Chapter 1
"Sere! Can we hurry up?! Queen Serenity is coming back!" Kitenis, Sailor Uranus, cried.
Ares and Serene both jerked. Ares gave her an amused look tinged with longing and love. Taila rushed in and grabbed Ares' wrist.
"Time to go, Ares!" she said and effectively dragged him from the room. Outside, the Senshi were pacing nervously till Taila returned. Not even a minute had gone by when Queen Serenity showed up. She smiled at them and entered the room. They had thought everything had been going well until there was a loud crash and then the sound of a body hitting the floor. The Senshi took one look at each other and rushed into the room.
Queen Serenity was on the floor with Serene looking down at her unconscious mother.
"She fainted," she stated simply.
The Senshi looked from the Queen's body and Sere and back again before going into action. Dalit, Sailor Mercury, knelt beside the Queen and pulled out the compact and visor that was given to each new Soldier of Mercury.
"Dalit, let's keep this quiet," Tiaret, Sailor Jupiter, said.
"It's too bad that the Queen's Senshi were killed. Ever since then we've had to fumble along on our own," Jalae, Sailor Pluto, stated.
"Yes, it is," whispered Tacy, Sailor Saturn.
After a few abortive gestures, the Queen finally came round. She glanced at the porcelain moon that had crashed when she fainted to the flowers in the vase and then to her daughter.
Serene gulped. Queen Serenity put her face in her hands and asked her simply, "What have you done?"
Taila quickly stepped forward, "Your Majesty, it wasn't Sere's fault. I wanted them to meet before the ceremony because of what I saw in the fire…" She broke away as Queen Serenity looked at her. Finally, Taila couldn't hold her gaze anymore and hung her head.
Stella, Sailor Venus, stepped forward. "Your Highness, you would be glad to know that Princess Serenity and Prince Ares have formed a soul bond, if you will. What that means is that they are true loves. One can barely live without the other. In simple terms, they are soulmates."
Queen Serenity looked at her daughter. Was she glad about her daughter's bond? Absolutely. She noticed Serene was looking at her warily. She smiled.
"Don't worry, little Serenity. I'm not mad. You just took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting it," she said in her quiet voice.
Sere let out a pent up breath. She had been afraid her mother would refuse to let her marry Ares because of this fiasco. At the thought of the prince, Sere smiled almost involuntarily.
Queen Serenity saw the smile and guessed its meaning. "Sere, you are such a hard child to keep track of. So energetic and devious, like your father. It takes everything I have just to keep up with you. Now let's finish getting you ready." The Senshi were kept busy by fetching things while Sere was getting ready once again.
Across the palace, Ares sat and stared into space. The meeting with Princess Serenity had been such an explosive one. He had barely controlled himself from doing what he would have liked to do. He jerked himself out of his trance as the Moon King entered his room.
He was a tall man with long white hair that reached down to his waist. It flowed free and seemed to drape itself over his silver armor. It looked as if the armor was polished daily. The clothing under it was a very deep blue and his eyes were a startlingly bright jade. Odd considering the fact that Queen Serenity's eyes were an aqua color and the Princess' were a light blue. The one thing that the King and the Princess had in common was their piercing gaze.
Ares wished and hoped with all his soul that he didn't know about the prohibited visit between himself and the princess. The King gave the impression of being very loyal to his family, and it was rumored, slightly overprotective of his daughter.
The door snapped shut and Ares gulped silently.
"King Dari. Is there something wrong?"
Dari sat down on another chair near Ares. He smiled, very much aware of how he intimidated the young prince.
Ares slowly, slowly, relaxed under the King's smile.
"I came here to talk to you. There is nothing wrong." Dari lost his smile and Ares got nervous again. "Just one word of warning: if you hurt my daughter in anyway, I'll hurt you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry." He smiled again as Ares meekly nodded and gulped. "That was all."
The King's not inconsiderable muscles bulged as he heaved himself out of the chair. On his way to the door, he patted Ares' stiff shoulder and left quietly. Ares let out a breath. In a way, he understood why the King was so overprotective. The princess inspired those feelings of protection in him. He smiled as he thought about her.
Sere jumped nervously as her mother laid her hand on her shoulder.
"It's time to go," she whispered.
Sere grabbed her hand when she moved to leave.
"You won't tell dad, will you?" she asked anxiously.
Queen Serenity smiled and hugged her daughter. "No, I won't tell him my, dear Serenity." Sere smiled and mother and daughter left together with the Senshi surrounding them as they headed for the Great Hall.
As they reached the door, a guard stepped up.
"Queen Serenity, these are ambassadors from the planet Mau. They wish to speak to you." The guard bowed and, seeing the two members of the royal family guarded by the Senshi, left, knowing it was safe.
The ambassadors were male and female. The female had black hair with four balls on top of her head and the rest was loose, falling down towards her waist. She wore black leggings and a hunter green vest with an off-white shirt underneath it. She also had a bow and arrow draped over her shoulder.
The man had white hair (nearly as white as her husband's) that reached to his shoulder blades. He was dressed in pure white and the sword buckled around his waist proclaimed him as an excellent swordsman. Several knives were evident all over his person.
Queen Serenity dipped her head. "We have a ceremony going on at the moment. After it is done, my husband and I will be glad to speak with you. You are most welcome to watch," she added with a smile.
The ambassadors exchanged glances. The female stepped forward and spoke, "Your Majesty, I am Luna and this is my partner, Artemis. We have a quite urgent matter that I don't know will wait. We must speak on it now."
Queen Serenity looked Luna over for a moment. "Luna, we have a ceremony in progress as we speak and my daughter and I are late. This is her betrothal rite where we will announce that my daughter will marry Prince Ares of Mars. No matter the importance of the situation which brought you here, I will not have this ceremony put off or miss it at all," she said, mildly reproving.
Luna and Artemis exchanged glances again. "Yes, Your Majesty. We understand, but…"
"No buts. You are welcome to stay and watch the ceremony if you wish; however my daughter and I must go. Speak to one of the Senshi on this matter if it is that urgent or wait until the ceremony is over to speak to the King and myself." With that, Queen Serenity entered through the open door of the Great Hall, held ajar by the guards and followed by Serene.
Luna and Artemis watched them go and turned to the Senshi, still standing in the corridor.
"I have heard of the Senshi." Suddenly, Artemis's face clouded over with confusion. "Are there not more of you? From what I have heard there is a generation of Senshi for each family member."
Dalit looked him over suspiciously. "Did you not hear of the assassination attempt on the Royal Moon Family ten years ago?"
Artemis and Luna looked surprised. "That was true? You mean the previous generations of Senshi were actually killed?" they asked incredulously.
The Senshi nodded and entered the Great Hall, leaving Luna and Artemis standing in the corridor, dumbstruck.
Serene walked slowly towards the dais, where her father stood. Queen Serenity stood beside her husband and their daughter stood before them.
"Today we bear witness of the betrothal of Prince Ares of Mars and Princess Serenity of the Moon. Their affianced shall be announced officially now."
Luna and Artemis slipped into the hall quietly. Many people were there; almost too much for the hall to hold. The Senshi were ranged behind the King and Queen. Looking at them, it made the Mau ambassadors sad. They had a very hard job ahead of them. Not only must they guard Princess Serenity, but also the King and Queen for their predecessors were killed and could no longer do their duty. Judging from how they had acted, they had grown up earlier than they should have. Etched in every face were lines of worry, stress, and maturity.
The assassination attempt ten years ago had reached everyone's ears. It was said that the last advisor to the Moon throne had tried to kill the Queen. It wasn't the fact that there had been an assassination attempt, but that the advisor had had enough power to kill eight experienced Sailor Soldiers. In all the history of the Senshi, never once had that ever happened. It was so easy to believe it never really happened, for the Senshi meant something to everyone. For some it was power, for others it was protection. No matter the meaning for anyone, it came as a strong blow and some chose not to believe. Some, including Luna and Artemis, had dismissed the rumor as a crazy drunk's tale. Now it was undeniable that it had actually happened.
The King continued, unaware of Luna and Artemis's thoughts. "Prince Ares, please come forward and take the hand of Princess Serenity."
There were many gasps of longing from the women present as Ares entered the room. Serene ached to turn around, but knew she wasn't allowed. She stared straight ahead and felt him take her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at him. Her heart began to go in overload; it began to beat so loud, she was sure everyone in the hall could hear it.
He wore burgundy colored clothes and silver armor. A ruby gleamed from the sword hilt at her. Red seemed to be the color for Mars. She caught Taila's eye and Taila winked at her, smiling a little mischievously.
"Prince Ares, do you accept Princess Serenity as your betrothed?" asked the Queen, knowing the answer.
"Yes," he answered.
"Princess Serenity, do you accept Prince Ares as your betrothed?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Then your wedding date will be set three years from now, as is the Moon Kingdom's custom. Thank you all for attending. Prince and Princess, you may step down," the Queen added, smiling. She'd have to talk to Dari about his over-protectiveness.
Serene finally looked at Ares and smiled at him. He grinned back and they left. The Senshi glanced at the Queen for instruction. Should they follow the Princess or did they stay for the ambassador's message? Queen Serenity indicated it was up to them. Stella drew all the Senshi together.
"Do we follow the Princess or stay with the Queen and King?"
Taila interjected. "Come on, guys. This is my cousin with Serene. He wouldn't hurt her!"
"Calm down, Taila," Caden soothed. "This is not as if we don't trust your cousin; this is precautionary in case something happens."
Taila calmed down as Kitenis spoke. "I say four and four. We call in case one group needs the other. Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, and I will stay and protect the Queen, should it be needed. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus will go to the Princess." Deliberately, she used their Soldier titles instead of names.
The others nodded and the Inner Soldiers left to find their Princess. The Outers surrounded the Queen and King as Luna and Artemis approached the throne. The hall was empty by the time they reached it.
Luna and Artemis looked at the Soldiers behind the rulers. They weren't the cheerful girls they had seen glimpses of during the ceremony, but the serious and battle-toughened Sailor Senshi. One day, they would like to see them fight. It would be something. No one living had seen them in action.
A Soldier in dark blue and yellow ribbons stepped forward. She had shoulder length brown hair and was relatively tall. Her eyes were green and her tiara had a dark blue jewel in the center. Yet she looked different from the other glimpses they had seen of other generations of Senshi. Obviously the colors and tiara was the only thing that stayed the same between each generation. Her boots reached to mid-calf and were dark blue but ringed with yellow. Her gloves reached to her elbow and she had a medium pitched voice. "I am Sailor Uranus. Speak on what urgent matter that brought you to us."
While Luna explained, Artemis looked at the other Soldiers. One had an aquamarine fuku, but her hair and eyes contrasted with her colors. Her hair was light blond and cut short. Two strands of hair on either side of her face reached to her chin. The rest of her tresses were cut around her head. Her gloves reached to her elbows again, but her boots reached to her knees. Her eyes were startlingly bright silver. She must be Neptune.
The one standing next to her was the most calm of them all and had a neutral expression on her face whereas the others had suspicious looks. She had a dark green fuku; almost black. At one point, he decided that he didn't know. It was either a dark green or black. Her hair was not blond, but a dark gold color. Reaching to her neck, it had been braided intricately. From what I've heard, she must be Sailor Pluto. Her sky blue eyes looked him over critically.
The last of the Soldiers in front of them had to be Sailor Saturn. There was no option left, what with those colors. Dark purple with maroon bows framed a well filled out body. Her knee length hair was black and held back with clips at various intervals. Her eyes were a light lavender color and she gazed at him with eyes not meant for serious situations.
"Your Majesties, I regret bringing up this subject, but you must know. The assassination attempt ten years ago was not an isolated incident. He was acting under a larger force and that force is awakening. I fear the worst for the Moon Family. We have heard this information from some…not quite credible sources, granted, but I believe this to be true. We don't know what they hope to accomplish, but nevertheless you must be on your guard."
Queen Serenity and King Dari exchanged glances. "We thank you for your warning and take our hospitalities back to your planet."
Luna and Artemis exchanged glances and Artemis took a deep breath before saying, "If it would please your Majesties, we would like to remain at your side and help you in these troubled times to come."
Dari raised his eyebrows and looked at his wife. Even after the years they had been married, he still couldn't believe how much he loved her or how beautiful she really was. Queen Serenity looked at him.
"All right. You may stay. If you will excuse us, we must be going," Serenity told them.
Luna and Artemis bowed and left.
"Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn. Please leave us. We are going to our chambers and do not wish to be disturbed." The Senshi nodded and left.