Affair by Sereko
AHHHHHH! The formatting is horrible!!! I'm new to the Fanfiction.net world and so, I've never had to format in their specific way before. I'm SO sorry that I posted my chapters looking the way they looked. I hope I fixed all the problems with these new, updated versions. Please tell me if they're still hard to read. Sorry, again!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters associated with the story (except for Prince Arian). I merely use Naoko Takeuchi's genius as a starting point for my own storytelling.
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Prologue
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Her dress rippled behind her as she ran out of the decorated glass doors that led to the gardens. Crystal drops spilled past her in her flight across the silver grass. Her golden tresses glinted in the natural light of the Moon and gave the girl an almost angelic look. Guards couldn't help but glance her way when she passed by.
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"For the last time! Stop this nonsense now! You will obey my command and follow through with the plans that I have been working on for months!" Queen Serenity quickly silenced her apprehensive daughter with her retort. Though she didn't like the situation too much herself, it had to be this way.
The princess was incensed. "But this is utterly degrading! Despite the altruistic façade of this trip being a chance for me to become more familiar with the inner workings of our kingdom, I know that you and all of the city leaders are just trying to shove me around until one of their sons becomes interested in me!" Her cry landed on deaf ears. The senshi standing behind her averted their eyes as best as possible in an attempt to avoid the embarrassing situation. The Queen's two advisors, Luna and Artemis, looked compassionately down at the princess. They understood what she was feeling and were against what the Queen was doing, but they didn't have the power or the where-with-all to oppose such authority.
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Gorgeous flowers of all colors whizzed by in a blur. The angel didn't notice, however. She was barely paying any attention to the things around her or the ground at her feet. The only thing that she was looking at was the huge, domineering wall a few yards ahead of her.
As she approached, she slowed her pace and turned her head to look about her. Her escape had caused a bit of commotion, but the guards didn't make any move to follow her thinking that she wanted some time to herself. With a sigh of relief, she closed her eyes and concentrated.
Had there been anyone outside of the southeast wall of the palace at the time, they would have noticed a bright flash of light and the appearance of a young woman. Luckily for the fleeing girl, nobody was around when she teleported herself from one side of the wall to the other. She didn't have to worry about one of the senshi or her mother sensing her use of power either because she had learned long ago how to mask such actions from their senses.
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Artemis deftly reached forward to the princess that he considered his own daughter. He could see the hurt in her eyes at her own mother's actions and knew that she needed comfort. Before his hand could fall upon the blonde's forearm, however, someone blocked its path.
"No! She is a big girl now. She can take care of herself." Even the senshi had to raise their eyes to stare in disbelief at that comment.
Princess Serenity recoiled. "You have done a lot of things that I am not happy about, but to cut down your own trusted advisor when he was trying to console me is by far one of the worst." She paused, holding in her tears and keeping her voice strong. "He is my father. By hurting him you destroy me."
Again everyone in the room looked up at the comment. This argument between the two royals of the Moon court was running off of its intended course and leading into dangerous ground.
"Usa…" The white haired man was touched beyond words. It was true that he and Luna had basically raised the young woman since she was a babe, but the princess had always treasured the memory of her real father. To put him on the side in order to defend and honor Artemis was an unthinkable occurrence.
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She fell to her knees approximately three miles from the high palace walls. It was not necessarily the fact that her legs were tired or that her lungs were burning that had stopped her in her trek. It was the constant streams of tears that were falling from her eyes. The pained emotions in her heart left her reeling, not her aching feet.
Her reflection stared back at her from the small creek next to her. Depressed. Stricken. Weak. "No!" Two fists slammed against the soft soil of the Moon. "I am not weak. I am NOT weak." The princess resolutely stood up once more and continued on.
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The Queen only turned a worse shade of angry red. "How DARE you! To make such a proclamation against my beloved husband and your REAL father is an insult to the throne! People can be imprisoned for such speak!"
"And that is exactly what you have been waiting for, right mother? You cannot wait to throw me in a cell and get rid of me for good!" Tears pricked at the backs of the young Serenity's eyes for the second time during the argument. This time she didn't bother to hold them back. There was no point anymore.
Queen Serenity straightened her slouching posture. The heat of the argument was starting to take a hold of her and she was losing her regal bearing. "That is correct." Several gasps sounded from all around the large conference room. The noblemen from the meeting earlier had cleared out when the princess's tour became the topic of conversation. They would have stayed had not the princess jumped out of her seat at the injustice of the idea. Now, only the senshi and advisors were left from their posts around the room's walls. They were the ones who had gasped. "I am sure that your stillborn older brother would have made me much prouder than you have!"
Silence.
That was the last straw. Without a moment's hesitation, the Crown Princess of the Moon Kingdom turned and ran from her mother's presence. No one made a move to stop her. Most of the senshi didn't feel that they had grown close enough to the young girl in order to have the right to follow her. Luna and Artemis would have had not their liege given them a hefty glare and warning. Then there was Mercury who could barely stay still as formality commanded. She wanted to slap the leader of the Silver Millennium and run after her dearest friend, but she couldn't. And so the angel was alone in her frantic race away from her home.
End Prologue
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I hope you liked it. It's a slow start, but I promise that things get better...MUCH better.
Please send ANY comments to me, Sereko. My e-mail is: sereko13@yahoo.com