Disclaimer: Please refer to Prologue.
Bizarre Love Triangle Chapter One: The Perfect CoupleIt was hard to elegantly thread through a tight crowd but Nerin managed it perfectly. Possessed of a dancer's grace, she made it look like a casual saunter through the royal gardens. For the people in the crowd, it was hard not to make way for this cool, self-possessed looking young lady with a heartbreakingly beautiful face and noble mien. With that dress and that carriage, they instinctively knew her to be of the high nobility. She inclined her head graciously for those who gave way to her and moved further towards the centre of the ballroom.So many years spent in her Princess' cause but never a glimpse in person. Nerin was eager to finally see her.
Althought everyone was there to see the princess, many spared a glance or two for the lady of Neptune. Even on Neptune, where the nobility wore fair faces, Nerin stood out. Hair and eyes the colour of the seas that graced her home, she looked every bit as alluring and mysterious as her namesake, the nereid. The sharp gleam of intelligence in her eyes said that this was no empty-headed beauty, the slight sparkle of kindness and good humour in them said that her beauty did not lend itself to arrogance or cruelty. One who looked closer might have seen a hint of steel, speaking of strength and determination. One who just saw her face would never have guessed that this was one of the fiercest soldiers of the Silver Millennium.
She side-stepped smoothly into a vacated spot and at last, saw the face of her Princess. Nerin tried hard to get a closer look at her face but it was quite difficult. The press of people around the dance floor was too tight. Everybody around her was cooing at how cute a couple their Princess and Prince Endymion made. Her lips curled up into an elegant smile as the crowd parted a while and she saw how happy the princess was. Love lit up her face, making the girlish features beautiful beyond her years.
"How lovely our Princess is," she remarked softly to herself.
She could see that Endymion certainly agreed with her. He was looking at her face like a man so helplessly in love, he was oblivious to anything else. For a moment, as he swung his beloved around, she saw his full profile and felt her heart skip a beat. He was so handsome. At that thought, Nerin smiled ruefully. Obviously, her adolescense was nearer than she had thought it was. Just because he was pleasing to the eye did not mean that she should develop an immediate attraction to the man. Besides, he belonged to the Princess, sharp cheekbones, beautifully wavy hair, broad shoulders and all. Nerin had to laugh silently again at that thought. Yes, she was definitely not as mature as she had imagined herself. She took a last glance at the happy couple and walked away to find a quiet corner. Today, she had no wish to exchange pleasantries with other nobles.
The music ended while she was walking away and with that, the assorted nobility and diplomats laughed indulgently.She turned in time to see that Endymion had swept up the surprised princess and planted a lingering kiss on her lips in front of everybody. At first, the Princess blushed. Then, in the spirit of the moment, she kissed him back.
"Bravo!" someone called out and there was clapping.
Handsome and romantic as well. She was not jealous of the Moon Princess but for a moment, a longing for Endymion seized her. Then it passed and Nerin laughed self-deprecatingly. Not Endymion, no- she did not even know him but someone like him who would love her and care for her like he did for Princess Serenity. There's no one like that for me, she thought sadly. No one on Neptune would care to sweep her off her feet and kiss her like that in front of everybody. No one would dare to either, I'm afraid.There was simply no one who would love her and no one she could love.
Her mood turning melancholic, she looked around for a quiet spot. The ballroom was just too much a hubbub for her but to her dismay, all the seats and spaces near anywhere remotely quiet were occupied by chatting notaries or courting couples. She could have retired to her suite but it would have been rude to leave before the toast to the princess was announced. Her perfect eyebrows drew into a slight frown as she tried to recall the locations of the little balconies she knew were around. Walking in the direction she thought they were in, she was startled to hear someone call her name excitedly.
"Nerin-!"
She turned and there, coming towards her in a shimmering pink gown, was the princess' cousin, Dite of Venus. Inclining her head, she smiled and greeted the blonde, "Princess Dite."
The blonde screwed up her face. "Just Dite will do. You Neptunians are too straightlaced for your own good, just relax and enjoy! It's a party, not a meeting of dignitaries, let down your hair, go dance with a man or eight."
Despite herself, the lady of Neptune laughed. She liked the princess of Venus- flirtatious, frank and a bundle of energy. Dite resembled her cousin in looks but possessed a unique beauty of her own. For her part, Dite also liked and admired the beautiful Neptunian who was a few years older than her. She was always graceful, elegant and Dite knew her to be kind and intelligent as well. I wanna be like her when I'm older, she thought to herself. Just waaaaaaaaay wilder!
"On the other hand, more men for me," Dite said roguishly.
"You can have them," Nerin replied, smiling. "I would rather find a quiet place to sit down, where I can wait till the toast. Where are the balconies? I seem to recall they are somewhere that way but am not exactly sure where."
"Oh, they are over that way but I think they're in demand. All occupied. Why, I was in one earlier and people kept coming in and interrupting-" the blonde caught herself.
Nerin could not help letting out a peal of silvery laughter. She could just imagine Dite being frustrated at the continual interruptions to her romantic interlude. She looked fondly at her colleague. The Venus Princess was the only one of the Princess' personal guards with whom she had the occasion to interact. They were not exactly friends but shared a strong mutual respect. Nerin blinked. The blonde stood in reverie in front of her and was momentarily not paying attention to her.
"Dite?
Meanwhile, a plan was running through Dite's head at teleport speed. Contrary to what Nerin had thought, she had not been in that particular balcony for a romantic moment. Of course, she had been in another balcony earlier and had not gotten interrupted- but that was besides the point. She shushed aside the pleasant thought for later and hurriedly made up her mind.
"Princess?"
The blonde snapped back to the present moment from wherever she had been and there was a feverish look in her eyes.
"There! Go there!"
"Excuse me, Dite?"
Without further ado or explanations, Dite grabbed her arm and proceeded to walk off from where they were standing. After being dragged for a few metres, Nerin matched her pace and decided to go along. She did not have anything much to do after all and she had noted that life was never boring around the princess of Venus, who was marching like a demon towards a quieter section of the big ballroom. It seemed like she remembered the place. She thought a while then realised that this was where the little balconies were situated.
"Dite, I thought you said these were all occupied?" she asked mildly.
"Nope! Nope! Just remembered one isn't!" her companion replied, looking, for some reason, nervous.
This was getting just a little suspicious. She opened her mouth to ask a question when suddenly, Dite stopped in front of a curtained archway.
"Here you go, empty balcony, enjoy yourself!" the blonde blurted and dashed away.
The lady of Neptune gave a little sigh. The princess of Venus could be impossible sometimes. She looked around the hallway she was in and saw the curtained archways lining the side of it. If she strained her ears, she could hear murmurs of sweet nothings coming from the two archways beside the one Dite had pointed out to her. She looked again at the one in front. Laying her ear on the rich maroon cloth, she could hear nothing beyond it. At least she was not about to burst in into a secret tryst. Brushing aside the heavy curtain, she stepped into the balcony behind and gasped.
The surface of the Moon was all aglow, shining softly with the with the protection matrix that enabled life to be sustained. And peeking out in the sky, was the blue sphere of Endymion's Earth, looking for all the world like it was gazing longingly at Serenity's Moon. Nerin had forgotten how beautiful it was like when the Earth could be seen, it was almost as blue as her home. During the shuttle ride to the Moon, she had been under cryo-sleep for the whole journey and only woke up when it was entering the hangar. She could have teleported but for protocol's sake, chose to travel with her entourage. So she had missed the splendid view of the Moon and its paramour. The lady of Neptune drank in the sight and the remains of her melancholy melted away. The only thing that could have made the moment more perfect would have been the feel of the wind on her face.
As if on cue, a slight breeze began and teased at the hem of her dress and at the edges of her carefully done hair. Despite herself, Nerin let out another peal of delighted laughter. Now, the moment was as perfect as it could be. She loved the wind almost as much as the sea, loving that in one minute, it could be fierce, tempestuous and the next, as playful and gentle as a lover.Breathing in deeply, she walked over to the railing and closed her eyes.
"I believe this balcony is occupied," came a gruff voice suddenly.
She spun around, dismayed. How could she be a senshi when she could not even sense the nearby presence of someone? Later, she told herself. This was not the time for self-remonstration- she had to answer the unseen man, lady? Man, she decided. It was high for a tenor but too low and gruff for a woman.
"I beg your pardon, good sir," she replied. "It was not my intention to disturb. I-"
"Probably came here to wait for your love. Bah. Lost count of how many came through those curtains kissing!"
"Sir-"
"I'm really getting tired of people barging in-"
"My good man, I-" she tried to say but the gruff yet boyish voice rudely trampled on.
"Don't my good man me. No, I'm not going to move, I don't care if you're Lady So-and-so!"
His loutish behaviour was surprising. Here in the Moon Kingdom, the nobles were generally graceful and polite, if not as highly formal as the court of Neptune. The contentment she had been feeling only a few moments ago evaporated. It was not worth staying here with this boorish oaf whom she could not see clearly, yet was blithely admonishing her. He was a dark shape slumped in a small alcove by the side of the balcony, untouched by the light.
"My apologies, then. I'm leav-"
"Why can't you people just leave?" the man rasped, oblivious to what she was trying to say.
Well, she had tried to apologise. Deciding that it would be a waste of time to reply, Nerin gave a last lingering look to the shimmering scene, feeling again for a fleet second the peace and contentment brought by the wind. Missing for a moment, the seas of her world and the winds that were their constant companions.
"Ashk-karian lea," she murmured softly into the wind. Till we meet again.
There was a sharp intake of breath from the dark shape in the alcove. Thinking that he was drawing breath to demand that she leave again, she started to walk towards the curtain.
"Hia-ashk, laranthi'ya dar daes tessh'la dun'ya (that we meet, away from the blue of our world), I greet you my lady, in Neptune's name and … I beg excuse for my rudeness of earlier. It gives me ease to hear your words this far from home," the stranger said slowly, his gruffness giving way to liquid cadences, the way her people spoke.
She was flabbergasted for a split second. Who was this man? Surely, he could not be another Neptunian noble. She and her entourage were supposed to be the only ones here. To add to the mystery, he had even greeted her in the high language which only a smattering of nobles and scholars spoke. Before Nerin could form her thoughts, he spoke again.
"It's been quite a while since I spoke Nencan'ya," he said musingly. "Not since the last time I was on your world."
"My world? But sir, you speak it as well, nay, even better than many who live there," she remarked.
"An overbearing Neptunian childhood tutor, I'm afraid." He said it quite ruefully, she thought.
"I see. Perhaps I would know of him-?"
"Gently, my lady. Please, share this balcony if you will but … pardon me and leave me to my thoughts."
"Melancholy they seem," she said, before she could stop herself. "But thank you, my lord, I will-"
"Melancholy?" he snorted. "Why say you melancholy?"
Nerin was silent for a while. "You are not a man of little courtesy, yet were less than polite in our encounter-"
"Less than polite?" he asked with a note of amusement in his voice. "You Neptunians… I was damn well downright rude! I'm sorry, my lady, it seems as if I've interrupted you at every sentence. And please, take a seat if you would stay."
Despite herself, she let out a small laugh. "Courteuous yes and abrupt also."
This time, there was an amused silence from him as she saw the dark shadow stand up and flourish an arm towards the chairs on the balcony. She could make out that he was tall but she still could not see his features clearly. He sat back down again after she had sat and said, "So … pray, why melancholy?"
Nerin continued, "It would seem that you are affected by some emotion which is causing you to act contrary to your disposition. Your offer to share this space with me despite your … wanting to be left alone- you are not lacking in generosity of spirit, my lord."
"Ho there! Please, stop," and here, he was laughing. "You attribute better things to me than I would say for myself!"
"Then I would have to say that you are humble as well," Nerin said, smiling.
That had made him double up in laughter, judging from the wheezing sounds coming from the dark alcove. Hearing him laugh, Nerin could not help but let out a small peal of laughter also. For some reason, she found herself starting to like the stranger. He was not Neptunian but he obviously knew of Neptune. He knew how to speak like her people but he was no stranger to showing emotion like they were. No one on Neptune spoke so cordially to her. They were just too aware of her high rank or were too conscious of their own station like her parents, as much as she knew they loved her. Normally, she would not have volunteered so much or warmed up to him so fast but the stranger had surprised her and he had spoken to her as an equal. Wondering what he looked like, she waited for his laughter to subside.
"Thank you, my lady of Neptune," he spoke after a few attempts to control his laughter. "I sorely needed that. You are right, my thoughts are melancholy and they led me to become a lout."
"I did not think you were so much angry or ill-tempered than sad," Nerin said.
The stranger let out a great sigh at that. "You happen to be right, I'm afraid," he said, his accent wavering till it fell into the more informal one the Moon people used. It seemed that he was more used to speaking that way.
They were silent for a while, the man apparently unwilling to say anything more and Nerin respecting his privacy. Right on cue, there were some steps outside and a giggling couple fell in.
"Occupied!" Her companion suddenly barked.
One of the couple, the man apparently, said in an affronted tone, "I'll have you know I am the Count Mel-"
"Melsan?"
He paused. "Do I know you?"
"Of course," her companion said with what sounded like a smug tone.
"Oh! Z … Z …"
"Yes."
"Right! Apologies then," Count Melsan squeaked and whisked his protesting companion away.
When they were gone, Nerin remarked, "That must have happened often for you to have lost your patience."
"My dear lady, when you stepped in, I would have ripped you apart had you been a man."
Nerin's silvery laughter graced the cool air. "I am glad that I am a woman then. You seem most capable of ripping!"
"Well, you can add belligerent then, to the list of qualities that you have made up for me," the man said amusedly.
"I will," she smiled. "I gather that you possess a certain acquaintance with that gentleman, my lord."
"Hah! I beat him good and proper at a duel. He's been pissing- pardon me, he's been shaking in his boots each time he sees me. I promised to run him through for real next time. Serves him right, slobbering all over … her …"
His boyish tenor wavered before he said the last word, as if he was about to say a name and real anguish in his voice as he ended. Nerin felt an instinctive sympathy for the man as she heard his barely controlled pain.
"I am sorry," she said, her voice trailing off.
There was no reply for a while, then he said roughly. "For?"
"You came here to be alone and I have intruded."
"Don't be … Look, you've managed to take my mind off … someone for a while. I appreciate that. Not even being with the wind helped."
"The wind?"
"It reminds me of home," he said softly. "And it's powerful, fast. The wind doesn't have to feel, it just races to wherever it cares to be. If I am the wind, I won't have to feel … but I do."
"You are in love with that someone," Nerin said simply. It was not a question, it was a statement.
"That I am not. That I could not feel!" His words were bitter.
The lady of Neptune considered the situation carefully. She did not want to intrude on a stranger's life but in the short while, she had instinctively come to like him. She chose her words carefully.
"Is the feeling returned?"
"What? Oh … Yes, damn it, yes," he said in frustration.
"You cannot be with her because?"
"Because she loves him more. Because she is who she is."
Nerin felt helpless. She was so inexperienced in matters of the heart that as much as she would have liked to offer him some words of comfort, she had no idea of what would be appropriate.
"To Chaos with this!" the dark figure in the corner growled and he stood up suddenly. Before Nerin had time to blink, her companion loomed in front of her.
"Dance with me, my lady of Neptune!" He gruffly said to her face and took her elbow. She had not even taken a good look at his face except for a vague impression that he was blond before her body decided that for some reason, it would be a good idea to go with him.
"Wha-?"
Her words were left hanging on the balcony as he deftly whisked her through the curtains and down the hallway. Nerin hung on for dear life on his arm as she tried to match his huge strides with shorter legs and feet graced in delicate heels. She was about to voice a protest about being so manhandled when she finally caught a glimpse of his face. Her protest faded in the wake of her gasp.
He was gorgeous. She blinked while being jogged along to make sure. He was still gorgeous during her second, third and fourth glances. He also must have felt her slowing down because he came to an abrupt stop, bright teal eyes boring into hers worriedly.
"What's wrong?" He asked concernedly. "Did I hurt you?"
"No, not in the least-?"
"Good! Hey!" A frown creased his boyishly handsome face.
"What?" Nerin asked, alarmed.
"You're beautiful, my lady," he replied, the frown melting into a roguish grin.
"Even for a Neptunian."
Having said those words, he took off like a fighter pod with her arm and the rest of Nerin had to follow. She was torn between feeling pleased and starting to feel exasperated from being dragged around like a sack of potatoes but she went for feeling pleased instead. He had looked so honestly appreciative and sincere. He had not declaimed her undying beauty or compared her to Triton's legendary daughters like Neptunian nobles were wont to do.
"Right! Here we are," her companion said self-satisfiedly.
He was right. Nerin blinked to see that they had already reached the ballroom- Dite had taken much longer to drag her to the balcony. Still, the sack of potatoes feeling was none too pleasant and she made a mental note to resist the next time someone did that.
Her companion had slowed down to a more reasonable pace and soon they were strolling casually toward the dance floor. The blond man seemed bent on reaching his destination, oblivious to the dreamy glances thrown his way and the envious glances thrown her way by the women of the court. Nerin was also too intrigued by her companion to notice the men of the court doing the same to her.
Unbeknownst to them, the Princess of Venus had caught sight of the two walking in.
"My goodness," she murmured. "They look digustingly good together."
And it was true. He was as handsome as the lady of Neptune was beautiful, his fitting white suit complementing her blue-green dress. One could say the blond man was day to Endymion's night, light where he was dark. To be sure, he was an inch or two shorter and more slender but he was even more good-looking than the Earth Prince. Endymion was more manly while the blond appeared to be a wild boy still. That did not make the ladies of the court swoon any less. They were as taken with him as when Dite had first seen him and felt her heart flutter. Together with the heartbreakingly beautiful lady of Neptune, he and her looked the perfect couple.
Dite felt a moment's apprehension as she realised the implications of what she had done. She might have made her melancholic friend feel better but she would end up making someone else miserable as well.
"Rats …" she muttered. "I hope she doesn't see this or if she does, I hope she takes it well."
"What was that, dear?" Her companion, a handsome Earth general asked.
"Oh, nothing! Er, I suddenly feel very thirsty!"
As expected, the man leapt to his feet to get her a glass of wine. She spared him a grin as he ran off- he was so sweet and attentive, then rushed off to do some damage control.
Meanwhile, Nerin was waiting at the fringe of the dance floor. Without any word, the blond man had rushed off to speak to the orchestra and she was left with her thoughts for company. Who was this enigmatic man? She had not even gotten his name or his home planet. All she knew was that he spoke Nen'canya, loved someone he could not be with, seemed to have a tempestuous nature and loved the wind. An inkling of where he could have come from tickled the back of her mind but before the thought could fully form in her mind, he had reappeared, like a gust of wind by her side.
"So … Do you dance?" the blond man asked.
The lady of Neptune looked at him, mischief dancing in her eyes. "My lord, is it not a little late to be asking that?"
"True," he conceded. "So I shall ask- Will you dance with the wind?"
At that moment, the strains of a familiar sounding piece filled the air, making her eyes widen.
"Uranus!"
He quirked an eyebrow at that.
"I should have guessed! Talking about the wind, knowing Neptune. You're from Uranus and … we're just about to dance the salas … Oh dear!"
The blond man smirked at her. "It's alright, we'll just go slower."
"It's not that," she explained and the the blond's great surprise, she reached down and snapped off her heels, one by one and flinging them into a nearby potted plant.
"Wha-?"
"Now I'm ready," she said brightly and laughed at the look on his face. "You didn't think I could keep up with an Uranian did you, my lord? Well I can't with heels, so I've just evened out the playing field."
The look of surprise on his face grew. This was no normal, straightlaced Neptunian noble, which was the first impression he had gotten. This was a free spirit and the look of mischief in her eyes matched his own.
"Why do I get an apprehensive feeling about this, my lady?" he asked her as he offered her his arm and lead her to the middle of the dance floor.
Her eyes twinkled as she said, "My lord, did you forget that the fastest winds of our solar system come not from the planet of Uranus but from mine?"
He threw his head back and laughed as they started the slow, teasing movements marking the starting of the salas. Nerin felt her own laughter bubbling out. This was going to be some dance!
All eyes were now on the beautiful pair, the golden god of the sky and the shimmering goddess of the sea. And out of one pair of eyes, fell a trail of shimmering tears.