Two Years Later
Selenity was going insane looking for her four-year-old daughter; the girl had recently discovered the game hide-and-go-seek. "Gwen, please! There is a ball starting in one hour, and it usually takes at least three to get you ready!" Finally, the girl shot out of a closet, and Selenity ran after her as she broke out into the hallway. Thankfully, when Selenity was halfway down, her father turned the corner with a squirming Gwen in his arms. "Thanks dad." He chuckled as he handed the dark haired girl over to her. "Give her a break, Rini, she's four." People had long ago stopped using her nickname, all except for her father. "I know, but even you snapped at me when I was four and only had an hour left to get ready for a ball!" As if to illustrate her point, Neo Queen Serenity walked out of the room next to her. "Selenity, what have you been up to with this girl, the servants are raging!" Gwen shook her head. "Mommy didn't do it, I did, and I'm sorry Auntie!" Serenity sighed; in a way, she was glad that the girl was calling her Auntie, because Grandma would have made her feel old, but the only reason was that Gwen didn't know the word Grandma yet. "It's all right, sweetheart, both of you need to hurry up now, or the hairdresser will pack up and you won't get your hair done." In order to keep up Gwen's Lunarian, Selenity made sure to take two hours out of the day to speak to her in Lunarian instead of Japanese or English, but the rest was devoted to the two other languages.
They hurried down the hallway and, after throwing a fit, the hairdresser did her job and sent them off to the makeup artist. Selenity wore her hair shorter these days, down a few inches past her shoulders, so tonight it was curled into ringlets and half of it was up in a ponytail. Gwen's hair, however, was about a foot longer than Selenity's, so the hairdresser had braided it in pigtails and then pinned both in a bun in the back of her head and curled the loose strands. Gold thread was woven into the braids to lighten the effect of her dark hair. Selenity and Gwen both had nice skin, so neither needed any concealer, just some color to illuminate their pale complexions. The makeup artists only dabbed some blush on their cheeks and tinted lip-gloss on Selenity's lips before both girls went to be dressed. Unfortunately for them, corsets (thankfully not the same used in the seventeenth century) were back in use, so they had to hold their breaths while the servants figured out the sizing on them. However, luckily for them, neither had a real weight problem, so it didn't take too much to give them the right look. When they were finally done, Selenity wore a pink summer gown of satin with sheer Renaissance-style pink sleeves while the rest was embroidered with ornate designs that only she could wear without looking foolish, and Gwen wore Selenity's old royal gown of white with sheer white sleeves, a white velvet bodice, and a silk skirt.
They just barely made it before the ball started and the names of the important guests were announced. The last, but not least among them, was the Prince and Priest of Elysian, Elios. Selenity bit her lip and glanced at her mother, who was focused on the procession. She didn't know what to feel about his presence, the last time she had seen him was a few short days before she found Gwen, and she certainly hadn't spoken to him since. A lot of things had happened since then, such as Elios' discovery that he was actually the heir to the Elysian throne. Elysian was only a Principality of yet, but soon it would be a kingdom; it was only a matter of the paperwork at this point. Though she hadn't made the effort to speak to him, merely because she had no way of contacting him, he hadn't either, and he could have easily contacted her in her dreams if in no other way. It struck her that she had every right to be angry with him if indeed he like her as much as he had implied on his last visit. Surely that kiss hadn't been one between mere friends? After all, it had been French!
Flashback
Selenity waved good-bye to the priest, who inclined his head toward her with a smile and bowed to her father, as he boarded his ship back to Elysian. She turned back to the palace, but just as she began to shut the door behind her, someone caught it, and she whirled around to see that it had been Elios. "Maiden, I fear that I haven't really given you a proper good-bye." She opened her mouth to speak, but instead of waiting for her to ask what he meant, Elios claimed her lips in a sweet caress that did not last nearly as long as either would have liked.
"Good bye." She whispered, their lips still brushing together gently. "Farewell, my Maiden, and may your dreams be as sweet and beautiful as you are."
End Flashback
Selenity had fallen in love with him that day, and in turn, he hadn't even tried to send her a message through her father (which would have been stupid, but given the circumstances, she didn't give a lick if King Endymoin would have killed him)! It was at that point that she noticed that Gwen had wandered off the balcony and was nowhere in sight. "Mother, Gwen is missing!" Selenity hissed, and Serenity scanned the room before inclining her head slightly toward the main courtyard. Selenity walked as fast as she could toward the disappearing figure of Gwen, who had just entered the maze, without alarming any of the guests.
Elios watched Selenity as she left the ballroom and followed her outside. She didn't seem to be aware of his presence as she searched for something just inside the maze. "Gwen, im bollroam ga wie!" Selenity hissed in Lunarian, and he was unsure of whom she was talking to. "Looking for someone, Maiden?" He inquired, fully expecting her to lash out at him. From what he knew, she hadn't actually received any of the letters he had sent her since she had never sent him any responses. She turned around, and her beauty caught him off guard. "What do you want, Elios? I actually am looking for someone you know." It took him a moment to reply; she was just so breathtaking. "I came here to see you, not to fulfill some wish of your father's, so please let me explain." Bitter tears began to run down her cheeks. "Explain what? You can't explain away the fact that you kissed me and never even tried to visit, I don't have to let you do anything!" Selenity then stormed off in the other direction, and he dropped down onto the bench in front of the maze. Elios ran his fingers through his hair as he pondered what to do now. When he least expected it, Elios heard a small voice ask him; "Why did you hurt my mommy's feelings? She wasn't doing anything bad." He glanced upward into the confused eyes of a dark haired little girl. "Your... mommy?" When had Selenity had a daughter? "Yes my mommy, who are you?" He harnessed his anger as quickly as he could so as to be able to speak to the girl without upsetting her. "I'm the Prince and Priest of Elysian, but I'm not used to that yet, so most people call me Elios. I didn't mean to hurt your mother's feelings, but I have, and now I have to figure out a way to make it up to her, though I'm not so sure about that now."
"Gwen! You can't just wander off like that during a ball, you know that!" Selenity went down on her knees next to the girl that he now knew as Gwen. Elios stood, as did Selenity with her daughter in her arms. "And here you were lecturing me about neglecting you, Selenity; you were the last person I expected to go off and do something like this." She began a retort, but he promptly ignored her and walked back into the ball.
Selenity felt tears run down her cheeks as he left. "Mommy, why are you crying?" Gwen asked quietly. "I love him, Gwen, but he betrayed me... I don't expect you to understand until you're in love yourself, but that's it, that's why I'm crying." Toward the end of the ball, Selenity left Gwen with her mother and retired to her rooms, where she began to cry.
Selenity was going insane looking for her four-year-old daughter; the girl had recently discovered the game hide-and-go-seek. "Gwen, please! There is a ball starting in one hour, and it usually takes at least three to get you ready!" Finally, the girl shot out of a closet, and Selenity ran after her as she broke out into the hallway. Thankfully, when Selenity was halfway down, her father turned the corner with a squirming Gwen in his arms. "Thanks dad." He chuckled as he handed the dark haired girl over to her. "Give her a break, Rini, she's four." People had long ago stopped using her nickname, all except for her father. "I know, but even you snapped at me when I was four and only had an hour left to get ready for a ball!" As if to illustrate her point, Neo Queen Serenity walked out of the room next to her. "Selenity, what have you been up to with this girl, the servants are raging!" Gwen shook her head. "Mommy didn't do it, I did, and I'm sorry Auntie!" Serenity sighed; in a way, she was glad that the girl was calling her Auntie, because Grandma would have made her feel old, but the only reason was that Gwen didn't know the word Grandma yet. "It's all right, sweetheart, both of you need to hurry up now, or the hairdresser will pack up and you won't get your hair done." In order to keep up Gwen's Lunarian, Selenity made sure to take two hours out of the day to speak to her in Lunarian instead of Japanese or English, but the rest was devoted to the two other languages.
They hurried down the hallway and, after throwing a fit, the hairdresser did her job and sent them off to the makeup artist. Selenity wore her hair shorter these days, down a few inches past her shoulders, so tonight it was curled into ringlets and half of it was up in a ponytail. Gwen's hair, however, was about a foot longer than Selenity's, so the hairdresser had braided it in pigtails and then pinned both in a bun in the back of her head and curled the loose strands. Gold thread was woven into the braids to lighten the effect of her dark hair. Selenity and Gwen both had nice skin, so neither needed any concealer, just some color to illuminate their pale complexions. The makeup artists only dabbed some blush on their cheeks and tinted lip-gloss on Selenity's lips before both girls went to be dressed. Unfortunately for them, corsets (thankfully not the same used in the seventeenth century) were back in use, so they had to hold their breaths while the servants figured out the sizing on them. However, luckily for them, neither had a real weight problem, so it didn't take too much to give them the right look. When they were finally done, Selenity wore a pink summer gown of satin with sheer Renaissance-style pink sleeves while the rest was embroidered with ornate designs that only she could wear without looking foolish, and Gwen wore Selenity's old royal gown of white with sheer white sleeves, a white velvet bodice, and a silk skirt.
They just barely made it before the ball started and the names of the important guests were announced. The last, but not least among them, was the Prince and Priest of Elysian, Elios. Selenity bit her lip and glanced at her mother, who was focused on the procession. She didn't know what to feel about his presence, the last time she had seen him was a few short days before she found Gwen, and she certainly hadn't spoken to him since. A lot of things had happened since then, such as Elios' discovery that he was actually the heir to the Elysian throne. Elysian was only a Principality of yet, but soon it would be a kingdom; it was only a matter of the paperwork at this point. Though she hadn't made the effort to speak to him, merely because she had no way of contacting him, he hadn't either, and he could have easily contacted her in her dreams if in no other way. It struck her that she had every right to be angry with him if indeed he like her as much as he had implied on his last visit. Surely that kiss hadn't been one between mere friends? After all, it had been French!
Flashback
Selenity waved good-bye to the priest, who inclined his head toward her with a smile and bowed to her father, as he boarded his ship back to Elysian. She turned back to the palace, but just as she began to shut the door behind her, someone caught it, and she whirled around to see that it had been Elios. "Maiden, I fear that I haven't really given you a proper good-bye." She opened her mouth to speak, but instead of waiting for her to ask what he meant, Elios claimed her lips in a sweet caress that did not last nearly as long as either would have liked.
"Good bye." She whispered, their lips still brushing together gently. "Farewell, my Maiden, and may your dreams be as sweet and beautiful as you are."
End Flashback
Selenity had fallen in love with him that day, and in turn, he hadn't even tried to send her a message through her father (which would have been stupid, but given the circumstances, she didn't give a lick if King Endymoin would have killed him)! It was at that point that she noticed that Gwen had wandered off the balcony and was nowhere in sight. "Mother, Gwen is missing!" Selenity hissed, and Serenity scanned the room before inclining her head slightly toward the main courtyard. Selenity walked as fast as she could toward the disappearing figure of Gwen, who had just entered the maze, without alarming any of the guests.
Elios watched Selenity as she left the ballroom and followed her outside. She didn't seem to be aware of his presence as she searched for something just inside the maze. "Gwen, im bollroam ga wie!" Selenity hissed in Lunarian, and he was unsure of whom she was talking to. "Looking for someone, Maiden?" He inquired, fully expecting her to lash out at him. From what he knew, she hadn't actually received any of the letters he had sent her since she had never sent him any responses. She turned around, and her beauty caught him off guard. "What do you want, Elios? I actually am looking for someone you know." It took him a moment to reply; she was just so breathtaking. "I came here to see you, not to fulfill some wish of your father's, so please let me explain." Bitter tears began to run down her cheeks. "Explain what? You can't explain away the fact that you kissed me and never even tried to visit, I don't have to let you do anything!" Selenity then stormed off in the other direction, and he dropped down onto the bench in front of the maze. Elios ran his fingers through his hair as he pondered what to do now. When he least expected it, Elios heard a small voice ask him; "Why did you hurt my mommy's feelings? She wasn't doing anything bad." He glanced upward into the confused eyes of a dark haired little girl. "Your... mommy?" When had Selenity had a daughter? "Yes my mommy, who are you?" He harnessed his anger as quickly as he could so as to be able to speak to the girl without upsetting her. "I'm the Prince and Priest of Elysian, but I'm not used to that yet, so most people call me Elios. I didn't mean to hurt your mother's feelings, but I have, and now I have to figure out a way to make it up to her, though I'm not so sure about that now."
"Gwen! You can't just wander off like that during a ball, you know that!" Selenity went down on her knees next to the girl that he now knew as Gwen. Elios stood, as did Selenity with her daughter in her arms. "And here you were lecturing me about neglecting you, Selenity; you were the last person I expected to go off and do something like this." She began a retort, but he promptly ignored her and walked back into the ball.
Selenity felt tears run down her cheeks as he left. "Mommy, why are you crying?" Gwen asked quietly. "I love him, Gwen, but he betrayed me... I don't expect you to understand until you're in love yourself, but that's it, that's why I'm crying." Toward the end of the ball, Selenity left Gwen with her mother and retired to her rooms, where she began to cry.