The Second Meeting

By Bashfulglowfly

Chapter Eleven

The next morning Serenity, Endymion and their Guardians went to the Training Grounds. Endymion was a bit disappointed that it was rather similar to the one back in Atlantis. Serenity smiled "I think that you will be surprised. I think the Weapons Master has something up his sleeve. He usually does."

The Weapons Master walked out to the middle of the arena. The group gave respectful bows to him. Serenity stepped forward. "Lord Makto, what do you want us to do?"

"You may sit this session out, child. Go sit down and admire your Senshi and your new suitor and his men." Serenity blushed at his words but obeyed and sat down on a bench just outside the arena.

Lord Makto turned to the others. "Warm-up exercises. Ladies, you know which ones. Gentlemen, do as you normally would do." He stood back and watched carefully as the group stretched in various ways. After he deemed they were sufficiently warmed up, Lord Makto sent each group to opposite ends of the arena to practice. He walked back and forth calling commands to both.

The Senshi practiced their attacks. The Shitennou noticed that their attacks were purely magical. That the Senshi didn't use weapons. The Senshi, in turn, noted that the Shitennou did not use magic.

"Enough!" called out Lord Makto. "Prince Endymion, you are very good. You do your Weapons Master proud. You and the Senshi cool down then sit." Endymion and the Senshi nodded and obeyed. "Shitennou, cool down enough not to stiffen but I have an exercise for you."

Endymion, after he was cool, went and sat down next to Serenity. He was a bit afraid that he would offend her sense of smell, but she leaned close and whispered in his ear. "You were wonderful!" Her eyes shone as brightly as her smile when she kissed his jaw. "I have never seen sword play before. I've only been allowed to watch the Senshi practice. Never the regular soldiers. Perhaps you can show me how to use your sword?"

Endymion smiled back and tried not to think about Serenity and the sword he'd REALLY like to show her and let her use. The Senshi had also cooled down and sat down on the bench behind the pair. Serenity turned around and praised her Senshi. "And I'm going to talk Endymion into letting me use his sword." Endymion could feel the stares burning into the back of his head. He turned slightly and looked over his shoulder.

Mercury was reading something on a device she always carried and seemed oblivious to what was said but her face was flushed. Jupiter and Mars were glaring at him and at Venus whose shoulders were shaking. It was apparent that her mind was in the same place his was.

"Princess Serenity!"

Serenity jumped to her feet. "Yes, Weapons Master?"

"Come here, child." The Weapons Master gestured for to her to step into the Training Grounds. Serenity obeyed quickly, curtseyed to him and stood waiting for his orders. Lord Makto turned to the Shitennou. "I wish to see how you would defend someone who is rather helpless and cannot defend herself against attackers the way Prince Endymion can."

Kunzite bowed to the man. "We would be happy to demonstrate, Weapons Master, but this really is not the best place to do so."

"Did I say that you would do this exercise with the arena looking like this?" Lord Makto grinned then clapped his hands. The arena seemed to warp and colors ran. Then it settled down. The dirt-covered arena was gone. In its place was something very familiar to the Shitennou. "As you can see, this is the Dining Hall of the Castle in Atlantis. You should be familiar with it. You will defend Princess Serenity here." He turned to Serenity. "You are not to use any magic to defend yourself or to help the Shitennou." She nodded in compliance. "Kunzite, you and Serenity will sit at the Main Table. The rest, take your usual seats, please."

As Kunzite offered his arm to Serenity and escorted her to her seat, the others made their way to their usual places. "Well, obviously people from the Moon and or other planets have visited us a time or two." Muttered Jadeite. Zoicite and Nephrite murmured their wry agreements.

Endymion and the Senshi watched avidly as the scenario magically began. People appeared in the other chairs, conversing with each other, the Shitennou and Serenity. Servants arrived with food and wine, serving those seated, cleaning spills and removing empty plates.

Suddenly, attackers swarmed through the main doors. Servants and others began to scream and run. Blood began to flow as the villains cut down people in their way. Serenity stared at what was happening, frozen in shock. Kunzite grabbed the back of her chair and yanked it backwards, throwing her to the floor. She gave a small shriek as she fell but got her feet underneath her and looked at Kunzite for directions.

Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoicite had already engaged the attackers but were giving ground to them even though they were killing and maiming as many as they could. Kunzite grabbed Serenity with his left hand and pulled her up to stand next to him. "Stay close." He ordered. His sword was in his right hand but as none of the attackers had reached them yet, it was unbloodied. "PLAN C!" he roared. Zoicite was on the left side of the Hall. He broke off from defending himself and jumped over a table and ran for the right side to join up with Jadeite and Nephrite. The three then made their way to a side door.

Kunzite moved. He grabbed Serenity and tossed her over his shoulder. He ran towards his companions. Attackers came at him and he cut them down while shielding Serenity. Jadeite joined him and they made their way to Zoicite and Nephrite. When they were together, Nephrite opened the door and looked for attackers, there were none. The Shitennou backed their way out the door with Kunzite and Serenity, who was still over his shoulder, in the middle. Once out the door, they barricaded it with a cabinet that was nearby and began to run.

They were a bit startled when the Castle disappeared and the Training Grounds of the Moon reappeared. Kunzite set Serenity gently back on her feet. He was a bit surprised when she refused to let go of him and hid her face in his tunic. He could feel her trembling. He sheathed his sword and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Interesting exercise." Said Nephrite. Jadeite and Zoicite grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Well done, very well done!" Applauded Lord Makto as he approached them. "'Plan C' eh?" He nodded. "Plans are all well and good as long as you realize that that the enemy…"

"Can fu…" Jadeite glanced at Serenity. "Foul things up."

Endymion and the Senshi came forward. Serenity let go of Kunzite and threw herself into Jupiter's arms. Jupiter hugged her close and asked, "Serenity, what's wrong?"

"It was horrible. All that blood and people hurt and dying and…and…" Serenity shuddered. She looked at Endymion. "It isn't like that on Earth is it? That was just something Lord Makto used for training wasn't it?"

Endymion looked at Serenity. He was reminded once again of how sheltered she was and how she believed in the goodness of everyone. He weighed his words carefully as he spoke. "That sort of attack does not happen in Atlantis. It has and occasionally still does happen on other parts of the Earth. But, we" and he gestured to his Shitennou, "try to put a stop to that sort of idiocy as soon as possible. Or even before it happens, if we are informed about someone's plans."

Mars stepped forward. She stroked Serenity's cheek gently. "It happens elsewhere too. As much as we say that we are so much more civilized than Earth, we aren't always."

"Attacks like this happen throughout the Galaxy?"

Jupiter kissed the top of Serenity's head. "Yes, both on my planet and on Mars. Our families try to prevent it just like Endymion's does, but we can't be everywhere and we can't have spies everywhere either."

Serenity pulled away from her guardian and took a deep breath while straightening her shoulders. "I've been hiding from reality haven't I?"

Venus smiled "No, dear one, you haven't been hiding from reality. You just saw what you wanted to see. Goodness in everyone. And we don't want that to change. We want you to believe that everyone has something good inside. But we don't want you to be blind to those who are evil, either."

Tears filled Serenity's eyes but did not spill over. "I'm going to do my best. I promise that I will listen harder when you tell me things." Her Senshi smiled at her, knowing that she'd still have difficulty sometimes.

Serenity turned to Endymion and the Shitennou. "Will you help me as well? Help me understand that things are not all moonshine and sparkles."

Endymion kissed her lips. "I like the fact that you see everything as moonshine and sparkles. But, I will do my best to help you see what is underneath." He smiled. "But, I'm going to keep my promise to your mother. I will always do my best to protect you."

The Weapons Master, who had been listening to the discussion, cleared his throat. "Very good! I expect everyone here tomorrow. Senshi, Princess Serenity, you will begin training with weapons tomorrow. Prince Endymion, Shitennou, you will begin training with magic tomorrow as well." He scowled. "Now, get off my training grounds. I have other things to do!"


***Author's Note: A Weapons Master is the Ruler of the Training Grounds. There, he is subordinate to no one. Even a Queen (or King) is merely equal to the Weapons Master when on the Training Grounds.