Author's Notes:
Silver Millennium fic. Note: Not what most of you will expect for Silver Millennium fic. This is just the beginning, which will set my idea up for the whole reason why I bothered to type this. Well, I do hope you enjoy this fic and please review!
Usual disclaimers apply.
Oh, and a BIG thanks goes to Hannah for brainstorming with me! You're the best ^_- And I have posted this in SMR under my different alias, which is Marie. So, I'm not plagiarizing, okay?
The Ruling of a Kingdom- Part 1
By Silver Rose
The night was exceptionally cooler as the Prince of Earth stared up towards the Moon, wondering when his mother's guests would arrive. He was told that night that he was to be nice and kind to the little Princess, to show her around the palace ground, and to be, his mother kept repeating, a gentleman. Of course, for a ten year old to be exactly a gentleman, he wasn't sure, but he at least felt obligated to try, with all his might, not to make her cry. Since then, surely, he would have disobeyed.
"Are they here, yet?" asked Jadeite, who by now was fidgeting. "I'm tired!"
"Do shut up," Kunzite said. "We have only been out here for a couple of minutes."
"You call half an hour a couple of minutes!?"
"Will you two pipe down?" Zoy, who was trying to figure out what constellations were in the night sky (with the help of Nephrite), said. He even gave the duo a sharp 'shh.'
Darien bit back the laugh that wanted to be let loose, trying to get his attention back to the visitors that his mother was so excited about. When his father told him that Lunarians and humans didn't really like each other, Dare naturally asked why. His father simply said that it was because of the fact that Lunarians tend to live much longer then humans, causing most of the people on earth to be jealous of them. The jealousy then turned to anger, and it has lasted for quite some time. When Darien asked if he should hate them as well, his father simply gave him a look that told him that it was his choice, but to hate something just because others hate it, is the worst hate he could ever have.
So now they all stood together, waiting for the portal to appear. And then, finally, near an oak tree, a large gap disrupted the air; the portal itself shining with silver light. His mother, Queen Gaia, made a small squeal of delight; her hands clasped on her chest; her body leaning forward to see who was to step out first.
A foot appeared then, a booted foot, and five guards, all donning armor, appeared. After them came a beautiful lady, her hair done up into two balls allowing the rest of her tresses to flow down her form, just like her silken dress. His mother quickly engulfed the lady with a hug, whispering some things here and there, and Dare caught the words of 'senshi' and 'Metallia.' He knew who the senshi were (everyone did), but who or what was Metallia? Was there a Metallia senshi? He doubted it, but his mind didn't stay on it for long for then something small and blonde tumbled itself out of the portal.
Whatever the thing was smacked right into him, causing him to fall to the ground; the small, blonde thing to stay curled up on his stomach. Personally, he did find it quite funny when the small, blonde thing began to uncurl to show him a six-year-old girl with large blue eyes. Eyes that were now staring up at him confused. But, he also felt irritated. She did, you know, surprise him. And he didn't like surprises.
"And you must be Princess Serenity," his father said, kneeling down to pick her off of his son. "How old are you, Princess?"
"Six," she replied quickly, her face shining now with a smile.
"Oh, Sere," her mother muttered, looking at the ruined gown that her daughter wore. "Look at what happened to that gown!"
She looked down on the gown, and her face turned red. "I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it, Serenity," Gaia said. "We have extra gowns for the little princess."
"She still should have been more careful."
"From what I can remember, you weren't that careful when we were young, either," Gaia replied. Serenity frowned at the remembrance. Not wanting to get into a quarrel so early, she glanced towards her friend's daughter and then towards her own son. "I see you have met my son, Endymion."
The little princess glanced towards the rumpled body on the ground. Tilting her head, while pointing at him, she asked in a small voice, "Endy-my-on?"
"It's Endymion!" Dare said, now standing with the help of Nephrite and Zoy.
"Endy-my-on?" the little princess said again, her brows furrowed in confusion.
Sighing, Darien repeated, "End-de-min."
(AN: Ppls say it differently, this is the way I usually say it when I read it. Others can say it End-de-me-in, or something like that. Unsure which way is right, but I still like mine ^-^)
"Endy-my-on!" Serena then exclaimed, her smile brightening, thinking she got it.
"No." That word caused her to frown. Darien, not wanting to make her cry already, said quickly, "Just call me Darien. Can you say Darien?"
"Darien!" Serena said happily. "Darien... Dare."
"Yeah. Darien... Dare. And you're Princess Serenity."
"Serena," she said. "I'm Serena."
"Nice to meet you, Serena," he said while bowing. When he straightened his back, he saw his mother giving him a huge, approving smile.
"Plea... uhh... Pleasure to meet you, Dare," the little princess said as well, trying to curtsey, but it was a failed attempt. Darien grinned, already liking Serena and her mother. So, why did most of his people hate them?
When he first awoke, his mother gave him the order of showing the Princess around. That was why they were at the gardens that his mother kept. Well, what the servants kept, but still.
"What's that one?"
Darien glanced at the flower that she now pointed to and grinned. "That's a rose," he replied. Through the last hour, she had spent pointing and asking, while he answered. It was rather boring, but at least she wasn't crying. If she began to cry, then he'd be in trouble. And he didn't want to get in trouble. "You don't have them on the Moon?" He asked, glancing at the red flower.
"No... I have lilies and my mommy has... umm... those yellow things..."
"There are a lot of yellow flowers."
"Ummm... daffo... daffi.."
"You mean daffodils."
"Yeah! Daffodils!"
Darien grinned at how vibrant the princess was and reached towards the rose, attempting to break it to give it to her. She stopped him, saying, "Don't do that. You'll hurt it."
"Hurt it?"
"Yeah... you're ripping it's feet from it!"
Darien was about to laugh, but her cute little face was serious. He poised himself as he nodded. "All right, then. I'm sorry little flower."
Serena smiled. "What's that flower?" she then asked, pointing to a Dahlia.
"How long are they going to stay?" Darien asked as his mother was picking stuff and then dropping it around his room. He still didn't understand why or what she was looking for, but at least he got some time with her alone.
"Are you getting tired of the princess already?" Gaia asked, looking at the scattered books, parchments and quills with a frown. "When was the last time your room was cleaned?"
"Bertha cleaned it yesterday."
His mother shook her head, muttering some stuff about how unclean he was. Darien sighed, asking again, "How long will they stay?"
"And I asked you whether you're getting tired of the princess already."
"Of course I'm not getting tired or her."
"Then why are you asking?" Gaia paused on her quest to find her lost ring, staring at her son instead.
Darien shrugged, glancing towards his desk. "What are you looking for? And why not just have one of the servants go find it?"
"Son.." Gaia paused, wondering how to answer that. She couldn't ask the servants to find it because half the servants left the palace, not wanting to be near the 'parasites' as they called the Lunarians. And, with only half the palace's servants, the other half had to do double work until the Queen and her daughter leave. "It's late," Gaia instead said. "Go to bed."
Seeing the exhaustion that shined out her eyes, Darien kept his mouth shut from further questions. "All right. Good night mom."
"Good night."
The next day breezed by, then the next till Darien stood in front of the portal, staring as the five guards already entered it. Queen Gaia and Queen Serenity were hugging each other good-bye and Serena stood next to her mother, a large pout on her lips.
"I want to stay!" she complained. She glanced towards Darien and said again, "I want to stay, Endymion!" Through the past week, she had finally managed to say his name correctly, but she preferred Dare or Darien, which was perfectly fine with him.
"Don't you want to go home, Sere?" he asked.
"I want to stay!" she said again, and this time she launched towards him, her small arms circling around his stomach. "Tell them to let me stay!"
"Oh, c'mon Sere," he said as his guardians were grinning from ear to ear. He felt his face flush, but brushed it aside as he tried to untangle her from him. Unfortunately for him, this particular princess was very strong... and very stubborn.
"I'll only let go if I stay!"
"But, then wouldn't you miss your mommy?"
"Mommy will stay, too!"
"She has to go back and make sure your people are fine."
"Why?"
"It's her... it's her responsibility."
"What's respos.. respos-sitil-tity?"
Darien chuckled. "Never mind that, but you have to go."
"You don't want me to stay?" she asked as her eyes now welled up with tears.
Endymion, who was capable of not making one tear fall for the past week, easily panicked. Conjuring a rose, he offered it to her.
"You ripped its legs off!" she complained instantly.
"No, Sere... you see, this rose is special. This is how I see the rose truly." When she still looked stricken, he laid out his hands in front of him, saying, "I didn't hurt it, I swear!"
"It'd die and whither like the other flowers without its legs."
"I promise you, Sere, that it will never wither as long as I remember you."
Serena, tilting her head, smiled. "You'll remember me?"
"As long as you remember me," he replied. He could just hear the little 'ohhs' that his guardians were making. He ignored them, glad at least to see that her eyes no longer were teary. She ran to her mother, grabbed something out of her pocket then ran back. Taking his large hands into her small ones, she shoved something metallic and smooth into them.
"That's to help you," Serena said brightly.
"We have to go, Serena," Queen Serenity called. Sere bounded back to her mom, waved good-bye, and then was gone.
Darien, opening his hand, saw a golden star locket. He later learned that whenever he felt lonely or depressed, the locket would open up; a sweet melody filling the air.
*Earth/Golden Palace- FOUR YEARS LATER*
"Yes, dear, but the people's loyalty is swerving," King Stephen said as he shoved another bite of the meat into his mouth. Gaia sat in front of him as Darien sat to his right. "You can see it in their eyes whenever I come to ask what their suggestions are. Metallia is ruining everything!"
Gaia remained quiet as her husband continued to bang the table with his fists. "That damn witch! If I could have my hands around her neck I'd-"
"Stephen!" Gaia snapped, cutting off whatever words her husband was about to say. "And you are supposed to be a gentleman. What would the counsel say if they catch you speaking.. and thinking such awful things?"
"Awful things!? To have Metallia killed is awful!?"
"I thought Metallia didn't have a form?" Darien, who remained quiet through the whole conversation, said. "I mean... I thought that she was just.. some spirit or something."
"She's very much alive, son," Stephen muttered with his mouth full. Pointing his fork toward him, he said, "Very much!"
"I don't understand what-"
"It's all right if you don't understand, dear," Gaia said, sending Stephen a disapproving look. Stephen lowered his fork and began to swallow the food that was in his mouth. "Now, can you-"
Gaia paused as the doors burst opened. Standing in the entryway was a hooded figure; cladded in a thick, heavy cloak; the hood so large that the face was shrouded into darkness. Darien felt a chill run through him as the figure walked forward, a human hand revealing itself, but then disappearing back into the cloak.
Stephen wiped his mouth in both annoyance and confusion and he stood up. "As you can see, I am quite busy," he said, looking over the shoulder of the figure for any sign of the guards. "Everyone knows that I am not to be interrupted during dinner time. Unless, of course, it is urgent? Is it urgent?"
The figure began to walk towards him again; taking no heed to the demands Stephen was telling it. "Speak up, now! Is it urgent matters?"
Once more that hand materialized and Gaia screamed for Stephen to duck. She now realized why the guards weren't bursting through to stop this stranger. They were knocked out... worst off dead. Serenity had told her of Metallia's rising in power. In power, she thought that it meant it by gaining people on her side. But, now she understood. Metallia was able to take form of whatever, even a human, and now was even capable of possessing magic, and channeling it.
But, she was too late in realizing it, for then a large orb-like ball shaped itself on the figure's hand and went zooming across the room. Stephen gave out a cry before the ball consumed him, and in a matter of seconds...
Darien watched horrified. He didn't know what it really looked like. All he knew was that his father was dying; he knew that when his eyes couldn't see the form of his father that that would mean he died.
He screamed then, running from the chair to fling himself towards the ball. But, Stephen was engulfed and all Darien held onto was dust. Gaia was sobbing quietly, her head in-between her arms; her legs pulled up to her chest.
The figure once more did a slight move and raised it's hand to form yet another orb-like ball. Darien watched as it grew larger; he watched as it was directed towards his mom. And then, it was let loose.
"Stop! STOP!" He shut his eyes and felt something in him being released. As if some flame that was growing was being set free. He waited to hear his mom's agonizing scream, but what he heard was silence. Such silence. He opened his eyes and saw that he was shining gold; he saw that the orb-like ball was now suspended in the air in front of his mother's figure. To his relief, it was no longer moving.
The figure's head swerved towards his direction. Even if he couldn't see the eyes, he could feel them bearing down on him.... questioning him.
As if the cloaked figure had finally analyzed him, its hand gave a small jerk towards his direction. And then, he felt some cord being cut. Something being broken and then the scream was heard. That awful scream and he collapsed.
To be continued...
Well? How was it? The next part is posted as well, so go on and read it! Want to tell me how this was? Review!