The Stone Hearted Princess

by Queen

A story not of the Old Silver Millennium, but of the Old Earth, told through the eyes of one whose place in destiny was not as expected.... (complete)

6. A Demon In Her View 3

The Stone Hearted Princess-

Metallia. Such a cold name. I slipped into my rooms near to dawn, having been hiding in the halls, avoiding the wondering eyes of the people in the palace. I hid that crystal ball away in a drawer, tucked and buried under some very old skirts. I'd never need such a horrid thing. Metallia. Humph. But what an odd sensation it was. I was in love. I wanted to giggle suddenly, but stopped myself, biting my lip. Acting giddy would be so uncharacteristic of me it would give me away. I never acted giddy. Besides, I had business to attend in the early afternoon, so I'd better get a few hours sleep, or I'd be of no use to anyone.

The conference was dull, which I expected. Long and grueling, we ('we' being the Queen of Earth, the Queen of the Moon, the Princess of the Moon, Endymion, and myself) sat and talked about the relations between our worlds, of trade and of commerce. For what better way to open our friendship than to make profit off each other? The Moon excelled in technologies, as well as fine silks that were rare on Earth. But we had what they could produce little of. Food. They were high in luxury items, we in practical, everyday needs. The Moon was nearly a graveyard when it came to food production, a pretty silver desert. Not lush and green like our world.

I must admit, my newfound knowledge made sitting beside Endymion a little uncomfortable. I usually was the direct sort, but I couldn't just walk up to him and bluntly say I was in love with him. The reaction to that would be...who knew what it would be? Explosive? Requited? Unrequited?

I nearly fell over in relief when at last it was done. It was a narrow start, but a start. Gaia seemed pleased, as did Serenity. I wondered how much Princess Serenity had gotten out of our talks. She seemed more preoccupied with staring at the table. I wondered what she was thinking about.

It was late in the evening, so the Moon Kingdom would be staying a second night with us, leaving sometime the next morning. It was determined that a long stay on our world would be a bad idea, considering the low level of popularity the Moon had on the Earth.

"What is with you?" Swallow asked me, looking worried. I was on my bed, flopped down and staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out the best mode of attack with the whole love thing. I had to do something, obviously, but what? I didn't want to ask Swallow. She'd get all excited, and insist that I do up my hair and dress and get perfumed all nice, while she was babbling blissfully about her past loves. I wanted to do this in my way, not hers. Only I had no clue what my way was. That's what I was trying to figure out. I just wasn't in the mood to snap at her, so I just made an excuse.

"I'm tired. Not sleepy tired, but tired. I've been listening to the Moon people talk all day long. You know...I'm going for a walk." I sprang up at the idea. It did sound good, to get out. Maybe the garden. It was peaceful there.

Swallow was eyeing me suspiciously. "You want to walk? Not ride or go stare at the fire or beat the crap out of a dummy with your sword?" Her eyes narrowed further. I guess that was a bit uncharacteristic of me. Uh oh.

"The temple gardens, Swallow, not the royal ones. As for staring at the fire, I think I will!"

Her face relaxed as I sounded more like myself. "Fine. Don't scorch your eyes in the cinders." She turned and called over her shoulder, "And don't let him break your heart!"

I wanted to smack her, but since she was out the door and laughing, I couldn't. Well, I kept her around because she was good at gossip. I didn't think she'd share it with anyone, save maybe Kitsune. I sighed, giving up, and ran a hand through my hair, swishing my fingers though the tips. I faced the mirror in my room, and put on my best haughty look, then headed out the door, making my way to the temple gardens.

Lilith and Sybil were nowhere to be seen. I guessed it had something to do with Helios. He had been having nightmares lately, Swallow had informed me. Something about a big black beast. It was peaceful here, with the white roses blooming. I wondered about the silver one Endymion had received the night before. Princess Serenity had said they grew only in the soil of the moon. Perhaps the strain of rose had been brought from their homeworld, or touched with magic. Unnatural, they were. Not soft and real like the white ones. I touched the petals of one of the blossoms, taking in the delicate scent. In a moment of silliness, I broke the stem, carefully avoiding the thorns, and tucked it behind my ear. It must have been a shocking paleness against the dark of my hair and the violet of my dress.

The sun was dying, and the sky was gold and red, streaked and stained in the colors of the hour of dusk, when the goddess Aurora sank into her bed in the ocean. I wandered though the garden, taking it in, avoiding entering the temple. I couldn't face that Smoke Woman right now. She was too creepy.

It was under the apple tree that I saw a figure in blue, perched on a bench and huddled over something on her lap, which she seemed very intent on. Princess Mercury. "Lady Mercury? Is everything all right?" I approached, and she started up from her scribbling, shocked. She hadn't heard me at all, though I had not been quieting my entrance. She'd changed her clothes from the ball gown of the evening before, still blue, but a simple skirt and blouse. Well, at least the planetary quartet didn't wear the same thing all the time.

"Oh! So sorry! I didn't hear you! I-!" She scrambled to collect her things. She failed in her haste, and they spilled over the grass, causing her to get further flustered. "So sorry! I didn't mean to-!"

"I'm the one intruding. Really. Here," I helped her scoop up the papers, arranging them. I was in too good a mood to let her presence in my quiet time ruin it. Besides, she was quiet, and unlikely to babble. Maybe I was a little like Mars, but I respected the Mercury one. Brains over brawn or bitchiness will always win out.

"So sorry, oh, please don't...!"

Respected her, but if she kept apologizing, I'd get annoyed.

"Mercury! Really! You're fine!"

She bit her lip in silence, eyes glued to the sheaf of papers in my hands. What was she so intent about? She was practically jumping from foot to foot. I glanced at the papers. Words had been written in impeccable handwriting, neat, little script I could only dream of with my own loopy scrawl. Several words leapt out of the page, since the handwriting was so clear. "...but the tigress had torn her cloak, and so the blood stained it, leaving a mark of what had happened at the place of meeting, the fountain." I glanced at her, and she was bright red.

"So sorry, please, give it back. I really...so sorry."

"So sorry for what? Writing a story?" I was intrigued. I loved tragedies, and this sure sounded like one to me. I flipped though the papers. Remembering what Swallow had told me about the blue haired water princess, I figured she wouldn't react much if at all to my reading. "'The Tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe'?" I read aloud.

"Yes...I...oh...." She was turning multiple shades of red at once. I didn't know people could turn those colors. Glancing at the opening lines, I skimmed the sentences, shuffling the papers into a better order.

"This is good, Lady Mercury."

"What? Oh, no. It couldn't be. I'm not very good."

I snorted, settling down on the stone bench. "Better than me." I continued to read. She stood there, staring, but I was used to having eyes on me, so I ignored her, putting the leaves of paper in order as I read. After awhile, she wandered off behind the willow to wait. I had seen the last page first, and it cut off abruptly, though near to the end, since she was still writing.

"Lady Mercury! I'm done! Do more!"

"What?" Startled, she hurried out from behind the tree. "Now? Oh, I can't now! It's getting late. Serenity will be so worried, and the others will tease me! I can't stay. So sorry!" She was trying to get the papers back, but I held them away.

"Tease you about what?"

The face went into the rainbow display again, pink, red, purple.... I was afraid she'd stop breathing and really turn blue. Well, she was writing a romantic story, getting embarrassed, and afraid of teasing. The Princesses Four must think she had a crush. How cute. I wonder what Moon-man was so lucky.

"I really must go, Princess. I am so happy to hear you enjoy my silly story, but...."

"It's a tragedy, how is it silly? Don't you let your four friends read them?"

The look I got was pretty obviously a no. "I'm not very good. I'm terribly unoriginal, and Mars is the real writer. She'd...."

I cut her off with a swipe of my hand. Mars huh? Well, if Swallow was correct, and she was attracted to the king big mouth Jadeite, she probably wouldn't let anyone else have any ability in one of 'her' areas of interest. I didn't say that out loud, of course. "Your story is good, and is perfectly original. If lady Mars thinks-"

"Oh it's not! I can't let you think that! I...I...so sorry, that's terribly rude of me."

"Well, the two lovers dying for each other...that is how it's going to end, isn't it?"

She nodded helplessly, squirming. She wanted to escape. Well, I wouldn't keep her too much longer. "The two lovers dying for each other isn't extremely rare, but it's the telling that makes it matter. You have a sad story, them kept apart by the hatred of their families. Even though they're neighbors, they can't speak, or even talk. The wall between their houses? Simple, but elegant. The tiger is a great symbol. I love this line about its eyes, "burning in the dark forest of night." That's very poetic. And it seems simple enough to have really happened...."

Desperately, she gasped, "But it did! I'm unoriginal! Please!" She grabbed the papers from my fingers, finally desperate enough to risk being rude. "I saw it! I watched it. I write when I want to think. I never let anyone see. Please don't say anything. I'd never show it to anyone!"

"You saw it?" What did she mean, she saw it? She watched it? How? Who did this in real life?

My face must have become fierce, because when she backed away, she was afraid, and it was not just timidity. "So sorry, I watched it. I saw it...I...."

"You spied on someone, didn't you!" They were all the same, those from the Moon. Here I was, beginning to compliment her! "You watched someone's private life, then wrote about it! Their lives are not for you to tell!"

She was backing away from me, clutching the story to her chest. "So sorry! I didn't mean to offend!"

I didn't care, and if she thought I did, she was far stupider than she was given credit for. "You spied from the Moon, didn't you? Watched some poor couple die? Just for your personal entertainment? Do you think that's fair? To watch other people suffer so you can think?" I was overreacting, and I could blow the entire peace conference right now, by screaming at Princess Mercury. I tried to keep my voice down, but all I could see was some poor couple, bent over each other, their blood staining the ground, staining the petals of the flowers they lay upon, turning them red forever. I saw it as though through a dark crystal ball, very like the one I had spied into ever so briefly last night. I had done exactly what Mercury had done. Maybe not on the same scale, but it was the same error, intruding on someone else's life, even if only for a moment.

"So sorry, please, don't be angry, I'm so sorry, I should never have..."

"What? Spied on people? Use them for your own personal entertainment? Do you think they don't have lives? Do you think they wouldn't care if they were alive, wouldn't care that you find them entertaining?"

"I have done nothing wrong! I was writing for my own reasons, and you happened to find entertainment in my words! Tell me you have never watched other people, and I will then burn my pages! Say it truthfully that you never listen to others when you they don't wish for you to hear them!"

So she was going to defend herself. Well well. I could crush her like a bug in a fight. "You have no right to-"

"Mercury?" Someone called, and I heard rustling in the bushes. A moment later, the gently smiling face of Princess Serenity appeared, pushing past the white roses and lilies. "Mercury, is something wrong?" Worry furrowed the Moon girl's brows, and she stepped to the side of her friend, who was managing a fairly frosty glare at me. An affinity to ice, Swallow had said, hadn't she? I supposed glaciers were slow, but strong.

Moments later, all hell broke loose though the shrubbery as the other three princesses of the planets arrived on the scene. They were as loud as a herd of elephants. How could girls like this ever hope to fight? Ha. I supposed they probably couldn't. Well, maybe Jupiter, she looked decently tough out of that ball gown, but I doubted she could wield a sword with much accuracy.

"What's going on? Mercury?" Princess Mars was demanding, glaring at me, Venus moving next to her, both looking perfectly ready to fight. Jupiter was with Serenity and Mercury, watching warily. Swallow, remind me to give you a gift or something. Your information is valuable beyond dreams. How do you do it? Exactly

the behavior you predicted. "What did you do to her?" Mars accused.

"I didn't do anything. Why don't you ask her to read some of her writing to you? She's probably better."

Mars' eyes rounded to enormous size, and that effectively shut her up. Mercury, I noticed, was as white as snow. Princess Venus rounded on me, each taking turns, apparently. "We came here to bring peace, not to fight."

Oh, I get it. Love, not war. I really wanted to say as much to her, but I bit my tongue. She had reminded me that this was supposed to be a time for peace between our worlds...and Gaia would be extremely upset if her heiress and the guardians of the Moon Princess got into a brawl. (Messy, considering there were...well, Mercury included, but not Serenity, so...four of them. Sending them back bleeding would have looked very poor for me.) "You love peace so much, do you? Remember that Gaia won't rule forever, and you will then deal with me."

"And when we do?"

The voice was soft, and I had begun to turn away. I stopped, looking for the source. It was Serenity, her golden haired head tilted lightly to the side. To be truthful, I didn't know. I wanted a parting shot at them, and I had it. Damn Serenity. She was supposed to be stupid. Why did she top me so easily with such a simple question? I lowered my voice, letting her think what she wished. "Then we'll see when the time comes, Moon Princess Serenity."

I made a swift, dramatic exit, ducking into the temple. I left them staring at my back, hoping I had won the odd argument. It was quiet, as I had hoped. Wait...I glanced at the fire, which was low. Good. That Metallia spirit creature wasn't floating around. But as the doors swung to a close behind me, the smoke grew, and the big floating head of her formed. Great, another person to deal with. I had to wait a moment before Serenity and the gang left. They were disconcerting. Serenity or the Big Floating Head? For the moment, I'd take the Floating Head. At least she wouldn't give me that odd, pitying look.

"You've been speaking to the Moon Heiress."

"So? And how did you know?"

"You were rather loud, and I am here. How could I not hear your words?"

Grumbling, I allowed her that. "We weren't that loud."

The flames chuckled. "Your voice carries well, my dear. And I know of the Moon Kingdom. I don't blame you for fighting them. Terrible that they're here."

"Why is that?" I was curious to hear the opinion of the Big Floating Head. It's not every day you can get cosmic advice from a cloud of hot air.

"Much the same as you said. Those that claim to be gods spy on people. Watch our movements. How do raptors find their prey? By scanning for them. That's why falcons have such sharp vision, and carnivores have their eyes to the front of their face. To better seek out who they wish to kill. Stay wary of them. They appear soft, but you can see how strong their magic is."

She was right about that, at least. Somewhat mollified, I leaned against a pillar. "I don't suppose you can tell if they're gone?"

"Regrettably, no. I can hear, but..." the vapors swirled, and I assumed that it was a sigh. "I'm very weak right now. I need energy to grow stronger. The light from the skylight is helping, but the sun goes down, and I loose strength so quickly. I don't suppose you know of any kind of energy source I could use?"

Even if I did, do you think I'm stupid enough to give it to you? I wanted to ask. Goddess knows what you are. Giving energy of any kind to an unknown entity isn't just stupid, it's dangerous. "Sorry, no, can't help you."

"A shame. It is quiet. Perhaps your friends have left."

Friends? She was baiting me. Well, so what? I knew it. I wouldn't worry. I was in control again. How long had it been since I had a tantrum? If that outburst with Mercury wasn't a fit, it was pretty damn close. "I agree." I turned to leave, and she stopped me, calling out,

"Come again! I love company."

Sure you do. As much as I love the Moon Kingdom. She wanted something, and from me. I wondered what. Big Floating Head in the fire. Hmph. Whatever.

Okay! End part two! You getting who this is?? Like it? Hate it? Please review! I'd like to know! Thanks! Enjoy part three!

-Queen