Cats And Rabbits
I don't own Sailor Moon, or any of the characters, and all that fun stuff.
Eight:
Tonight's dinner affair was a lavish buffet allowing food and quiet companionship. Soft conversation and the music of several ladies displaying their dubious talents filled the air with a dense murmur, that would give anyone not intoxicated a strong incentive to become so at his earliest convenience. Most women jostled for the Prince's attention while the men fought in vain for the ladies'.
Bunny faded into the background, hiding under a large potted fern and the guise of an obsequious maid. She blessed her training from her years on the Moon for preparing her for her most trying mission yet; she could fight, she could sink into the background, she could spy, she could command, she could do everything required of her. Her eyes strayed across the room to where the Prince of the Earth was flirting shamelessly with Princess Minako of Venus.
She could do everything, except hide from the Prince.
Bunny shook her head; morosely contemplating her actions over the last few weeks. Varick and Trinity would skin her alive if they knew what she did during her midnight jaunts. The blonde blew a stray strand of hair out of her face; worse than Trini and Varick was the idea of her parents' response.
Determinedly, Bunny returned her attention to her prey tonight.
The Princess of Mercury, Ami Hermia Mizuno was a petit woman, only a few inches taller than Bunny. Her dark blue hair was cut in a short bob. It was convenient, but hardly glamorous; even after a small army of maids spent hours teasing and twirling her hair into a curly poof it fell to its natural state. Her dress was also a simple design of blue silk. Everything about the woman spoke of simplicity, except for her sharp highly intelligent blue eyes.
Mercury was a small, rather barren planet who's people were devoted to the pursuit of knowledge. Even the royal family was not above spending hours getting dirty as they created some new invention, or took it apart to see how it works. With all of the emphasis on knowledge certain other things, like protection, were overlooked. Mercury had almost no army to speak of, so the small planet relied upon Venus for protection.
Bunny grinned, the Venusians would have everyone believe that they protected their small neighbor out of altruism, but they benefited from Mercury's inventions more than most. Venus would be in serious trouble if Mercury decided to rely upon another less pompous benefactor; but the silly Venusian Princess was either ignorant of the fact, or stupidly disregarding it.
Princess Ami was currently pouring over a book with Zoicite; completely oblivious to everything else in the room as the pair debated the particular virtues of classifying things as good and evil.
"It is important to have a dichotomy in order to determine which actions are socially desirable, and which are not. Granted, a person cannot be evil, but their actions can be."
"Princess, I must disagree." Bunny couldn't see Zoicite's face, but his tone of voice betrayed a cocky superiority. The blonde didn't agree with the Mercurian princess, but she knew she would not agree with Zoicite before he presented his view. "There is no good or evil, only winners and losers in the history books. If, for example, the Moon wins the impending war then history will tell of the good and virtuous Lunarians triumph over the evil humans. Should the other event occur, history will be written by the Earth and will thus be the opposite."
"That is an example of calling people evil, when it is actually the actions of the people that are undesirable and thus evil. In this instance, War is the true evil and the victors do not want to claim the evil themselves. The Moon will claim that the Earth forced them into the war, while the earth will claim that the Moon began the war; the reality of the event will fade into history, and the truth will become whatever the victor says it is."
Zoicite shook his head. "What if I believe that War is desirable?"
"Then you will rejoice in beginning the war and your opponent will not be evil, just weak."
Bunny looked away, her eyes straying to the green clad prince even as her mind spun madly on. She had seen that evil was not an idea created by society to maintain social order, there were indeed people who's hearts had died and turned their blood green. She fought such people on an almost daily basis; she fought such people because it was her duty to protect the Earth even if it meant sacrificing the Moon.
The blonde thought back to the reason why she had been so desperate to come to Earth for a fool's errand that had very little chance of success.
Yes, people could be evil. The only problem was, sometimes the evil people were the ones you would never expect.
Bunny forced her mind back to the unusual pair; their conversation had moved on as they had agreed to disagree on the nature of evil. It was getting late, so Ami excused herself.
The Princess threaded her way through the crowd, headed for the nearest doorway, not noticing the pigtailed blonde that followed her. She exited the airy, well lit ballroom, whisked along the darker hallway, and turned down another hallway.
"Princess Ami Hermia Mizuno of Mercury!" Bunny called, feeling that they were a safe distance from the ballroom.
The Princess turned, curious, as Bunny trotted forward. "I am she."
"Begging your pardon, Majesty." The shorter woman said with a deep curtsy, "My mistress is wanting to see you, Miss. She says it is urgent."
"You are Lunaian. It must be the Mare Serenitatis." The princess looked Bunny over thoughtfully, "Did she say what it was about?"
"Naw, Miss, not to me."
"Lead the way."
Bunny curtsied again, hiding a triumphant smile. She loved that as a convention of peace no one would be suspicious of the motives of another; she also loved that as a maid she was never to be feared by anyone. She led the way through the castle corridors musing over the benefits of always being a maid.
"Here we are Miss." Bunny held a door open for the Princess to enter a dark room in front of her. "I'll light the fire for you Miss." Bunny closed the door behind her self. She had bribed one of the maids into getting her a key to this store room earlier in the week; now, Bunny turned the key in the lock slowly, smiling at the audible clunk of the lock engaging. Now things would get interesting.
Bunny turned around slowly, knowing that the Princess had already been put on her guard by the sound of the lock.
Rather than seeing the pale silk clad figure of Princess Ami of Mercury, Bunny was confronted with a powerful figure.
"No Lady in her right mind would meet me in such a room as this!" Princess Mercury was dressed shockingly; her long modest dress had been replaced by a short tight sailor outfit. She had a short blue, pleated skirt with a large flowing white bow on the back the outfit's bodice was pure white. She wore high boots and gloves, and a golden tiara. "What ever you are being paid to do, it is not worth it. Tell me who is paying you, unlock the door, and walk away." Aside from the change in physical appearance, the Princess had also changed her demeanor; she was more commanding and intimidating, her mere presence seemed to wash the room with a soft blue light. She obviously believed that the weak little maid would do as she was told.
"Oh! This does make things easier!" Bunny said clapping her hands delightedly. "I thought you were going to make this hard for me, but you just came right out and now we don't have to dance around the issue."
"I'm Sailor Mercury, one of the Solar System's elite defenders of love and justice. You do not want to tangle with me." The other woman's voice was measured as she attempted to hide that she was rather taken back by Bunny's response.
"Yes, yes, of course." Bunny waved one hand dismissively. "All I want is to have a conversation with you that will not be over heard, you don't have to be so paranoid."
Sailor Mercury's fighting stance sagged as she cocked her head to the side. "I don't understand."
Sailor Mercury was easily taken off guard, Bunny noted. They would have to work on that in the future.
"Well then let me clear things up for you. This Peace Conference is only a cover for the Earth, and now the Moon, to gain supporters and allies for the coming war. Everyone has written Mercury off, thinking that you will go whichever way Venus goes." Bunny smiled in the dark, and flicked one finger so that a candelabra burst into flame, illuminating the room with a flickering glow that contrasted with Mercury's glow. "We may be the only two people on this planet who know that Mercury will do whatever you decide, and Venus will soon follow."
"You have my attention." Sailor Mercury quirked a beautifully arched eyebrow inviting her blonde companion to continue.
Bunny nodded; she had a very good idea about what was going on between Venus and Mercury, but she had been unable to talk to her informant the night before. She squashed the confused feelings that began to arise when she thought about her stunning 'rescue' at the Bell and Bull. She would have to apologize to her informant for getting him into a brawl, but she was interested in Darien's appearance in the city's least reputable bar.
"Mercury is a small planet," Bunny began, bringing her mind back to task, "completely devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, so they are less than well defended. Well, most assume they are less than well defended." Bunny ducked her head, acknowledging the blue clad Sailor Scout. "Venus offers you protection in exchange for technology, but Mercury would do very well without Venus's protection. The Venusians, however, would not survive long without your technology and only the two royal families understand the relationship."
"Now, the Princess of Venus may well marry the Prince of Earth. The King of the Earth believes that would secure Mercury and Venus for the coming war, but I know that even if they marry off their child the King and Queen of Venus will consult with your parents before they decide where to stand."
"Very smart." The Sailor Scout said, nodding appreciatively. "But why would Mercury let the Solar System believe that Venus hold the reins? My planet wants power, so your theory doesn't hold."
"Don't be an idiot; we both know that it is easier to maneuver without the prying eyes of politicians trained upon you. How much would you know if the Prince of the Earth had his big blue puppy eyes targeting you as his future match?" Bunny grinned, "Your planet has power, and is wise enough to know that it is easier to use power from the shadows."
"But the Princess Minako of Venus treats me like Mercurian altitude scum upon her shoes; if Mercury had power over Venus she should not be so irreverent." Ami pointed out.
"And it would blow your cover. Your families have either deigned that she is too stupid to know the truth, or she is an excellent actress and one of your best friends."
"VERY good." Sailor Mercury said emphatically. "Either your mistress has briefed you very well, or you are not who you pretend to be."
Again, Bunny ducked her head in concession of the Sailor Scout's point. "So, the Moon is prepared to actively pursue an alliance with the planet Mercury, the winged messenger, in which ever form you choose. We can continue to pretend that Venus is the powerhouse, or we can acknowledge your superiority."
"That's awfully nice of you." Sailor Mercury said dryly, she had relaxed enough to lean back against a pile of boxes. "But how do I know that you have the power to tell me what the Moon's foreign policy will be?"
Bunny laughed. "How many maids are willing to kidnap a Princess who can fight?"
"True enough. You must be the real Mare Serenitatis, then."
Shaking her head, Bunny smiled at the Princess; she could easily grow to like this woman with her cool head and sharp intelligence. "No, the Mare Serenitatis is indeed the Raven haired beauty that you met. She is a stunning sorceress, and a kind soul; two virtues that have gotten her elected for the last ten years. Sadly, her heart is too pure to be a truly excellent politician."
"That is an understatement." Mercury paused, thoughtfully. "Then you aren't one of the Mare?"
"Good Gods no! Who the Devil would elect me? I just pulled the rashest stunt in Lunar history."
"You did, didn't you?" The taller woman murmured as she dissolved into giggles. "Who in their right mind would kidnap a Princess in the middle of a Peace conference? That is certainly something to cause a war."
"Some one who is certain of success."
Mercury sobered quickly to glare across the room at her blonde captor. "You haven't given me any reason to support the Moon, nor have you given me any proof that you can get the Moon to stand behind your words. You may have been certain of success, but you just failed." She pushed away from the boxes, hiding a stumble as she lost her balance, and made for the door.
"You should stand with the Moon because we do not want to have this war, we are here to protect the Earth, not invade it. You should stand with the Moon because it is what is right and just." With every word Bunny grew more authoritative, her power seemed to crackle through the room. "You should stand with the Moon because we can either protect you or destroy you. You should stand with the Moon because you are honor bound to fight along side the Sailor Solider of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon."
Sailor Mercury paused wide eyed, with her hand frozen on the door knob. "There is no Sailor Moon."
"Indeed there is, and she demands that you stand with her."
Sorry to leave you hanging, but I wanted this to be an interesting chapter. I hope it gives you some information about what is really going on; but if you are confused or have lots of ideas of what things mean... Bravo for me. Anyway, thanks for the reveiws. Please keep it up. - LS
