Death can take me if I can't be free
I'm not like you
I'm a dying breed
-Five Finger Death Punch (Dying Breed)
~HARUKA~
In the royal court of Miranda Castle, two Lunar emissaries stood before the Uranian royal family. In the center throne sat King Katsurou, to his right sat Queen Nariko, and to his left sat their only child, Haruka.
Being the heiress to the throne, Haruka was required to attend the royal court alongside her parents. There were many things that she would rather be doing, but she had a duty to fulfil. She was dressed in a slim, uncomfortable dark blue dress and a pendant necklace with the sigil of Uranus on it.
She watched both emissaries bow before handing a sealed scroll to the king. Her father silently read the piece of paper given to him, and she noticed his expression change as he read the first line.
Haruka peeked over and caught a glimpse of what was written on the scroll.
All royal first-born daughters of each planet are to be sent to the Lunar kingdom…
Her father crumpled the paper before reading the royal decree any further. The king then burned it with a candle. He glared at the two Lunar emissaries before he stood up.
The emissaries took a step back as the king, who towered over them, approached them.
I would be intimidated by him as well, Haruka thought to herself. She watched her father intently
"I will not have my daughter taken hostage by the Moon Queen," King Katsurou said. He looked back at his wife who had a shocked look on her face.
Haruka tried to keep an uninterested look on her face, even if this was turning out to be very interesting.
"Your grace, each of the planets have to adhere by the decree," the clean-shaven effeminate emissary said.
"Y-yes your grace. The inner planets and Jupiter have already responded to the decree," the emissary with a curly pink mustache said.
King Katsurou sighed then signaled for her to come forth. She did as her father bid her.
"Answer me this Haruka," her father asked. He put his hands behind his back and looked down on the young woman. "What do you think about going with these hoity-toity men back to the Lunar kingdom, to act as a glorified hostage so your people would comply to the Moon Queen's orders?" He walked behind her then placed his hand on her shoulder. "Would you bow down to her each time?"
"I think it would be a waste of my time going with these men, if you could call them that," Haruka said. She stepped toward the emissaries and she almost stood eye to eye with the men. A cocky grin splayed across her face as she glanced back at her father. "Now if I learned anything from my father it is this,"
She grabbed for the sword over her shoulder and drove it through the effeminate emissary's heart. "To never allow your enemies within reach of a sword if you are unarmed," the teenage girl said. Twisting the blade she smiled as the blood flowed down the length of the blade. "Now don't think of me as a brute, no, think of me as an instructor." Quickly she pulled the blade from the emissary's body.
Blood sprayed from the fallen emissary and splattered on her nice dress. The body fell limp to the ground and a pool of blood started to form on the floor.
The other emissary took another step back but forgot about the step behind him and fell to the ground. Quivering in fear the emissary froze in place.
"As for you, I won't kill you. Though I think it is a bit improper of you to have such a flamboyant mustache in a royal court," Haruka said. With a clean swipe of the sword she cut the bright mustache off of the emissary. "Now, tell me your name."
"It's Lord Lymelight," the emissary stammered.
"Well Lord Lymelight, report back to your queen and tell her that the Princesses of the outer planets will not comply with her demand. If she asks why we decline, and why all of the ships bearing the Lunar sigil keep going missing, tell her this…" Haruka helped Lord Lymelight onto his knees then smiled.
The girl stood up then turned to the dead emissary. She took the blue cloak off of the dead man and put her sword through the Lunar sigil. After defacing the sigil she tossed it in front of Lord Lymelight then spit on it.
She leaned over the cowering lord. "We do not bow down to the white bitch," Haruka whispered as she pushed him back.
Lord Lymelight crawled away as fast as he could.
The hall erupted in laughter at the sight of a grown man running from a girl.
Haruka could feel her father's hand on her shoulder. Her father smiled down on her.
"Haruka, you have no idea what you have done," her mother, the Queen, called out. "We do not want war, we want peace."
"We also want to be free," her father replied. "Death can take us if we can't be free. We won't bow to a queen that sends poor excuses for men to beg at our door."
"How are you going to get the other outer planets to go to war with the Lunar empire?" her mother asked. The Queen burst out of her throne and marched towards the king. Everyone in court could feel the tension rise.
"I have a daughter and the Neptunians have a son, we can unite our forces and we'll secure a future for Haruka," her father said.
What? She felt an uneasy feeling after her father announced the matter that should've been taken care of behind closed doors.
"We're going to be at war and our daughter is only 16," her mother said.
"Age is no matter, she has blossomed and is ready," her father said.
She was starting to feel betrayed by her father, the man who always put his daughter first, but now plots to marry his daughter off for an army.
"Don't I get a say in any of this?" Haruka asked.
"You swung the sword, now you must face the consequences," her father said.
She didn't want any part of this so she broke away from her father's grasp and started running. Royal retainers tried to catch her but she was too fast for them.
Bursting through the castle doors she commandeered the first ship available and fled to the ground world of Uranus.
I'm not some pawn to be traded off, I'm the princess of Uranus! As she flew away a brilliant idea came across her mind or at least it seemed brilliant to her at the time. She stripped away her royal bloodstained regalia and disposed of it.
She put the craft on autopilot as she went in search of some clothes she could use for her disguise. They'll be looking for the princess, but they won't find her. Luckily she found some extra soldier uniforms. As she donned the new apparel, she gazed into the mirror. Her appearance was that of a regular soldier, or rather that of a recruit.
How long can I keep hiding like this before they realize who I am? She thought to herself as she returned to the cockpit. As her trip drew to a close she further furnished her guise by adding herself to the records as Takehiko Sayakashi, a new recruit who once was a wanderer.
The craft landed and she gathered up the possessions of her former life and destroyed them along with the stolen spacecraft. As she walked away she headed for the nearby base to report for duty. There was a war she had to prepare herself for.