Queen Serenity sat in her chambers, fiddling nervously with her wedding ring. Her husband had died of natural causes some time ago, but she always wore it to remind herself of how lucky she was to have Serena.
She had pretended to be sure that this marriage was the right thing for Serena, but she was uncertain. What if Serena was so unhappy with the marriage that she decided to do something about it? When Serenity had been betrothed to her husband all those years ago, she'd had brief thoughts of running away, or even suicide. Serenity reached for her brush and began running it through her hair, a nervous habit. What if this had been a horrible decision that Serena would regret all her life?
At that moment, a handmaiden tapped gently at the door. "Come in," Serenity called politely.
An anxious-looking girl stepped in. "Majesty, it's the princess. She's injured herself."
Serenity stood up immediately. "What happened?"
The maid twisted her hands, obviously unsure. "I'm not sure Majesty, I was only told to inform you that she is resting in the sickbay."
"Thank you," Serenity said, already headed for the sickbay.
Serena looked away as the healer slowly dabbed some ointment onto her arm.
"This will help with the pain," the middle-aged woman told her, continuing to rub it in.
Serena winced at the circular motions on her arm. She had never felt pain like this before; usually there was a healer from Saturn on the moon who could heal by touch. "Okay," Serena said, sniffling a little.
Endymion was holding her good hand. "Are you okay?" he asked in a soft voice, squeezing her hand comfortingly.
She gave a wobbly smile. "Perfect, how about you?"
At that moment, Queen Serenity came in and, upon seeing her daughter, promptly burst into tears. "Oh, Serena!" she wailed, giving Endymion an idea of where Serena got her rather large set of lungs.
"It's ok Mom, I'm fine, really," Serena reassured her.
Serenity then noticed that Serena and Endymion's hands were joined. She smiled softly at this, a motherly light in her eyes. She chose not to comment on it though, and instead asked the healer if she could have a look at her arm.
The healer left the room with her nose in the air, obviously haughtily doubting the Queen's healing experience.
Slowly, Serenity drew the silver crystal out of thin air, and concentrated it on Serena's arm. The bone slowly formed back into place, and the throbbing went away from Serena. Serenity focused on the crystal once more, and it gradually disappeared once more.
Endymion sat gaping at Serenity. He had heard about the awesome powers of the silver crystal before, but he had thought it was only used in wartime.
"Now, Serena, if I have to heal you again this year, I will personally make you scrub out all of the halls in the palace," Serenity threatened, looking a little tired but no worse for wear.
Serena smiled, obviously no longer in pain. "Yes, sir!" she said, saluting smartly and hopping up.
Serenity raised her eyebrow with a slight smirk. "Well, it's time for dinner anyways, so go get changed. And what are you doing wearing pants anyways?"
Mercury stood for a moment, breathing in the light musk of polished wood and aged paper. Then, she settled down in a table in the corner of the library, bringing an extremely old text with her. She began to read, absorbing all of the information at top speed.
There is some scientific proof that Earth had been a part of the planetary alliance, over a thousand years ago.
The moon was the greatest kingdom of all, and ruled over
the alliance in a peaceful way. Each planet received a
distinct power from the enchanted Silver Crystal, which
only a female with royal bloodlines could control. The
planet Mercury received great wisdom in which to rule
their people with. Venus was the second most powerful
planet, and was given the power of love and beauty. Mars
received the power of war, and were awesome fighters.
Jupiter became the planet of protection, and was given loyalty.
The outer planets were also awarded with powers. The royalty
of Uranus became masters of the sky; Neptune's royalty were
masters of the sea. Saturn, the planet of death, was ironically
given great healing powers. Finally, the mysterious planet of
Pluto became the guardians of time. Earth's powers were
given last, and they were a combination of the many powers
given. They had the power to heal, to love, and to fight. Soon,
the Earth became entangled in hundreds of battles all over the
world, and were stripped of their powers and banished from
the alliance, deemed unworthy of protection. The planets
slowly grew apart from the Earth, until there was little or no
contact between them.
Mercury looked up thoughtfully. Since Earth was joining the alliance again, would their powers be returned to them? Perhaps that was why so many of the planets, her own included, were hesitant of an alliance with them. Mercury closed the large book carefully, and returned to her room.
Serena was one of the last to arrive to the banquet hall, but as she was sitting, Mercury finally arrived. Serena shot her a questioning look, but Mercury mouthed 'later', and was seated.
Serena was sitting between her mother and Venus, and across from Endymion. She was fast becoming confused about him. He had been so kind through this whole time, but was it real? Or was it just for show until they were married, when he would reveal his true self? Just then, he caught her looking at him, and grinned a little. She blushed at getting caught, and looked down at her plate.
Endymion's father saw this exchange, and decided to tell them the news. "The wedding has been arranged for tomorrow. We have managed to get a priest and everything is being prepared as we speak."
Endymion was looking at him, his lips pressed together. Serena was toying with her fork, still staring at her plate.
"Uh, so, how was everyone's day?" Venus said in a very awkward and obvious attempt to change the subject.
Several faces stared blankly at her, so she answered her own question. "Well, I had a pretty boring day, except when . . ." She began a story about how she managed to break 50 plates in a minute, which actually caused everyone to laugh and succeeded in changing the subject.
Serena quietly ate her dinner and, ignoring all attempts at conversation from her friends, went straight to her room and fell asleep easily. That night, she dreamt of a dark-haired man holding her and whispering into her ear.
Author's Notes: Ouchie, I burnt my finger and it's hard to type!! Lol, I'm such a complainer—well, anyways, sorry I didn't update for a few days, it's exams week againL blegh!! Sorry this chapter was so short, I probably should have done this chapter and chapter 3 together but oh well (I kinda got writer's block heheh ^_^;) I'll try to update again real soon!!