CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Silence

Viola busied herself in the Princess's closet as she sat nearby scribbling furiously in a notebook, fragments of notes and equations littering the margins of each page. She came upon an elegant, but simple floor-length azure gown with a layer of chiffon that muted the radiance of the color.

"This one?" asked Viola, holding it up against her chest.

Amy looked up briefly. "Fine, fine," she said. As Viola packed Amy's things for her trip, she could see that behind the her eyes, Amy's mind churned and calculated. Viola sighed. Once she was in the midst of a project, there was little anyone could do to penetrate her concentration. It was as if the world ceased to exist. Viola zipped the gown inside a garment bag and as she lifted it to hang it up on the open door to the armoire, the bag grazed a nearby end table, sending a box crashing to the floor and its contents spilling out.

"Beg your pardon, Highness," said Viola quickly as she knelt down to pick up what had fallen. Amy looked up as she saw the four glittering wands scattered on the floor.

"You know what," said Amy. "Pack those as well."

….

Kunzite didn't blink as he stepped out into the frigid air. He removed the small communicator and a handkerchief from his breast pocket. He pressed the communicator in the right spot, and waited for the connection as he wiped the last remnants of the blood of the communications director from his hands.

Moments later, Jaedite's voice came crackling through the communicator: "Yes, brother?"

Kunzite brought the device to his lips and replied: "I'm finished here. The main communications tower has been disabled. It will take them at least four hours to get it up and running again."

"Fortunately they don't have four hours left. Well done, brother," said Jaedite. "I will see you at the front."

….

A shuttle craft bearing the insignia of the House of Mercury touched down on the landing pad just outside the Moon Palace. Attendants busily set about removing Amy's luggage as she was escorted to her guest rooms.

"May I take your bag, Your Highness?" said a sandy-haired attendant with the signature tilted crescent moon stamped just above his brow. He put a hand on the simple canvas bag slung over Amy's shoulder.

"No!" said Amy brusquely. "I've got this one, thank you."

"Very well. The party will begin in two hours, Your Highness," he replied. Amy nodded as she sailed into the palace and into her rooms. Once all her bags and trunks were safely ensconced in her rooms, Amy dismissed her attendants and lovingly patted the bag containing the remnants of her single failed experiment.

….

"I don't like leaving you alone like this," said Aphrodinia as she peered out Mina's bedroom window.

"I will be on the next flight," Mina assured them. "I just need some extra time to ready myself for the engagement party."

"I do not see why," said Aphrodinia.

"I won't be long, I promise." Mina smiled warmly, hoping her face did not betray the apprehension she felt by the prospect of seeing Queen Serenity and the Princess for the first time since learning the true nature of her birth.

Aphrodinia kissed Mina's forehead and Henry smiled. Mina waved her parents off. She stepped inside her closet and held dress after dress in front of her body and inspected herself in the free-standing full-length mirror until finally settling on a custom-made saffron gown with a sweetheart neckline and silk white flowers that gathered around the waist. As she puttered around her room throwing things into trunks for her journey, a sound caught her attention. It was low, and guttural, almost like a vibration in the ground. She wandered to the window and peeked outside. The protesting mobs were a fairly regular occurrence these days, but something about the tenor of the crowd down below caught her attention. Something was different. There were no signs, no chants. But the people were throwing themselves against the wrought-iron gates that surrounded the palace. Guards at the front looked panicked and backed away gingerly as the gates began to weaken. Mina gasped as more guards flew from the palace toward the front gates. She could see them imploring with the crowd to back away; she could see their efforts were useless. The captain of the guard signaled for his men to draw their sabers.

Mina's arms went slack and the gown fluttered to the floor. "It's come to this," she murmured.

….

Amy had no rational explanation for her actions. She felt compelled. She felt like a Venusian opium addict waiting hungrily to devour her next fix. She clutched her bag as she stared, transfixed at the door to the Imperial Chamber. A brilliant white glow emanated from the crack between the bottom of the door and the cool marble floor. Almost without realizing it, Amy found herself inside the chamber staring at the Silver Crystal as it hung suspended over the gilded pedestal. I shouldn't, she thought. But Amy couldn't look away from the Crystal. Absently, her hand wandered into her bag and she gripped the four sticks tightly in her fist and withdrew them. Amy's body seemed to move without any conscious direction from her as she placed a stick in each of the four corners of the pedestal supporting the energy of the Crystal.

She drifted to the northwest corner of the room and reached out to touch the azure orb of the stick bearing the symbol of her home world. She willed every ounce of her strength into her fingertips. She felt her body grow instantly warm as her Light emanated throughout her body. Her skin glowed a soft blue as the Light concentrated itself in the center of her body. As it grew more intense, her body temperature dropped and she felt like she was being jabbed with a million tiny icicles. As the familiar pain of her Light coursed through her body, she concentrated her energy and forced it through her fingertips. The Light came charging through with such intensity the impact threw her against the back wall. She smacked her head into the concrete and felt her vision blur. Her head throbbed, but the pain in her body had ebbed.

Amy staggered to her feet and took her head in her hands. Her vision cleared somewhat as she looked to the pedestal. The blue stick now glowed with the power of her Light and shined almost as bright as the Silver Crystal.

"It worked," Amy murmured in disbelief. She started to laugh. "It worked!"

….

Mina flew to her bedroom door and slid the deadbolt into place. She pressed her ear against the mahogany door and listened to the sounds emanating from the ground floor of the palace.

A sickening crack.

Then the deafening rumble of hundreds of feet pounding the marble. They were inside. Mina trembled. They were coming for her.

….

Amy felt ill as she watched the green stick begin to fill with the Light and shoot bolts of electric lightning into the Crystal, which was now spinning so fast, it looked like it might combust. I've got to warn them, she thought. I've got to get these to them somehow.

….

No one spoke as Raye moved swiftly about the Palace, with Deimos and Phobos trailing silently behind. Her raven hair had been brushed until it shone, a glossy black cloak surrounding her small body, which was wrapped in a red silk robe. When she arrived at the front gates of her Palace, her mother was there waiting. They nodded wordlessly to one another and then to the guards who opened the gates. Raye made her way to the capital's center square where a grand platform had been constructed and where her subjects had gathered from the distant corners of her world. Dressed identically in brown robes, each citizen stood stoic staring straight ahead with the hands clasped in front of them with index fingers pointed toward the sky, in the Martian tradition. Their fingertips were brought to their lips and they waited. Women, men, and children stared straight ahead and waited for her, millions of pairs of lavender eyes resolute.

Raye climbed upon the platform and was flanked on either side by Phobos and Deimos. Apollonia had moved around the platform and faced her people one last time. Then she slowly pivoted on her feet and faced her daughter for the first time as a subject. Apollonia slowly sunk to her knees and pressed her forehead into the ground, acknowledging her daughter as the supreme ruler of the Holy Kingdom. In a coordinated wave, the citizens of Mars followed suit, as did Phobos and Deimos. Raye was standing alone.

A throbbing heat began in her head and traveled slowly down her body. The fire inside her begged for release, but she kept it in. The heat intensified, but she persisted. Everything about her life had been leading up to this point. Every painful test to which she had been subjected had been to give her the strength for this moment. She realized that now. Every nerve ending in her body screamed in agony, still she held onto the flame. Her skin glowed red and her hair blew wildly about her body, even though there was no wind.

"Farewell, my people," she whispered, her eyes welling. "Until we meet in the next life."

….

Something was wrong. It wasn't supposed to work this way. Amy quickly shuffled to the southwest corner of the room and looked at the red stick. It was vibrating.

"No, no, no," Amy pleaded. She watched in horror as the red stick began to glow. "They have to be here!" she shouted. "This can't happen! Not like this!"

The Silver Crystal spun wildly and pulsated with the energy of Mercury and Jupiter, hungry for more. The red stick of Mars shook violently, shooting a crimson flame into the Crystal.

….

Mina breathed in short, even gasps. She caught her reflection in the vanity above her dresser. The symbol of Venus, her home world, the only world she had ever known, emblazoned in fiery orange above her brow. She felt her body grow hot. Her hair lifted away from her body as if buoyed by some ghostly breeze.

"Venus…" she whispered as the shouts grew louder. They were her subjects and she loved them dearly, though they called for her head. The floor beneath her began to vibrate and suddenly a loud thwack slammed against her bedroom door.

"Crescent…" she said, feeling the Light burn inside her. She would protect herself if she had to.

The door rattled against its frame. Another slam. They were throwing themselves against the door with more and more force until suddenly, it hung from its hinge. Mina found herself face to face with a tempestuous mob of beautiful faces contorted in anger. Mina gasped. Their eyes were blazing red. They hesitated when they saw her bathed in the yellow beams of her Light.

Her body began to throb.

….

Amy was transfixed, unable to move as the orange stick began to glow and cast beams of white hot light into the Crystal. The process was steady but quick. Soon, all four sticks were casting their Light straight into the white glowing halo surrounding the Crystal. The Crystal began to glow brighter from its exertion. Amy couldn't move. Suddenly, the Crystal began to spin more erratically, shooting bursts of Light out in every direction. Amy knew she had to leave. The Crystal was unstable. But she stood motionless, hypnotized. She stared straight into the Crystal as a burst of energy charged straight for her.

….

"Traitor!" called a brave one among them. His insult incited the crowd, which slowly began to advance on her. Their eyes were dark and vacant as if hypnotized.

"Please don't do this," she whispered. "You are my people."

"You are not one of us," a woman in front spat.

"Can't you see that you've been bewitched against me?" Mina's voice took on a sense of urgency. She was starting to panic. "This isn't you. We are a people of love."

"Stranger!" shouted another man.

"VENUS!" she screamed, hoping her challenge would frighten them into standing down. But they came closer and Mina began to feel something akin to panic. The panic startled her because it seemed to outweigh the pain. In fact, the pain itself had begun to ebb. What's happening?

Her Light was dimming. She felt the power being sucked out of her like water being drained from a pond.

And the mob noticed.

What the—? They were closing in.

"Venus crescent beam smash!" she screeched. Her voice was shrill and panicked, but nothing happened.

She was powerless.

She struggled against the sturdy hand that grabbed onto her arm, but it was useless. Soon she was being grabbed everywhere and the horde of bodies drowned out her screams. One of her own silk scarves was tied over her eyes and a handkerchief, with the symbol of her house embroidered on it, was stuffed down her throat. She stopped struggling and breathing became her sole object. She was being carried through the palace. She didn't see the slain guards littering the floor as she was dragged past. She could hear the heavy front doors being opened and felt the sun singe her skin as she was thrust out into the daylight. Onward they carried her. She began to feel lightheaded and dizzy as the struggle to breathe became a battle, a battle she felt she was losing with each passing minute. Finally, she was dropped. Her hands immediately went to her mouth and she pulled out the handkerchief and coughed and sputtered until her airways were clear. Someone from behind her ripped the scarf from her head and she could see again. She blinked her eyes and waited for them to adjust to the bright sun. She was on her hands and knees on what appeared to be a wooden platform. Her knees and wrists ached from being dropped so suddenly. Someone grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked back forcing her to look up.

Her mouth dropped open in horror as she looked across the wooden platform. A hastily-constructed gallows awaited her.