EDIT 3/12/09: For those of you who have been reading my story this whole time, this is NOT the 'next' chapter. This is the original chapter 6. However, I have inserted a new chapter that takes the place of the previous chapter 4, so if you click on chapter 4 you can find it. It takes place before the ballroom. While it probably won't be as exciting for you as reading about what happens next (which I'm working on as much as possible, don't worry!), it does add something to the plot, and I thought it would have been a waste to toss it out.
Basically, if you have been reading this story BEFORE 3/12/09, visit Chapter 4 to view the 'new' chapter that is technically 'old' if you look at it from a chronological viewpoint of the story, but has new content. If this is your first time reading the story, then please disregard my note. I was just trying to clear up confusion. Thanks.
So again: GO TO CHAPTER 4 FOR THE NEW CONTENT.
--
One word
Frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love.
-Sophocles
--
The light was blinding. As soon as Usagi and Demando walked onto that towering stage, what seemed like a thousand radiant white beams shot out from above, taking Usagi by complete surprise. She cringed reflexively as the light source above her began to coruscate quickly, and raised an arm to fend off the glare.
"Sorry," Demando whispered apologetically in her ear. "I forgot the special effects that they put on at the beginning of the dance ceremony ever year. I've become accustomed to them by now, but I can see that your eyes are having a hard time adjusting."
"It's fine," Usagi replied nonchalantly, shutting her eyes intermittently as she struggled to see in the dazzling lighting. "It's not such a big problem."
"Here to begin the dance is our wonderful prince Demando, along with his lovely date, Esm…er… I mean…" The quaint man standing in front of them on the stage was suddenly at a loss for words as he looked back at the pair standing in the middle of the spotlight, and realized that the girl standing beside Demando was not, in fact, Esmeraude.
"Usagi Tsukino," Usagi supplied helpfully.
"And leading the stage for the ceremony is none other than Prince Demando, who will be escorting the beautiful Usagi Tsukino today," the man announced grandly, quickly recovering from his initial mistake. "The Symphony Maximus will now come out and commence playing their fine pieces."
The first noticeable change after this statement was the fact that Pyrite's beautiful, chilling flute music halted. A platform emerged from the floor, slowly rising up to form six levels of stands on the left side of the stage. Without warning, human figures dropped down and dangled from the ceiling, as openings appeared across what seemed like a solid plafond. Utterly bewildered, Usagi held Demando's hand a little tighter as the strange men lowered themselves, positioning themselves one by one on the granite surface of the stage. Each of them was wrapped in a long black robe, and their faces were widely expressionless. Objects that just barely resembled earthly instruments were in each of their hands as they stood solemnly, facing the crowd before them.
"Who are they?" Usagi whispered, half paralyzed by the peculiarity of their manner of arrival. "And what are they doing? Is this supposed to be happening?"
"That," Demando said, with a hint of slight pleasure on his chiseled face, "is the Symphony Maximus. An assembly of the greatest musicians on the planet, designated especially to accommodate any royal events where music is necessary."
"I see," Usagi said, nodding her head slightly as she looked over at the Symphony, and then at the expectant faces of the audience. Everything in Demando's royal palace was so… different, and so extravagant. The only word she could use to even remotely describe the overall feeling of this event was 'awe-inspiring'. She had never been outside of the bustling city of Tokyo, and such a fancy, high-class exposition was something she had not witnessed in her short lifetime.
An unheard signal seemed to alert the Symphony Maximus, prompting them to all begin at the exact same moment. A lively stream of music filled the entire room, mixing the high and low notes in perfect harmony. The song rendered by the Symphony was no less beautiful than the haunting melody that Pyrite had played, but its entire essence was one of pure exhilaration, rather than agonizing sorrow. Usagi's spirits lifted instantly just by listening to such strange, wonderful sounds around her.
Demando reached out to her, clasping her tender hand in his own. He pulled her out with him, walking gracefully to the head of the stage so that they standing were directly in front of the Symphony Maximus. "Will you be all right, dancing like this in front of everyone? I know you're probably not used to it."
"I am. I've done this before," Usagi stated simply, still holding back her emotions. "Not in such a grand setting, but I'm experienced enough with this type of dancing that I'll be all right."
"Okay," Demando said, his unwavering eyes directed at her face. There was a flicker of doubt in them that Usagi caught for a mere fraction of a second, and then they became as adamantly opaque as a wall of rock. "Then let's begin."
They started to dance rather unwillingly, and though it never quite became awkward, there was an uncertainty in their motion. There was a rare grace apparent in each of their individual movements, but a sense of unity, of a connection between the two, was lacking. Usagi felt strange at first, bathed in blinding light while Demando held her, one hand around her waist and one firmly on her own hand. Unsure of herself, she went along with the music as best she could, working to maintain her pace as she followed Demando's steps. He, too, moved with extreme care and punctiliousness, but there was a languid, sulking quality that seemed to seep into their motions, stemming from the discomfort between the two.
She looked up impulsively, to see Demando's stony, fixed violet eyes gazing steadily at her face as if at this moment she was the only thing in the entire world, and suddenly felt something in her melt. She lifted her bright cerulean eyes to his, and gave him a small, sweet smile before she had even thought about it. She had forged a connection between herself and her partner when she had peeked into his eyes, and she had seen something hidden within that barrier of rock. Something in the depths of his eyes, perhaps the softness that she could just barely sense when she looked into them, gave her an unmistakable feeling of certainty, of confidence in the moment.
She broke away from her self-restrictions and dispelled the pain of the conflicted feelings she harbored within herself, giving herself entirely into this small but exhilarating fragment of time. There was a sudden wind in their motion, a feeling of joy that rushed from the depths of her heart and escaped, enveloping herself and her partner. Her long locks of silky blond hair waved freely in the air, spinning across her entire frame as she moved. The velvety white gown formed a dazzling, flowing circle as it flew through the air, lightly grazing Demando's body. He felt the sudden strength and energy that seemed to be coming from somewhere within her.
The music started to crescendo, little by little, as the white prince and golden princess began to truly move with each other, slowly at first, to the airy, gradually solidifying notes of song. The beat of the music was became neither slow nor fast, but full of subdued energy that seemed to match the movement of the two. The entire crowd stood in astonishment at the majestic way their lithe bodies flowed together. A perfect tranquility now ensued in the audience for the first time since the ceremony had began; every eye was fixed in admiration, and perhaps envy, of the pair that led the stage as if they had been born for this moment. If there were such a thing as heaven, it existed right above the surface of that elevated stage, where two forms of equal and unmatched beauty flitted gently around each other in rapturous oblivion of the world.
It was impossible, in such an environment of euphoria, for Usagi to keep up her cool guard against Demando. And though he was much more practiced in that aspect, even he could not look at her, listening to those strains of empyreal music, and turn away for the sake of maintaining his outward control. He had, for the first time, released his emotions into this simple yet beautiful act with Usagi.
Many of the nobles had begun dancing from their cue, though some simply observed the two onstage, awestruck by the difference in their Prince. He was far less cold and stiff than he had been each preceding year, and his movements seemed to flow flawlessly, as if streaming out from a source in his own heart. The look in his eyes as he gazed at his partner was one of caring, almost of kindness, they noted. The icy exterior, the intimidating and cold presence he had always exuded was slowly fading away, for he was locked in the arms of a girl whose warmth and light extended down to him, like the silvery-gold radiance of the moon in the darkest of nights.
--
"Safir! Why aren't you dancing?" Esmeraude appeared, a pout on her thin face. "You're supposed to be up there, leading the event with Prince Demando."
She always seemed to catch him unaware. Safir had been observing with keen interest the strikingly tender manner with which his brother danced with Usagi, and seeing their happiness, up on the distant stage, had somehow momentarily made him stop worrying about Esmeraude. It was like reading about happy endings in storybooks as a child, about the ideal payoff to all the hardship and labor; although he knew they were just stories, he had felt a certain sense of satisfaction at the end regardless. He could not resent his brother, who had been thrown into the burden of leadership from his youth, and had nearly never been given the opportunity to simply enjoy life. For he felt that, while Demando was the heir to the throne and the power of the entire kingdom, he was also the one who'd had to grow up prematurely, the one who was closed off from happiness because he had been forced to train himself into a hard, emotionless ruler throughout his malleable youth.
Now that Esmeraude was here, however, he felt his entire body tensing up as the misery of his own situation resurfaced. He looked vaguely at her feet and stated, as emotionlessly as he could, "I don't have a partner this year, so I told the announcer specifically not to mention my name. I'd rather be here, anyway, than in the center of attention."
"Ah, so you're all alone because there's nobody that wants you," Esmeraude said, almost gleefully.
"Why are you so pleased about that?" Safir demanded, refusing to continue allowing her to taunt him in such a way.
"Actually, I'm not really happy about it at all," Esmeraude said truthfully, shrugging. "I'm just glad I'm not the only rejected one. It would have been incredibly humiliating if I were dumped so publicly, and no one else in the entire place was left partner-less for the day."
"You're always so considerate of others," Safir said mockingly. There was a bitter anger in his blue-gray eyes.
Esmeraude instinctively folded her arms across her chest and glared indignantly at him. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"
"If you haven't realized by now, you're even more self-centered than I thought you were," Safir retorted. He stood up abruptly and returned her look of severity.
"I still don't know what you're talking about, Safir," Esmeraude repeated. "I never thought you felt anything at all. You were always just sort of standing there, watching quietly in the corner, whenever I spoke with your brother. Why are you getting all angry over that?"
"That's exactly what I thought you would say," Safir said, still refusing to back down. "Did the look on my face each time never register into your mind at all? You're the most insensitive, pompous, self-loving woman I've ever met."
And with those words he walked away in quiet dignity, leaving a shocked Esmeraude standing alone once again.
--
The music halted, and the dancers below the stage stood perfectly still in anticipation. The two in the center of the stage held each other's hands, as if afraid to let go after the surreal music ended. After all, there was no reality quite as pleasant and beautiful as the dreamlike state they had been in together only moments ago.
"That," Usagi murmured breathlessly, breaking the silence between them, "was really wonderful, Demando. Maybe it's because of the music and surroundings, and being up here, where no one else is, that made this dance so amazing."
"I've danced on this very stage many times before," Demando said, almost to himself. There was a spark of wonderment in his deep violet eyes as he spoke. "But I've never felt before anything like the way I feel today. There was something about that last dance that felt… right."
He paused as the meaning of his own words struck him. "I mean…"
"I know what you mean," Usagi said gently, smiling. "Because I feel the exact same way."
A silence followed as Demando tried to process this. He had an urge to do something at this moment, but he did not know what. Was there something he should say? Should he… tell her how much he enjoyed dancing with her, in contrast with Esmeraude? Should he do something to show what he felt as he looked at her in her glorious, impossible beauty? How exactly did he feel right now, anyway? His mind seemed to blank out as he attempted to think, and an unexpected rush of heat overcame him when he looked at her again.
"I think it's time for us all to go around the dining table in the center of the room," Demando said awkwardly, unable to find the right words to say. "Usually that's what we do after the dance ends."
"Oh, I see," Usagi responded brightly. "Well, that's good, because I just realized that I'm very hungry right now. I haven't eaten since yesterday, when Safir gave me that basket of food, and dancing with you did tire me out, though I didn't notice it at the time."
"Then it's a good thing we stopped right now," Demando said, relieved. "We'd better get down and join the rest of the citizens. I'll walk you over to the table."
"Thanks," Usagi said gratefully. "I'm not even sure I know how to find my way out of the backstage room. It's so dark in there."
"Don't worry," Demando reassured her. He walked slowly over to the door leading down the stairs, and allowed her to follow him into the darkness beneath. "I've been in there a thousand times."
--
Two pairs of eerie, shining circular eyes glinted from the sheet of pure darkness that surrounded them. They never wavered, only stared out as if transfixed by the black reality that penetrated the very air. For in this corner of the universe there was no light, save the infinitesimal glow emanating from those lackluster blue orbs. This was the territory in which Chaos thrived.
"The heroine of Earth, that foolish Sailor Moon, has been displaced from her proper home," mused a cloaked figure that hovered in the middle of the room, holding a crystal sphere spattered with spots of darkness. "This is an opportune time for the Doom Phantom to destroy Earth, weak without its defenses, with no one to protect its boundaries from the evils of the universe…"
A raspy semblance of laughter rang out through the empty spaces as the Wiseman planned his ultimate destruction.
--
A relatively short chapter this time. I don't have too much to say about it, except that I tried my very best to describe their dance (both their own feelings and the sight an observer would see) as realistically as possible, and I'm not sure if I succeeded. Maybe it was a little too perfect, but it is supposed to be one of those things that feels amazing, and something that will be memorable for both of them as their relationship progresses. At this point, both of them enjoy each other's company immensely, but can't quite place why they do because of their mindsets.
Thank you all for continuing to read and review, and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I possibly can (with three essays that I need to do for school, anyway). The next few weeks are going to be really tough, but please bear with me =)
