I know it's been quite a long while since I updated because I've just been caught up with other things like the constant bombardment of school assignments and then exams came and then I've also been working on other stories as well. Like a new story I have up on fictionpress under the same alias. And also, I didn't really know how I want to end this fanfic and how I'll build up to that climax so I wanted to wait to see if anyinspiration hit me but alas, 6 months came and gone and nothing...zip
But I have some idea on how I want this fan fic to go so here's just something I put together
I don't know when I'm going to update next so if you want, just keep an eye open for updates
Anyway, I'm going to stop my rant because I'm sure I must be very boring. :P
Hope you enjoy this chapter and I'd love to hear some feedback. I don't care if it's negative or positive...just anything would be great because...either on what you think, what I should improve or even how horrible my writing is...constructive criticism is golden! :)
Thank you! XD
Disclaimer: Sailor moon is in no way no how under my ownership
"I need your help," was the very first thing Mars said when Kiki walked into the room.
Mars was seductively sprawled on the scarlet chaise of the grand chamber, plopping gleaming black grapes into her mouth. With raven black hair, bloody red lips, and pale make-up, Kiki could have mistaken Lady Mars as a vampire if she hadn't known better.
It was just past midnight and Mars had ordered her personal maid to fetch Kiki up from bed, which made Kiki loath the woman even more. Did she not realize maids had to peel themselves out of bed at five in the morning? Well, it's no mystery that the effort contributed by palace maids is completely lost on monarchs with their afternoon beauty sleeps and the rightful authority to call on maids whenever they wish.
Like in one in the morning.
But she knew from what she heard from the older palace maids that Queen Serenity was nothing like that. The late monarch sympathized with the maids and would actually clean up her own mess, tend to her own garden, draw her own bath, and would even occasionally drop by the kitchen to see if the maids were short on hands.
If only Queen Serenity were still alive...
But knowing that antagonizing the Queen of Crystal Tokyo would do herself no justice, Kiki just kept her mouth clamped shut and with a smile, obediently listened to what her majesty the queen had to say.
"You share a room a room with Sierra, correct?"
Kiki nodded and silently noted to herself Yeah, lucky Sierra. She gets to stay in bed while I have to tend to this siren.
"Well, I have a favour to ask of you: I want you to...retrieve...something for me. It appears I have lost a locket and from what I heard, I understand that Sierra may have taken it. You've seen the locket, haven't you?"
Raking through her mind, Kiki remembered Sierra wearing a locket around her neck the day she entered the palace. Sierra had said that the locket was given to her by her mother at birth before she was left an orphan but Sierra had noted that the locket just couldn't be opened so she didn't know what was concealed inside.
But Kiki hasn't seen Sierra wearing the locket ever since due to palace rules that adorning jewellery was forbidden in the palace.
"Sierra's not a thief," Kiki burst out, "the locket belongs to her!"
"I don't care who the locket belongs to, I just want it, understand?"
"No, I don't understand and forgive me your majesty but I refuse to betray a friend." Kiki was about to storm out of the room, forgetting all about her previous thoughts about not irritating the queen until Lady Mars said something that changed the situation entirely.
"You walk out of this room and you're committing and monumental mistake." Mars sung her legs onto the floor and began to slowly walk toward Kiki. "I know you have an ailing grandmother in the city and if I'm not mistaken, you're working yourself dry day and night to get the money to get her proper treatment."
Kiki halted dead in her tracks, half way out the door.
Mars had spied on her and ran, in secret, a background check on her. Now, the despicable woman was using her grandmother against her.
Kiki resented her more and more as the clock ticked on.
"If you're willing to help me, if you're willing to obey my every order from here on out, I'll provide you dear granny with the medical treatment she needs. The money, the proper home, everything, and you'll still have money to spare."
The offer was tempting. Mouth watering tempting. But she kept her mouth shut.
If she just relied on the income she achieves being a maid, who knows long it was until her grandmother could receive the proper care? Her grandmother was the only family member she had left in this world and day after day, Kiki was closer and closer to losing her. She couldn't lose grandmother, she just couldn't...
"Fine. I'll help you."
"Excellent. But there's just one more thing..."
Mars walked backed over to her chaise and picked up a glass elixir and began turning it her hands, her bloody lips curving into a nefarious smirk.
Sierra didn't want to think of what happened last night in the room in the tower: how she felt foolish, rejected, and disgusted when she had to clean up Diana's mess.
Endymion probably had multiple mistresses, knowing the amount of young girls that swoon when he passes them in the palace halls. Not only that but rumour has it that he's still head over heels in love with his late wife. Even if that rumour were false, he still has Lady Mars.
There was no way Sierra was going to compete with any of them. But she felt guilty about the way she felt. She felt as though she had betrayed both Lady Mars and the late Queen Serenity.
But she couldn't dwell on that matter for long because there were more important problems to be concerned with. Like the fact that Kiki is an hour late for kitchen duty and Sierra had to wash her share of the lettuce. If Kiki didn't come in through the doors soon to report for kitchen duty before Margaret, the head of Palace Proceedings, came in, they'd both be busted.
But just then, Kiki came barging in, plucked the apron off the hook and slid it over her head before rushing over to Sierra's side by the sink.
"Where were you?" Sierra hissed. "I woke up this morning and you weren't in bed so I thought you'd come here early but you weren't. If Margaret had come in a second ago, I would have hated your guts." She slid a bowl full of lettuce toward Kiki and the two girls began to soak leaves of lettuce under the rushing water.
"That witch Mars wanted me to run an errand for her."
"What kind of errand."
"You won't understand."
"Oh? Just try me." Sierra was peeved. "Did you know I spent the whole morning doing your share of the work all the while worrying—"
"Look, no one told you to do my share of the work. If you were that worried about getting into trouble, you could just get on and mind your own business and just forget about me." Kiki shook the lettuce leaves so they'd be dried of water and took the large bowl to the far side of the kitchen, without taking another glance at Sierra.
What had gotten into her? Sierra thought. All she was trying to do was be a good friend.
But Sierra couldn't dwell on what was biting at Kiki that made her so irritable because the kitchen staff was buzzing with excitement, dashing here and there, talking over each other's gabbling voices, because the outer sailor scouts were visiting Crystal Tokyo in order to discuss the pending attack from Galaxia with the sailor scouts here at the palace. The sailor scouts were an elite force in the universe and for them to be gathering here is an extravagant event and to be able to meet and serve them was an immense honour. Everyone at the palace wore their best and was on tip-top behaviour because who wouldn't want to impress these people—or rather heavenly figures.
Sierra was nothing if not giddy of course but to serve the sailor scouts meant being in the same room as Endymion and she'd rather pass on that. Better sizzle down her feelings for him before it got her tangled in irreparable trouble. It was for her own good and for the sake of Lady Mars.
Then, Margaret burst into the kitchen's swinging doors and fretfully rummaged through the kitchen, dashing here and there. Sierra turned off the tap, wiped her hands on her tattered apron and began following the head of proceedings around.
"What's the matter?" Sierra winced at what she asked because it hit her that the second time today, she'd took a whack at an attempt to be nice. She wasn't usually this willing to help. Maybe it was her subconscious telling her that she should compensate for her guilt ridden feelings for Endymion. Hopefully this time, her kindness won't back fire on her.
"The King requests a drink," she replied hastily.
Guess who's trying to suck up to the king?
"Calm down, Margaret," Sierra soothed. "There are already enough things in the palace you have to worry yourself with. It's only a drink. Make the king wait."
Margaret stopped as she opened a drawer midway and gave Sierra a look of disbelief as if Sierra had just told her someone died.
But before Sierra could even open her mouth to continue, Kiki had arrived by their side after weaving through the herd of kitchen staff.
"I'll fetch his majesty a drink," she said eagerly.
Margaret stared at her thoughtfully, no doubt wanting to bring the beverage to the King himself in order to please him. While Sierra on the other hand shot an eyebrow up, and gave a look to her friend. She didn't think Kiki had wanted to impress Endymion so badly and the thought of Endymion fraternizing with some other palace maid disturbed her.
It seemed that no matter how hard Sierra shoved her thoughts about Endymion to the back of her mind, they always seem to find a way to rebound back—harder and more intense each time.
At this rate, her head was bound to start throbbing sooner or later.
Suddenly, a voice from somewhere deep in the kitchen hollered for Margaret, breaking the tableau the three ladies formed.
"Fine," Margaret replied dismissively. "Bring him a drink but be quick. There's still more work to be done."
With a terse nod, Kiki left.
"And you," Margaret snapped at Sierra. "When I get back, you're coming with me. We're short on hands in setting up in the grand hall."
It was an hour until noon—an hour before the meeting began with the sailor scouts.
The grand hall was still being prepared with the palace workers and maid running frantically here and there, preparing for the big event but Sailors Uranus and Neptune had arrived early to Crystal Tokyo and decided to be the first ones to drop in at the palace.
There were ten lavishly grand chairs: five evenly spaced along each side of the wide central marble aisle that ran down the middle of the grand hall from the tall double door entry way to the red carpeted steps leading to the raised platform where two thrones sat. Each chair was luxuriously adorned with golden tassels and glittering jewels.
Sailor Uranus and Neptune chose settled into two seats that were side by side, surveying the bustle unravelling around them.
"Do you see her?" Neptune asked.
"No. But it's difficult to recognize anyone here. The maids are all dressed in the same outfit; even their hair's all covered up. You'd think it'll be easy to spot a bright yellow head of hair."
As Uranus scanned the room for the girl in question, Neptune let her eyes wander across the vastness of the grand hall. The hall that she remembered Serenity used to use often as a ballroom. Now it was decorated to be a meeting place to discuss war.
The grand hall was several stories high with a domed, glass ceiling through which the warm sun beamed down, its rays dancing on the glistening marble floor. Ceiling high windows ringed the room on the walls with crimson drapes spilling down onto the floor. The entire hall radiated a whimsical fell to it as if everything were painted over with a layer of glossy varnish. The room had a mixture of glistening white and sleek platinum.
It was then Neptune felt an elbow stab into her ribs.
"Look, it's her," Uranus whispered.
Neptune followed Uranus' gaze and spotted a maid who had just entered the hall with a stern and plump middle-aged lady. The girl appeared timid and well...bored as she followed the lady across the hall to the long table where beverages and snacks will be served.
"Yes," Neptune said. "It's her. It's Sierra."
As she arranged the vase of roses that would be placed as decor on the table of beverages, Sierra would once in a awhile sneak glances around the room from beneath her eyelashes. She's never been in the grand hall before and as she digested the sight of all of it, she was in awe. In all her life, she's never been in a room so grand and it just emphasizes the fact of how miserable her childhood was. But after seeing such a room, Sierra suddenly got fired up to explore the rest of the colossal palace. It never really occurred to her before that there were till many places where she hadn't visited since she arrived here.
"Um, excuse me," she said to the man arranging the glasses on the table. "I have a really bad stomach ache. Could you please take over my shift and tell Margaret I went out? I really need fresh air. I can't take it."
"Sure, I hope you're okay."
Sierra nodded and rushed out of the halls through the grand double doors. She felt a pang of guilt but the rush of excitement pushed it toward the back of her mind. She's always been a goodie-two-shoes, playing by the rules, afraid of getting into trouble. So she found it odd that she actually drew out the courage to tell such an atrocious lie. A lie for which she could be heavily penalized for if Margaret ever found out.
But despite her conflicting emotions, she didn't want to go back inside. Especially when she had to ensure she did everything right under the scrutinizing eyes of those two oddly familiar sailor scouts.
She begins down the long, wide hallway where radiant morning sunlight streamed through the glass windows lining down one side of the corridor. One wouldn't expect there'd be a big event today with the eerily deserted halls.
Eventually, Sierra stopped and perched on a window ledge, basking in the sunlight, feeling it smother her body from head to toe. It filled her with pleasure.
She stretched her arms above her head and let out a satisfying yawn. Something she would never have dared to do before such high ranking figures back in the grand hall.
Sierra gazed down at the late Queen Serenity's garden and the pattern of colourful patches of flowers with spewing water fountains here and there and the zigzagging stone pathways etched in the garden bed. For the first time, she felt the full, unbearable weight of envy. Envy of the late queen. Sierra could just see the queen stand before this very window, looking down and admiring her own garden with Endymion's arms wrapped protectively around her. Whispering the sweetest words into her ear, turning her around to face him as he draws her in for a kiss...
It was then suddenly, Sierra felt a throbbing headache rush into her. She felt dizzy, nauseated and decided that it was karma for lying about her stomach ache. She hopped off the ledge and began making her way down the hall towards her dorm until she heard the distant clicking of footsteps down the hall. She stopped and looked up; trying to see through her blurred vision and saw Endymion rushing down the hall.
At first, she felt thrilled—thrilled by the fact that Endymion had truly cared about her and was coming to escort her back to her room to rest. By reality caught up with Sierra and she silently cursed herself for such foolish wishful thinking. As he brushed past her, she reluctantly dropped into a curtsy and when she turned around to see his departing figure, he didn't even give once glace back.
She knew where he was heading...that direction only leads to Mars' room, the grand chamber.
Sierra pulled herself up from the cold, marble floor and started walking again—only this time, she kept and shaking hand trailing along the wall in order to keep her balance and to guide herself through the labyrinth of a palace.
As she turned a corner, she knocked right into something hard. When Sierra looked up and waited the few seconds it took her vision to somewhat clear, it turns out that it was a someone whom she had run into and that someone was Margaret.
"What are you doing here? I thought I assigned you duty in the grand hall."
"I—I wasn't feeling well. I needed to get out."
"Well, feeling good or not, you're paid to work, not to run away and catch some beauty sleep. Most of the sailor scouts have assembled and we're short on hands in there."
Margaret then quickly swerves past Sierra and continued down the hall.
Sierra however, not wanting another scolding, obediently followed Margaret down the long corridor.
She began rubbing her temples and wished for her headache to ebb away because the last thing she wanted was to be scolded directly by the prestige sailor scouts for her lack of attention and poor respect and behaviour. Especially not in front of Endymion.
Sierra would honestly rather die than to be looked down upon by Mars.