1 CHAPTER FOUR
"I'm sorry, Serenity. I can't find Tranq anywhere. I have to assume that the youma caught him." Serenity hung her head in grief. They'd been looking for her brother, the young man in armor, for several hours now. They hadn't had any luck so far, and Serenity was worried for him.
Lita laid her hand on one of Serenity's shoulders. "He can take care of himself. Let's just get Mina back to the palace, and then we'll mount another rescue mission. Okay?" Serenity nodded tearfully. "Okay, Lita."
Lita turned to the generals and the prince. "I'm afraid that you're going to have to come with us. Now that Beryl's been exposed, she'll stop at nothing to kill you. Hopefully you'll be safe on the moon for a while, at least until we can stop her for good."
The generals nodded. They'd seen what these monsters-youma- could do, and they didn't want to jeopardize their people any more than they had to. Besides, the prince had already decided to treat the trip as a mission of peace.
They built a litter for Mina, and each of the generals moved to lift a corner of it. Each of the girls, including Serenity, blocked their progress. "No. We'll carry her. She's one of our own, and she fell protecting us. It wouldn't be right to let strangers carry her," said Serenity. The generals stepped back, graciously allowing the women to take their places. The girls lifted the litter, being careful not to jostle Mina.
Lita slid one hand to the belt at her waist and removed a small silver device. She pushed a button on the device once, and it emitted a bright beam of light. The beam expanded just a few feet from where the group was standing, forming a sort of doorway. Though looking through the doorway was a lot like trying to see the bottom of a pool after something has disturbed it, the men could just make out some sort of tiny room just beyond it. The girls moved to step through the doorway, but a voice quickly called out, "I hope you weren't planning on leaving without me!" With a cry of joy, Serenity set her corner of the litter on the ground and ran to embrace her brother. Malachite swiftly moved to catch the litter before it tipped over. "Where've you been?" asked Serenity, oblivious of the fact that she'd nearly killed her friend all over again. Tranquility put his arm around her shoulders. "The darned youma caught me. I'm ashamed to say that it's taken me this long to escape. That lot of youma seemed almost intelligent. It's amazing," he said dryly. Serenity hugged her brother, and then realized what she'd done to Mina. "Oops," she whispered shamefacedly. She moved to take her corner back, but Malachite waved her away. He didn't want Mina to get dropped a second time, and he wasn't sure that Serenity was reliable enough to carry her. With a shrug, Serenity and her brother stepped through the barrier. Malachite winced at the crackle of energy that accompanied their crossing. With knuckles white from tension, Malachite gripped his corner of the carrier tightly and stepped through the barrier.
As Malachite stepped across the threshold, he was amazed at the world into which he'd just entered. The room that they were in was extremely small but elegantly crafted. Every line of every wall was infused with a grace beyond anything architects had achieved in his country. A tall, narrow door to their right swung open, and several young men and women entered. They were all dressed in white robes and appeared to be medics of some sort. They took the litter away from its carriers and quickly departed with Mina's still prone body. One of the medics stopped and bowed to the girls. "Welcome back, your majesties. The head physician humbly requests the princess of Mercury's help on the patient," he said while bowing to each in turn. "Of course I'll come," said Amy. She followed the medic through the door, leaving the rest of the group staring at each other awkwardly. The prince put an end to the tension by bowing to Serenity.
"Forgive my rudeness, my lady, but I didn't quite catch the name of your kingdom. I've never heard of a country called Mercury." The prince was fishing, but Malachite didn't blame him. After all, Endyimon knew almost every kingdom on the planet. He couldn't understand how such a place with such powerful warriors could have escaped his knowledge.
Serenity laughed silently. "I'm truly sorry, your highness. I thought that you understood. Mercury is not the name of the land on which you stand, and Amy is not its princess. Perhaps a formal introduction is in order." She curtsied gracefully, the smile still on her face, and said, "I am High Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. My companions are Crown Princess Lita of the planet Jupiter, Crown Princess Raye of the planet Mars, and Crown Prince Tranquility of the Solar Empire. You have already met the Crown Princess of Venus, also known as Mina, and the Crown Princess of Mercury, also known as Amy. Welcome to the moon, gentlemen."
Malachite lay on the magnificent four-poster bed in his new quarters. He still didn't know what to make of their situation. He didn't even know if he believed Serenity's story. How could these unassuming girls be beings from other planets? True, they had strange abilities and could seemingly control the elements themselves. True, they fought beasts that could only be from another planet. True, Mina's blood was gold instead of red. True, they had come through that strange doorway to what seemed to be another world. Still, skeptic that he was, he needed more proof.
They had yet to meet the High Queen, but Serenity assured them that they would have a meeting with her as soon as they were properly rested. She arranged quarters for them, and then sent them on their way. So far, they had had no other word from the 'High Princess.'
Malachite finally gave up on sleeping. He paced the room, looking for any sign that he was, indeed, on another world. He found several books, but all of them were in his own language and appeared to be written by authors from his own world. Bah. It must be some sort of hoax.
A knock sounded at the door, and Malachite put the book back on the table. He opened the door to find a tall man with long silver hair waiting for him. The man inclined his head in greeting. "Selenity will see you now, general. Follow me, please." He spoke with the same accent that all of the people of this world, except perhaps Mina, seemed to possess.
Malachite followed the man through a dizzying procession of hallways, stairs, and tunnels until they came to a large stone door. By this point, of course, Malachite was hopelessly lost. That's probably what was intended, he thought, annoyed.
The doors opened as they approached, and Malachite found himself in a room that could easily have swallowed half of the palace at home. The only people in it were the other generals, the prince, Raye, Amy, Lita, and a young woman with purple hair in similar buns to that of Serenity. Sitting on a throne on a raised dais sat Serenity. On a larger throne to her right was a tall woman with hair similar to Serenity's. This must be Serenity's mother, he mused. She couldn't be anyone else with that hairstyle. Queen Selenity nodded at Malachite's guide, saying, "Thank you Artemis. You and Luna may leave now. I'm sure you have something better to do." A twinkle formed in her eyes at the last statement, and Malachite noticed that both Artemis and Luna blushed. They quickly left, and the queen turned to those assembled before her.
"I am deeply in your debt for the aide you rendered to my niece, Mina. I can never properly repay such a debt, but I wish to try anyway. To that end, I invite the entire party to stay on the moon for as long as you wish. It is my devout hope that your stay here will result in a lasting peace between our peoples." She gestured to the young women around her. "I'm sure that Artemis and Luna managed to get each of you thoroughly lost. They usually forget that not everybody has a cat's sense of direction. My daughter and her court will be most happy to show each of you around the palace and answer any questions that you might have. Girls?" One by one, each of the girls stepped forward to claim a general. Malachite didn't fail to notice that in spite of her apparent distaste, Raye still managed to claim Jedeite.
Amy indicated both Zoicite and Malachite. "I don't know if you remember, but I'm Amy. Where would you like to go first?" she asked politely. Malachite thought for a moment. "I'd like some proof that this is really another planet, for one thing," he said. Zoicite winced at his commander's rudeness but decided not to mention it. He turned to Amy instead. "Beautiful lady, I don't care where I go as long as I am in your company," he said flirtingly. Amy blushed but turned and led them down a long hallway. "I guess I'll take both of you to the observatory," she said thoughtfully. "But first I need to check on Mina's condition, if you don't mind."
Malachite shrugged indifferently. He really didn't care one way or another about that conniving girl. Zoicite frowned, but again chose to ignore his friend's poor manners. "How is the lovely lady doing?" he asked instead.
It was Amy's turn to frown. "I'm very worried. Her wounds are healing nicely, but she still hasn't woken up. I'm afraid that her captors did something to her mind as well as her body. We've called in some of the best mind-healers in the galaxy, but so far they haven't found anything wrong with her." She paused as they came to a low door leading to the hospital wing. "Come on, she's in here."
She led the way to a portion of the room, which was partitioned off by curtains. She pushed one of the curtains aside to reveal a coffin-like object made of glass. Heavy equipment monitored the life signs of the frail girl lying within.
For the first time since their adventure had begun, Malachite took a proper look at Mina. All of her outer injuries were gone, but her face had was still deathly pale. Her beautiful features were marred by intense pain. Malachite felt his own heart constrict with guilt, but he quickly suppressed it. She was the one that had betrayed him, not the other way around. She'd lied to him, used him, and then involved him in something that threatened not just everything he believed in, but also the few people that he cared about.
He turned away, unwilling to look at her anymore. Amy walked around Mina's coffin, carefully checking each of the monitors. As she did, one of the monitors suddenly began to beep frantically. She ran quickly to it, then began calling out orders to nearby medics. Malachite grabbed Zoicite and pulled him into a corner out of the way of the rushing medics. Malachite couldn't tell what was going on, but he could see the worried looks on everyone's faces.
Finally, the beeping stopped and the medics calmed down. Amy walked tiredly over to the waiting generals. "Sorry about that, but I'll have to cut our tour short. Something's going on in Mina's head, and I don't have the skills necessary to find out what it is." She raked a tired hand through her short hair. "I'm going to have to take her to Mars. There are hermits there who might be able to help her." She glanced suddenly up at them. "I know how much you wanted proof that we're on another world. I can't think of any better proof than to take you with me on a space voyage, can you? If you like, I can get permission for both of you to accompany me."
Zoicite nodded eagerly, and Malachite echoed his movements slowly. What better way, indeed?
"I'm curious, though," said Zoicite. "Why do we need to take a ship? Why can't we just use another doorway like the one that brought us here?"
Amy smiled at him. "Good question. Using a doorway like that tends to disorient people for a few minutes. Since we don't know what's wrong with Mina, we don't want to risk anything by using a portal. We only took it earlier because we thought that her injuries were purely physical. Don't worry. The trip will only take a few hours at the most. We're only going to Mars, after all."
"I'm sorry, Serenity. I can't find Tranq anywhere. I have to assume that the youma caught him." Serenity hung her head in grief. They'd been looking for her brother, the young man in armor, for several hours now. They hadn't had any luck so far, and Serenity was worried for him.
Lita laid her hand on one of Serenity's shoulders. "He can take care of himself. Let's just get Mina back to the palace, and then we'll mount another rescue mission. Okay?" Serenity nodded tearfully. "Okay, Lita."
Lita turned to the generals and the prince. "I'm afraid that you're going to have to come with us. Now that Beryl's been exposed, she'll stop at nothing to kill you. Hopefully you'll be safe on the moon for a while, at least until we can stop her for good."
The generals nodded. They'd seen what these monsters-youma- could do, and they didn't want to jeopardize their people any more than they had to. Besides, the prince had already decided to treat the trip as a mission of peace.
They built a litter for Mina, and each of the generals moved to lift a corner of it. Each of the girls, including Serenity, blocked their progress. "No. We'll carry her. She's one of our own, and she fell protecting us. It wouldn't be right to let strangers carry her," said Serenity. The generals stepped back, graciously allowing the women to take their places. The girls lifted the litter, being careful not to jostle Mina.
Lita slid one hand to the belt at her waist and removed a small silver device. She pushed a button on the device once, and it emitted a bright beam of light. The beam expanded just a few feet from where the group was standing, forming a sort of doorway. Though looking through the doorway was a lot like trying to see the bottom of a pool after something has disturbed it, the men could just make out some sort of tiny room just beyond it. The girls moved to step through the doorway, but a voice quickly called out, "I hope you weren't planning on leaving without me!" With a cry of joy, Serenity set her corner of the litter on the ground and ran to embrace her brother. Malachite swiftly moved to catch the litter before it tipped over. "Where've you been?" asked Serenity, oblivious of the fact that she'd nearly killed her friend all over again. Tranquility put his arm around her shoulders. "The darned youma caught me. I'm ashamed to say that it's taken me this long to escape. That lot of youma seemed almost intelligent. It's amazing," he said dryly. Serenity hugged her brother, and then realized what she'd done to Mina. "Oops," she whispered shamefacedly. She moved to take her corner back, but Malachite waved her away. He didn't want Mina to get dropped a second time, and he wasn't sure that Serenity was reliable enough to carry her. With a shrug, Serenity and her brother stepped through the barrier. Malachite winced at the crackle of energy that accompanied their crossing. With knuckles white from tension, Malachite gripped his corner of the carrier tightly and stepped through the barrier.
As Malachite stepped across the threshold, he was amazed at the world into which he'd just entered. The room that they were in was extremely small but elegantly crafted. Every line of every wall was infused with a grace beyond anything architects had achieved in his country. A tall, narrow door to their right swung open, and several young men and women entered. They were all dressed in white robes and appeared to be medics of some sort. They took the litter away from its carriers and quickly departed with Mina's still prone body. One of the medics stopped and bowed to the girls. "Welcome back, your majesties. The head physician humbly requests the princess of Mercury's help on the patient," he said while bowing to each in turn. "Of course I'll come," said Amy. She followed the medic through the door, leaving the rest of the group staring at each other awkwardly. The prince put an end to the tension by bowing to Serenity.
"Forgive my rudeness, my lady, but I didn't quite catch the name of your kingdom. I've never heard of a country called Mercury." The prince was fishing, but Malachite didn't blame him. After all, Endyimon knew almost every kingdom on the planet. He couldn't understand how such a place with such powerful warriors could have escaped his knowledge.
Serenity laughed silently. "I'm truly sorry, your highness. I thought that you understood. Mercury is not the name of the land on which you stand, and Amy is not its princess. Perhaps a formal introduction is in order." She curtsied gracefully, the smile still on her face, and said, "I am High Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. My companions are Crown Princess Lita of the planet Jupiter, Crown Princess Raye of the planet Mars, and Crown Prince Tranquility of the Solar Empire. You have already met the Crown Princess of Venus, also known as Mina, and the Crown Princess of Mercury, also known as Amy. Welcome to the moon, gentlemen."
Malachite lay on the magnificent four-poster bed in his new quarters. He still didn't know what to make of their situation. He didn't even know if he believed Serenity's story. How could these unassuming girls be beings from other planets? True, they had strange abilities and could seemingly control the elements themselves. True, they fought beasts that could only be from another planet. True, Mina's blood was gold instead of red. True, they had come through that strange doorway to what seemed to be another world. Still, skeptic that he was, he needed more proof.
They had yet to meet the High Queen, but Serenity assured them that they would have a meeting with her as soon as they were properly rested. She arranged quarters for them, and then sent them on their way. So far, they had had no other word from the 'High Princess.'
Malachite finally gave up on sleeping. He paced the room, looking for any sign that he was, indeed, on another world. He found several books, but all of them were in his own language and appeared to be written by authors from his own world. Bah. It must be some sort of hoax.
A knock sounded at the door, and Malachite put the book back on the table. He opened the door to find a tall man with long silver hair waiting for him. The man inclined his head in greeting. "Selenity will see you now, general. Follow me, please." He spoke with the same accent that all of the people of this world, except perhaps Mina, seemed to possess.
Malachite followed the man through a dizzying procession of hallways, stairs, and tunnels until they came to a large stone door. By this point, of course, Malachite was hopelessly lost. That's probably what was intended, he thought, annoyed.
The doors opened as they approached, and Malachite found himself in a room that could easily have swallowed half of the palace at home. The only people in it were the other generals, the prince, Raye, Amy, Lita, and a young woman with purple hair in similar buns to that of Serenity. Sitting on a throne on a raised dais sat Serenity. On a larger throne to her right was a tall woman with hair similar to Serenity's. This must be Serenity's mother, he mused. She couldn't be anyone else with that hairstyle. Queen Selenity nodded at Malachite's guide, saying, "Thank you Artemis. You and Luna may leave now. I'm sure you have something better to do." A twinkle formed in her eyes at the last statement, and Malachite noticed that both Artemis and Luna blushed. They quickly left, and the queen turned to those assembled before her.
"I am deeply in your debt for the aide you rendered to my niece, Mina. I can never properly repay such a debt, but I wish to try anyway. To that end, I invite the entire party to stay on the moon for as long as you wish. It is my devout hope that your stay here will result in a lasting peace between our peoples." She gestured to the young women around her. "I'm sure that Artemis and Luna managed to get each of you thoroughly lost. They usually forget that not everybody has a cat's sense of direction. My daughter and her court will be most happy to show each of you around the palace and answer any questions that you might have. Girls?" One by one, each of the girls stepped forward to claim a general. Malachite didn't fail to notice that in spite of her apparent distaste, Raye still managed to claim Jedeite.
Amy indicated both Zoicite and Malachite. "I don't know if you remember, but I'm Amy. Where would you like to go first?" she asked politely. Malachite thought for a moment. "I'd like some proof that this is really another planet, for one thing," he said. Zoicite winced at his commander's rudeness but decided not to mention it. He turned to Amy instead. "Beautiful lady, I don't care where I go as long as I am in your company," he said flirtingly. Amy blushed but turned and led them down a long hallway. "I guess I'll take both of you to the observatory," she said thoughtfully. "But first I need to check on Mina's condition, if you don't mind."
Malachite shrugged indifferently. He really didn't care one way or another about that conniving girl. Zoicite frowned, but again chose to ignore his friend's poor manners. "How is the lovely lady doing?" he asked instead.
It was Amy's turn to frown. "I'm very worried. Her wounds are healing nicely, but she still hasn't woken up. I'm afraid that her captors did something to her mind as well as her body. We've called in some of the best mind-healers in the galaxy, but so far they haven't found anything wrong with her." She paused as they came to a low door leading to the hospital wing. "Come on, she's in here."
She led the way to a portion of the room, which was partitioned off by curtains. She pushed one of the curtains aside to reveal a coffin-like object made of glass. Heavy equipment monitored the life signs of the frail girl lying within.
For the first time since their adventure had begun, Malachite took a proper look at Mina. All of her outer injuries were gone, but her face had was still deathly pale. Her beautiful features were marred by intense pain. Malachite felt his own heart constrict with guilt, but he quickly suppressed it. She was the one that had betrayed him, not the other way around. She'd lied to him, used him, and then involved him in something that threatened not just everything he believed in, but also the few people that he cared about.
He turned away, unwilling to look at her anymore. Amy walked around Mina's coffin, carefully checking each of the monitors. As she did, one of the monitors suddenly began to beep frantically. She ran quickly to it, then began calling out orders to nearby medics. Malachite grabbed Zoicite and pulled him into a corner out of the way of the rushing medics. Malachite couldn't tell what was going on, but he could see the worried looks on everyone's faces.
Finally, the beeping stopped and the medics calmed down. Amy walked tiredly over to the waiting generals. "Sorry about that, but I'll have to cut our tour short. Something's going on in Mina's head, and I don't have the skills necessary to find out what it is." She raked a tired hand through her short hair. "I'm going to have to take her to Mars. There are hermits there who might be able to help her." She glanced suddenly up at them. "I know how much you wanted proof that we're on another world. I can't think of any better proof than to take you with me on a space voyage, can you? If you like, I can get permission for both of you to accompany me."
Zoicite nodded eagerly, and Malachite echoed his movements slowly. What better way, indeed?
"I'm curious, though," said Zoicite. "Why do we need to take a ship? Why can't we just use another doorway like the one that brought us here?"
Amy smiled at him. "Good question. Using a doorway like that tends to disorient people for a few minutes. Since we don't know what's wrong with Mina, we don't want to risk anything by using a portal. We only took it earlier because we thought that her injuries were purely physical. Don't worry. The trip will only take a few hours at the most. We're only going to Mars, after all."