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.
Now without further ado, let's get on with the story once again, if that's all right with you here, readers. And I hope that if you've read the first four sections of this story here, that you've enjoyed what you've read of it so far. More will come as time allows, of course. And I really hope to add all of the remaining chapters for this story at least, by the end of April, at the latest. That's so that all of you people on who've followed the story well enough, and often enough, will be able to eventually read the whole story here, of course. Please read, review, and enjoy, if at all possible, quite naturally enough, for all the obvious reasons, readers!
The Beginning of It All
A The Chrysanthemum Chronicles Series Story
Inside Serena's Chambers In The Crystal Palace
Moon City, Moon Kingdom, Moon
June 30, 986
A little more than seven Terran years later, it was now Serena's tenth birthday. And it was not more than an hour past dawn in the Moon City area on the Moon. Serena was still quite asleep in her bed there. She was now lost in somewhat pleasant dreams at that time. And her curtains were all currently quite closed, so as to hopefully block out the early morning sunshine to a sufficient enough degree to allow her to actually sleep in past dawn in the area of Moon City on the Moon.
Suddenly, within another hour or two, at most, people started to knock on her door quite frequently. So much so, she then couldn't stay asleep easily enough. When that happened, she asked them to leave her alone, quite naturally. But at least one of them could not hear her do so. For one of those people happened to be Bethany, who was still deaf. Even after several people had tried to find a good enough way to cure her deafness in the years since her birth. And another was Destiny, who was still blind. Even after several attempts to try to cure her blindness by any number of people from anywhere in the Moon Kingdom.
Serena soon figured that out, and then she got out of her bed. Then she went to her closet and picked out some clothes for her to wear that day. With that now done here, she then ducked into her bathroom for a while. And she then took a short bath in it for a while. Then she got dressed, left her bathroom, and gathered up a few of her things elsewhere in her bedroom. That done, she then left her chambers for elsewhere in the Crystal Palace.
As she made her way to one of the Crystal Palace's dining halls, she encountered Darien, who'd come from Earth again on a visit to the Moon for at least a few weeks, if not at least a month, within the last week. She said, "Hi, Darien. I hope you know what today is."
"What's today, Serena?" asked Darien. Even though he already knew what it was now, from often being with her during the past ten Terran years of her life.
"It's my birthday, Darien. Don't tell me you didn't know, honey?"
"It is? I thought it was two weeks from now," kidded Darien.
"Yes, Darien, it is. I know you knew it was. You're trying to kid with me, I'm sure."
"Yes, I suppose you're right. Do you think we should go find the others, then, Serena?"
"I suppose we can do that. Did you happen to knock on my door not long ago?"
"No, Serena. How long ago was this?"
"The first knock was about thirty or so minutes ago, I think. And the last knock was about twenty or so minutes ago, if I'm not too mistaken here about such things."
"Then I wasn't anywhere near your Crystal Palace chambers here. I'd just gotten back from a ride on Black Star elsewhere on this Crystal Palace's grounds. And I was taking care of him before I left him again."
Then the two of them walked together to the aforementioned Crystal Palace dining hall. For they were now both quite hungry. They got there within the next fifteen to twenty minutes, and they both soon got themselves at least some food to eat.
While they were in that dining hall, they were eventually joined in it by the Princesses Raye, Amy, Lita, Mina, Destiny, and Bethany. Destiny, who now had long waist-length brown hair, and Bethany, who now had short black hair that was about chin-length on her, were currently both tied together at the wrist, for the obvious reasons. Bethany was leading Destiny into the dining hall, as well. While the rest of the girls were either signing or speaking verbally quite quietly to either Bethany or Destiny, for the obvious reasons.
The girls soon sneaked up on Serena and Darien. For they wanted to surprise them both, if at all possible, but especially Serena, due to the fact that it was now Serena's birthday. Darien turned around briefly, suspecting that several people were trying to sneak up on the two of them. And he spotted Raye and Amy trying to stay out of sight, but not entirely succeeding. When Raye and Amy realized they'd been spotted by him, they signaled to him to ask him to not let Serena know he'd seen them. And they gave him a sort-of-pleading look when they did so. He considered their silent signals and looks for a few seconds, at least. And he then silently nodded his assent to them. But he looked at them as if to say, "Be careful, and try not to startle her too much while she's either eating or drinking, please, Raye and Amy." They nodded back just as silently. And then they both melted back behind a large sculpture near them in the dining hall, so that Serena hopefully wouldn't see them if she turned away from her food briefly.
They lay in wait for a few minutes. And then, when they were sure that Serena wouldn't see them and their companions do so, they came out from behind their hiding places elsewhere in the dining hall. And they crept even closer to her as much as they could with only one try. By the time they'd finished doing so, they were now within ten feet of her in it. Raye and Amy hid behind a wall that jutted about ten feet into the dining hall from the surrounding walls of the dining hall. Mina, Lita, Destiny, and Bethany also hid behind various plants elsewhere in the dining hall. While Raye and Amy hid behind the aforementioned wall in it for a while.
Five minutes later, all six of the Princesses left their various hiding places in the dining hall, and they sneaked up to the table just behind the one that Serena and Darien were now eating at. They all dove as quietly as they could under it, for all the obvious reasons.
While they did so, Serena suddenly got the feeling that she, at least, if not also Darien as well, was being watched. She then asked Darien, "Do you have this strange feeling that one or both of us are being watched right now?"
"Maybe. Why do you say that?"
"It seems like some Princesses I know are trying to sneak up on me. And that they'd like to surprise me while I'm eating here in this dining hall. I know it's my birthday. So I'd not be surprised if that's what may be going on now. I heard a shield fall off a wall near a door of this dining hall. And I believe that Raye may have knocked it off by accident. For I believe I heard her say 'Rats!', when it fell off the wall."
"Are you sure?"
"No, but I still suspect that Amy, Mina, Raye, Lita, and my sisters are trying to sneak up on me right now."
"So what if they are?"
"Then I suppose I have to act as if I don't know that they are, for the obvious reasons. I suspect they're there, Darien. And I think that you do too. But I'd bet if they are, they silently asked you not to tell me so, if you saw them. Which I think you did. And I think that you agreed not to tell me so, if that's actually the case. You're not going to say so, though, I'm sure. Are you?"
"No, I suppose not, Serena."
"I know the game. For I've played it before with any one or all of them. And I'm sure that you have too, whether here or back on Earth, from which you're from, Darien. I'm quite sure that you know the game too, of course, because of that fact, Prince Darien."
"Yes, I suppose you're right, Serena. I'm not going to say, of course, whether or not they're trying to sneak up on you and surprise you, for the obvious reasons. That'd spoil the game, of course, if they're trying to play such a game with you and/or me, Serena. And we can't have that, I'm sure."
"You got that right, Darien. So I'll just have to pretend that I don't know what they may be trying to do to me, if that's the case. I have a feeling that they're right behind me. For I think I see their hair in the mirror on the ceiling just in front of us. Just not their faces, of course. Otherwise, I could be absolutely sure that they're trying to play a game with me, at the least, if not also you, of course."
So Serena acted as if she didn't know what was likely going on, and so did Darien. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons. While she did so, Luna and Artemis both entered the dining hall together, hoping to find Serena there. This was because they'd not found her anywhere else in the Crystal Palace as of yet.
They spotted her almost immediately. And they sneaked as quietly as they could toward her, not wanting to let her know that they were looking for her, if at all possible. They both pretty much then followed the paths that the Princesses had taken to the table just behind where Serena and Darien were still eating in the dining hall.
When she heard them also enter the dining hall, she said to Darien, "Luna and Artemis are both in the dining hall now. I just saw them in another mirror on the ceiling. Mom and Dad should be coming along here anytime in the next hour, if they don't return to them within that time. They're heading toward the Princesses under the table behind us."
Meanwhile, Raye and the other Princesses were beginning to get at least a little impatient. For Serena and Darien were taking a bit more time to eat their breakfast than they'd expected them to. Raye was most especially the most impatient. For she really wanted to spring the apparent surprise on Serena as soon as she could, for the obvious reasons. Raye tried to keep as quiet as she could, of course. But she wasn't entirely successful. For when Destiny accidentally poked her in the ribs with her left foot, she yelped a bit.
Mina told her, as quietly as she could, "Raye, you're going to spoil the surprise, if you're not careful enough. Be quiet, please."
"I would, if I could. But Destiny just poked me in the ribs. I couldn't help yelping."
Finally, Serena and Darien finished their meals. And they then went back to their table, after first having given their dirty dishes, glasses, and utensils to the necessary people elsewhere in the dining hall, of course. And they awaited the Princesses' attempts to surprise them, of course. Especially Serena, who was still pretending she didn't already know what was most likely going on at the current time. This was for all the obvious reasons, of course.
When they'd been there again for at least another five minutes, the Princesses couldn't wait any longer to try to surprise them. And they crawled out from under the table they'd been hiding under with Luna and Artemis. Luna and Artemis soon followed them out from under it. And when they were out from under it, and they'd rejoined the other six Princesses in a small group of felines and humanoids, the group then soon sneaked up to within two feet of where Serena and Darien were seated at the table in front of them.
A minute later, seven voices suddenly shouted, but not too loudly, for the obvious reasons, "Happy tenth birthday, Princess Serena!" Of course, the only one who Darien and Serena didn't hear shout that was Bethany, because Bethany didn't talk like the other girls and the cats normally did, due to her deafness. However, she did sign whatever the other girls and the cats had shouted at Serena, once Serena had acted surprised enough and turned toward her so that she could do that. And Darien couldn't act surprised by any of them at all, for the simple fact that he'd actually known they were then trying to sneak up on them, of course. However, he still stayed rather quiet when the girls who could actually do so here then shouted at Serena at least a little bit, for all the obvious reasons.
Eventually, the seven Princesses adjourned to another part of the Crystal Palace's grounds with both of the cats and Darien. Specifically to a garden on its grounds, and in it were Serenity and Daniel. For they'd both been expecting Serena to show up there for at least an hour or two already that very day. They'd both hoped that she'd actually be there before the morning was no more than half over. But now, by the time that Serena and her nine current companions finally arrived in that very Crystal Palace garden, it actually was now no more than two hours before midday in the Moon City area on the Moon.
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'll 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!