W is for War

"Don't go!" she pleaded, their forms blurry as she threw the tall alabaster doors open to admit her and ran towards them, her bare feet giving her more purchase on the marble floors. She reached out as she crashed into Venus and Venus accepted her, her guardian's arms wrapping tightly around her, rocking back slightly with her added weight. She hugged her friend even as she reached past the shining blonde hair towards the other three, the desperate crushing in her chest lessening with the hope that their still being there afforded. "Don't go!" she repeated, afraid to even blink. It had all happened so quickly - between one moment and the next Diana had amassed an army and was delivering a speech so wrong and horrible and there was nothing she could do to stop what was happening - her mother was impossible to reach, and if their conversation had gone as it had been going it wouldn't have mattered anyway. She thought she had had more time - that they had had more time! - but it was all falling down around her. The war against Earth had begun, and all she could do was send Artemis with a warning. And this.

So many people could die - would die - and all for nothing, and she didn't want her friends to be part of that! Earth was innocent - they knew Earth was innocent! But Diana mentioned them in her speech, saying that their support was instrumental in the success of their "righteous endeavor", and so she knew they had been ordered away by her. But she was Princess Serenity, and they were her guardians and swore to keep her safe, and so if she told them not to go they would have to listen to her, right?! They wouldn't be part of this.

But Mars looked away from her, and Mercury stared at the floor, and her heart hammered harder and her hand curled tighter into the fabric of Venus's collar as her breath came harder and the tears fell faster in their silent answers.

"Serenity," Jupiter breathed, her tone pleading.

"You can't go!" She screamed, closing her eyes tight and pulling her back her offered hand to hold Venus tightly. "I won't let you go!" she cried, shaking her head for emphasis. They weren't killers, she wasn't going to let them become murderers! "By order of Princess Serenity, Crowned Heir of the Silver Millennium, I forbid you to go!" she declared, trembling from head to toe, and in the silence that followed she dared hope that this - her first command she had ever given them - would save them.

Venus's hand reached back, gently touching her elbow, and softly she explained: "The Queen has ordered us to fight, and we cannot disobey her."

Footsteps sounded and panic welled up inside her again. Her eyes shot open as Jupiter placed her hand on her head, between her buns, her thumb stroking her bangs back comfortingly; she said nothing, only smiled half-heartedly as she walked away, moving past her towards the doors.

"Wait!" she cried, but Mercury and Mars were moving, too. She reached for each of them, not daring to let go of Venus, but while she managed to brush Mercury's arm with outstretched fingers, her quiet friend said nothing. Mars gently took her hand, and for a moment Serenity dared have hope - Mars could help her make them see! There had to be a way out of this! - but as she shifted to greedily pull Mars in, Venus gently tugged her other arm to free herself, and Serenity was left with no one. Both Venus and Mars kissed either side of her forehead but kept their bodies distant from her as they moved past, releasing her hands and leaving her all alone. "No!" she yelled, wheeling around to see, but Jupiter had the door open, Mercury waiting beside her, and as soon as Venus and Mars widened the distance between her and them, they started to glow and vanished.

They had gone to war. To fight people who had no chance against them and their powers, people who had done nothing wrong, who were not evil and never deserved any of this. They knew that, and they had to go anyway and it was the worst thing she could have ever imagined for them, and she had been powerless to stop them.

With no one left to hold, Serenity hugged herself as she collapsed to the floor and cried.

But maybe… maybe there was something she could do.

Her tears long gone, her heart suddenly beat strongly, like it was kickstarting her back into action. Time had passed, the battle must have begun already, but maybe she could stop it. Leaden arms released her, sleeping legs were forced to move, and Serenity got to her feet, lurching at first when she started to move, but after the first two stumbling steps she gained enough momentum to make distance through the room, leaving the Senshi's training center and entering the palace at large as hands that burned with pins and needles pushed open the doors yet again.

"Serenity!" Luna cried, jumping up to follow her as she walked quickly through halls that were too quiet and empty.

"Princess," Artemis's voice sounded from her other side, his tone set to make a report, "I did as you asked; the Elysionites were given just enough warning to evacuate their city and take precautions for the upcoming battle. Prince Endymion sends -"

She sobbed, her chest painfully set aflame with mention of his name, the sound loud enough to interrupt the white cat's disclosure. Was he -? She balled her fist and kept moving, focusing on the sensations around her before she was again lost. "My mother?" she prompted when neither of them voiced a continuance.

"She left moments ago," Luna replied, adding sadly, "on her war chariot. She would not listen to my council, repeating again the words that Diana has been whispering in her ears for months now." Her voice was heated with mention of the war advisor's name, anger welling up in each of them at the intense betrayal Diana had gotten away with. "She has changed, Serenity," Luna said quietly without attempting to hide the heartache in her voice.

"If things continue as they are," Artemis warned, "we all may change. The Moon Kingdom was meant to protect life on Earth, not end it, and I shudder to think what the Silver Crystal could accomplish towards that end."

Serenity swallowed hard against the knot in her throat. She had seen the change in her mother, but if she had been paying closer attention, could she have stopped it before it had taken root? This change - this darkness - … could her mother ever be the same again? How could anything after what happened? She increased her pace at Artemis's mention of the Silver Crystal and the implications of her mother using it towards that end. Years ago her mother had told her a little about the crystal and its abilities, but what she impressed upon her, more than anything else, was that it was the user's intent that mattered most - that it would follow her heart, and so it was utterly important that she kept the light in her heart shining brightly against any darkness that may threaten it. But now her mother's heart was…

Finally, she arrived at her destination, and as she pushed open the doors the cats stopped, unable to follow her there: the Room of Prayer.

"Princess?" Artemis asked and she paused, turning back to them. Luna's eyes were wide with fright, and she hated to do that to her. She turned and, outside the room with the shining pillar of crystal, scooped her up into a hug.

"I can't let it happen," she said into Luna's sleek dark fur, "Not if I can stop it." Luna pressed against her chest and she loosened her hold to look at the smallest of her guardians - her mentor, her governess, her friend. "I couldn't stop my mother from believing Diana. I couldn't stop Diana from training an army. I couldn't stop my friends from following their orders, but I can stop this war."

Luna pressed her paw against her neck, and Artemis asked, "How?"

With a kiss to the top of Luna's head, she gently put her back on the ground and stepped into the chamber of prayer. "She won't let it continue if I'm there. She said all of this was to keep me safe, right?" She approached the pillar, reaching out to touch the cold structure with one hand. "So if I appear there, by his side - "

"Serenity," Luna cried quietly; but she kept going -

"- and show her how wrong I know this war is, she'll call it all off. She won't let the fighting happen if it means I could be hurt, and then I can save everyone - powers or no." She looked up, following the line of the crystal as it cut into the night sky far above them.

"It's too dangerous!" Artemis called.

"People are dying," she stated, her words clear only because she had already cried until she had no more tears. "Innocent people are dying. My friends are in danger, and Endymion is…" still her voice cracked and her shoulders shook when she said his name, the fear for him she had tried to push back bubbling up treacherously in her chest, threatening to undo her - but she was doing something. She would save him - she would save everyone. "I'll stop this war, my mother will see things clearly, and Diana will be locked away for being the treacherous creature she is." She turned to look back at them, their tiny forms even smaller against the backdrop of the dark palace behind them. "Soon this will all be over, and we can start piecing things back together, okay? I'm counting on you two to come up with the best ideas on how to do that," she said with a smile - she had to leave them a task or Luna would drive herself sick with worry. "I love you both," she said, against the superstitious curl in her stomach that warned against saying such things upon leaving.

As though giving her superstition life, Luna's head bent, two tears catching the reflected light of the crystal. She wanted to comfort her, but the power building was already prepared, and she couldn't waste another second for fear of what was happening down there. Artemis nodded, and she smiled, trusting Luna to his care, and then turned, placing both hands on the Spire, and finally released the dam on her feelings, concentrating on her Prince of Earth and allowing her heart to find his.