hand quarried with great care and craftsmanship. Setsuna remembered the corridor well, this was where she and King Aegelle's daughter would play games as children. Games much like tag, hide and go find, or duck on a rock which Princess Eilinela almost always won because she was faster.
The three of them soon reached the throne room. Then the second guard whom had been escorting Setsuna and the young prince of Uranus removed his helmet, letting the armored helm hang against his back from the leather strap tying it around his neck and pulled hard upon the wooden doors of the throne room, opening them with practiced effort. Then the guard stood at the door and ushered Setsuna and his prince through the door.
"Sister." Prince Ethuil greeted with added mirth stepping towards the elaborately carved throne where his sister, the queen of Uranus sat proudly. Then the young prince turned his head and bowed his head lightly to his sister's husband, "Earnil, I have brought you both a time honored visitor."
Setsuna, whom had stayed by the doors as a sign of respect for the family greeting, stepped forward in to the direct line of vision of the king and queen. The queen smiled in delight at seeing her childhood friend again while the king remained silently brooding in his seat over the new comer. The Uranian queen stood up from her throne and ran down so fast that Setsuna barely saw her move from her original spot, and stopped at Setsuna's side.
"The time has been long my friend." Queen Eilinela said smiling at Setsuna happily, teal eyes glistening. "Since I have seen you or anyone else from the old days."
"Yes it has been a long time." Setsuna said, stoic and not smiling for she was determined not to let the familiarity of this occasion destroy the purpose of why she had come to Uranus in the first place, "But this is not a social call, Eilinela,…I am here to collect Haruka."
The Uranian queen was no longer smiling, but gazing at Setsuna pleadingly to relinquish her quest to take her only daughter away from her. The king, however, was glaring at Setsuna with a look to kill. Prince Ethuil watched his brother-in-law wearily, ready to leap into the fray should the Uranian king chose to end this with violence.
"Must she go…she's still so young, Setsuna…she has not even come of age yet." Queen Eilinela pleaded, "Please Setsuna…by the Gods….what have you become? A ruthless servant whose only purpose is to rip children from their homes? A heartless thief? A roan of pain and sorrow?"
Setsuna looked away from her long ago childhood friend. Queen Eilinela took hold of Setsuna's shoulders and forced her to face her.
"Where is the childhood friend who played games with me in the corridors when we were young? Where is the noble woman who stood faithfully by my side while my father arranged my wedding? Where is the faithful servant who sent word to my fair love of my joyless marriage? Where is the loyal companion whom stood by my side as I comforted my father on his death bed? Where is the friend who comforted me when my young child came down with the fever and who tended to her until she became well again? Where is the friendly diplomat who helped my planet in its darkest hour, arranging a peace treaty with Neptune? Where is she now?" Queen Eilinela asked bitterly tears streaming down her cheeks, as she was unable to bare her friend's treachery.
Setsuna turned her face from the Uranian queen's torturous gaze and forced herself to hold back the tears which were beginning to form in her eyes. It was unfair that Setsuna was able to show so much compassion to her childhood friend in old days and now show her so little.
"She died along with the golden age of old we so cherished. All that remains of your friend now is a timeless shadow, one which will exist forever even until the ending of all worlds." Setsuna answered keeping her features set and determined, she then turned to Prince Ethuil and ordered, "Bring Haruka, for me."
The stunned Uranian prince obeyed and cast one last pained look at his sister before jogging at a steady pace towards the throne room doors, his bronze armor clattering with the heavy sound of metal against metal as he did so.
"No! Please, Ethuil don't!" Eilinela yelled as her brother turned towards the open doors, but Ethuil did not turn towards his sister's plea; he instead continued on a steady path towards his niece's chambers.
The king remained entirely silent throughout this whole struggle, not moving to comfort his wife nor to assist his brother-in-law. It was true the king only had one daughter and heir, but he did not consider her as such. Haruka, as she had been named, was born a girl when the king had wished for a boy and so she became a blemish on his family name. He had long been waiting for a chance to remedy this problem and erase the former child from his family so that they could conceive a new heir while disposing of the old one. A cryptic grin on his face as he awaited his daughter's arrival.
The young prince Ethuil soon returned carrying a sleeping child in his arms whom had obviously been taken from her bed, unwilling to face the day. She had short sandy blonde hair, the color of the likes of which belonged to all whom were born into her family, and its short locks were tussled from deep sleep.
Her skin was slightly tan from days spent running and playing on the sun kissed sands of her homeland. She was wrapped in a navy blue traveling cloak, which her uncle had removed from his own shoulders and wrapped around her own as preparation for the journey, which clearly showed her royal background in its rich gold embroidery.
Ethuil shifted the lithe child's weight in his arms and as he did so her navy cloak fell back to reveal the garments she was wearing. Haruka was wearing a long-sleeved navy shirt which was high collared in the style of noblemen. She had on a pair of trousers which matched her shirt, held up by a light black belt and framed by the black boots of a guard which came up to the base of her knees.
Setsuna did not like what she saw. From her appearance, the child seemed to have been raised as the boy and heir the king had always wanted, not as the princess she was. From her obvious appearance and height, Setsuna determined that this young girl was only about five years of age, if that. Such a young age to begin fighting for your life and the lives of your loved ones.
Ethuil shook the young child in his arms gently, trying to wake her without startling her. A soft groan was heard as the small child snuggled into the warm arms which held her.
"No, no whirlwind." Prince Ethuil shook his niece gently once more, smiling kindly at her antics, "You must wake."
The girl sighed and relented as two tired teal eyes the shape of almonds opened up to take in the world around them. The child winced as the hall's bright torches reached her still sleep filled eyes, temporarily blinding her, "Uncle? Mama?"
"Yes, Haruka we're here." Queen Eilinela said reassuringly her voice cracking, as she failed to keep her tears from falling as she realized that there was nothing she could do to keep her daughter home any longer. After all the order had come from Serenity herself, and Serenity's word was law.
Ethuil set the wakening girl in his arms on her feet while keeping his hand on her shoulder to steady her, Haruka's long cloak pooling upon the floor around her. Haruka looked at her family gathered around her. Her mother was crying tears she did not understand while her uncle stood silent, his eyes shut to close out the reality of what was going on.
Haruka's eyes then settled on her father where he was sitting a top a flight of stairs on his throne. He had a strange smile on his face which she had never seen before, and his emerald eyes carried a glint of light which did not make sense to her. She felt eyes on her and turned to see Setsuna smiling at her kindly. A look of bewilderment crossed Haruka's face as she turned to her mother.
"Mama, why are we in here?" Haruka questioned looking curiously at her mother. "Isn't it time for the morning meal? Shouldn't we be at breakfast?"
"Yes, of course." Queen Eilinela laughed nervously trying to put off her only child's departure as long as possible. "Breakfast! I almost forgot…we can't send you off hungry now can we?"
Queen Eilinela reached out for her child, to lead her away from the throne chamber, but her brother's hand on her arm stopped her. His teal gaze was soft and sorrowful, his face set firmly.
"Sister, you're going to have to let her go." Prince Ethuil whispered to his sister as her eyes once again filled with grief saddened tears and premature sobs wracked her frame.
"'Let me go'? Where am I going, Mama?" Haruka asked curiously looking from her uncle to her mother, but they remained silent and would not answer her. So Haruka walked up towards her father's throne, "Papa, do you know where they are taking me?"
The king visibly stiffened, but ignored his child's question. He instead gazed at Setsuna whom was hiding unshed tears in her eyes and looking at him angrily.
"So, Setsuna if you take my daughter from here, she would be gone for a long time would she not? Possibly forever, even?" The king questioned sternly, stroking his bearded chin slightly in thought.
"Yes, for many millennia to be exact." Setsuna answered calmly, turning away and pulling a plain garnet traveling cloak out of thin air and throwing it around her shoulders before turning back towards the king with an angry gaze, "At least until she comes of age, at which point she may be allowed to visit home again before returning to her majesty's service; of course there is a chance that she may never be allowed to return to you ever again."
A slight sob came from the Uranian queen as still more tears came down her cheeks at that answer. She called out softly to her child, "whirl wind-", but before she could finish her husband interrupted her.
"Excellent." King Earnil replied with a somewhat wolfish grin before turning to his daughter, "Haruka, how would you like to go on a trip? You will be traveling to the moon for complimentary training and then to other planets to meet the other princesses, if nothing else. It will be fun, like a vacation." the amused king fibbed, twisting the truth so that his child would think nothing of it.
Haruka nodded her head lightly up and down, happy at first that she finally was able to leave the castle and visit other planetary systems, but then weary of her father's will as he did not often treat her kindly. "Thank you, Papa. Should I retrieve my possessions?"
"No, you will not be needing them, any longer. You will simply take with you the cloak and garments which you are wearing at this moment, nothing more." The king answered. "This woman is Setsuna, a childhood friend of your mother's, she will be taking care of you throughout your journey."
Haruka did not trust her father, but she knew that if she questioned his orders her would become angry so she remained silent and agreed. Haruka gazed at this tall woman, whom she would eventually come to know in time, and took her hand when it was offered to her. Although she was not thrilled to go on this trip without her mother, Haruka did not think that any harm would come to her so she could not understand why her mother was sobbing and holding on to her uncle, whom also looked sad, for support.
Setsuna took hold of Haruka's hand gently and wiped two escaping tears briskly from her own eyes before tenderly leading her charge to the throne room doors. Queen Eilinela turned and strained to run out of her brother's firm embrace and towards her retreating child, but her brother's strong arms held steadfast and would not break their restraining hold on her.
"Setsuna! If you do this we will no longer be friends, no longer be allies, you will be dead to me do you hear me, dead to me!" Queen Eilinela screamed after Setsuna as her brother held her at bay, a haze of dutiful sorrow clouding his features..
Haruka turned her head in time to see her mother collapse in her uncle's arms, gigantic sobs wracking her slight form before the heavy doors of the throne room shut and she saw nothing more of her mother or her family.
First Millennia of Queen Selene Serenity I's Reign 2478
Atlantis, Isles of Isabella, Neptune
Castle of Triton
Senshi Recruitment
"Setsuna?" Haruka asked walking beside the much taller senshi of Time, "We're not really just going on a trip, are we?"
Setsuna turned towards the child, surprised at the sudden question, as Haruka struggled to keep her balance as Setsuna's quick movement had caused her to lose her equilibrium for a moment.
Setsuna then turned her back to the child raising the hood on her garnet cloak.
"No." Setsuna replied calmly, but before Haruka could question her guardian further, the time guardian spoke again, "Put the hood of your cloak up, or they will recognize that you are not of their planet and strangers are not welcome in the outer realms."
"And what of you? Will you not put the hood of your cloak up?"
"No." Setsuna answered, this time her answer was spoken more cryptic than she would have liked. "They know me here."
Haruka did as she was told and put her navy hood up walking behind Pluto and trying to keep up with her patron's brisk pace and longer legs.
They were walking in the direction of a large stone building, a castle in fact. It's amazing, no it's great, thought Haruka in awe as they stood but mere meters from its walls. The castle was large with aqua capped towers and high outcrops bordering on the splashing shores of the sea.
"Be weary young Uranian." Setsuna warned, but with a light heart as warm memories of her childhood spent vacationing on Neptune with her family surfaced, "There is a legend here that those whom gaze too long at these walls will be captivated by the stones' mournful song. The royal family here take great interests in other cultures and tastes, especially towards that of Uranus. There is something unique which entrances the people here about Uranians." A far away distant look appeared in Setsuna's eyes, but disappeared as soon as she realized that Haruka had caught sight of it. "Just, be weary, do not become a tragedy in waiting ,as some of your ancestors have."
Haruka appeared puzzled. Why would I do that?, she wondered openly. Her mother had never spoken ill of the royal family of Neptune. She had in fact, never spoken of them to anyone in Haruka's presence.
The strange cool mists surrounding the castle engulfed them as they walked further, and both travelers seemed to find the mists calming and refreshing upon their tired brows. Setsuna then busied herself with talking with a guard upon arranging their entry while Haruka looked around. This was a foreign enviroment to her, she had come from a desert planet. There were no cooling mists there, no crashing waves, no vast seas; there was only sand and wind.
Then Haruka heard it, a mournful sound which seemed to grace her ears rather than assault them.
It was no doubt radiating from a string instrument. What could it be? A viola, possibly? Maybe a violin? Whatever it was the sound was beautiful and made Haruka feel as though she was flying among the clouds, or running through endless fields; no restraints.
"Do you hear that, Setsuna?" Haruka asked, wondering if her patron had heard that heavenly music.
"The loveable, damnable, yearning tune?" Setsuna asked turning towards Haruka with a grin which, her young Uranian charge had not yet seen on her features before.
"Um…Yes." Haruka answered deeply fearing her patron's response.
"Yes." Setsuna replied unsurprised, pointing to the wall before them, "It is coming from up there."
Then Setsuna turned towards an iron armored, blue cloaked guard and greeted him in Neptunian, the native language of the water planet. Haruka on the other hand wandered towards the wall's heights, where a figure shrouded in mists stood still upon its border. The music continued and heightened its notes, taking Haruka up to the heavens along with it, but before she could question anything more about the wonderful music Setsuna's hand landed on her shoulder, frightening the Uranian child out of her reverie.
"Did I frighten you?" Setsuna asked smiling apologetically as Haruka jumped slightly at her sudden arrival. "We are supposed to be heading into the castle now."
"No, not at all, but…." Haruka answered to Setsuna's previous question and then she turned back towards the wall to address the mysterious music maker, but the figure had vanished from her sight, "But…whom…?"
"'But who', what?" Setsuna asked studying her young charge well, and seeing no reason to be entirely alarmed only just a little curious.
"Nothing." Haruka turned her attention back to Setsuna and the guard whom was beginning to lead them through the numerous gates of the Neptunian castle.
Along with her post of Time Senshi came the powers of premonition, and Setsuna knew that this fateful sighting on the palace walls was no coincidence, for nothing which occurred in the time stream ever was.
Haruka gazed around the Neptunian royal castle's interior. The architecture here was unprecedented to anything the young Uranian had ever laid her eyes upon. According to what Pluto had told her after they had teleported there, the architecture of the water planets was very similar, but the Neptunian favored design was more inclined to art and music than the intellectual planet of Mercury.
There were small pools walled with polished stone surrounding the bottom of every pillar and statue, colorful fish swimming in the watery depths. Large sculpted images stared out from their vigil on the interlaced panels on white and blue marble carved underneath fine arches within the walls.
"Those are the ancestors of the current Neptunian royal family." Setsuna replied, remembering her visits to this very palace for her study of art on this planet as a child.
Setsuna smiled sadly as she stepped forward and gently touched the forehead of one of the statues, holding a long double edged sword stuck into the ground while one marble hand rested on its hand and a half hilt.
Haruka looked up at the marble figure, in wonder. The eloquent yet deadly features of the figure were carved delicately in stone along with the figure's clothing, the garb of a knight.
The figure had carved short hair, almost as short as Haruka's own on its head, and wore a engraved high collared tunic along with tall boots and practical breeches. The eyes of this seemingly stoic guardian of stone were surprisingly gentle and had a unique distinction, so unlike the cold cerulean marble the eyes were carved in.
"I knew this one." Setsuna said letting her hand trail along the once familiar features and down the strong nose before letting it drop entirely. "Entarais…she was a long ago friend of my family and was like an elder sibling to me. She was a mentor to my house and she taught my brother and I swordsmanship when we were young, although my father never knew that she was teaching me the ways of a knight, my mother encouraged the practice readily."
"Entarais? The Royal star and knight?" Haruka asked astonished starring again up at the stone faced figure, but with reverence this time.
Haruka had heard the tales of the two sisters in arms, of the Outer knights. Of the Neptunian Entarais and of her own Uranian Regelle. They were heroes before her time, whom she wished countless times she could have met.
Apparently, the Outer monarchs used to be very close friends and as a result they would often allow their children to grow up together, so Haruka knew that her mother and the queen of Neptune had been friends with the royal stars along with Setsuna's mother. Their friendship together was so strong that it was said of the three Outer princesses that their bond together was unbreakable and so on would carry on to their children. That had apparently changed since Haruka had never met the princess of Neptune nor Setsuna of Pluto since this very moment.
Her mother used to talk fondly of Regelle, never saying anything bad about her fellow royal and always when she spoke of the heroic knight a distant far away joyous look of remembrance would surface on the Uranian queen's face. A look which Haruka could never truly understand.
The two legends had quite an uplifting tale to their lives.
Regelle has always been seen in many ways as the unheralded guardian and protector of Uranus because of her Imperial lineage and militaristic reputation. Entarais was always the charming knight of legend, whom was mortal, but seen as an untamed and immortal spirit of sorts.
To all who knew the two royal stars, they were much more than the distant knights of far away tales, but gentle souls whom did not like to bring harm down upon innocents. It was ironic that two of the universe's most lethal knights could be so gentle and caring.
"Does your mother ever speak of them, Haruka?" Setsuna asked not tearing her gaze from the stoic stare of the statue.
"Not of Entarais at all, but she talks often of Regelle." Haruka answered gazing curiously up at the time senshi in question. "Why?"
Garnet eyes became soft and far away still gazing at the statue, but at its eyes this time.
"You learned never to ask for more, but always to strive for something better." Setsuna said to the stone statue as if expecting a response. "Now that you have left your mark on this world I wonder, will future generations ever follow that example? We could only hope for such things."
The most memorable events including the Royal stars of the Outer planets, was their deaths. Contrary to popular belief, Entarais did not die on the battlefield, but was tortured by the Dark Kingdom soldiers until she relinquished her life. The Uranian Regelle made a desperate confession to the soldier whom rescued her before her death entailing a message to her family, it was short and insignificant to others and as such, had gone unheralded by their historians who were responsible for recording such events; but it was reassurance to the Uranian royal family of the words Regelle would never say.
Haruka had never been told what the confession implied, but every time her mother told her the princess's story it brought sorrowful tears to the Uranian queen's eyes, tears much like she had shed when Haruka had left, though not as violent.
"Goodbye old friend. This time I depart your company forever." Setsuna said softly inclining her head to the stoic statue of Entarais and taking a few steps forward, before realizing that her young charge was not following her, "Come, Haruka. We need not tarry long here." Setsuna said motioning with her hand for Haruka to follow her.
Haruka did as she was told, nevertheless not before casting a fleeting glance at the statue…but, to her surprise, the statue had changed in facial expression. The stone figure was smirking at her. Was it doing that when she had regarded it before? Haruka rubbed her eyes and then glanced back again, she was pretty sure it had not looked the same before. Was it possible that I only saw a delusion? Was it possible for the statue to move without my noticing it?
"Come now, Haruka, please time is of the essence here." Setsuna ordered in her normal tone as she continued in her journey down the hall.
Haruka turned to stare at Setsuna and then back to the statue, but the statue was no longer smirking and back into its ordinary position. Haruka's teal eyes were as big as saucers at that moment. Losing patience, Setsuna walked back and lightly took Haruka's arm and began to lead her down the long corridor still before them.
"But Setsuna, I saw…" Haruka tried to explain as she was gently pulled down the hall at a rather fast pace by her patron.
"No buts." Setsuna interrupted, "Let us just retrieve the senshi to be and go, we are on time restrictions."
The Neptunian Queen sat in the throne room of her palace, looking over some old documents concerning certain trade routes between Neptune and Mars. They were quite aged looking as if they had come from a long time ago, but that was not truly surprising as almost everything in the Moon Kingdom had its roots in ages long passed.
Her hair cascaded in aqua waves down to her shoulders and she bit her lip slightly as he review a particularly dusty piece of parchment. The years had changed her. In looks she was more refined, taller and more sedate. In her earlier years she had always rebelled against conformity and now, she smiled at the irony, she was the perfect picture of a Neptunian queen.
"My Lady." An navy blue haired servant dressed in Marine blue robes entered the chamber and bowed low to the queen.
"Yes, Lefnui?" The queen asked peering cerulean blue eyes up from her documents intently towards her servant.
"Many pardons my queen, but there are visitors outside the doors who wish to see you." The servant answered, not moving a muscle.
"Oh really, are they anyone I would know?" the queen asked smiling and standing from her position at the table while stepping away from the ancient documents.
"Yes my lady, A Setsuna of Pluto and the young princess of Uranus await your presence." the servant replied standing up from his bow.
The queen's gaze changed. A gaze which once would have excitedly erupted at the prospect of her friend coming to visit her, steeled. This was not a social call as would have been expected in the days of old, but an executive order from Serenity.
"Escort them in." the queen answered with a steely gaze. She knew this day would come, but she never dreamed that it would come so soon.
The servant opened the large doors to reveal two hooded and cloaked figures, one garbed in garnet the other in navy blue. Then the servant stepped aside and cleared his throat loudly.
"Presenting Setsuna of Pluto and Princess Haruka of Uranus." the servant announced as the two figures removed their hoods and entered the great black and blue decorated hall.
The chamber was made of stone and hued entirely out of marble. Resting in between slabs of cerulean and black marble were tall windows longer than two people stacked together and wider than a horse is long.
These windows were adorned with stained glass, each pixel portraying scenes of ancient Neptunian legend. Great sea serpents and magical creatures were engaged in colorful battles with knights and heroes of old.
Upon one particular window there was depicted a pixel of Gil, slaying the tyrant Amarth whom had terrorized the Northern islands of Neptune for one hundred years, or at least until he met the Neptunian warrior and fell to his blade.
"Neptunia, it has been a long while since the last time we've seen one another and you are looking well." Setsuna greeted bowing her head slightly to acknowledge the Neptunian monarch while smiling in recognition of her old friend.
The Neptunian queen studied her old childhood companion intently. As she did so images of memories long passed relived themselves in her mind. Of the times when Setsuna and her family would visit the Neptunian palace for vacations and leisure time. Of days when Setsuna and Neptunia would race to the Adrina islands and see whom could swim there the fastest, while Setsuna's elder brother Jade would be the judge of who actually won. Jade. That was an entirely different packet of memories to be left untouched.
Of times when the young Neptunia would sneak away to the docks of Atlantis to sail away with her cousin, Polcutais, on the fishing ships he worked on or of days when Setsuna would much rather have been reading a book in the Neptunian library, but was instead recruited to participate in one of the Neptunian princess's many adventures upon the seas of Neptune or of times when they would throw pebbles at the people passing by the castle gates and then hide in the trees.
But no matter how many happy memories Neptunia could conjure up of her childhood companion, she could not deny that her childhood friend had been exchanged for the woman who now stood before her. This servant of Serenity, no longer the proud and independent princess of long ago, presenting this outer exterior of seriousness and coldness underneath which was hidden the kindest of all souls ever born into the Silver Millennium; except for Queen Serenity's of course.
But by her experiences, Setsuna's gentle soul had been securely hidden, allowing her to fulfill her duties to the Lunarian crown without hassle. Neptunia wished to let it be known that she was not peaceably willing to give her daughter up into military service with the prospect of possibly never seeing her again, but the Neptunian queen also wished to preserve her friendship with the senshi of time; knowing full well that the Plutonian princess was making more enemies than friends with the assignment she had been given to fulfill. Still, motherhood had matured her senses and she did not know if she would be able to surrender her only daughter so lightly.
"Yes, it has been a long time, but then again you have always been good with timing, Setsuna." Neptunia replied. Deciding to get right to the main point without fail, Neptunia approached Setsuna and spoke gently, "I know why you have come here, Setsuna, and it is on no mere social ground that you and your young charge enter my castle without briefing us first. You're here for Michiru, are you not?"
Setsuna's lightheartedness diminished as she realized with grief that she would be forced to break the heart shattering news to the Neptunian queen, which she mournfully already expected. As strong as she had become over the past few years, Setsuna did not think she could bear to loose another one of her closest friends again. She had already lost the Uranian Queen Eilinela, whom had been once, one of her best friends and she could not bare to lose Neptunia. But Setsuna had willingly complied to take on this task for her queen with the knowledge that it might lead to her apparent loneliness. She knew what was to come and was ready for it.
"Queen Serenity has sent out the order for every decided princess of each planet's reigning monarchs to be gathered for the protection of her daughter, Serena. All those chosen must be escorted to their assigned training grounds and I have been sent to assure that the queen's orders are carried out." Setsuna answered, "I would have chosen otherwise, but your daughter has been one of those selected for the service of the Outer court. It is unfortunate that I must do this to you and I would never have planned it this way, but Michiru must come with us."
Neptunia nodded, her gaze becoming sad and her demeanor mournful. She had foreseen this, but even now, she was not ready for it.
"I have seen this moment unfold many times in my mirror. I would make a pact with you, but I cannot break the queen's trust, nor can I deny the urgency with which her orders are carried out, but I cannot approve of what you are doing, my friend." Neptunia said with a forlorn air, "As much as I respect and care for you, even now more than ever, I will not be able to bring myself to accept you with open arms at our next meeting."
Setsuna's expression fell, she had been expecting rejection, but not like this. She and Neptunia had been friends since birth. How could she so lightly allow this to happen without resistance. She was tempted to skip the planet of Neptune and move on to collect the other senshi, if only for the sake of preserving their friendship, but how could she double cross Serenity when she so believed in her?
Neptunia sighed sadly and gestured to her servant whom had been waiting by the doors silently since he had introduced the two new visitors, nodded his head in agreement, and disappeared around the corner on his way to the young princess of Neptune's room.
Haruka raised a golden eyebrow in question, but the Neptunian queen interrupted her with a gesture of her hand before she spoke.
"It is telepathic communication. The people of this planet, being of sound mind and self, are able to communicate their thoughts and feelings with others through this method." Neptunia answered.
She turned elegantly to face the young Uranian princess. She reached a smoothly contoured hand out and held the Uranian's chin, gently raising it so that she could look into the young girl's eyes.
"You have the features of your mother." Neptunia said smiling gently at the small girl whom reminded her of one of her dear old friends. The Neptunian queen removed her hand from underneath the Uranian's chin and playfully tousled the young girl's sandy hair eliciting a small smile from the little child. "Yes, you look in her likeness."
"You knew my mother?" Haruka asked, not entirely surprised that two Outer queens would have grown up together, but still curious at the notion.
"Yes, we were friends as children." The Neptunian queen began lightheartedly, but she was interrupted by a loud clearing of the throat as the servant returned with a small girl about the same height and age of Haruka with wavy aqua hair and the demur features of all of the women of her family.
"Pardon me, my queen, but I have retrieved the princess just as you had requested." the servant said gently guiding the child before him and bowing his head in respect.
"Leave us, Lefnui." the Neptunian queen ordered lightly.
"I live to serve, my lady." the servant said in a rush before he scurried out of the room so fast that Haruka wondered if he had originally come from her planet.
The small aqua haired girl stood quietly where she had been placed waiting for orders from her mother. She was dressed in a deep marine blue gown which , complimented both the deep cerulean of her eyes and the wavy aqua of her hair. Haruka looked at the princess of Neptune and was surprised to notice that the girl was gazing at her too and smiling tenderly.
She did not know why, but Haruka felt her cheeks burn with the simple glance those of kind eyes.
"Michiru." the queen of Neptune spoke raising her arm in a welcoming gesture, "Come here my girl."
Michiru complied as she walked towards her mother. As the Neptunian princess moved silently yet smoothly across the marble floor, Haruka could have sworn she was gliding instead of walking by the smoothness of her gait and the Uranian child had to rub her eyes to make sure that she was not imagining things.
"What is it mother? Have I done something wrong?" Michiru asked in a refined voice which diminished all of the tones taken by other nobility to Haruka's ears as she longed to hear the smooth voice speak once more.
"No, my dear." the Neptunian queen gazed down upon her daughter and smiled a sad smile as she embraced her child in a warm hug, "But the day we have prepared for has come. You must leave us now and depart for Pluto for your training."
The tiny child embraced her mother sadly as silver tears fell down her cheeks, but her voice never wavered in its smoothness, "Will I ever return home mother?"
"I do not know, Michiru, but always remember that where ever you are; this family and the spirit of Neptune will go with you and protect you from harms way." The queen said taking a steadying sigh as she touched a pendant which Haruka noticed for the first time hanging on a silver chain around the Neptunian princess's neck. "And when you are ready and you have mastered your training, I will send you the Aqua Mirror. Treat the mirror well and it shall return the favor."
The pendant was silver with a medium sized aqua marine stone in its center, glowing by the light brought in by the stained windows. It appeared to be newly made, but Haruka knew such a pendant must be a family heirloom, for the inscriptions upon the outside band of the pendant were written in an ancient form of script which Haruka had noticed engraved upon the base of some of the older statues in the corridors.
"Go and serve our queen, but never forget where you come from and where your heritage lies. You are the daughter of a royal knight and also of the queen of Neptune and upon your shoulders rests the fate of our planet. My dear child, you resemble so the knight from which you are descended and I tell you now that no knight could have been so enlightened in honor as to have you for a daughter. No matter where you travel, you will always have a family to come home to." the Queen said embracing her child tightly for one last time before rising and stepping away from her only daughter.
The young Neptunian princess quickly banished her last tears and stood before Setsuna who was gazing upon the sad exchange feeling guilty for tearing Neptunia away from her only child.
"I am ready to serve the queen." Michiru said softly as her mother gazed at her with a mixture of both pride and grief while Setsuna looked down at the little girl who was so small and yet so very strong for her age, to knowingly take on such a task as this.
"Michiru, it is time." The Neptunian queen said nudging her daughter forward gently.
Michiru nodded as she gently grasped the hand Setsuna offered her. Setsuna then reached out and took Haruka's hand and led her two charges to the doors of the throne room. Once there, Setsuna stopped and turned, looking her childhood friend in the eye. The queen of Neptune remained entirely silent as she watched her only daughter be lead away, the pained expression on her face being her only show of emotion.
"Goodbye, my friend." Setsuna whispered softly as she let one lonely and anguished silver tear stream down her cheek, before she turned and led the two children out of the castle and off from Neptune forever.
Author's Note: Thank you all for reading my story, I hope you enjoy it. R&R!