Suddenly Darien and Demeter were sitting on a hillside together enjoying a
picnic lunch. He was not controlling his own movements, but rather, was a
spectator sitting in the back of his own mind from his distant past. He could
hear the thoughts of his former self and could see all that he saw, but was
unable to participate.
He looked out over the grassy knoll toward the children playing tag. His
cape had been removed and he was sitting on it like a blanket. He looked to
His sister. She was now wearing a lavender toga, apparently this was her
favorite color, and sat on her own violet cape. All members of the Earth's
royal family wore them to show their rank. A little girl brought two flower
crowns to them and placed them on their heads.
"Thank you sweetheart. They're lovely," Demeter praised the little elfin
girl. She curtsied to her sovereigns and ran off giggling, proud that she had
made them happy. "See Darien, taking a day off isn't so bad. The children of
the court love having you around."
"Just because you've made yourself the royal babysitter doesn't mean that
I'm going to join you. One day once in a while is fine, thank you. Besides,
if you like kids so much, why don't you just get married and have some of your
own?"
"You know good and well that when the Oracle spoke of my destiny it said
nothing of my getting married. I am to be a warrior and a teacher, nothing
more. You're the one who is going to rule the most powerful kingdom in the
Universe someday along side you soul mate. You just keep those matchmaking
schemes to yourself."
"Fine. I was just trying to help," Darien grumbled, thinking of his soon
to be very disappointed friend.
"You're such a spoiled sport. Come on, let's go swimming. The ocean
looks wonderful today," Demeter grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him up and
toward the water when thunder rumbled in the distance.
"What the...I thought you said there wasn't going to be any rain today,
Darien."
"I did, and there still isn't. I don't know what that is, but I have a
very bad feeling. Get the kids back to the Palace nursery, I'll meet you in
the Oracle room after I get Mother and Father." Demeter nodded and quickly
gathered up the dozen or so children and led them back to the Palace as Darien
ran for his parents private quarters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Oracle Room was buzzing with three screens lit up. One with an image
of the black storm cloud, one with readouts and one with weather reports
forecast by the Oracle itself.
"Well Darien, you were right. That is not a storm cloud. It is some form
of Dark Energy, and it is very strong. I can't tell exactly what the source is
though. You don't suppose this is the prophesied Dark Time do you?" Demeter
looked to her older brother for a negative answer, but when he didn't respond
she knew that the future looked very grim. "What are we going to do?"
"I'm not sure yet. Father told me to report to him as soon as we found
anything; we'll let him try to come up with a game plan before we do anything.
It's not looking good though."
They walked out briskly, shoulder to shoulder, in a flurry of rustling
capes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This doesn't appear good at all. You say that the power of this being
read off the scale?"
"Yes, sir. It's stronger than any enemy that has ever attacked Earth
before," Darien answered. "Would you like us to take defensive measures?"
"I think we should wait until we know for sure that it is hostile, you
don't want to provoke whatever it is into attacking if it is just passing
through space to another destination, like the Moon," their mother interjected,
the last comment a little too harsh.
"I would have to agree with the queen on that point. Let's just wait to
see what it does," Persephone advised, but not for the same reasons.
Before Darien or Demeter could respond the Palace shook violently. "We're
under attack," Demeter cried as she pulled herself up off the ground.
"Well, little sister, are you ready for your first real battle?" Darien
asked. As if to answer him she transformed and strapped on the feminine Sword
of Earth. Darien brandished his own sword and literally flew out of the throne
room with Demeter hot on his heels. What met them when they entered the
battlefield shook them to the core.
Stones that had once been the houses of the nearby village were strewn
across green grass, and the bodies of drained villagers lay amongst the rubble.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Demeter moaned when she saw a toddler
clutching her stuffed bear.
"Wait until after the battle," Darien told her. Just then a disgusting
creature made of some unidentifiable metal confronted them, attacking with
amazing surges of power. Demeter was taken by surprise and blasted, but she
quickly recovered and returned with swift blow of an eruption. The ground
opened behind it and lava spurted out, hitting it in the back and melting away
some of its protective armor.
"NOW!" Darien cried and Demeter drew her sword.
Together they chanted "ORACLE OF THE POWER OF EARTH EMPOWER THESE SWORDS!"
Both swords began to glow brightly an eerie shade of blue. They brought their
swords above their head and slashed them down through the air. Blue streaks
flew from the blades and met together, making the same slash through the
creature, cutting the monster in half. It screeched and fell to the ground
before it disappeared, leaving a large singed black spot in the grass.
The people slowly began to come to, having had their energy restored to
them when the youma was destroyed. "We need to get these people to the Palace.
They're going to need some medical attention, and we need to talk to father,"
Darien stated as he resheathed his sword. Demeter nodded and began to gather
the villagers for the short trip to their temporary home.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Is that hostile enough for you? Did you see how fast it destroyed that
entire village and drained the residents' energy?" Demeter snapped at her
mother.
"Don't get smart with me young lady. You may be a warrior, but I'm still
your mother," she snapped back.
"I apologize, mother, but did you see that. It was unbelievable. What
are we going to do?"
"Demeter is right. We might not be able to do this on our own. We need
to get help," said Darien.
"Where do you propose to get the help you're talking about?" the king
questioned.
It was dark by now and the Moon was rising in the distance. The prince
looked out the window of the throne room at it and everyone knew what he meant.
"NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I will not have myself or this kingdom bow down to
the Moon Kingdom. It is out of the question!" the usually docile queen
startled everyone.
"But Mother, it could be the only chance we have to beat this thing."
"You heard me. For all we know, this could be the Moon Kingdom trying to
steal the Oracle. They always were jealous that we had something as powerful
as the Silver Crystal and now they're trying to take it for themselves."
"Don't be ridiculous Mother. They wouldn't do anything like that and you
know it," Demeter tried to reason, but the queen simply wouldn't hear it. She
turned on her heel and disappeared down a long corridor toward her private
quarters.
"You heard your mother. I might have considered your proposition, but I
have to live with her, and Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I'll leave
you to two to come up with a battle strategy. I trust you." With that said he
followed his wife at a much slower pace.
Demeter turned to Darien, "Got any other bright ideas. I thought she was
going to suffer an aneurysm. Next time warn me before you drop any of those
bombshells, all right."
"How does this one sound. We go to the Moon and form an alliance on our
own, without their consent."
"That's called treason, Darien. You really are nuts, you know that,"
Demeter was shocked. He was walking on thin ice with his hair-brained schemes.
"Just think about it for a few days, Demeter. If things are looking up in
a few days, I won't mention it again, I promise."
"I'll think about it, but I doubt I'll change my mind. I'm going to bed,
see you in the morning." Demeter walked out of the room with her finger dug
deep in her hair messaging her scalp. Persephone followed her, having heard
what Darien wanted to do, and wondering if it was the right thing or not. The
Oracle never said how he would come to rule to most powerful kingdom in the
galaxy.
Darien sat down on the step leading up to the thrones his parents usually
occupied pondering his mother's reaction to his suggestion and how she could
let her pride get in the way of her judgment. He sighed and stood back up, his
battle armor clanking as he did so and dirt falling to the floor from it. This
was going to be a long uphill battle, he could feel it in his bones.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every day they fought a new youma, sometimes two or three in a day. On
days when there was more than one, there was one attacking a village hundreds
of miles away and one attacking the Palace. They had to dispatch at least one
of Darien's generals at a time to exterminate the other creature. Jadeite came
back with more than one battle scar after his first encounter and was
immediately taken off duty.
They couldn't win all of the battles either, and their enemy, who they
found was called Titan, was steadily growing stronger. This was evident in the
increasing number of attacks and the strength of the youmas. It was as if he
was getting help from an outside source as well, but from whom they had no way
of knowing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Demeter, Lady Beryl of the Northern Province will be here soon. Are her
chambers ready yet?" Queen Helen asked as they prepared for the arrival of the
Asian Lords and Ladies. They had to discuss the present situation and how to
deal with it, and it seemed that a lot of activity was taking place in Beryl's
province.
"Yes, Mother. Now, I promised the courtiers children that I would spend
that afternoon with them, so if you will excuse me, I will return when our
guests arrive." Demeter slipped out, relieved that she was free of that
burdensome chore. There were few people on Earth that she truly disliked, but
Beryl was one of them, and for good reason. She was mean to the servants, rude
to the other members of court, disrespectful toward the royal family, and
always eyeing her brother, as if her were a piece of meat, she thought
bitterly. There was something very evil about her and Demeter was afraid to
find out what it was.
She arrived at the nursery to find 14 smiling faces waiting for her.
These were the children of the courtiers who lived within the Palace walls and
served as administrators to the royal family. All of the children loved when
the princess came to visit, but she had been so busy fighting the "ugly
meanies" the passed few weeks that she hadn't had time to come play with them.
Their parents had tried to explain it to them when they came to tuck them in,
but they still missed their favorite sitter.
"Pwintheth!" one of the youngest children, three-year-old Katerina
squealed when she saw her.
"My little elves, how have you been?" she asked as she lifted Kitty into
her arms and hugged her.
"We mithed you. Wherew werew you?" Kitty demanded with a pout.
"I've been fight bad guys, but believe me, I would much rather be here
with you," she laughed. The children always lightened her heart. "How would
all of you like to go to court today and see all the Lords and Ladies come in?"
she asked them, not wanting to part with them anytime soon and knowing that the
first guests would be rolling in within the hour.
Their faces lit up and yes's could be heard throughout the room as they
all scurried to put on their royal best. Their parents never even let them go
to court.
Twenty minutes later a long line of small children filed out of the
nursery and followed Princess Demeter across the large courtyard toward the
Palace. They were all very excited and couldn't wait to see all the brightly
colored togas that the Lords and Ladies wore when they came to see the King and
Queen.
Demeter held Kitty in her arms and the rest of the children stood behind
her as the ambassadors paid homage to her with low bows of respect, all of them
having one of their knees touch the floor.
Beryl was the last of the envoys (I used a thesaurus *g*) to enter the
receiving room. Her attire made the Ladies gasp and the Lords to gape in
disgust. It was a tight dark purple piece of fabric that wrapped around her
body, was low cut in the back and did not go over the shoulders. She was very
pail to begin with, but this made her look blue and dead. All in all, it was
very inappropriate to be present yourself to the royal family of Earth dressed
in such a manner. She strutted up to the King and bowed at the waist, not
nearly deep enough to be deemed worthy of his station, and proceeded down the
line, Queen, Darien and last Demeter.
She stopped at the princess and looked with distaste at the toddler in her
arms and the children surrounding her. The little girl hid her face in the
crook of Demeter's neck, frightened of the mean looking woman, and certain that
she was one of the monsters her heroes were fighting.
Lady Beryl was about to step away from the princess without bowing when
the king had finally had enough of her behavior. "You will show your princess
the proper respect of her station, Lady Beryl, or so help me, you'll wish you
had," he threatened. Beryl glared daggers at the princess and slowly bowed,
mockingly, at the waist. When she had done so, she quickly left the room and
disappeared into the chambers prepared for her.
"Someone needs to have a little talk with her about proper behavior when
addressing her seniors. That was completely inappropriate," the Queen
remarked.
"I was ready to throw her in the stocks. The nerve of her, trying to get
away with not bowing to Demeter. I will have her appear before me tomorrow for
an explanation before I take action," King Dionysius was outraged. "Darien
take everyone to the banquet hall for an evening meal and have the servants
show them to their chambers." The King and Queen left the room and disappeared
down a corridor deep in discussion.
"I knew Beryl was eccentric and rude, but that was ridiculous," Demeter
whispered to her brother as they led the way to the banquet hall. "If her
province wasn't having so much trouble with the invaders, I would have been
insulted."
"Somehow I don't think that was what that was all about, sis. She's up to
something, and I'll bet that were going to find out what it is very soon."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darien and Demeter were in the Oracle Room studying the readouts from the
latest attacks when Darien noticed something strange. "These indicate that
we're fighting more than one enemy. The ones attacking at remote locations
have a different energy reading than the ones attacking the Palace. It's like
we're being double-teamed. They don't seem to be after the same thing either,
Titan is focused on the Oracle and the other focuses mainly on energy of humans
and distracting us. I wonder what it is after and why."
"I couldn't tell you, but we can bet that it's not good," Demeter
commented. Things were starting to look very grim. They were losing more and
more battles and Titan was growing stronger, along with his ally. They
couldn't hold out much longer, but Demeter was still resistant to the idea of
defying their parents and approaching the Moon Kingdom. Suddenly the Palace
shook almost familiarly as it was attacked again.
"Here goes. I guess I won't get to see the kids today," Demeter sighed
before she transformed.
Outside they were met by the ugliest, largest, strongest and meanest youma
they had ever encountered. Its teeth were crooked, green and sharp and its
eyes were red. The base of the monster, or what it was made of seemed to be a
dragon or lizard of some sort and it would use its tongue to attack with, along
with the nega-energy it shot from its hands. It met every one of their attacks
blow for blow, wearing them down slowly. It began to drift toward the nursery
and no matter how hard Prince Darien and Sailor Earth tried to divert its
attention, it seemed determined to get to the small building.
"NOW!" a familiar voice ordered from an out of sight location. The youma
lunged forward and fired directly at the nursery, shattering the crystal it was
made from. Sailor Earth and Prince Darien watched in horror as the small
structure crumble to the ground smoldering.
Sailor Earth's eyes flashed midnight blue as the rage built up inside her.
"EARTH VOLCANO OBLITERATION!" she commanded. The ground opened up beneath the
youma, lava leapt up and grabbed it, dragged it beneath the surface, and
destroyed it.
Both Sailor Earth and Prince Darien ran to the ruins, but it was too late.
The children were gone. Sailor Earth spotted a small body lying amongst the
rubble and quickly made her way to it.
"Katerina? Sweetheart can you hear me. Please, you have to wake. I'm so
sorry, sweetheart that I couldn't protect you. Come on Kitty, wake up. It's
going to be all right if you just open your eyes," she cradled her n her lap
and rocked back and forth. Sailor Earth's heart was broken and Prince Darien
didn't think it would ever mend. The children were almost her own, and Kitty
was even his favorite, so full of life and energy. Always trying to bring a
smile to his face when she saw him.
"Demeter, she's gone, you have to let go," he whispered softly as he
wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"NO! I can't let it end this way. It'll be OK if she just opens her
eyes."
"You can't bring her back. No one can. It's just the way of the things.
Someday we'll understand why this happened."
"What do you mean 'why this happened.' It wasn't supposed to happen. I
was supposed to protect them. They were my responsibility and I let them die.
I killed them." She was near hysterics now and Prince Darien wasn't sure what
to expect next. His sister was a very docile person to say the least, but this
was too much for her. Suddenly she took a deep breath, gently laid Kitty on
the ground, and stood with a resolved look on her face.
"Where are you going?" Prince Darien asked, surprised by her sudden calm
and swift movement.
"To the Moon."
picnic lunch. He was not controlling his own movements, but rather, was a
spectator sitting in the back of his own mind from his distant past. He could
hear the thoughts of his former self and could see all that he saw, but was
unable to participate.
He looked out over the grassy knoll toward the children playing tag. His
cape had been removed and he was sitting on it like a blanket. He looked to
His sister. She was now wearing a lavender toga, apparently this was her
favorite color, and sat on her own violet cape. All members of the Earth's
royal family wore them to show their rank. A little girl brought two flower
crowns to them and placed them on their heads.
"Thank you sweetheart. They're lovely," Demeter praised the little elfin
girl. She curtsied to her sovereigns and ran off giggling, proud that she had
made them happy. "See Darien, taking a day off isn't so bad. The children of
the court love having you around."
"Just because you've made yourself the royal babysitter doesn't mean that
I'm going to join you. One day once in a while is fine, thank you. Besides,
if you like kids so much, why don't you just get married and have some of your
own?"
"You know good and well that when the Oracle spoke of my destiny it said
nothing of my getting married. I am to be a warrior and a teacher, nothing
more. You're the one who is going to rule the most powerful kingdom in the
Universe someday along side you soul mate. You just keep those matchmaking
schemes to yourself."
"Fine. I was just trying to help," Darien grumbled, thinking of his soon
to be very disappointed friend.
"You're such a spoiled sport. Come on, let's go swimming. The ocean
looks wonderful today," Demeter grabbed her brother's hand and dragged him up and
toward the water when thunder rumbled in the distance.
"What the...I thought you said there wasn't going to be any rain today,
Darien."
"I did, and there still isn't. I don't know what that is, but I have a
very bad feeling. Get the kids back to the Palace nursery, I'll meet you in
the Oracle room after I get Mother and Father." Demeter nodded and quickly
gathered up the dozen or so children and led them back to the Palace as Darien
ran for his parents private quarters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Oracle Room was buzzing with three screens lit up. One with an image
of the black storm cloud, one with readouts and one with weather reports
forecast by the Oracle itself.
"Well Darien, you were right. That is not a storm cloud. It is some form
of Dark Energy, and it is very strong. I can't tell exactly what the source is
though. You don't suppose this is the prophesied Dark Time do you?" Demeter
looked to her older brother for a negative answer, but when he didn't respond
she knew that the future looked very grim. "What are we going to do?"
"I'm not sure yet. Father told me to report to him as soon as we found
anything; we'll let him try to come up with a game plan before we do anything.
It's not looking good though."
They walked out briskly, shoulder to shoulder, in a flurry of rustling
capes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This doesn't appear good at all. You say that the power of this being
read off the scale?"
"Yes, sir. It's stronger than any enemy that has ever attacked Earth
before," Darien answered. "Would you like us to take defensive measures?"
"I think we should wait until we know for sure that it is hostile, you
don't want to provoke whatever it is into attacking if it is just passing
through space to another destination, like the Moon," their mother interjected,
the last comment a little too harsh.
"I would have to agree with the queen on that point. Let's just wait to
see what it does," Persephone advised, but not for the same reasons.
Before Darien or Demeter could respond the Palace shook violently. "We're
under attack," Demeter cried as she pulled herself up off the ground.
"Well, little sister, are you ready for your first real battle?" Darien
asked. As if to answer him she transformed and strapped on the feminine Sword
of Earth. Darien brandished his own sword and literally flew out of the throne
room with Demeter hot on his heels. What met them when they entered the
battlefield shook them to the core.
Stones that had once been the houses of the nearby village were strewn
across green grass, and the bodies of drained villagers lay amongst the rubble.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Demeter moaned when she saw a toddler
clutching her stuffed bear.
"Wait until after the battle," Darien told her. Just then a disgusting
creature made of some unidentifiable metal confronted them, attacking with
amazing surges of power. Demeter was taken by surprise and blasted, but she
quickly recovered and returned with swift blow of an eruption. The ground
opened behind it and lava spurted out, hitting it in the back and melting away
some of its protective armor.
"NOW!" Darien cried and Demeter drew her sword.
Together they chanted "ORACLE OF THE POWER OF EARTH EMPOWER THESE SWORDS!"
Both swords began to glow brightly an eerie shade of blue. They brought their
swords above their head and slashed them down through the air. Blue streaks
flew from the blades and met together, making the same slash through the
creature, cutting the monster in half. It screeched and fell to the ground
before it disappeared, leaving a large singed black spot in the grass.
The people slowly began to come to, having had their energy restored to
them when the youma was destroyed. "We need to get these people to the Palace.
They're going to need some medical attention, and we need to talk to father,"
Darien stated as he resheathed his sword. Demeter nodded and began to gather
the villagers for the short trip to their temporary home.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Is that hostile enough for you? Did you see how fast it destroyed that
entire village and drained the residents' energy?" Demeter snapped at her
mother.
"Don't get smart with me young lady. You may be a warrior, but I'm still
your mother," she snapped back.
"I apologize, mother, but did you see that. It was unbelievable. What
are we going to do?"
"Demeter is right. We might not be able to do this on our own. We need
to get help," said Darien.
"Where do you propose to get the help you're talking about?" the king
questioned.
It was dark by now and the Moon was rising in the distance. The prince
looked out the window of the throne room at it and everyone knew what he meant.
"NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. I will not have myself or this kingdom bow down to
the Moon Kingdom. It is out of the question!" the usually docile queen
startled everyone.
"But Mother, it could be the only chance we have to beat this thing."
"You heard me. For all we know, this could be the Moon Kingdom trying to
steal the Oracle. They always were jealous that we had something as powerful
as the Silver Crystal and now they're trying to take it for themselves."
"Don't be ridiculous Mother. They wouldn't do anything like that and you
know it," Demeter tried to reason, but the queen simply wouldn't hear it. She
turned on her heel and disappeared down a long corridor toward her private
quarters.
"You heard your mother. I might have considered your proposition, but I
have to live with her, and Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I'll leave
you to two to come up with a battle strategy. I trust you." With that said he
followed his wife at a much slower pace.
Demeter turned to Darien, "Got any other bright ideas. I thought she was
going to suffer an aneurysm. Next time warn me before you drop any of those
bombshells, all right."
"How does this one sound. We go to the Moon and form an alliance on our
own, without their consent."
"That's called treason, Darien. You really are nuts, you know that,"
Demeter was shocked. He was walking on thin ice with his hair-brained schemes.
"Just think about it for a few days, Demeter. If things are looking up in
a few days, I won't mention it again, I promise."
"I'll think about it, but I doubt I'll change my mind. I'm going to bed,
see you in the morning." Demeter walked out of the room with her finger dug
deep in her hair messaging her scalp. Persephone followed her, having heard
what Darien wanted to do, and wondering if it was the right thing or not. The
Oracle never said how he would come to rule to most powerful kingdom in the
galaxy.
Darien sat down on the step leading up to the thrones his parents usually
occupied pondering his mother's reaction to his suggestion and how she could
let her pride get in the way of her judgment. He sighed and stood back up, his
battle armor clanking as he did so and dirt falling to the floor from it. This
was going to be a long uphill battle, he could feel it in his bones.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every day they fought a new youma, sometimes two or three in a day. On
days when there was more than one, there was one attacking a village hundreds
of miles away and one attacking the Palace. They had to dispatch at least one
of Darien's generals at a time to exterminate the other creature. Jadeite came
back with more than one battle scar after his first encounter and was
immediately taken off duty.
They couldn't win all of the battles either, and their enemy, who they
found was called Titan, was steadily growing stronger. This was evident in the
increasing number of attacks and the strength of the youmas. It was as if he
was getting help from an outside source as well, but from whom they had no way
of knowing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Demeter, Lady Beryl of the Northern Province will be here soon. Are her
chambers ready yet?" Queen Helen asked as they prepared for the arrival of the
Asian Lords and Ladies. They had to discuss the present situation and how to
deal with it, and it seemed that a lot of activity was taking place in Beryl's
province.
"Yes, Mother. Now, I promised the courtiers children that I would spend
that afternoon with them, so if you will excuse me, I will return when our
guests arrive." Demeter slipped out, relieved that she was free of that
burdensome chore. There were few people on Earth that she truly disliked, but
Beryl was one of them, and for good reason. She was mean to the servants, rude
to the other members of court, disrespectful toward the royal family, and
always eyeing her brother, as if her were a piece of meat, she thought
bitterly. There was something very evil about her and Demeter was afraid to
find out what it was.
She arrived at the nursery to find 14 smiling faces waiting for her.
These were the children of the courtiers who lived within the Palace walls and
served as administrators to the royal family. All of the children loved when
the princess came to visit, but she had been so busy fighting the "ugly
meanies" the passed few weeks that she hadn't had time to come play with them.
Their parents had tried to explain it to them when they came to tuck them in,
but they still missed their favorite sitter.
"Pwintheth!" one of the youngest children, three-year-old Katerina
squealed when she saw her.
"My little elves, how have you been?" she asked as she lifted Kitty into
her arms and hugged her.
"We mithed you. Wherew werew you?" Kitty demanded with a pout.
"I've been fight bad guys, but believe me, I would much rather be here
with you," she laughed. The children always lightened her heart. "How would
all of you like to go to court today and see all the Lords and Ladies come in?"
she asked them, not wanting to part with them anytime soon and knowing that the
first guests would be rolling in within the hour.
Their faces lit up and yes's could be heard throughout the room as they
all scurried to put on their royal best. Their parents never even let them go
to court.
Twenty minutes later a long line of small children filed out of the
nursery and followed Princess Demeter across the large courtyard toward the
Palace. They were all very excited and couldn't wait to see all the brightly
colored togas that the Lords and Ladies wore when they came to see the King and
Queen.
Demeter held Kitty in her arms and the rest of the children stood behind
her as the ambassadors paid homage to her with low bows of respect, all of them
having one of their knees touch the floor.
Beryl was the last of the envoys (I used a thesaurus *g*) to enter the
receiving room. Her attire made the Ladies gasp and the Lords to gape in
disgust. It was a tight dark purple piece of fabric that wrapped around her
body, was low cut in the back and did not go over the shoulders. She was very
pail to begin with, but this made her look blue and dead. All in all, it was
very inappropriate to be present yourself to the royal family of Earth dressed
in such a manner. She strutted up to the King and bowed at the waist, not
nearly deep enough to be deemed worthy of his station, and proceeded down the
line, Queen, Darien and last Demeter.
She stopped at the princess and looked with distaste at the toddler in her
arms and the children surrounding her. The little girl hid her face in the
crook of Demeter's neck, frightened of the mean looking woman, and certain that
she was one of the monsters her heroes were fighting.
Lady Beryl was about to step away from the princess without bowing when
the king had finally had enough of her behavior. "You will show your princess
the proper respect of her station, Lady Beryl, or so help me, you'll wish you
had," he threatened. Beryl glared daggers at the princess and slowly bowed,
mockingly, at the waist. When she had done so, she quickly left the room and
disappeared into the chambers prepared for her.
"Someone needs to have a little talk with her about proper behavior when
addressing her seniors. That was completely inappropriate," the Queen
remarked.
"I was ready to throw her in the stocks. The nerve of her, trying to get
away with not bowing to Demeter. I will have her appear before me tomorrow for
an explanation before I take action," King Dionysius was outraged. "Darien
take everyone to the banquet hall for an evening meal and have the servants
show them to their chambers." The King and Queen left the room and disappeared
down a corridor deep in discussion.
"I knew Beryl was eccentric and rude, but that was ridiculous," Demeter
whispered to her brother as they led the way to the banquet hall. "If her
province wasn't having so much trouble with the invaders, I would have been
insulted."
"Somehow I don't think that was what that was all about, sis. She's up to
something, and I'll bet that were going to find out what it is very soon."
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Darien and Demeter were in the Oracle Room studying the readouts from the
latest attacks when Darien noticed something strange. "These indicate that
we're fighting more than one enemy. The ones attacking at remote locations
have a different energy reading than the ones attacking the Palace. It's like
we're being double-teamed. They don't seem to be after the same thing either,
Titan is focused on the Oracle and the other focuses mainly on energy of humans
and distracting us. I wonder what it is after and why."
"I couldn't tell you, but we can bet that it's not good," Demeter
commented. Things were starting to look very grim. They were losing more and
more battles and Titan was growing stronger, along with his ally. They
couldn't hold out much longer, but Demeter was still resistant to the idea of
defying their parents and approaching the Moon Kingdom. Suddenly the Palace
shook almost familiarly as it was attacked again.
"Here goes. I guess I won't get to see the kids today," Demeter sighed
before she transformed.
Outside they were met by the ugliest, largest, strongest and meanest youma
they had ever encountered. Its teeth were crooked, green and sharp and its
eyes were red. The base of the monster, or what it was made of seemed to be a
dragon or lizard of some sort and it would use its tongue to attack with, along
with the nega-energy it shot from its hands. It met every one of their attacks
blow for blow, wearing them down slowly. It began to drift toward the nursery
and no matter how hard Prince Darien and Sailor Earth tried to divert its
attention, it seemed determined to get to the small building.
"NOW!" a familiar voice ordered from an out of sight location. The youma
lunged forward and fired directly at the nursery, shattering the crystal it was
made from. Sailor Earth and Prince Darien watched in horror as the small
structure crumble to the ground smoldering.
Sailor Earth's eyes flashed midnight blue as the rage built up inside her.
"EARTH VOLCANO OBLITERATION!" she commanded. The ground opened up beneath the
youma, lava leapt up and grabbed it, dragged it beneath the surface, and
destroyed it.
Both Sailor Earth and Prince Darien ran to the ruins, but it was too late.
The children were gone. Sailor Earth spotted a small body lying amongst the
rubble and quickly made her way to it.
"Katerina? Sweetheart can you hear me. Please, you have to wake. I'm so
sorry, sweetheart that I couldn't protect you. Come on Kitty, wake up. It's
going to be all right if you just open your eyes," she cradled her n her lap
and rocked back and forth. Sailor Earth's heart was broken and Prince Darien
didn't think it would ever mend. The children were almost her own, and Kitty
was even his favorite, so full of life and energy. Always trying to bring a
smile to his face when she saw him.
"Demeter, she's gone, you have to let go," he whispered softly as he
wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"NO! I can't let it end this way. It'll be OK if she just opens her
eyes."
"You can't bring her back. No one can. It's just the way of the things.
Someday we'll understand why this happened."
"What do you mean 'why this happened.' It wasn't supposed to happen. I
was supposed to protect them. They were my responsibility and I let them die.
I killed them." She was near hysterics now and Prince Darien wasn't sure what
to expect next. His sister was a very docile person to say the least, but this
was too much for her. Suddenly she took a deep breath, gently laid Kitty on
the ground, and stood with a resolved look on her face.
"Where are you going?" Prince Darien asked, surprised by her sudden calm
and swift movement.
"To the Moon."