The Golden Age
Chapter Ten
"Come on, Selenity!"
Venus shoved the other girl up through the ventilator shaft of Magellan Castle's open air concert hall. From inside the dusty shaft came muffled yelp.
"You never said we had to sneak in!"
"Yeah, Venus, why did that little bit of information slip your mind?"
Venus, hands on hips, let out a short, violent sigh.
"Look," she began, "My mother thinks I'm light years away, tucked safely in bed on the Moon. My kingdom thinks I've taken up an intensive foreign training program, and I'm not allowed off the Moon until the Queen decides Selenity's old enough - in other words do you really think I could walk up and buy tickets to this thing?"
"You could have told us!" Jupiter shouted.
The others clapped their hands over her mouth.
"Guys," a voice whined from inside the shaft, "It's icky in here."
Mars and Jupiter were suddenly confronted by the bright blue, disconcertingly frank gaze they knew very well. It was the same look Venus wore when she was about to become 'Sailor Venus' and pull rank on them.
"We're not going to live forever," she said, a hint of an edge in her voice; there was always an unexpected hardness underneath the golden glow.
"Let's live while we can!"
"Well, some of us will."
"What?"
Jupiter rolled her eyes and pointed, mutely, at the shaft, and then hitched her thumb back at Mercury, who was standing perfectly still examining the controls for the heating and air.
"Oh," Venus nodded, "Right. Well, you and me and Mars won't live forever, unless there's something I don't know about demons -"
"Daimons!"
"Whatever, well the three of us aren't going to live forever, and our two immortals should at least have some good memories to tell their great-great-great-great grandchildren."
Jupiter smacked her hand to her face and jerked Venus' face down to her own, barely exerting a smidgen of her strength to do it - the other girl had to brace her muscles to keep from falling on the floor. The taller girl just didn't know her own strength.
"Stop being so insensitive," Jupiter hissed.
"What did I say this time!?"
Jupiter pulled Venus' face until Mercury was in her sight, then pulled Venus back to Jupiter's no nonsense green stare.
"Grandchildren? Really, Venus?"
Jupiter let her go so fast she almost over balanced herself.
"Alright, alright! I get it. I'm sorry. Now can we please get on with it? I can hear the opening chords of -"
"Let's just go," Mars sighed, putting a hand on Jupiter's shoulder, "She'll never rest until we do. And the princess is still in the -"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Four heads snapped as one to stare at the opening of the shaft.
Mercury, in her calm, even voice, said, "Oh, dear."
"Wait, I think I didn't quite catch that last bit," Jadeite said, rubbing his eyes, his glasses in the other hand.
Kunzite took a better grip on his map and the file of reports.
"We are to infiltrate the Moon tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Yes, Nephrite."
"But why tonight?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
The three turned toward the corner of the small, hidden chamber where Zoisite, legs crossed elegantly, seemed to be dabbling with some sort of hand-held electronic device. He looked up slowly, and when he caught their eyes his own twinkled oddly.
"Wipe that satisfied smirk off your face and just tell us."
"Well, if you must know," Zoisite began, running a hand through his hair, "Tonight is the Princess's sixteenth birthday, according to our sources there is to be a celebration tomorrow morning to commemorate the occasion."
"So?" Nephrite frowned, slumping back into his chair with the same sulking expression he'd worn as a child.
"So, tonight," the other replied, slowly, "The security will be slightly...distracted, in preparations for tomorrow. Everyone will be concentrating on the Princess's big day - including the Queen, who, by all accounts, loves her daughter to distraction. Which is precisely what we want."
"Yes, and according to rumor the Moon princess and her mother are the most beautiful women in the universe and they look nearly identical, and the Martians spit fire out of their eyes and the Venusians walk around with no clothes on." Jadeite mentioned, in a bored voice.
"No clothes?" Nephrite sat up in his chair.
Jadeite rolled his eyes.
"Rumors, Neph."
"Indeed," Kunzite nodded, tapping the files on the table, "But useful, none-the-less. You've been briefed, so I'll give you twenty minutes to change and ready yourselves."
Without breaking stride or speech, he wrenched the door open and neatly put the snooper behind it in a headlock, all before Jadeite, Nephrite or Zoisite could stand.
"Oh, your highness. Excuse me."
Kunzite unceremoniously dropped the young prince to the floor. Endymion pushed himself to his knees, rubbing his neck with one hand and coughing.
"Killing the heir to the throne would be a bad move, don't you think, Kunzite?" Jadeite asked as he knelt beside the prince.
Of course Kunzite didn't answer. No one would have expected him to. He was already gone from the room to do goodness only knew what before they left. And despite the prince's condition and the interruption, he would still expect them to be ready in twenty-minutes. Eighteen now.
"What were you doing behind the door, Endymion?"
"Or do we need to ask?"
The prince gazed up at them from the floor, his usually grim expression replaced by one of anger.
"You're going to go to the Moon."
It was an accusation.
Jadeite sighed.
"You know you can't come."
"Kunzite would never let you come with us, Endymion," Nephrite said, giving the prince his hand and jerking the slighter man to his feet in one graceful motion.
"I don't care what Kunzite says," the young prince declared, his tone gone as steely as his blue eyes.
There was no arguing with him when he was in this mood, and they knew it. But they were still required to waste precious minutes doing just that.
"Sire, your father would be furious."
"My father doesn't have to know."
"It's not feasible," Zoisite pointed out, "We've prepared for years for this operation. We've all created aliases and done formal training in going undercover as -"
"I have learned everything you have," Endymion interrupted, pinning them each with his intense gaze, "Everything. I'm as good a fighter as Nephrite -"
"Sire, it isn't just fighting -"
"And a better actor than any of you, even Jadeite -"
"Well, that's debatable -"
"And," he paused, his cheeks flushing just slightly, "I will not be the kind of man that stands by and lets others do his work for him."
There was an awkward silence after this last declaration. Everyone avoided Endymion's eyes - after all, it was only the truth.
"Sire, Kunzite will -"
"Don't tell him," Endymion whispered, catching all their eyes with his own once more - this time there was an excited little glimmer in their depths.
"You'll be using the new teleporter, correct?"
"It's still in the experimental phases," Zoisite frowned, "I really don't think it ought to be used at all, but -"
"It's simple then," the prince continued, starting to help them with their preparations - picking up the blue-prints of the palace and glancing over them - memorizing them.
"You'll all go according to the plan, then I'll come after you. I only want to keep an eye on you. -"
"And Kunzite -" Jadeite began.
"And Kunzite, if he finds me, will think that I followed you on my own. So no one gets into trouble."
They stared at him for a long moment, each man struggling.
"It's not really a safe way to travel," Zosite began with a long sigh.
"And we will have to keep an eye on you," Nephrite added, frowning down at the prince.
"But you're going to come anyway, so," Jadeite finished, holding out a box and a stack of papers.
Endymion never really smiled, at least not when any other living being was present, but his eyes lightened for a moment. Some of the perpetual strain seemed momentarily gone.
"What are these?"
He lifted the lid and prodded the strange garments inside.
"They're custom Mercurian dress, " Jadeite replied with the beginnings of a sly smile, "So I hope you don't get warm easily."
Endymion held up a pair of silver-grey men's pants and a long sleeved black shirt with a high collar.
"Am I to be dressed as a Mercurian peasant?" he asked, holding up a pair of thong-sandals with dismay.
"Just put them on."
"What on Earth are you wearing!?" The prince exclaimed, catching sight of Zoisite in skin-tight denim, a pair of suspenders and white scarf - no shirt. He let down his long hair and smoothed it.
"Just like a normal Venusian, " Zoisite explained, "This is how they dress. Less is more is a Venusian saying, you know."
"Apparently," the prince muttered.
"Just be grateful you don't have to be Martian for the night," Nephrite said, tugging on a jacket.
"Are you possibly wearing a skirt?" Endymion nearly choked out.
"It's not a skirt," Nephrite growled. The pleated red and black material hit just below his knees, showing his muscular legs, encased in low boots.
"Somehow, even in a skirt -"
"It's NOT a skirt!"
"He manages to look even more intimidating, don't you think, sire?"
Endymion's lips twitched as he caught Jadeite's wink.
Jadeite shrugged, pulling on a comfortable sweater with a hole in it. His normal looking pants were baggy and well-worn; he placed his fake glasses on his nose and smoothed his short hair over to one side with some grease.
"That's quite shabby," Endymion noted, fiddling with the zipper on the collar of his shirt.
"Jovians tend to dress down. They're a very relaxed society and they don't believe in ostentation."
"The homier the better," Zoisite nodded, opening a tin of glitter make-up.
Endymion began to grow pale.
"I don't have to wear that, do I?"
Zoisite grinned at his own reflection, evilly.
"Here," Jadeite thrust a case into the prince's hand.
"What are these?"
He slipped a pair of dark blue glasses out of a silver tube.
"Mercurians are usually intelligent, at least if you have these no one will ask you any questions."
"If they do," Zoisite said, "Let me answer them."
"I'm not an idiot, you know."
"Compared to a Mercurian scientist, we're all amoebas in the primordial ooze."
"What is Kunzite going to be?"
"With that hair?" Jadeite retorted, straightening his tie, "A Lunarian, of course."
"What did you think the tux was for?"
Endymion shook his head and slipped the dark glasses onto his nose.
The world suddenly looked very blue - a sort of deep indigo. He imagined it was what life looked like through the cell of a violet.
"He'll be here in five minutes," Nephrite warned, watching the door.
"Sire, if you really want to do this -"
"I do -"
"Then give us ten minutes before you step into the teleporter," Zoisite finished.
"And pray that it actually delivers us on the Moon instead of disintegrating our bodies into dust particles."
The others turned a little paler.
"Well, are we ready?"
Jadeite smiled grimly at his studious and homely reflection.
"As ready as we'll ever be."
The men filed out into the hallway and Endymion left through the window so that he could track them in the dark from a safe distance. In the night sky he watched the moon revolving above the Earth.
He allowed himself a small smile of anticipation.
"Are you nervous?"
Neptune reached out to clasp Uranus' long, tapered fingers in her own. Through their palms she could feel the other girl's heart beating in a slow, steady rhythm. She felt a sudden longing to feel that same heart beat through her chest - to feel their hearts next to each other.
In the darkness, she blushed, thankful that Uranus couldn't see her. She berated herself for the thoughts that seemed to crop up constantly - especially in the last year. There were thoughts she had, feelings, toward Uranus, that she'd never felt before - not even for the swains that vied for her hand now that she was eighteen, heart-achingly beautiful, and of marriageable age. These feelings - since she'd turned seventeen and realized that the way her heart leaped into her throat when she saw her old friend enter the room wasn't the simplicity of sisterhood friendship. Ever since Uranus had started to pull away from her - had started to involve herself in wild and reckless activities - interstellar star races, cliff-diving on Jupiter, storm chasing - would it never end? And all the time Neptune couldn't help but feel bewildered and painfully confused. Uranus would never tell her anything anymore. Was it because she suspected those feelings? If so, was she disgusted?
But now they were forced to interact in a place where Uranus couldn't stalk off or run away every time her strange moods came on.
They were about to perform on stage for the Lunar Concert - it would be tomorrow, but for now they were practicing on the planet, Jupiter. They would arrive for the princess' birthday tomorrow morning. Their first visit to the Moon.
"I'm not. Are you?"
Uranus' voice had matured to a husky, low timbre - her sharp profile was handsome in the half light of the spot.
Neptune, following another sudden urge, put her hand on one side of the other woman's face and drew her gaze down to Neptune's own. Looking into Uranus's deep blue eyes, Neptune put both hands on her shoulders, raised herself, and kissed Uranus lightly on the lips.
It was the quickest of kisses, like a butterfly's wing brushing a flower petal. Almost negligent. An after thought.
Neptune didn't know why she'd done it. Perhaps, she thought, as her adrenaline level lowered and her heart started to beat normally, this was how Uranus felt when she looked over the edge of a cliff, or rounded a curve at high speeds.
Uranus stared down at her - her expression unreadable. Neptune felt a trickle of dread deep in her belly. Uranus knew. And she wasn't happy about it. Neptune swallowed hard - she wasn't going to cry. Not now.
"For luck," she explained, in a light, careless voice. Then she walked past Uranus to the front of the stage where her long, silver metal cello sat waiting for her beside the carved ivory spinet.
Behind her, Uranus unclenched her fists slowly, her palms slightly bruised by the pressure. She let out a low sigh and closed her eyes shut, tight. She tried at once to block out every thought of Neptune's lips, and at the same time to taste and memorize the feel of her kiss. She needed to disappear, and forget herself and this twisted, impossible love. She needed a fast car. A high cliff. A dangerous storm. She needed...a drink.
There were no bars open on Jupiter past this hour of night. Damn. Neptune didn't know that she drank, sometimes a little too much. She hoped Neptune didn't know.
Outside, another storm began its silent assault on the un-stained, stolid wood of the beautiful old auditorium.
Kunzite steadied himself with a hand on Jadeite's shoulders as he materialized on the slick street, his glistening black shoes and tuxedo not offering much range of movement. He would need to adjust that immediately.
He blinked. The glare of the streets was far brighter than what he'd been led to believe about the Moon.
"Zoisite?"
Jadeite's voice came drifting over the sounds of some strange kind of music in the distance.
"Yes?"
"Are there supposed to be moving, glowing portraits of almost naked women on the buildings?"
From behind them all, Zoisite's clear, precise voice rang out in beautifully clipped syllables, cutting through the thick, warm night air:
"Shit."
Nephrite straightened from being sick - an apparent side-effect of space travel. He wiped his mouth with a wet napkin and opened a small bottle of scented peppermint water.
"Where the hell are we?" he rasped.
Kunzite turned to look at his youngest soldier with an air of calm expectancy.
Zosite looked around him in one long survey of the glowing, glittering city, then ran a hand through his hair and answered:
"Venus?"
Kunzite closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. The air smelt like sweet perfume and human sweat - an odd, not altogether off-setting arouma.
"How soon can we get back?"
Zoisite fiddled with his little silver box.
"It will take another five hours before the transporter is ready to send us back to Earth. Providing, of course, that it actually works better than it did this time."
"At least we aren't dust, " Jadeite muttered. He eyed the other two - they were all thinking about the prince. Would he make it to the Moon to discover he was alone? Would he end up on Venus? Would he arrive at all?
"Maybe it won't work," Nephrite mouthed when Kunzite's back was turned.
"Fat chance," Zoisite muttered.
Kunzite began walking down the street.
"Where are you going?" Jadeite called, the rest of them running to catch up. Strangely, there were no people on the street.
"Five hours, right?" Kunzite asked.
"Better make the most of the opportunity."
He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and continued walking down the streets of Helen, Venus as if he'd walked them his entire life.
The others did what they always did: tried to keep up with him.