"Have you eaten?" he asked once more, as he had incessantly asked the entire morning. "It will not do to skip meals, my lady, I will not have you half starved. It is rather unpleasant."
Demetrious stood in the door to the Lady Earth's room as she stared out her window. She had done so all morning.
"I will eat shortly," she promised.
He sighed and walked in to the room to take her by the arm and pulled hard. "You will eat now."
She was unprepared for the harsh tug and went with him against her desires. He muttered to himself about stubborn women as he led her to the dining hall, passing several servants who hid smiles at the sight. Once he got her in, he forced her to sit like she were a stubborn child.
"You will sit here, and you will eat." He went to the kitchens, leaving her with Hotaru and Hirokazu.
Both looked up at her. It had been nearly two years since the defeat of the False Serenity and the prince was finally allowing himself to let go on the death of the little girl. Both had a look on their face that they'd been caught and Hirokazu stood up hastily.
"Mother." He nodded to her and moved to walk out with Hotaru close on his heels. His hand was about to open the door out when she spoke.
"Come, sit and talk with me. We haven't spoken much of your wedding."
He cursed and turned around, unenthused. "Trivial, trivial. We progress just fine on our own."
"I simply want to make sure everything is in order. I've never seen a wedding before, this will be my first one," she explained with a smile. Making him uncomfortable was one of her favorite things as a mother. "Shall I escort you to have a new suit fitted?"
Hirokazu went red as Hotaru giggled at the situation. "M-mother, I am capable of such feats on my own."
"Perhaps we should send your brother with you. That is, assuming of course, we can have him return to us long enough."
Following the events of the Final Battle, Yukio had taken a very long vacation to the Moon where he spent his entire time in the company of his father and sister, reconnecting with them whenever possible. Hirokazu gave them a wide breadth.
"Let him stay with them. My place is here. Now, if you would excuse me, I have a lamp to move for Hotaru." He bowed and turned to hurry out.
"I had thought you would at least like your father to be there to see his son wed," she continued as tea was placed before her by another servant.
"The last time I checked, mother, you had no husband. Or have you and Demetrious decided otherwise?"
She fell silent and glared at him as he smiled in triumph. When her food arrived, she gave a dismissive wave with her hand and sent him on his way. Once he was out of the room, he breathed a sigh in relief. Hotaru just put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile.
"She just wants to be part of something big," she reminded. "She is very excited over this."
"What she wants is nothing less than my utter humiliation."
Hotaru laughed. "You are nothing short of a stubborn child. You do know that someday it will be you and I embarrassing our own child, right?"
"I am aware." He ran a hand down his face and sighed. "Fine. I will be more understanding of mother."
Hotaru gave him a kiss. "Thank you."
Yukio sat in the tea room with Alexander, as they had done once a week for two years. It was the general's one day off and sometimes it was all that got him through a tough week. Just because they were no longer at war didn't mean his men could slack off.
"Does the wedding progress?" Alexander wondered.
"It would move faster if Hirokazu were not such a stubborn bastard. He is adamant against the Lady Earth being involved. He is embarrassed by the notion of his 'mother' helping." Yukio took a long drink of his tea. "Should he simply remove his head from his ass, we would not have this problem.
His father smiled. It was a bitter one. "He truly does not wish us as his parents, does he?"
Yukio's cup clattered as he set it down too quickly to come to his brother's defense. "Do not think that! I have explained to you, father, that he has spent his life in the care of the Lady Earth! It is just that… that he believes we expect him to ignore her now in favor of mother and yourself!"
"I know what my son is thinking, Yukio. It makes it no easier. He only visits on official meetings with his fiancée as they attempt to restore her ancestral home." Alexander sat back with a groan. "I just wish to see him more. He was so young when you both vanished."
"I will make him come here, father. I promise!"
The door opened as he spoke and Venus entered with a nurse trailing after her. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time," she smiled. Yukio went red at the sight of her and sat back down, not realizing he'd stood.
"Ah, my lady. Is it time already?" Alexander wondered.
Venus smiled and nodded. "Yes. We think she may make it to the end of the hall today!" She sounded so confident in the Lady Ninah's abilities to move. Since Yukio and Hirokazu had been able to return to the castle, she had come more and more out of the gripping depression. With the help of the Lady Venus and several nurses, she was learning to regain her stamina.
"I… will just leave you to her, then. Father." Yukio gave a polite bow and left his seat to walk out of the room. With a laugh, Venus reached out to grab his arm and stopped him as the nurse went to the room where Ninah slept.
"You should stay and help us." Tilting her head, she reached up to run a hand through his hair. "I am glad to see you have stopped hiding its beautiful color."
Yukio went red again and looked away. "…very well. I will stay."
Demetrious was standing over a galaxy map. He did such things when he fought sleep. The nightmares kept him awake and fearful of the dark. The Lady Earth was unable to Dream Walk and the trauma he suffered kept all but the most experienced priests out. None could truly help him yet.
Instead, he made himself useful to both queens. Tonight, while the castle slept he would study the movements of stars. There had been a… disturbing lack of communication from the most outer reaches lately.
According to the newest charts, several points of light were vanishing. They still saw them, of course, and it would be so long before they went out. They had yet to tell the Lady Earth. She was far too excited over the upcoming wedding, why worry her? She no longer fought, after all. Demetrious would see to it that she worried only that the floral arrangements would be correct.
"What have you found?" a voice asked. He was startled and looked up to see an unfamiliar Sailor Guardian standing before him. He had never seen a woman in golden armor before.
"Oh. Apologies, my lady. I did not hear your entrance." He pointed to a section of the map and stifled a yawn. "Small sections of the galaxy are… fading away. I am simply waiting to confirm it before I bring it to the Neo Queen's attention."
The woman looked at the map. "It is wise to wait. Perhaps it is nothing more than a mistake. I am sure that everything is fine."
He nodded. "That is my hope. I may be tired, you see. It has been three days since last I slept." Then, he laughed. "For all I know, you are little more than a hallucination."
The woman in the gold armor smiled at him. It was cold and sent a sobering chill down his spine. "Why… you may very well be correct. But… why should that mean I am not real?"
Demetrious watched as light began to well up around her and when it made to engulf him as well, he began to scream.
"We cannot tell the Lady Earth just yet," Mercury warned as the four of them gathered in the medical ward, where Demetrious lay unconscious. "We do not know how she would react. Our people tortured him for two years; to tell her he has entered a coma on our watch does not bode well for us."
"What do we do then? We should send for the Outer Soldiers at once. We need to recall our forces." Mars crossed her arms. "This was an attack. I feel psychic backlash. Demetrious does not sleep often. Something has taken advantage of that."
Venus thought long and hard before speaking. "I am to meet with General Yukio tomorrow. I will tell him that Demetrious has simply worked himself to exhaustion and we are forcing him to stay asleep to recover. That will give you time to figure out what happened."
Mercury nodded and went back to work as the other three went to leave the room. "Jupiter, please send word to the priests. I will need someone to Dream Walk and see what has happened."
Jupiter nodded and left with the others. Venus rounded the corner to head for the Arae family where Yukio still slept for the night. It would be best to tell him now, rather than wait. Demetrious was a sore spot for his queen, after all. She pushed the door open to find Yukio asleep in the main sitting room, all over the couch. He snored, too.
Hiding a smile, she went over to wake him. "General. General Yukio."
Yukio snorted and nearly rolled off the couch. When he saw her there, trying to hold in a laugh, he wiped drool from his mouth and got to his feet as quickly as he could. "L-Lady Venus!"
"You don't have to get so nervous around me, general."
He flushed and coughed, half-muttering something to himself before standing straight. He towered over her. "The lights have yet to be turned back on, why are you here?"
The solemn look on her face seemed to make him nervous. "Your queen's aide, Demetrious, he has…"
She trailed off to find the words to use, but Yukio went to move past her in an agitated rush. "What has happened to him? I will return him at once."
Venus grabbed his hand which made his face redder. She just kept holding it. "No. The man has made himself sick from lack of sleep. We have had to induce a coma to force him to rest." She saw the look on his face and squeezed his hand tight. "He will be fine, general. We did not wish to wake your queen, so I will tell you."
She knew he didn't believe her. She knew he understood that something terrible had happened. But he would not tell the Lady Earth and risk another war. If he was being cared for, that would be enough to placate the queen.
"…very well. I trust you, Lady Venus. Tell me what happened."
She shook her head and looked to the floor. "We heard screaming from the map room. The door was sealed shut and by the time we got in, he was on the floor. It truly could be nothing more than a lack of sleep. He has hallucinated badly before from staying awake so long. No one who is capable of inducing a coma has entered or left the castle."
He sat back on the couch and she took a seat next to him.
"We have sent for a High Priest to determine what is wrong. We will take good care of him," she promised. "Just trust us."
"I find that his health means more to me than it does the Lady Earth."
She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"Because Ukito died. Because… I was the one who got him killed."
Hirokazu woke that next morning to find Hotaru curled up under his mountain of blankets. They were supposed to go to the main temple that day to speak with High Priest Helios about the wedding. His mother had begged and pleaded to have the temple used, rather than the smallish one attached to her castle. Helios had agreed and now the work began.
Once he was up and dressed, he'd let Hotaru sleep in. They'd been up late moving a new lamp in to her room, and she'd passed out on his bed while waiting for them to finish. He also wanted to see Miyu's family. They had settled in well, and he saw them as his responsibility.
He was walking down the corridor when he heard the voices.
"Yes, it is a shame. I am sorry I cannot tell you anymore."
Hirokazu glanced in to the room to see Prince Endymion and an unfamiliar Sailor Guardian standing there.
"I see. Thank you anyway, Pluto. I am sorry for asking."
Pluto shook her head. "I understand. If I were able to tell you more of the future, I would."
"Demetrious will not wake for a long time, I gather."
'Something has happened to Demetrious?'
"No. If he will wake at all. I am… sorry to say I cannot see that particular future."
Hirokazu gripped the frame of the door. What had happened to Demetrious?!
"If you are correct in what has happened… after two years of peace… did it mean nothing?" Endymion lamented. Pluto was silent.
"Please ask the Lady Earth to loan us the aid of Sailor Saturn when she wakes. We do not have our peace just yet, my prince. We are still at war. Only this time… the enemy will be Sailor Soldiers."