Okay, so I sort of messed up the order of everything by putting this up. And most likely it won't be as satisfying for you as seeing a chapter 7. I wrote this originally as chapter 4, and then decided it would be better to introduce the ballroom scene first. But now, looking back, there's just no conceivable way of sticking this scene in anytime after chapter 6, and I feel it would be an awful waste of both my time and yours if I spent all that time writing it, when I could have been focusing on other chapters, and nobody even got to read it. Besides, it does develop their relationship a little more right before the dance, and hopefully makes for an interesting read. So here it is: a short little scene between Usagi and Demando, set the day before the dance.
And for those of you who are just reading this story for the first time, kindly ignore this note.
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We shall find peace. We shall hear the angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds. –Anton Chekhov
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Two days had passed since Usagi had woken to find herself in Demando's gargantuan palace, and though she had explored nearly a hundred different rooms within the palace since then, she knew she was far from being familiar with even half of the rooms in the entire place. She had never before seen, much less been in, something of this size, and she was always wary of being lost in one of the dark and deserted hallways, and becoming trapped as if in a maze until someone like Safir, or one of Demando's servants, found her.
Nevertheless, she pressed on in her attempt to know the geography of the building well enough that she might be able to find an inconspicuous passage that could lead her to freedom one day, and know a perfectly innocent destination to pretend she was heading towards in the event that she was caught somewhere she shouldn't be. So she tirelessly wandered around the Crystal Palace, searching for ways she could use to get out.
As she approached a turn in the dimly-lit corridor, she immediately sensed that this was not a place she'd been before. But she had been in the castle walls long enough not to be frightened by the darkness, and only the sheer emptiness of this wing made her hesitate to go further. But she knew that as long as Demando was here, he would make certain of her safety, and so she went forward.
She walked along, almost gliding on the surface of the crystal floors. It was fascinating how silently you could walk on these translucent floors, she mused. Even if she ran, her steps would be soundless, muted by some mysterious property of this crystalline ground. She paused in front of an ominous-looking door that towered over her, its span more than twice her height.
With a reckless ease, she pulled one of the ornate gold door handles and was momentarily blinded by a searing light. Raising her hands to her face, she shut her eyes in pain. In the darkness of that fragment of time when she shut her eyes to the dazzling glow, she could almost feel a surge of strength flowing through her veins. She saw, as clearly as if it were reality, Mamoru's face looking directly at her with a sad smile, and he mouthed a single word to her before disintegrating into the shadows of her mind. She could not hear his voice, and was unable to discern what he had spoken, but for some reason did not despair over it. And then some internal reaction, perhaps an intuition, told her that the intensity of the light had faded, and she opened her eyes once again.
There was a huge silver basin positioned in the middle of the circular room, and a mysterious white light with seemingly no source permeated the entire room with its brilliance. Lying in the basin was Prince Demando himself, his eyes shut peacefully as his pale skin soaked in the pristine waters inside the basin. Usagi gave a loud gasp at the sight of his figure, then covered her mouth. She wanted to kick herself for being such a fool and giving away the fact that she had been slinking around abandoned places in hopes of escape, but it was too late now.
His eyes opened wide, and their piercing violet color looked almost white in the light that shone down upon him. His white hair was tangled across his neck, and beads of purest liquid slid down his upper body and returned to the glistening substance he was partially submerged in. It was so beautiful, Usagi thought, this image of the white prince sitting in a silver basin, drenched in strange waters beneath the rays of the brightest of all lights. It looked like a painting in a storybook, and the air of pure magic surrounding her drew her in. Usagi was vaguely disconcerted by the fact that, as he rose to sit up in the basin, his smooth chest was bare in front of her. But still she stared intently, as if wondering at a dreamlike reality, for what seemed like an eternity before she finally realized with a sudden shame that tinted her cheeks with rouge, that she had been staring at Demando's half-naked body. She quickly turned away, looking down at the floor.
"I… I'm sorry," Usagi said, offering him the only words that she could.
Demando studied her expression before replying simply, "How did you find this room?" He did not sound angry, but his tone was chillingly placid.
"I'm not sure how, exactly," Usagi said honestly. "I was looking around the palace, and I came upon this room by chance."
Demando looked at her thoughtfully. "I see," he said quietly. "You were trying to find a way to escape, weren't you?"
Usagi gulped, unable to face him as she spoke. "Yes." Her voice came out sounding cracked, but she had managed to tell him the truth, and whatever consequences she had to pay for this admittance, she would accept.
"You really don't want to stay here." It came out as a statement. Usagi hung her head down, unable to respond. She did not want to tell a truth that would hurt someone, even someone as despicable as Demando, and so she said nothing. "Is it because you hate me?"
Usagi looked up in surprise at the question, and after seeing the wretched look on his thin face, spoke from her heart. "I don't hate you, Demando. My unwillingness to stay here has nothing to do with my personal like or dislike towards you. I can't stay in a place like this, trapped without the people that I love around me, never free to see the outside world. To exist in such a state… is not a life at all. For someone like me, living this way is unbearable, and it's in my nature to always long to return home and see my friends."
Hating Demando himself was never a thought that ran in her mind in those times when she wanted the most to leave and to stop living in such a miserable manner. It was that she detested knowing that no matter what she did within the palace walls, she was never free. She would always be bound by invisible chains, the manifestation of Demando's iron will, that severed her connection with the outside world and humanity. And after Mamoru's death, something that could have been prevented if she had only gotten there faster and destroyed her enemy before Mamoru could get involved, she wanted never to feel trapped in her surroundings again. If Fate could be changed, then perhaps she could determine her own fate. But her inability to get away from Demando's palace gave her a feeling of restlessness, a sense of failure that only deepened her sadness at Mamoru's death.
Demando smiled sadly at her words. So it was true, after all. He was slowly destroying her, and he could see that it was truly agonizing for her to stay in his palace. But it could not be helped. In one week, the Dark Crystal's negative energy would be completely harvested, and his plan would finally come to fruition. Until then, he had to keep her with him.
"Come here," Demando beckoned to her. "I suppose I would have to tell you about this room eventually." Usagi did not pick up on the implication of his words, but chose to listen out of curiosity.
Somewhat hesitantly, Usagi walked towards the center of the room. He took her hand in the palm of his, and gently deposited it below the surface of the water. Immediately, Usagi felt a strange force streaming through her body, and her anxieties seemed to dissipate as her arm penetrated the depths of this mysterious water. Her heart felt as if it were healing, and the sunken feeling in her chest that had remained inside of her since Mamoru's death evanesced as the droplets were absorbed into her skin. Her dark depression lifted, and she had a strange sense of nostalgia. This lightheartedness… she felt like herself again, she realized.
"What is this?" She asked in amazement, abandoning her suspicion. "This isn't normal bathing water."
"No, it isn't," Demando said. "The liquid in this basin is very rare even on our home planet of Nemesis, and it comes out of a small tributary flowing from our planet's only river. It's the one thing that exists on our planet that exceeds the beauty of Earth's nature. Its power seems to be the ability to halt all the mental and emotional turmoil that goes on in our minds, and giving those who bathe in it a refreshing internal strength to help them overcome the pain of any situation. I am the only one who is permitted to use this water, since it has forever been reserved only for those descended from the line of kings."
He paused, then looked at her outstretched hands reaching into the water. "But I'm willing to share it with you, if you'd like."
Usagi suddenly felt a vivid warmth, a small stirring of emotion inside her, that she had not experienced since Mamoru's death rising up within her. She knew, just from the way he made that simple statement, how much it meant that he was giving her something that was entitled only to him. She nodded wispily, giving him a pretty smile that conveyed her gratitude.
"Thank you, Prince Demando. It means a lot to me that you would share the secrets of your planet with me, and offer something to me that rightfully belongs only to you." She looked at him kindly, extending friendship to him through her scintillant cerulean eyes. "I know I was rude to you from the day we met, and I hope you can understand why I was so angry at you for taking me away from my home by force. But I realize that I've misjudged you, and maybe we can start over without any resentment towards each other."
"Yes," Demando said, unable to help smiling a little in the face of such sweet forgiveness. "I hope so, if our circumstances would allow us."
"Our circumstances aren't what's important," Usagi said, looking into the immobile liquid of the basin and somehow knowing her words to be true. "I don't believe that there's anything in this universe that is fixed or decided without the possibility of being changed. My experience has taught me that."
A silence followed, and both of them felt at peace there, standing in the dazzling light, their reflections in the water perfectly still and calm.
It was strange, Usagi thought, how uncomfortable she'd been moments ago, when she had just snapped out of her trance of staring at Demando's upper body. She marveled at the comfort Demando provided when he was with her. He had taken her captive in his own palace, but not to hurt her or to force her to do anything. And if there was one thing she knew at this moment, it was that he did care about her, if even simply because he had to. He had trapped her with him against her will, but he had also given her the solace, the warmth and human comfort that she needed now in the wake of Mamoru's death. And that was enough to pull her through the darkness of solitude, bringing her some small measure of happiness.
When she finally left him in that chamber, returning to her own room, she could sense a sound that breached her entire soul. It seemed to come from some presence embedded within her heart, and a voice that she would never forget uttered, passionately and distinctly, the lone word she had been unable to hear when she had first opened those golden doors. Farewell.
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Yes, it was really short. But this was incomplete when I reread it, so I added a little more to it and called it chapter XD Anyway, even though it's more of an old chapter than a new chapter, I sincerely hope you all enjoyed it.