Hello, any people who may read this, I'm The Universal Storyteller. This particular story will be the first of many primarily Silver Millennium-related "Sailor Moon" stories from me, I hope, here on fanfiction dot net. I'll accept constructive criticisms, of course. But I won't accept any flames, especially with strong language with them. So if you happen to use strong language with me, your reviews will be ignored. Always, and completely, as a matter of fact. With this story of mine here, at least, this will be your only warning, if at all possible. And please don't bother ever asking me for any transgender, male-male, female-female, or hermaphroditic kinds of romantic, or so-called romantic, relationships relating to the applicable characters for this or any other stories of mine here on fanfiction dot net. For such requests from my readers here will be always and completely ignored as well. For I don't ever personally believe in them for protagonists in my stories, at all.
People, this is my first primarily Silver Millennium Era-set Sailor Moon fan fiction series. I have been working on stories in its series for at least a few years now. There will be plenty of places that the Scouts and their relatives will go in this series. Some of them, you might not even expect until you hear of them, in fact. I hope that you'll enjoy all the stories that are in this story's story series, of course. For the most part, if not entirely, the actual stories, in single-file form, are about the length of a typical novel, at least when I've been using half-inch margins all the way around, I think.
This first story will at least set the scene, if not also largely introduce the main villains that the Scouts will have to face in battle, in fact. And it will most likely provide at least one possible back story for at least a few of the characters, as well. Like possibly even Queen Serenity, for example. But I better not say too much more about the story here, I think, or I might ruin it here for you. Please feel free to read, review, and enjoy this story here, if at all possible, of course.
All standard disclaimers that I have already used so far with any of the various stories that I now have on fanfiction dot net will apply. For your information, all of the characters that you may not actually recognize well enough in this story are original characters of mine, unless otherwise stated, in fact. So please don't steal my original characters from this story or any others, for that matter.
The Beginning of It All
A The Chrysanthemum Chronicles Series Story
Main Ballroom In The Crystal Palace
Moon City, Moon Kingdom, Moon
June 30, 977
Eventually, though, Darien had brought all five of the Princesses with him to that ballroom. When Darien brought them to Serena's parents, who were already there, waiting for the Princesses to arrive in it, Queen Serenity then said, "Thank you, Prince Darien. You brought them all here as we wanted you to do tonight. Come here, Serena. Amy, Raye, Mina, and Lita, nice to see you all again so soon after I'd last seen you."
Not knowing yet what to expect, of course, Serena then went to her mother, as she'd been told to do. Then Queen Serenity told Prince Daniel, "Blindfold all five of the Princesses. We're now going to play 'Pin The Tail On The Monkey.' And they need to be blindfolded, so that they can't see where to pin their tails, for the obvious reasons."
So Prince Daniel took five moderately-sized black masks that were all quite similar to each other out of a large pocket of his princely robes. And he then blindfolded all five Princesses with them, starting with Princess Serena, for it was actually her very first birthday ever. That done, he then took her by the hand, after having the rest of the Princesses join hands with each other. Then he and Darien led all five of them to a nearby wall. And they gave them five tails of different colors to pin on the monkey that was in a picture on that wall, once they were close enough to it. But only after telling them all well enough here that the one of them who actually pinned their tail closest to the proper location of the monkey's tail would win the game, of course. All five tails were colored quite similarly to their respective dresses, but not entirely, for the obvious reasons.
That done, Prince Daniel had each girl pin their respective tail on the monkey in question when their own names were called. Starting with Princess Serena, simply because it was her birthday, of course. Princess Serena pinned her white tail on the back of the monkey. Of course, everyone who saw her do so knew that wasn't actually the proper location for the tail on the monkey. But to be fair to her at least, for the obvious reasons, they didn't yet comment about her placement of the tail that she'd pinned on the monkey. Supposing, of course, that they'd actually comment at all after her new friends had also pinned their tails on it wherever they thought they should actually put them there.
Raye then went next, and she pinned the tail where the monkey's nose would be. Of course, when all the Princesses saw the monkey they'd been trying to pin the tail on in the proper location, she'd be quite surprised. Then she backed away from the wall and into Prince Daniel's arms, who kept her from tripping over a nearby plant, for the obvious reasons.
Then Amy said, "I'll try now." Then she reached up to the wall, and felt all over the picture, even brushing her hands over both Serena and Raye's now-pinned tails in the process. After about a minute of doing that, she pinned the tail on the monkey's left rear leg about a third down that leg from its left hip. Then she backed away about two or three feet, until she bumped slightly into Serena, who was now being held by the hand by her mother. And then Serenity then steadied Amy with her free hand, of course, for the obvious reasons.
With that then done here, Prince Darien then guided Lita and Mina to the wall when they were each told that they could then try to pin their tails on the monkey in question on the wall. First Lita, and then Mina.
While Lita pinned her tail on the monkey's stomach, Mina pinned her tail on the monkey's right rear foot. And then, when Prince Daniel asked each of the Princesses if they wished to move their tails, Lita, Mina, and Raye said, "No, we're fine," in the same order that they'd originally placed them earlier. However, Amy moved her tail up the monkey's left rear leg about another two or three inches. Which meant that it was now almost all the way to the monkey's left hip, in fact. And Serena moved her own tail about two inches closer to its head.
Eventually, Serena and Amy were satisfied enough with their placements of their respective tails on the monkey in the picture. So Daniel and Darien, as well as Serenity, then guided them both to nearby cushions within their quite similar viewing ranges, for the obvious reasons. And they had the girls sit down on them for about a minute or so. With that done, Queen Serenity then checked the picture against a picture of the average lunar monkey that was on a scroll that she'd just picked up from a nearby table in the ballroom.
That done, she then eventually said, "We have a winner here. It's time to remove the masks, so that all the Princesses see how well they guessed about the proper place for them to put their respective tails on the monkey. Daniel, remove the masks now."
So Daniel did, of course. That done, he put each of the masks back in the same pocket of his robes from which he'd gotten them, of course. Then he waited for further instructions from his wife, of course.
Serenity then said, "Let's check each of the tails you girls pinned on the monkey here, one by one. Let's start with Serena's, first, and then go in order of the rest of you girls' pinning of those tails on the monkey here."
She looked for Serena's tail, and then she said, "Sorry, Serena, you put your tail too far in front of where it should be, for you put it about two inches below its shoulders. So that won't work out for you. Sorry."
Then she moved to Raye's tail, and said, seconds later, "Raye, you stuck your tail on its nose, not where it was supposed to be."
"I pinned its nose?"
"I'm afraid so, Raye."
"How am I ever going to live this down now?"
"I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to make up for it in the future, Raye," said Serena. "I'm sure that you'll be better than me at least when it comes to one thing. Though I'm not sure what that thing is yet, if it's only one thing, Raye. I didn't do too well with my tail, did I?"
"No, I suppose not, Serena."
Then Serenity moved to Amy's tail. And she said, after about another minute or so, "Not bad, Amy. You pinned it about three or four inches from where it should be on the monkey's picture. So far, you're the closest to the proper position for the monkey's tail."
Lita said, "I pinned my tail next, Queen Serenity."
"That you did, Lita. However, you pinned its stomach instead of where you should've actually pinned it."
Mina said, "Lita loves food quite a bit, I hear, Queen Serenity. I wonder if that's why she actually pinned its stomach with her tail."
"Is that so, Lita?"
"I suppose it is. But Mina still had no reason to tell you that, Queen Serenity. I suspect that she and I will often not be seeing eye-to-eye all the time in the future. But why that'd be the case, I don't yet know. Even though, of course, I'd probably like to find out, for the obvious reasons."
"I didn't tell her anything that she couldn't have found out from someone else."
"Mina, don't you know it's not nice to gossip about someone else?" asked Queen Serenity.
"I didn't know that. I'll try to keep from doing that in the future, if I can. But don't be surprised, though, if I can't keep myself from doing that."
"Good. Do that, and I'm sure that you'll have a lot more friends than if you gossiped about them and they found out that you'd done so. Treat them right, and the chances of them doing so with you might very well be increased to at least some degree that you might least expect them to."
"How did I do, then, Queen Serenity?" asked Mina, in very short order here, in fact.
Queen Serenity looked, and then she said, "You pinned its right rear foot, Mina. Of course, that means that you don't win either. Amy's the closest to the proper location for the monkey's tail with her own, so she wins."
Serena then asked, "What's her prize for that win, then, Mom?"
Serenity then said, "She'll get a crystal that'll be hers for the rest of her mortal life. God willing, of course. She'll get the Mercury Star Crystal, which has been here on the Moon for at least five hundred Terran years, if not longer. In the future, I suspect that it'll provide her with certain powers and items for her to use as she needs to use them. Especially if she finds herself someday actually living on the Earth for a long enough time. With or without other people and animals from the Moon Kingdom being with her while she then does so."
Then Serenity led everyone with her, Daniel, and Darien over to a certain table in the ballroom. And she then reached for a certain crystal on that table. That done, she then said, after picking it up, "Princess Amy, this crystal was mined near Hermes City on your world about six Terran centuries ago. It was brought here to the Moon as payment for various shipments of food items to your world when the Sun burned most of the crops near your own Mercurian city of Mercury City in the Terran year of 462. Fortunately for your world's people, your people had stockpiled at least three Terran years' worth of food in various Mercurian granaries before the Sun had burned most of the crops in that part of your world. That stockpiled food allowed them to sustain your world's population at least long enough for several diplomats from your world to get here and lobby for shipments of numerous food items to be sent to your world. And to have such food shipments arrive on your world in time to keep people from dying of starvation due to lack of food on your world. It only cost your world the Mercury Star Crystal to get that food. And that crystal's been here on the Moon ever since. Someday, if I get the chance, I'll tell you more about the Star Crystal that you've just won here."
"Is it mine forever, Queen Serenity?" asked Amy, once she took it from Queen Serenity's waiting hands.
"It's yours for the rest of your mortal life. However long that is, at least, if God chooses to let you keep it at least that long, if not longer."
"Thank you, Queen Serenity."
Then the five Princesses played more games elsewhere on the grounds of the Crystal Palace, for the obvious reasons. And each of them won one crystal by the time that all those games were completely over. Which, of course, pleased Serenity, Daniel, and Darien, for the obvious reasons.
Raye won the Mars Star Crystal for hitting the most bull's eyes while blindfolded in an archery-related contest in a field about two hundred feet from the Crystal Palace's main ballroom. She'd hit seventeen bulls' eyes in twenty shots from a distance of one hundred feet. She did this by finishing six ahead of Lita, eight ahead of both Mina and Serena, and nine ahead of Amy, who often had trouble making her arrows fly where she wanted them to go at that distance from the target.
Mina won the Venus Star Crystal for staying hidden from each of the other Princesses longer than they could each stay hidden from her or from each other. She stayed hidden a cumulative twenty seconds longer than Serena did, thirty seconds longer than Amy, fifty seconds longer than Raye, and two hundred seconds longer than Lita. After which, she soon received the Venus Star Crystal, of course.
Lita won the Jupiter Star Crystal for most accurately identifying the ingredients in a chicken and tuna casserole while she'd been blindfolded. In that contest, she'd been followed by Serena, Amy, Mina, and Raye in that exact order. Who, of course, also had all been blindfolded during it in one of the royal kitchens. And then Lita received her own Jupiter Star Crystal, for the obvious reasons.
Finally, Serena won herself the Crescent Moon Crystal. Which would signify that she was a Moon Princess, and that she'd been chosen by her mother as her successor. That was if the visions her mother had been seeing for more than a Terran year were sufficiently incorrect to allow Serena to someday be crowned as the Moon Kingdom's next Queen, in fact. She did this here, quite simply enough, by actually throwing a discus the farthest distance of all five Princesses here on the Crystal Palace's grounds. She threw her discus for a combined total of 1,500 feet with only six throws. While Raye threw her discus for about 1,320 feet, Amy threw for about 1,224 feet, Lita threw for about 1,176 feet, and Mina threw for about 1,034 feet. And now Serena would carry this crystal until such time as she acquired the Imperium Silver Crystal sometime yet in the future, if and when she ever did. And with it, it'd hopefully often remind her that the Imperium Silver Crystal would someday be hers. That was to be the case only if it was God's will, and if enough things worked out sufficiently well to allow her to gain and keep possession of it someday in the future, by the way.
When each Princess had then won a crystal for winning various games that they'd just played with each other, Serenity, Daniel, and Darien then brought them all back into the Crystal Palace's main ballroom. They did this for the rest of what was now evidently Serena's first birthday party, for the obvious reasons. That done, Serenity led all of her current companions to the table where Serena's chocolate birthday cake was now sitting on next to at least three different kinds of ice cream. Then she had all the Princesses except Serena sit down. Then she had Serena come to her, so that they could both cut her birthday cake, once Serena had blown out her birthday candle. And Serena then told her mother where she wanted them to cut her the first piece of that cake, if she'd not already done so here, in fact. Serena came to her, and Serenity then picked her up, of course. That done, Serena then had her mother put her closer to the cake, so that she could look at it a bit easier than if she'd be farther away from it. So Serenity brought her quite close to the cake. But not too close, for all the obvious reasons.
That done, Serena then asked, "Why's there a lit candle on this cake?"
Her mother said, "You're supposed to make a wish before you blow it out, Serena."
"Oh. Okay. Then please have the other Princesses here with us now come here to us. I'd like us to form a circular chain with each other as you hold onto me and I then blow out the candle on my cake."
"You heard her, girls. Please come over here, and form a circle as she tells you to, before she makes her wish and blows out her candle, then."
So all four of the remaining girls with Serena, her parents, and Darien then came to where Serena wanted them to be near the table. That done, Serena then reached down for Raye with her left hand and Amy with her right. Then she had Raye take her left hand, and Amy her right. Then she had Lita give Raye her right hand, and Raye give Lita her own left hand. Lita then gave her own left hand to Mina. Mina then gave Lita her own right hand, as she extended her own left hand to Amy, who then closed the circle by giving Mina her own right hand. With that now done, Serena then closed her eyes. And she secretly wished that she'd be able to spend many long and quite happy years with them in the future of their respective mortal lives. This was for reasons that might or might not already be obvious in her own mortal life. Then she opened her eyes, so that she could finally blow out the birthday candle on her cake, of course.
When she did so, she then let Amy and Raye's hands go. And she said that the other girls could do the same thing with each of their other neighbors in the circle. Then she said, after blowing out the candle on her cake, "Mom, I think we need to cut my cake now. I want a corner piece that has at least two red roses on it."
"Okay, Serena." So Serenity reached down with one hand, and picked up a cake knife from the table. That done, she then handed Serena briefly to her father, so that she could put the knife in her right hand. Then when she said it was all right, Daniel put Serena on Serenity's left arm, so that both Serenity and Serena could then cut the cake while they held the knife with their respective right hands. Then they both cut a piece out of the corner of the cake that was the nearest one on their right. This piece was three inches square and two inches deep, and it had three red roses on it.
Then Serenity asked her daughter, "Are you sure that you can eat that much cake, Serena?"
"Sure, Mom. I can eat that much cake at once. It may not be good for me, but I can eat it."
Just then, Luna popped into the main ballroom with Artemis not too far behind her. Both she and Artemis had forgotten about Serena's birthday party for most, if not all, of the day, evening, and night. And they'd actually spent most of the intervening time either sleeping, playing various games with each other, or hunting for mice for them to eat all over the Crystal Palace's grounds. And that was why they'd not showed up in the main ballroom of that palace before they'd just done so. Serena was the first to see them in the main ballroom, and asked, "Luna, where've you and Artemis been since this morning?"
"We've been occupied with various things, Serena. We're sorry we forgot about your birthday party today as much as we did before now. How's your birthday been today and tonight?"
"Quite exciting, as a matter of fact. Darien brought me some people to play with for quite some time into the future. God willing, of course. Have you met them before?"
"Sure. We both met them when they got here not too long ago. Are you girls all enjoying yourselves here at Serena's party?"
"Sure are, Luna," said Raye. "We're all having a blast here. Granted, we're all not more than two Terran years old, at most, but we're still having fun here in the Crystal Palace right now, Luna. And we've had a lot of fun since meeting Serena here in the Crystal Palace."
"I wish we'd have gotten here earlier," said Artemis.
"Well, at least you're here now, you two," said Mina. "So feel free to have as much fun as you two cats can here at this party for Serena's birthday in the Crystal Palace's main ballroom."
Then Luna and Artemis, as well as the girls, Serena's parents, and Darien did exactly that at least until midnight, if not longer, for the obvious reasons. And they quite thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they did so. Much conversation was also shared among all of them as well, for the obvious reasons. And at least until the girls began to get quite tired there in the Crystal Palace's main ballroom, if not even longer than that here.
When all the Princesses then began to get too tired in the main ballroom, Serenity soon called an end to the party in question for Serena there. And with the help of Princes Daniel and Darien, she then put them all to bed in what'd be their own Crystal Palace chambers whenever they were in residence with her there. For the obvious reasons, of course, she made sure that her husband and Darien weren't around totally while she was preparing each of them for bed, but that they were also close enough to each of the Princesses' respective chambers. That was so that after they'd been prepared sufficiently for bed, they could help her put them to bed as necessary.
And then, after each of the Princesses had eventually fallen sufficiently asleep in their respective chambers, she and her husband soon retired for the rest of the night. And Darien then went to his own Crystal Palace chambers, for the obvious reasons for each of them. And once they'd all gone to their respective Crystal Palace chambers, they all stayed asleep at least until the Sun rose and the Earth set the following lunar morning in their part of the Moon. Supposing, of course, that none of them were somehow disturbed as they slept in their beds during the remainder of the night.
I suppose that I'd better stop here now. For this will be where the next part of the story will take up from, in fact, readers. I hope that you have so far enjoyed the story, if you've gotten this far, and that you'll continue to read it, once I put more of it up here on fanfiction dot net. I don't know how long it will take me to get each story in this series up fully on fanfiction dot net. But it might take a while for each story in this series, just the same, readers. Until later, then, this is "The Universal Storyteller" signing off here. Happy reading, and God bless, and all that, of course, readers! Over and out!