Disclosure: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters therein.
Chapter 10:
How may we be of service to you? Were there ever eight words that seemed so simple and yet were so complex?
Endymion looked carefully at the faces of the young women before him. How you could five young women help bring peace and unity to the world? For that matter, how could five men and an ex-gypsy? Endymion rubbed the back of his head in a rueful manner. How indeed? Suddenly at his elbow stood a woman whose presence he had forgotten.
"My lord," she murmured.
"Ah, Beryl!" he said, snapping back into the conversations around him. "Princesses, this is another member of our group who has but recently joined us. This is Lady Beryl. She possesses uncanny abilities."
"Perhaps that is where we had best begin," broke in the quiet brunette. "If we do not know each others' strengths and weaknesses, then the slim chance we have of really accomplishing something will be utterly lost."
"Of course, Princess Reilene."
"Rei," she snapped. "I'm sorry," Rei said in a softer tone. "I prefer to be called Rei. And while we may be princesses, you are kings. Let us assume that we are equal in standing and treat each other as such."
Mina giggled. "After all, it isn't as if we have to put on court manners here! Proper introductions and court manners can go hang. For goodness sake, let's be comfortable!" She plopped down on a divan and stretched.
"Sounds good to me," chirped Serenity. "Do we have your permission My Lord?" she asked Endymion with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"Be my guest," he grinned.
The eleven people took a few minutes to get settled. Some sat on couches or chairs; others lounged on cushions upon the floor. By the time that they had found their preferred places, it was obvious that they were all on their way to becoming friends. Beryl exhibited her small insecurity by insisting at sitting on an ottoman at Endymion's feet, since Princess Serenity sat next to him on the lounge, although she would have preferred to take advantage of the empty chair across the room. The young princesses seemed nice, but they were too beautiful, too poised, and too perfect. It was unnerving. How could she compete? After all, she was only a gypsy.
Eurus broke the intervening silence. "My ladies Amilie and Aramina…"
"Ami and Mina, if you please," Mina said charmingly. Once again, her eyes darted to each man, trying to decide which one she found the most attractive.
"Of course," he said. "When you visited my church, I recall Ami having a strange power come over her. What was that?"
"When earnestly aroused towards a worthy cause, we senshi tend to tap into subconscious abilities corresponding to the natural element with which we are individually aligned," replied Ami.
"What she means," explained Lita, used to translating for Ami, "that when we feel passionate about something, we each have the ability to channel and focus powers, although in different ways." There was a general murmur of understanding from the Terrans.
"That's exactly what I said."
"But they understood me."
"Anyway," said Serenity, "the five of us are each aligned with a specific element necessary to life; some of us by birth, some by choice, and some by default. I am connected to light and life, for life cannot exist without some form of energy and most life stems from light."
"What are the other elements?" asked Endymion.
"Ami is connected to water, freshwater mostly although there is a lesser connection to the sea, and Rei is with fire," said Serenity.
"Are Mina and Lita connected to metal and wood, then?" asked Zephyrus.
"Yes, how did you know?" said Mina.
"In the far east, where I spend most of my time, fire, water, wood and metal are the four main elements. I thought maybe there would be a correlation."
"Ooh… 'correlation.' Such a big word, Zephyrus," laughed Boreas. "You even used it correctly."
Zephyrus's retort died on his lips as he noted Notus's sharp glare in their direction. He shrugged. As fun as banter with Boreas was, it wasn't worth that. He was already going to be doing extra training. Why push it?
"Although Mina and I are connected to metal and wood, respectively, she is also connected to love, and I'm connected to lightning."
"How are love and metal connected?" said Eurus. He leaned forward, intrigued.
"Metal is one of the strongest materials known, particularly that of iron or steel. Under stress, it tends to bend and not break, not unless it is too brittle. In the same way, love is one of the strongest things that hold people together," said Ami. "As for wood and lightning, that's a bit more of a direct connection. You see, when lightning strikes, it moves very quickly through the air, causing ionization of various molecules, especially that of nitrogen. When nitrogen gas is ionized, it is changed into a form easily absorbed by plants, making them healthier."
"Molecules? Ionization?" Eurus, who had listened to this brief lecture fatuously, was confused. Unfortunately, Ami had neglected to remember that Terran science at this point was not exactly advanced, especially in chemistry or physics.
"Ami means that after lightning strikes, plants are greener and flowers are brighter," explained Lita. "Have any of you ever noticed that?"
After a long silent pause, Notus spoke. "In the desert, during the brief rainy season, I have noticed that thunderstorms produce more beautiful flowers than mere rainstorms."
"Precisely…." Ami was about to continue her lecture regarding the properties of nitrogen as well as the benefits of crop rotation with nitrogen-fixing plants such as various species of legumes when she was halted by a gentle nudge. With a glance, Serenity asked her to hold off on the lecture until later. The Mercurian princess fell silent, a blush gracing her cheeks.
Endymion sat thoughtfully. Having allies who could control elements... now, that was useful! But was he ready to make an overt attempt to unite the many people, governments, cultures and languages? Languages. "How is it that you speak our language?" he asked.
"What do you mean 'our language'?" retorted Serenity. "As far as we can tell, all people, Lunarian or Terran, speak the same language."
A shocked look was exchanged among the Terrans. One language? There had to be dozens, scores, if not hundreds of languages on Earth! How was it that members of the Silver Alliance only recognized one? Or was it just the royalty?
"Begging your pardon Princess," said Beryl, speaking for the first time. "There are many Terran languages. Some are more similar than others, but it takes exposure and training to understand each one."
Rei smiled mysteriously. "All languages have the same source though," she said gently. "All language comes from the mind and the heart. Once you learn to communicate effectively with those, the actual words are no longer important. It is a talent that has taken a long time to develop, but an art important to the Silver Alliance and intrinsic to senshi."
This last statement raised so many more questions in the minds of the Terrans that they were again, speechless. What in the heck were senshi? Were all senshi human? Were the princesses senshi? Were senshi selected from a large pool based on talent, or was it a hereditary position? There were too many questions to ask, too many things to know. It would simply have to take time.
"That would be very useful," said Boreas. "No offense to you ladies, but being able to speak and understand any language is far more useful than being able to make lightning, control fire, or manipulate metal. Based upon what we have seen of our people, we don't want to conquer them, but find out how to unite them. Learning how to speak to each one is fantastic!"
"Practicality is key," stated Notus flatly. "Our issues are that we don't know how ready or unready each region is, politically, economically and so forth."
The senshi shared a knowing smile. "Then you're in luck!" laughed Mina, "before you stand five well-trained individuals that specialize in the assessment of societies. Amazing, isn't it?"
Serenity smiled at Mina's antics. She wasn't really frivolous or flighty, but she knew better than most how deceptive appearances can enable one to perceive how society really worked, because of being underestimated. "Mina's specialty is cultural, Rei's political, Lita's is economic, and Ami's is technological. Mine is being able to see how those factors work together or don't to create a stable society and how to improve it. After all," she said ruefully, "one doesn't spend half of one's life listening to political representatives without figuring out how all the pieces fit together."
"That's very…." Endymion paused, looking for the right word, "convenient?" Looking at the expressions on the faces of his brothers, he could see the same questions on their faces. Was this a ploy? A trick? Or was this a scheme on the part of some power within the Silver Alliance to try and wrest rulership from Queen Selenity?
"May I ask, miladies," said Eurus, "what benefit you reap from this? We have enough political experience to know that nothing comes for free."
Ami sighed, Lita shook her head and Mina blushed. Serenity merely looked at Endymion with a hurt expression. "We get to feel useful."
Rei leapt up and paced the floor vigorously. "Do any of you know what it is like to be trained to act, and then only allowed to molder in the corner? Do you?" The fires in her eyes snapped as she glared at each person in turn. Some turned away, some looked down sorrowfully and some met her eyes somberly, acknowledging the truth of her words.
"Do you know what it's like to be trained to do a job and then told to hide it to just be a pretty princess in a pretty gown with a pretty smile speaking pretty words that mean absolutely nothing?! This is our chance, our opportunity to make an impact for the betterment of all people! We want to see why Earth has been excluded from the Silver Alliance. Getting to know more people only enriches us. Are you satisfied?"
Absolutely chastened, Zephyrus spoke softly yet clearly. "Yes, my lady. Our apologies, we should not have doubted your good intentions."
"No, you shouldn't have," snapped Rei. Yet, seeing the faces of those good men softened her. "Yet, I understand why. Politically speaking, there is very little altruistic behavior. Almost everything requires payment of some kind. How I detest it!" She sighed. The others nodded in agreement. They knew only too well how the governments worked. Even in the so-called perfect Silver Alliance, there was often too much inertia based upon the quid-pro-quo mentality of many.
"If I may," said Beryl softly, almost inaudibly, "I have a suggestion."
Serenity got up and knelt by Beryl's ottoman. She reached over and took Beryl's hands. "Then I hope you tell us," she smiled.
Beryl blushed. She couldn't remember being treated with kindness by a woman before. Before, she had always been competition or "scum." For a moment, Beryl thanked whatever fates or gods there were for her good fortune in finding good people. "Simply put," she said, "having five young women suddenly following around one of your brothers would be very suspicious, as well as not the most efficient use of time. Wouldn't it be wiser for each one of you princesses to take a turn with each King to see how his respective region measures up according to her own area of expertise?" Her voice drifted off. "Or maybe not. It isn't a very good suggestion, I suppose…"
"Not a very good suggestion indeed!" exclaimed Zephyrus.
"No," said Endymion. "It is an excellent suggestion."
"With one minor alteration," broke in Lita. "Our job as senshi isn't just to advise Princess Serenity, but also to protect her. I don't think it would be wise for her journey with any of the Kings, not without one or more of us."
Serenity began to protest, but Mina cut her off. "No, princess. As you stated, your greatest strength is to see how all of the pieces fit together, something similar to Endymion's role, I suspect. Your time would be better served either by investigating how we can change certain attitudes within your mother's court or by learning from Endymion how all of the regions work together."
"Indeed," continued Ami, "until we bring back more data on the situation, we really can't come to any decision on how or even if we should act. Nor do we have any idea on how to present Earth's presumed readiness if we decide to do so."
"Rei, surely you understand where I stand," pleaded Serenity. But her best friend just shook her head gently. Serenity embraced her, sensing Rei's unease. "You're too important Serenity. Please," Rei whispered.
Serenity nodded, and then stepped away to face Endymion. "I suppose we have a plan."