Chapter Ten: Intermezzo 2
Endymion let out a long, weary sigh the minute he entered his personal study and flopped into the chair behind the desk with less than regal decorum. He ran one hand over his face, as though he could wipe away the reason for his apparent fatigue, and then proceeded to fold both arms onto the desk and let his head drop onto the nest they made there.
Various chuckles and snickers ran around the semi-gloom of the room.
Finally Nephrite decided to break the silence with his deep tones. "Difficult evening, Endymion?"
The dignified response was a groan.
"It must be very hard to sit through dinner with one's family." said Zoicite's light tenor, the smirk barely disguised in his voice. More snickers from the corner; Jadeite.
"You don't know Rhea, she makes any interaction difficult." Endymion whined, shooting a baleful glare at the young scientist perusing idly along his bookshelves. If Zoicite found a book there that he hadn't yet read Endymion would be very surprised.
"She's your sister, Endymion." Malachite's voice always seemed louder than what it was, due to the fact that it would resonate clearly through any room. It made finding the man at balls and parties easy for the other four. Sometimes it still surprised them that when he had to he could whisper so quietly that even the recipient of his words could barely hear him. "She cannot be that bad."
"Oh, no, she's not that bad." Endymion said almost cheerfully. "She's worse."
"You know she's just jealous." Jadeite piped up. His voice, though a tenor like Zoicite's, was the deeper of the two. He always seemed to be laughing, smiling, smirking, or a combination of all three.
Endymion sighed again. It was true, and his darling older sister made no secret of the fact. She was first born, she was the tactical genius – Endymion had Zoicite for that, not that the prince was stupid – and so she believed that the old law that stated that it should be the first born male that ruled was a tradition not worth upholding. It frustrated her that her baby brother was the future ruler.
Never mind how many times Endymion had told her that if she wanted the title so badly she could have it, or that he hadn't asked for it in the first place, or that technically the old law hadn't been invoked when the title of Crown Prince was handed to the younger sibling; it had been a priest assuring his father that it was the better decision.
Peace would not be easily obtained or maintained under Rhea's rule, the priest had warned. In fact, the kingdom could very well fall to shadows if she were to hold the crown. The priest had been trusted implicitly, for the line and temple he came from were closely tied with the High Kings and were known to only interfere where it was necessary, and so their father had chosen his son as successor.
It hadn't helped when, upon being taken to the Aurelia Temple to be formally recognised as the Crown Prince at the age of four, the Golden Crystal had chosen Endymion to be its keeper, its first keeper for over a hundred years, signalling also that four new Shitennou had been chosen. That had been the final straw for young Rhea, who believed her whole planet was against her. The rift between the siblings could not be healed after that, and Rhea was often kept away at an overseas school to keep the tension to a minimum whenever and wherever possible.
"Father brought up marriage again." Endymion admitted at last, staring stubbornly at a paperweight. Four sympathetic glances were sent his way.
"You are at that age, Endy." Zoicite said calmly, the topic being one they had gone over many times already. "Your parents won't be here forever and they wish to see their kingdom secure before they pass the throne to you."
"He wants me to marry Beryl." Endymion muttered darkly.
Four looks were exchanged, each wondering who would reply to this topic. It was a rather touchy subject with the Prince. Even before Princess Serenity made her appearance in their liege's life, Endymion had said again and again, often very vehemently, that there was no way he would take Beryl for a wife. Now that Serenity was a part of his life . . .
"Is there nothing that could dissuade your parents from the match?" Zoicite said at length.
The reply was a short, bitter laugh. "My father is all but tying me to the alter for her. She comes from an old family, has wealth and status, has an impeccable background and a brilliant education, is a good politician with an understanding of our kingdom and is lovely to behold."
The other four waited for the next comment that was bound to be inevitable.
"I can't stand the sight of her."
Jadeite snickered again.
"You haven't heard who they're trying to match Rhea with now." Endymion added, and his tone was now suspiciously cheerful. Perhaps, Nephrite reflected, because misery loves company.
But their interest was piqued. "Who?"
Smirking, Endymion turned to look at Malachite. "You're my brother in all but blood and name, Mal. How about we make it official?"
The stoic Southern Shitennou's demeanour became, if possible, even colder. When Jadeite burst out laughing and Zoicite joined in with a barely restrained chuckle, he shot them the hardest glare they had seen of him yet.
"This is not funny, this is a disaster."
Jadeite tried to placate him, though the effect was spoiled somewhat by his laughter. "Of course it is Mal, they wish to marry you to a wo. . . to a woman who thinks that me-" another bout of laughter. "Thinks that men are less than t-the dirt beneath her shoes!" Jadeite slid off his chair and onto the floor, unable to restrain himself any longer.
"I thought she wasn't that bad, Mal." Endymion added innocently, his smirk belying his words. The reply was another filthy look.
"On another note," Zoicite interrupted, a smile still playing with his lips and his eyes, "the Solstice Ball is in two days. Which of us shall be accompanying Endymion and which of us won't?"
Jadeite's laughter faded into a slightly more serious expression. "I need to return to the East Quarter. There are still some issues I need to clear up and I only returned to gather some resources." and, he finished in his mind, meeting the lovely and fiery Lady Mars had been an intriguing and welcome bonus to his brief respite.
"I have some intelligence to go over and several meetings to attend." Zoicite looked a little irritated by this though he spoke calmly. "I'm afraid I'll be unavailable for several days."
"Guess that leaves you two." Endymion turned to his remaining brothers. "Unless the pair of you also have other plans. Beating the hell out of soldiers, washing your hair . . ." he gave a mischievous smirk to the two of them.
Used to these teasing remarks by now, Malachite and Nephrite ignored the jab at the length of their hair. They looked at each other, seeming to check with each other without words.
"My schedule is clear for the Solstice." Nephrite said at last, smirking. "I'm sure the stars won't miss me too much for a few hours."
"We won't."
Their quick response made him blink. They had sounded almost hasty, and he had to wonder why. Usually they didn't bother responding to his conversations with others unless to give a warning of some kind.
"I am also free to attend." Malachite confirmed.
"Moonlight must come to Elysia."
'Aren't you chatty all of a sudden.' Nephrite mused, half wary and half amused at the antics of his most ancient allies. Rarely had they been so insistent; they had been pestering him for days now to keep that one night, at least, clear of any activities and if he were honest it was driving him mad. He wasn't used to having the stars and the sun in Earth's sky pushing and speaking to him almost non-stop. It was more common for them to stay silent.
"If I may make a suggestion, Endymion?"
The dark-haired prince looked at his soothsayer in mild surprise. "Go ahead, you know I always welcome your advice, and, of course, the advice of your friends." he added with a smile.
Several stars in Nephrite's mind, and out in the night sky, glowed a little brighter with the praise.
"Your parents and your sister will be attending the Solstice Ball as well. Maybe Princess Serenity would like to come? It would give her a chance to see a little of our culture, and your parents a chance to meet her. They don't have to know who she is straight away."
Endymion thought it over even as Malachite nodded in approval with Zoicite.
"It's true, Endy. If they get to know her as their view of a person before finding out that she is a child of the moon, then it will be harder to dismiss her out of prejudice later. The idea has merit." the green-eyed young man said diplomatically.
"His mother knows all the nobility of Earth though." Jadeite countered, playing devil's advocate. "How would we get them in?"
"It would be easy enough for me to acquire a set of invitations for the princess and her entourage." Zoicite returned almost without pause. "Let me know the number in her party and I'll make the necessary arrangements."
"But what would be their story?" Malachite interrupted suddenly, catching on to his brother's train of thought. "We have to be careful and it has to be believable."
"The Priest."
Nephrite wasn't aware that he'd repeated the words aloud until the others looked at him curiously. "Would Helios be willing to help?"
"Maybe." Endymion considered the idea. Helios had met Serenity once, during one of her first visits when the Senshi did not accompany her. He was the Priest of Elysia, keeper and guardian of dreams and the current lord of the fae realms. It had been Helios who had persuaded the king that Endymion was the better candidate for the throne, and Helios who had given the prince the Golden Crystal a few years later. He appeared to be a young man of ageless quality – a common trait among the fae – appearing somewhere around his late teens to early twenties, but in fact his age was perhaps a century or more in mortal years.
Helios had not reacted negatively to the Moon Princess. In fact, Helios had welcomed her into the Elysian Temple by her full and formal title, startling the poor girl until he assured her that she was most welcome there, even if only for the distant relation their two races held.
Stranger still, he had not been at all surprised to see her.
"I'll contact him tonight. It couldn't hurt to ask." the prince concluded. The other four men smiled.
"Then let's contact Venus." Jadeite decided with a grin.
o.O.o
Aramina and Jupiter were in the gardens with Serenity when Mars came storming out of the palace with something firmly bundled up in one of her short summer cloaks. They watched with mild surprise as she suddenly stopped and her mouth dropped open, eyes wide, then after glancing around warily reached within the scrunched up bundle to pull something near her mouth, hissed into it rather vehemently, apparently, and continued on her angry march to where the three young women were relaxing.
Casually, Jupiter returned to tending the flowering bush she had been previously occupied with and Aramina returned to her animated conversation with Serenity about this or that nobleman.
All that changed when a crimson and gold communicator was thrust furiously under Venus's nose.
"Somebody would like a word with you, Commander." the Martian bit out, violet eyes glowering and daring the blonde to contradict her. Daring her, in fact, to say anything at all. The blonde in question grimaced; none of them ever called her Commander unless it was a formal circumstance. Or, like Mars was right now, they happened to be severely pissed off.
Aramina and Serenity shared a glance before the princess began eyeing the communicator gingerly. Even Jupiter glanced at it curiously, and all three could hear muffled laughter and scolding issuing from the device.
With a gentle smile and completely ignoring the stormy attitude of her second in command, Aramina accepted it with a nod. "Thank you, Mars. I'm sure Jupiter is getting bored with her flowers by now, perhaps you should entertain her for a while."
The subtle order was accepted with a curt nod and a vicious glare directed at the communicator. Jupiter paced her pruning shears at the base of the plant and beckoned her fiery-tempered comrade to follow her to a bit of grass a fair distance away to spar.
Winking when Serenity directed her curious gaze at her, Aramina removed her hand from the device's speaker. "What in all the worlds did you do to her this time Jadeite?"
"I swear on my honour and hers that I am innocent of most charges, Lady Venus. All I did was make one or two small comments on the situation. But it would be wise not to let her anywhere near Zoicite for the time being." more laughter, muffled and barely restrained, if at all. "He may have called at an inappropriate time."
Aramina, guessing exactly the kind of inappropriate situation that had happened, couldn't resist a grin of her own. "And you often call upon young women when they are bathing or dressing, my lords?"
Serenity nearly choked on her own air intake and raised her sleeve to stifle her own laughter.
"I don't." Jadeite smirked. "Though poor Zoi isn't handling things too well. Poor kid's traumatised. Or in heaven, not sure which." there was some mild shouting in the background that was in a higher than normal pitch for a certain pony-tailed Shitennou and Jadeite's green-blue eyes looked that way. "Sorry, my mistake, perverts don't go to heaven." his grin grew wider when whoever the comment was directed at – Zoicite most likely – snarled something unintelligible. "In other news, the Summer Solstice here on Earth is in two days. We would like to extend an invitation for the Ball to the Princess Serenity."
The blonde Venusian looked at Serenity expectantly, though she didn't need to see her charge's starry-eyed look to know the answer. "Of course. She accepts your invitation with thanks."
"Thought so. So how many of her personal guard will be attending this time?"
Again, Aramina looked at Serenity. Her princess immediately pointed to a flower, which in some small way resembled a Terran rose. Nodding a confirmation and pointing to herself, the blonde returned her blue-eyed gaze to the small screen. "Lady Mercury left for her home-world last week and Lady Mars is scheduled to return in two days. I and Lady Jupiter will be attending."
"Noted." the voice was Zoicite's. "What names shall I put on the invitations?"
Thoughtfully, Aramina watched the forms of her two sister-senshi sparring on the grass.
"Lady Serena, Lady Rosalita and Lady Aramina." she decided at last, using her own real personal name; personally she preferred to shorten it to Mina, but that would not be acceptable in this situation. Aramina preferred it, Serenity knew, because she was an informal creature at heart.
"Noted." Zoicite repeated, then Jadeite came back.
"Ok, now that the plan is in motion, here are the details. You three will be Ladies of the fae realms, friends of the Elysian High Priest Helios. He will be your guide from the forest to the party and your liaison and your alibi. Endymion's mother doesn't know most of the fae nobility so you should be safe with this story. Besides," he added with a wink and a shameless grin, "you're all beautiful enough to pass for faerie."
Serenity flushed a slight pink and the blonde smiled warmly, though not only for her own compliment; Jupiter was often overlooked among the Inner Court of Serenity.
"As you wish, my lord."
Jadeite hung up.
Aramina and Serenity shared a quiet laugh before returning to watching the other two spar.
"When will we inform Jupiter of this decision?" Serenity asked impishly as Mars threw a vicious tongue of flame at the auburn-haired amazon.
"On the day."
o.O.o
"You want me to what?!"
From her seat on a marble bench in the centre of the moonflower maze, Mars smirked at the irate Jovian that was currently staring at Venus with an open mouth and eyes that didn't know whether to look horrified, angry, shocked or all of the above.
To Venus' credit, she didn't flinch and she resisted a smile of her own. "You shall be escorting the princess to the Terran Solstice Ball with me."
"When?"
Venus looked at the grass beneath her sandals and then looked back up at her defence officer. "Today."
"Wha . . . wha . . ." Jupiter looked ready to faint.
Standing nearby Serenity moved in preparation; Jupiter wasn't known to faint but anything was possible where the Jovian was involved. "Please Jupiter, you're the only one who hasn't been there yet. You'll love it I promise you will and it'll be so much fun and . . . and you're an amazing dancer and the Shitennou are sweethearts and, and so is Endymion."
Jupiter was giving her a look that plainly said yeah right pull the other one. "So you want me to play princess with them?"
"Well," Serenity fidgeted, "You are a princess, Jupiter." her crystal blue eyes looked sad as she watched the emerald orbs in her guard's face. "You are a princess, Jupiter. And a woman. Please don't forget that."
The storm slowly cleared from the green, green eyes and left a strange look in its wake, but the blue eyes never wavered.
Finally Jupiter sighed and her posture relaxed, though there was a defeated stoop to her shoulders. "Of course, Princess Serenity." she gave a sweeping bow and when she looked up again at her princess there was a tired smile playing with the eyes and rosebud lips.
"I was expecting you to put up more of a fight." Mars noted, a slight frown marring her face in her disappointment. She turned her violet gaze to Venus, who made a grimacing sort of gesture.
"There's more to this mission, Jupiter."
The tall young woman turned curious eyes to her leader expectantly. When Venus hesitated the curiousness was replaced with suspicion. "Define more, Venus." she replied warily. Jupiter took a step back without even realising.
Serenity sent a reprimanding glare towards Mars when the dark-haired woman chuckled even as the moon princess reached out to her guardswoman. "Please, Jupiter, you did promise."
"Before finding out all the details again." interrupted Mars. When Serenity and Venus both gave her a look she shrugged. "I had to suffer."
"Suffer?"
Venus turned back to the wary Jovian. "You have to go as a noblewoman, not as a soldier."
The storm in those green eyes returned with a vengeance, but all Serenity did was giggle.
"Come on! We have to get you ready!"
"Oh no you- hey!" Jupiter had no choice, she realised as her princess grabbed her arm in both her small hands and began to pull her away. Venus and Mars followed after with a chuckle.
By the time they reached Jupiter's suite Serenity had already seated the Jovian on the chair before the vanity and was rifling through the young woman's wardrobe. Jupiter glanced at them as they waked in and mouthed a silent plea for help. Venus sat herself on a sofa and smiled. Mars knelt by the fire and smirked to herself.
"You have so many pretty dresses, Jupiter! Why don't you ever wear any of them?" Serenity exclaimed, holding out a light pink chiffon affair that floated as it moved.
Squirming, Jupiter played with one of the errant locks that fell over her shoulders no matter what she did to them. "I . . . I'm not comfortable in the kind of situation that would require such clothing, Serenity. You know this."
"There's no reason to be uncomfortable." Serenity told her firmly. "Just because you enjoy learning how to defend yourself, it doesn't make you any less of a woman. You've got more skill than anybody I know at Court!"
"If I may make a suggestion, Serenity?" Venus interrupted, coming to stand behind Jupiter. She untied the teal ribbon that held up the long auburn hair and let it fall around her comrade's shoulders. "Perhaps we should keep it simple, for both myself and Jupiter. After all we are there to escort you. I suggest our formal gowns."
Jupiter gave her a grateful smile as Venus lifted several thick locks and weighed them in her hands. "Mars, come with me and help me carry some things. We'll be right back. Serenity, if you could run a brush through her hair please until we get back?"
The Venusian and the Martian swept out of the room. Jupiter looked back at her reflection; without the slim ribbon to hold back her hair the auburn curls spilled down over her shoulders and down her back, softening her appearance.
Picking up a brush from the table Serenity began to run it smoothly over the red-brown strands. "You'll be fine, Jupiter." she coaxed. "You're not normally like this when the staff help you get ready. Why are you so nervous now?"
"Honestly?" Jupiter blew a bang out of her eye. "I have no idea."
(Several hours later)
"You see? I told you you'd love it." Serenity beamed as the glow of the pad died down and Jupiter stared about them in wonder at a land that reminded her of the forests of her home-world.
All three were dressed in their traditional and formal royal gowns that only saw the light of day during special celebrations.
Serenity lived up to the whispers of her beauty at Court. Her gown was the colour of pale moonbeams, threaded with silver with studded pearls lining her waist. The skirts floated softly about her legs. Trimming the top edge of the gown was a line of golden crescent moons, the tips pointing towards her face. The back was low and a bow of palest pink translucent cotton rested at the back of her waist. The skirts were really of two layers, the topmost being gauzier than the second which swept the floor. The two sets of three pearls were back in her hair, along with a moon flower. To cover the moon mark on her brow she wore a simple golden circlet with an oval mother of pearl centrepiece.
Venus was completely dressed in varying shades of gold. The bodice was of a modest cut, with a squared neckline, and the skirts fell closely from her hips, following the contours of her body; both were the same shade of orange-gold. Over the top of the skirt flowing from the waist was a second layer of shimmering golden yellow gauze, wrapped around to meet at the middle and then parting to reveal the skirts beneath. Around her wrist was her amber studded bracelet, around her throat were her amber necklace and the golden-orange ribbon, in her ears a pair of dark amber heart-shaped studs. Her hair was, as usual, pulled into a half-up half-down kind of style and held by a wider frilled ribbon that matched the other in colour. It was decorated with a single scarlet flower similar to a rose.
Jupiter was dressed all in green. The bodice of her gown was tight and heart-shaped, low cut, and form-fitting. The skirts were gathered in at her waist by a flower-shaped bunch of material at either side, then allowed to flow freely from her hips, sweeping just a centimetre or so off the floor. This top layer was a forest green, and the skirt was slit from her left hip down to reveal a second layer beneath the darker silk. This second layer was of pale jade satin, so light it almost looked like ivory, and was slit on her left from mid-thigh to reveal her long legs. On her feet were a pair of strapped sandals, the ribbons that tied them to her feet and legs twining around her legs until just below the knee. Her auburn hair was in a customary ponytail and held up with green satin ribbon, decorated with a pink flower like Venus'. In her ears were earrings made to resemble pink roses, and she wore her emerald pendant, bracelet and green ribbon.
Neither Venus nor Jupiter had to worry about hiding their own planetary insignias as they only showed up while their powers were in use.
"Welcome, Celestial Princesses, to Terra and to Elysia."
The two senshi turned sharply to see the owner of the soft-spoken voice. The young man had hair as white as Serenity's tinged with blue and piercing yellow eyes, and wore pure white robes, trousers and boots, all decorated in some way with teal or dark blue. But perhaps the most unusual thing about him was the pearly golden horn that rose from the soft waves of hair on his head.
Next to him, smiling at them just as serenely, was a young woman their own age, dressed in pale pinks and ivory, with hair the exact colour of cherry blossoms and ruby eyes.
"Princesses, welcome," he repeated, bowing from the waist with a gentle smile. "For the benefit of those who do not yet know my name, I am Helios, Keeper of the Dream World and a Lord of the Fae realms, High Priest of Elysian and an advisor to the Terran royalty. The young lady beside me is Lady Usagi Chiba. Usagi, this is Serenity del Luna, Princess of the White Moon and Sovereign Heir to the Silver Alliance."
The red-eyed young woman curtsied low to them. "The pleasure is mine."
Serenity, having already met the dream keeper, was first to recover, returning the curtsy. "Not at all. And it is good to see you again, Helios. I hope you have been well. These are two of my Senshi, Lady Rosalita Donar-Sierra of Jupiter," still stunned, Jupiter managed a bow of her own before realising that it might not be appropriate here; Helios smiled at her in a gesture of encouragement. "And Lady Aramina de Calista of Venus."
"Kin-sei and Moku-sei." Lady Usagi said aloud before she could stop herself. She raised a delicate hand to her mouth as Helios sighed wearily beside her. "Forgive me, I-"
"Not at all, my Lady." Venus replied with a wink. "You've just helped us out immensely. After all what good are disguises if we give our true origins?"
Smiling, Helios held an arm to the blossom-haired lady. "Then shall we proceed?"
He led them back into the misted landscape that, until now, hadn't been behind him. "We shall approach the palace from my realm. It is a usual method for me and, as my guests, it would be an appropriate method for all of you as well."
o.O.o
Startled, Sailor Pluto jerked back from gazing into the past through her Garnet Orb. Pink hair, red eyes . . .
"Small Lady?" she had to smile; the cheek of the young future princess, using her real name like that. Of course there was no true danger then; Sailor Moon did not exist back then and she went by a different name, as did the Crowned Prince of Earth, and the only thing that would draw attention would be how similar she and the White Moon Princess were in appearance.
Small Lady had been that far into the past? Why didn't she realise this sooner? How could she not have known? Why had she even paid a visit to the Silver Millennium in the first place?
Realising that these were questions that, undoubtedly, she would have the answers to sooner or later, she contented herself with checking on the passage of the souls sent forward through time by the Moon Queen. Yet it was only now that she noticed something . . . unusual.
There were ten extra souls sent forth.
Blinking a little at this new information, she shook herself. It would all explain itself in time, and right now she was barely even halfway through the story. Settling upon the top of the Chronus Gateway, she peered through the orb again, hoping to see the rest.