A/N: A quick thank you to those read and reviewed :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the character of Sailor Moon
Chapter 2.
The princess stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast fields of moonflowers that bloomed all across her land. They were called moonflowers because they only bloom at night on earth and yet they flourish beautifully on the moon. The seedlings were a gift from a prince on earth that he had brought to the Moon Queen during one of his ambassadorial visits. She had planted them in her garden and overnight it was covered with petals that glowed like white light. As time passes, more seedlings were scattered far across the land by the wind and the Moonpeople were pleased with what they saw. It wasn't long before they found that they could harvest the leaves and petals of the moonflowers and create a new scent so intoxicating it opened new doors for the Moon in the realm of intergalactic trade. Besides their gifts of songs and dance and medicine, they have now something more to offer.
The familiar voice of an angel suddenly called for her. "Selene?"
Selene started walking back to her manor, the Moon House. It was her mother calling and she responded telepathically, while closing the distance between her and her destination. She was still relatively young and could not reach as far as the Elders. Her mother being the Queen of the Moon was also one of the Elders.
"Yes, mother?"
"Come, to the tower." And the connection was gone.
Selene climbed the steps that led to the top of the tower and there Queen Serenity sat on one end of the banister, her face angled and facing the dark horizon that was spread out before them. Sensing her daughter's presence, she turned and smiled. And while she smiled, the glow on her skin radiated. Her overflowing tresses gleamed like silver and sometimes in the dark, they shone like the stars in the milky way. The mark of the moon, full and brilliant, beamed liked a third eye back at Selene whose own mark on her forehead took the form of a crescent moon, a sign of her young status. It would be some time before she would reach the status of the Elders and before that time comes, she still has a lot to learn.
Selene bore a striking resemblance to her mother except for her hair which carried the brilliant hues of the radiant sun. Her mother had many suitors during her prime and yet it was King Sol of the Sun who stole her heart. But their marriage was shortlived and before King Sol could witness the birth of his second child, he was gone.
According to rumors, he had wandered too far into the dark side of the moon and vanished. And it had happened when the Moon was the furthest from the Sun. Nobody knew the truth for nobody was there to witness it and even if there was anyone else there they did not live to tell. The last connection the king made with the queen before his disappearance had been cut before she could find out more which led her to suspect the rumors to be true. Since nobody knows what lies beyond the darkness for nobody was brave enough to venture through. For years, Queen Serenity would find herself futilely reaching out for her lost husband while laying in the dark on her bed, her hands feeling the empty spaces next to her.
Finally accepting that her attempts were not only fruitless but the source of her depression, Queen Serenity stepped up to the plate and placed all her attention in the raising of her two beautiful daughters while juggling with her duties as an Elder and queen of the land.
After Selene's father's death, a new ruler of the sun was appointed. His name was Helios and he had even asked for her mother's hand in marriage, so that she could continually retain her role in the sun's glorious kingdom. But the Moon Queen had never married for political reasons and would not the second time. Gently returning the offer, she renounced her political influence over the sun while still retaining her friendship with Helios who often sought her insights for among the Elders, she had the strongest intuition. Despite that, she'd never stop holding herself accountable for her husband's disappearance and closed her heart for any possibility of love. The only love she had was for her daughters and her people and for that Selene was painfully grateful.
"Where's Cynthia?" Selene asked as she sought for her baby sister's presence.
"She's with the Stars," replied her mother, smiling reassuringly.
Selene nodded, relieved although she could already sense their impatience from afar, particularly one of them. Chuckling, she imagined the kind of torment her baby sister is putting them through right now.
She thought of the Stars who crashlanded onto the moon years ago. Unconscious and on the brink of death, they were immediately brought into the Moon House where they were treated. When one of them finally woke up, she remembered gazing into a pair of indigo eyes. Eyes she had never seen before because Moonpeople only had blue eyes and that was the first time she came into contact with non-Moonpeople other than her father.
"Where am I?" the indigo eyed stranger asked. Selene sensed fear radiating from the stranger and she tried to send a soothing word using her mind but realised she was unable to reach the other. Queen Serenity then spoke with a gentle voice, "you are on the Moon. I'm Queen Serenity and this is my daughter Selene. From whence you came and why did you end up on my land uninvited and hurt?"
The stranger blinked her eyes, as the memories of the events that led her to the Moon came in painful waves. Tears started to fall, descending heavily upon her cheeks where the marks of the accident have not fully healed. She turned to look to her sides, her tearful eyes searching for something. "There were three of us, my comrades… where are they?"
"They are resting in the other rooms, still unconscious. You're the first to awake even though you suffered the most wounds." Queen Serenity placed one assuring hand on the stranger's chest to calm her down and she did, though the tears still came.
"She's not ready to talk," Selene heard her mother's voice in her head. She agreed. Whatever traumatic experience the strangers had, it has to wait.
"Whenever you're ready," Queen Serenity said before leaving the wounded stranger, with Selene following behind.
Another week passed before the rest of the outlanders woke up with their wounds fully healed. All three cried and flew into a tight embrace once they saw each other again, thanking the gods for keeping them alive.
Once they've settled, they started to share and piece their stories together.
"We are from the planet Kinmoku," one of them said.
"Kinmoku?" Hushed voices of the Elders filled the room where they held their meetings. Selene sat next to her mother, old enough to be a part of it. She was intrigued by the whole commotion.
"What is that? We've never heard of it." one of the Elders said.
"It's in a different solar system," said the indigo eyed stranger.
"Well, why did you leave?" another asked.
"We were forced to," continued one of the strangers who had dark brown eyes and hair. "Kinmoku was attacked."
More hushed voices threatened to shake the walls.
"Attacked? By who?" The Moonpeople had only known peace that the Elders were left flabbergasted, for the reasons for attacking another planet was beyond their understanding.
"We don't know!" cried the third stranger, her green eyes sparked with teary rage. "We couldn't fight back. They came and just killed everyone, every last one of them.""And how did you escape?"
"Our princess used her magic and forced us into our pod and entered the coordinates of another solar system while she stayed behind to fight." The indigo eyed stranger said. "We still can't figure out why she would do that. We were supposed to be her guardians, the last ones standing and yet…"
"We've failed her! We've failed our people! We've failed Kinmoku!" The green eyed stranger wailed.
At this point, Queen Serenity stood up and gathering her dress, she walked towards the trio.
"No, you didn't fail anyone." she said. "Being of royalty myself, I think I can understand why she would do that. Being a princess, whatever evil that attacked your planet would have stopped at nothing to get her. If she had been the one to escape into this solar system, she would have invited it along and I don't think she can live with that. So she sent you instead. And now that you're here, you lived to tell the tale and shown us that evil exists within the galaxies waiting to attack. Because of you and the huge sacrifices your princess made, the rest of us can be saved. And for that we are deeply grateful."
To the Elders' utter shock, Queen Serenity knelt and bowed before the Kinmoku trio who could only stare back speechless.
"Queen Serenity!" one of the Elders exclaimed.
"You're welcome to stay for as long as you want," Queen Serenity continued and when she finally stood up and looked at them, they gasped at her beauty.
"What's your name?" She asked as her eyes fell on a pair of green ones. "Yaten," the other replied. From the brown eyed one, "Taiki" was the response and finally as she asked for the final name, Selene's ears pricked up.
"Seiya," she heard.
Over time, the Stars made no attempt to leave the Moon and it's been accepted that they are here to stay, naturally forming a strong friendship with Queen Serenity and her daughters. The Elders' initial suspicions towards them soon faded away, finally acknowledging their presence. After much council, they've managed to persuade the queen to let them stay as protectors of her family. The urge to protect and fight runs deep in their blood and after accepting that their planet and princess was no more, they've decided to serve and act as the Moon Queen's guardians. Although much to Selene's private amusement, most of their duties center around keeping the youngest princess entertained.
"Well, I'm sure they make better nannies than both of us put together, don't they?" Selene joked and the tower walls echoed with their laughter. The Queen couldn't agree more. Little Cynthia was quite a handful.
Selene sat with her mother on the banister and silently they both gazed at the blue globe before them. It was one of their favourite past times together, Earth gazing.
"Today, the Earth is directly between us and the Sun."
Selene nodded, understanding fully well of her planet's rotational patterns around the Earth. When that happens, dwellers of the Earth will gaze up and behold her planet's full glory. According to the first visitors of the Earth, her planet looks like a round silver disc pouring forth a goblet of magnificence and beauty. During the first ambassadorial visits, the Earthians, as they called themselves, experienced the full healing powers of the Moon and thus the Earth-Moon Alliance was formed. And for that came the gift of the moonflowers.
Of course the greatest gift of Earth, was its ambassador, Prince Endymion.
As if reading her thoughts, Queen Serenity placed her hand over her daughter's.
"The Earth's next ambassadorial visit will be arriving soon," said her thoughts that flowed towards her daughter.
Selene nodded, the dreamy look in her eyes were beginning to show.
"Prince Endymion is a fine man, isn't he?"
This time Selene blushed.
"What are you trying to say mother?"
Queen Serenity chuckled. "Well, you know what I'm trying to say. I know that look when you look at him."
"What look?"
"The same look I had when I looked at your father."
At the mention of her father, Queen Serenity's expression darkened but soon recovered when a horde of voices attacked the tranquility they had been enjoying.
"Mama!" came the first attacking voice, finally butchering the rest of their waking night.
"Princess Cynthia!" came the next exasperating voice. Selene laughed knowing full well who it was that was struggling to catch up with her sister.
"Mama!"
Soon, a child with heaps of golden locks spiralling below her shoulders came tumbling towards them. The mark of the youngest Moonpeople, the new moon, took the form of a faint silver glow of a ring on her forehead. At her age, she was still unable to connect telepathically unless at a very close distance but because she spent most of her days talking to the Stars, she grew up not connecting very well. Queen Serenity found no issue with it and believed that with time, Cynthia would be able to reach across miles. But for now, her happiness was all that mattered. And she has also come to enjoy listening to her daughter's voice.
Queen Serenity laughed and picked Cynthia up. "What is it my dear?"
"Apologies my queen, but the little rascal insisted on Earth gazing with you," Seiya explained through sharp breaths. Catching Selene's eyes, she grinned. Selene grinned back and playfully tugged Cynthia's spiral locks. "Oh why must you always make poor Seiya run after you?"
"Yeah, why is it always me? And for the millionth time, Yaten and Taiki walked out on me. Those double-crossers! Unbelievable!" Seiya crossed her arms, scowling.
"They don't have the patience and energy like yours, that's why." Selene replied and pulled Seiya's hand. "Come watch the Earth with us."
And as soon as her eyes caught the image of the Earth, Seiya forgot all about the bone she was picking on Cynthia. "Wow", was all she could say and she finally smiled. Pinching Cynthia's nose, she said, "thanks for bringing me up here little rascal."
During this quiet hour of Earth gazing, Selene thought she was having the best moment of her life.
