Chapter Three: Glissando

Jupiter and Venus both made a low bow to their Princess and fellow Senshi. All were stood before the teleport platform in the courtyard, for it was time for the two to return to their own kingdoms.

"Please send our fondest wishes to your families." Princess Serenity said, quickly embracing the two women. Venus returned the embrace awkwardly.

"We will, Princess." she promised her.

"Try not to get into too much trouble ok. And don't run poor Mercury ragged like you did last time." Jupiter added, taking the offered hug with a little more ease.

Serenity giggled. "I will try to go easy on her." the Moon Princess had a love of exploring, and last time had resulted in her going missing in the city.

Venus had already stepped onto the platform; as they were headed to different destinations they had to be sent one at a time. They could choose to go via the stardust paths instead, but neither woman was willing to go the long way this time. Besides, last time Venus had been more than a little tipsy and had nearly fallen off. And using the Sailor Teleport took a lot of power and energy; it was easier with more of them as the cost was shared, alone they would be exhausted by the time they reached their homes.

The attendant finished what he was doing with the controls and nodded at the blonde. "Lady Venus, it's ready."

"Thank you." she turned back to face forward again and the attendant flicked a switch. The platform glowed, dully but brighter than it had been, and Venus faded from view in a white-ish glimmer.

"Lady Jupiter, your turn."

"I know, thank you." the tall woman stepped onto the platform next. She took a deep breath – she didn't enjoy travelling via this contraption – and nodded to the young man who flicked the switch without warning her. The last thing they saw of Jupiter was the woman scrunching up her face.

Mercury shook her head when the pad returned to its usual grey-white appearance. "I keep telling her that the Teleport is perfectly safe. The odds of something happening to her during transit is a few hundred thousand to one. She never believes me."

The Moon Princess giggled. "I think it's cute, she prefers to travel by her own power."

"It's barbaric!" Mercury responded huffily. "The mechanics of the platform are perfectly safe. She's made the journey a hundred times over since she became a Senshi and yet every time she screws her eyes shut. I don't see the point. You don't see anything while being transported." the bluenette sighed.

Mars rolled her eyes. "Just because she doesn't trust the technology a hundred percent like you doesn't mean she's a barbarian. Yes, the Jovian Kingdom is mostly made up of tribes, nomadic and settled, that gather beneath King Zeus, and ok, some of them can be a little uncivilised, but Jupiter isn't like them. She's a member of her planet's royal family for the heavens' sakes." she paused then added, "Besides, I agree with her that you trust technology far too much."

"I agree with Mars." Serenity added before Mercury could retort, frowning slightly. "Jupiter is more than you give her credit for Mercury. She's the strongest member of the Inner Court and her instincts are usually spot on. Remember that nobleman your father wanted you to marry?"

Mercury looked away; she despised talking about the creep that had only been after two things – her crown and her body. "It is horrific that my home world could ever produce such a cretin."

"Exactly, but she took an instant dislike to Lord Odysseus." the Princess persisted as they walked along halls to return to their wing. "She knew from the start that he was worthless and dishonest and tried to protect you from him."

Mars snorted. "Yeah, like that time he managed to sneak into Mercury's rooms after the ball and Jupiter climbed up the vines and dragged him back out again."

This brought a small smile to the petite Senshi's eyes. The man had been literally dragged by his wrist past guards who only looked on in amusement and didn't heed his calls for help, for they had long since learned that there was no stopping the Jovian, past the Queen and the Princess, into the courtyard and handed over to a guard that Jupiter had personally trained with Venus to be dealt with, and then the brunette had walked away dusting her hands. All of that after manhandling him out of the Ice Senshi's rooms to begin with. No matter how much he had tried to free himself from Jupiter's grasp – the grip of one hand even – he hadn't been able to dislodge her fingers and had been left with bruises.

"My point," Serenity continued, trying to hide her smirk at the memory of the man appealing to her and her mother for them to control the amazon, "Is that she is a vital member of this team, she is much more than you give her credit for, and she balances you perfectly."

"Which is why she is so vital to this team." Mars added. "My father told me before I was inducted, both Courts contain two contrasting pairs, a specific blend of personalities that work together. You are the logic, Mercury, the brain. She is the sword that reacts on instinct."

"And Venus is the arm, while Mars is the eye." Serenity giggled.

They had reached the Senshi Wing of the palace now, and Mars disappeared off into her own chambers.

"Mercury?"

The Senshi of Ice and Wisdom glanced at her Princess before becoming absorbed in her miniature computer once more. "Yes, Princess?"

"How goes the search?"

The Mercurian paused in typing on the console, hesitating before replying. "My search of the Silver System reported nothing out of place, Princess. You have nothing to fear."

"I thank you for that." Serenity's voice was becoming cool again, commanding and a little irritated even. "But we both know that that wasn't what I meant."

For several minutes Serenity didn't think that Mercury would answer her, for the blue-haired young woman continued typing into her computer as though her sovereign princess hadn't just commanded her to respond. But then Mercury sighed, and the Lunarian Princess relaxed again.

"Slowly. I have found no traces of the one you seek within our system. I am not sure whether to start looking within other systems. There are millions and it would be, logically speaking, like looking for a needle among a million other needles."

Serenity drooped, but then brightened. "Have you checked all the planets in our system, Mercury?"

The other woman gave her a look. "All those worth checking, of course."

"But not all." persisted the Lunarian.

Mercury huffed and if she had been a bird then she would have ruffled her feathers irritably. "Terra is hardly worth considering, Princess." she lectured. "It is a rural planet roughly a thousand years behind on technology and social and economic progress and besides-"

"Please, Mercury," Serenity pleaded. "Please, I beg of you, just check Terra, just this once, and if you are proven right then I will never speak of the planet again. But I have a good feeling whenever I look at it. I think we might find answers there."

Merucry kept her thoughts to herself; Terra could only bring trouble in her opinion. "Of course, Princess." with a small bow she swept away into her own chambers.

Sitting down at her desk, she placed her miniature computer in front of her and clicked an earring to activate her visor. "I can't believe I'm doing this." she muttered as she waved a hand across the air over the desk in front of her, creating a paper-thin layer of ice which she could then interface with the computer to form a wider and better screen than her hand-held could provide her with.

She focused on the only clear images she had of the three men and placed identifiers on various points in the images. Then she ran a search for the clothing. She came up with one small entry, an article written a millennium ago by some media-type.

Latest fashions . . . males wear . . . darker colours than most places in the system . . . drab that looks fab . . .

Amelie frowned. The language used made it sound as though a Venusian had written this article, and there was no mention of a planet. Widening the search parameters, she tried again. Another article, again

centuries old.

Fashions on Terra match the societal attitudes of the civilisations that inhabit the rural planet. Only a few women wear trousers while most clothe themselves in dresses and skirts. The men choose to wear clothing of a style previously favoured on Jove and the colours are often darker unless the individual is of the higher classes, and even then the display is nothing compared to, for example, Venusian or Lunarian finery . . . Such studies that have been undertaken in secret reveal that, unlike its neighbours, Terra is a patriarchal world and has been so since the demise of its protecting senshi, Sailor Terra, and the disappearance of its protecting crystal, brother to the Lunarians' Imperial Silver Crystal; the Golden Crystal.

The thin eyebrows shot up at that.

So Serenity was right?!

Quickly she scanned the rest of the article, recognising the outfit that the young man her Princess had danced with as a style favoured by the royal line of Terra over a millennium ago. But that didn't mean anything now, surely. No planet could be that behind!

Could it?

Amelie wasn't sure whether she should share these findings with her Princess or not.

She delicately placed her fingers back on the ice-screen and turned back to the three images. Biting her lip, she considered her options.

One; withhold this information from High Princess Serenity and prevent her from getting into trouble. At the same time be considered a traitor if anybody ever found out about this and, if Serenity ever found out that she had withheld the information, earn her Princess's eternal distrust. Not to mention her wrath. And the ire of her sister Senshi

Not an option.

Two; tell Venus and the others about this alarming turn of events. Still be considered a traitor and again earn Serenity's distrust.

She could just imagine their faces. No, that wasn't an option really, either.

Three; tell Serenity about her findings. Tell no one else.

Amelie pulled a face. If she could find another way, she wouldn't.

Four; tell Serenity, but also tell everyone else.

No. absolutely not. Then she would still be a traitor, she would be completely dishonoured along with her kingdom, and Serenity still wouldn't trust her. Amelie would be exiled from the System, her powers bound.

A long, weary sigh escaped her lips. She really had no other option. She had to tell her, and hope that her Princess's curiosity wouldn't get them all into trouble.

She reflected that this would be the perfect time to seek out Jupiter and ask her advice; the Jovian was good at that sort of thing when a situation defied all logic. But that would mean defying her Princess's wishes and risking Jupiter telling Venus and the Queen.

Why did Serenity always manage to do this to her?

Tired, she got up, dissolved the ice-screen, and left her chambers, making her way over to and up the spiral stairs to Serenity's suite of rooms on the floor above. She paused, torn between her loyalty to Serenity and her loyalty to the others, with a hand poised to knock. Amelie was about to turn away, prepared to go to the library and think long and hard about her predicament, when the door was opened and crystal blue eyes blinked at her from within.

"Mercury?"

Serenity's silvery voice made her pause. "Yes, Princess?"

"I felt you out here. What do you need?" she studied the Mercurian for a minute or two. "Did you find something?"

Mercury hesitated – this was her last chance – but in the end she nodded glumly. Her loyalty was again torn in two when her Princess smiled dazzlingly and opened her door wider.

"Come on in! You can tell me all about it over wine. A servant just brought up the most delicious cakes."

Reluctantly and berating herself for her lack of courage, Amelie entered the room.

Serenity's chambers were bright, painted in soft creams and touched here and there with silver and gold to give an overall ethereal appearance. The reception room was no different than the rest of the suite. A small glass and metal table sat between two luxurious sofas and a tray holding a plate of cakes, two crystal glasses and a crystal decanter of rose-coloured wine sat upon it. Serenity sat on one sofa, smoothing the skirts of her long cream dress as she did so. Amelie sat opposite her, crossing her ankles as she had been taught and poured wine into the two glasses, passing one to her Princess.

Amelie had been expected; this had all been laid out within minutes of her arrival. It was yet another sign of the darker side of the Lunarian Princess, but as Queen Selenity had informed them all during a private meeting with the four Inner Senshi after their inductions, being chosen as the bearer of the Silver Crystal was not without its problems.

The keeper of the crystal was always revered and feared by all.

"Now then," Serenity began, sipping her wine, "what are your findings?"

There it was, the gleam in the crystal blue eyes that was just slightly darker, the shadowed, more mysterious side to their Princess.

"I searched Terra." Amelie admitted, staring into the cut-crystal glass. She noticed a faint pattern within the crystal itself; traceries of silver forming a pattern of swirls and eddies that could only been seen when examined closely or when the threads caught the light.

"And you found?"

"A match."

The words were simple, but the effect they had on Serenity was profound. The young woman echoed the words silently, then her eyes glowed with happiness. "You see? I told you that answers could be found there."

Amelie squirmed uncomfortably, recalling Raechal's collapse during a vision;

"A dark cloud hangs over this kingdom and all who are a part of it . . . This kingdom shall fall."

The words that Mars had uttered still sent a cold chill throughout her body.

'Answers are not the only things to be found on that planet, I fear.' she thought darkly.

"Why so quiet, Mercury?" Serenity was watching her with those blue eyes of hers.

"It is nothing, Princess." She admonished herself silently; emotions were not her forte. She was a being of logic, not intuition; she shouldn't be paying attention to these silly feelings of impending doom, for they were only sparked by Mars' words. It was illogical and impossible that anybody should hear those words spoken as Mars had spoken them and not feel uneasy.

"Good." Serenity smiled again. "Now then, tell me what you found."