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 eight sections of this story here, 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
In The South Courtyard Of The Rainbow Springs Palace
Rainbow Springs, Moon Kingdom, Moon
July 24, 986 - July 25, 986
About three weeks or so later, all seven of the Princesses had quite significantly adjusted to life in the Rainbow Springs Palace. True, they all would've naturally preferred to actually be on the other side of the Moon, for the obvious reasons. But they realized that wasn't currently possible for any or all of them, because of why they were currently on the side of the Moon that they were all now on.
In the meantime, Luna and Artemis had begun to train them all up as best as they could in Queen Serenity's current absence from them. Even Destiny and Bethany, of course. And they often helped the Princesses train as Junior Sailor Scouts by controlling any number of the robots that were currently at their disposal.
By this time, the Princesses had begun to call a number of the robots "Drones." For a lot of the robots often acted in a manner not too different from how certain Terran insects, especially insects that were of the bee varieties, often acted around others of their respective species of insects. Several of the robots even seemed to act as if their artificial intelligences were possibly part of a hive mind of some sort. Which sometimes made it very hard, at certain times, for the Junior Sailor Scouts to defeat them in any number of engagements, whenever they were having a training session in the Rainbow Springs Palace's South Courtyard in Rainbow Springs on the Moon.
The Junior Sailor Scouts now usually trained four or five days a week. And they usually spent the remainder of the week doing whatever else they wanted to do outside of their training sessions. This, of course, was the case, at least normally, for all the obvious reasons. Even if they didn't really want to train so often, they still trained with each other and any number of robots quite frequently, of course.
Serena really didn't like having to do so, in fact. For she'd have preferred not to have to train so much, if she didn't have to do so, but she still did so. She'd have preferred just to kill time enjoying herself as much as she could. But she didn't get that chance as much as she'd wanted to get it since her mother had gone back to Moon City by herself. Luna and the others with her usually made her train at least six to eight Terran hours per Terran day. Even though she'd have likely preferred to only have to do that for no more than about an hour or two every such day.
By now, Destiny and Bethany had normally worked much harder during their training sessions than Serena had. But they still didn't complain about doing so. Unlike Serena, who was often upset that she had to train so often whenever they trained on a day. Even so, their powers were still not as powerful as their older sister's powers normally were. They each were about half as strong as their older sister was, in terms of the strength of all their powers in comparison to the strength of all Serena's powers. Together, their powers were currently almost as strong as all of Serena's current powers, but not exactly as strong. They'd likely find themselves working together quite often in the future. And not just because they were twin sisters to each other.
Right now, Serena and her sisters were alone in the South Courtyard of the Rainbow Springs Palace. And they were sipping some tall glasses of pink lemonade, as they sat on three chairs near a ten-foot-long table. Their feet were all propped up on that table. And they were awaiting the arrivals of the remaining Princesses in that courtyard. In fact, the courtyard that they were all now in had been the very same courtyard that they'd first trained in during their first training session as Junior Sailor Scouts, under the watchful eyes of Sentinel Serenity.
At the moment, it was just after local dawn in the Rainbow Springs local area on the Moon. The Earth had recently set in the sky above. And the Sun had risen in it not long before, at the same time. Serena and her sisters were each consuming a meal of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausages, and pink lemonade, at the very least, if not also anything else at all. Serena was also having some deep-dish pizza and several chocolate chip cookies that Lita had made the night before.
Serena was eating quite fast, but not as fast as she'd often eat her breakfast. For she didn't want to burn her tongue too much. That was mainly, if not entirely, just because Lita's deep-dish pizza that she was now having some of here was still quite hot. Even though it had been in a refrigerated area for at least a few hours. And not just because Lita had used the hottest jalapeno peppers that she could possibly stand while making it. Lita had actually put a lot of hot toppings on her deep-dish pizza, and not just jalapeno peppers. She'd also left it in the oven for at least a little bit longer than she normally would, which had kept it hot for quite a bit longer than it'd normally be. And because Lita had done that, Serena was now quite often refilling her glass of pink lemonade, for the obvious reasons.
Bethany watched Serena consume her food quite rapidly. And Bethany finally signed to her, "Serena, slow down. You're going to burn yourself. And you don't need to hog so much of the lemonade."
Serena saw her sister Bethany sign, and she soon replied in like manner, "This food's so good, I can't slow down. I want to have a lot of it, if I can." She also spoke those words aloud to Destiny, of course.
"Everyone else won't like it if you eat all the food before they get here to eat their breakfasts as well," said Bethany. Serena also told Destiny what Bethany had just said to her, for the obvious reasons.
"Bethany says I'm hogging the lemonade, Destiny. What do you think?" For Bethany's benefit, at least, she signed to Bethany what she'd just said to Destiny.
"From what I've heard so far, Serena, you're hogging it. You've taken the lemonade at least three times after the first time to refill your glass with it, Serena. And Bethany and I have only taken it once apiece to get some lemonade for ourselves. And that was when we both first sat down to eat." Of course, Serena had to sign to Bethany what Destiny had just said to her.
It was at this time that Luna, Artemis, and the rest of the Princesses showed up in the area of the South Courtyard that Serena and her sisters were all eating their breakfasts in. Raye was the first of them to greet Serena and her sisters, followed almost immediately by everyone else that had come there at the same time.
Raye said, "Hello, Serena. I see you're apparently trying to pig out on the food here, as usual."
"Am not, Mars girl!"
"Then why isn't there much left of one of Lita's deep-dish pizzas, or only about a dozen of her chocolate chip cookies left, on the table near the three of you Moon girls?"
"Because I'm quite hungry, Raye. As I hope you'd be able to tell, based on what's still left to be consumed here on this table."
"Are you trying to be a Meatball Head, Serena?"
"No, of course not. Why would you say that?"
"There's not much food left for the rest of us here, is there?"
"Fine, I'll finish what I have before I get more to eat. Go ahead and dig in, or quit your bellyaching about me pigging out on the food, Raye."
So everyone else sat down at the table and got some food for each of them to eat while Serena ate the rest of her own food at the current time. And while they did so, they often talked about their plans for at least the next few hours, if not for at least the next few days, weeks, months, or years, of course.
Then, once everyone had felt they'd eaten enough food, and talked with each other, for a long enough time here, they cleared off the table they'd just eaten at. And they took care of all their dirty dishes, for the obvious reasons. After doing that, all seven of the Princesses soon transformed into their respective Sailor Scout states. This was just so that they could begin another one of their training sessions as Junior Sailor Scouts, under the guidance of both Luna and Artemis, of course, due to the continued absence of Sentinel Serenity from all their presences.
After everyone had transformed into their respective Sailor Scout states as Junior Sailor Scouts, Moon then began retrieving several robots they'd be using in their next training session. Then she and Lita began placing them where they'd all need to be at the beginning of that session, for the obvious reasons. This time, they placed about one hundred or so robots all around the courtyard. And after doing so, Moon soon made each of them go into active mode, for the obvious reasons. Then she did exactly as her mother had done after making each of the first robots they'd trained against go into active mode. And she closed off the secret passageway in the required manners. Then she had Luna and Artemis begin controlling them as soon as each of the Scouts was where she needed to be in the courtyard, for the obvious reasons.
As soon as they did so, the Scouts began training again, of course. Corona and Eclipse often teamed up against a number of the robots with their various attacks, working quite well with each other as they did so. At least when they first started their current training session, if not all the time during it.
All of the now-present Scouts fought very hard against their various robotic opponents in their current training session. But especially Mercury, mainly because her attacks weren't having a lot of success against the opponents she was now facing in it. Mercury's Mini-Ice Bubbles were often being fended off by at least six to ten of the robots. And she was often barely able to keep herself from being hurt by her own attacks. This was because at least three of those robots she was facing off against were trying to reflect her own attacks back at her as best as they could, if not all of them. So she finally decided to try switching off with at least one other Scout before she was hit by her own attacks, for the obvious reasons.
Mars then switched off with her, and soon defeated most of the robots that had been fighting against Mercury. But not all of them, in fact. For at least one of them was also immune, at least partly, to her attacks as well. So she then switched her attacks to at least a few of the other robots. She did this just as Moon then began fighting against them. But Moon only did so once Mars switched her attacks toward other robots that were still fighting here against the assembled Junior Sailor Scouts.
Moon soon found herself being forced back into a corner of the courtyard they were all now training in. And she soon found herself not having much success against at least four different robots that were now fighting against her in the Scouts' current training session. She hollered for help here, in fact. But she didn't receive it immediately. For Jupiter had just been fighting in close-quarters combat with at least half a dozen other robots. So Moon fought against her current opponents as best as she could, as she also tried to keep from getting hurt very badly by those robots' various powers, weapons, and items, for the obvious reasons. Eventually, Jupiter actually somehow managed to fight her way to Moon. And while doing so, she soon reduced several of the robots she'd been fighting essentially to scrap metal. Often with her bare hands and some rather well-placed kicks of her legs. For there'd been a few robots that'd proven especially difficult for Jupiter to defeat otherwise in their current training session.
Jupiter hollered out, a few brief moments later, to Luna. And she asked her to slow down the attacks of their various opponents in the courtyard. Luna soon shouted out, "Several of the robots have just bumped themselves up to difficulty level 15, it seems, Jupiter. Artemis and I both are trying to drop down the difficulty level of the robots right now. But it'll likely be a while, I fear, before we can do so, Jupiter. You Scouts may have to destroy them to stop them from defeating you in battle. You may have to use your Sailor Teleport phrases, though, Jupiter."
"Understood. Everyone, we may have to teleport out of here on short notice. Be prepared to teleport out of here on a moment's notice."
All the other Scouts then did as Jupiter advised them to do. And they did it as Jupiter then wreaked great havoc on at least half a dozen, if not more than half a dozen, other robots that were now with them in the Rainbow Springs Palace's South Courtyard. She somehow managed to actually render them quite inactive by destroying them in hand-to-hand combat against them.
Venus then whipped several other robots against some nearby walls of the courtyard with her Venus Chains, just as soon as she was actually able to somehow get them around each of those particular robots well enough here. This she did as other robots also sought to grab her around her legs and neck, but which were actually prevented from grabbing her around them by some rather well-aimed Mini-Ice Bubbles from Mercury that'd frozen them in place to a sufficient enough degree. She then ducked just before Moon threw her tiara toward those robots to destroy them in the same manner as she'd likely destroy other beings they might very well face in the future, a future not yet fully known to any or all of the current Scouts and the cats. It was a very good thing she had then done so, as a matter of actual fact, here. For otherwise, Moon's tiara would've most likely cut her in half. Or it might have actually taken her head off her neck and/or shoulders, if it didn't cut her in half instead.
Corona destroyed still other robots with a large gavel that she had at her disposal at the current time. Which just happened to be the Gavel Of Justice. And she bashed their heads in with it as often as she could and as often as the current situation allowed her to use it. This gavel was very effective in bashing in their heads, whenever she was able to have enough space to swing it easily enough at those robots she attacked with it. But she was still not able to destroy all the other robots still opposing the Junior Sailor Scouts, for the obvious reasons.
Eclipse bombarded several other robots with Silent Shadow attacks. Which actually caused shadows to appear silently near the robots in question. These shadows silently attacked the robots, just as she began singing as loudly as she could to distract them from their shadows. As she did that, she also made her way as quickly as she could to the nearest console from which she could control the area of the lunar skies above the Rainbow Springs Palace. She did this as Moon and Corona covered her with their attacks, so that she'd not come under too much fire as she did so. She ducked through a nearby passageway leading to the courtyard, and she soon got to that console. She began rapidly using it to gain access to the sun shields over their current area of the Moon. Then, once she'd gained it, she began using it to make the skies darken above their heads to at least some degree. But not so much that the robots' shadows couldn't still attack those robots, of course. Then, once she'd done that to the best of her ability, she made her way back to where the other Scouts were still fighting against their remaining opponents in the courtyard. As she did so, she then spotted a nearby emergency beacon system, and she grabbed it up on the way there. When she was back in the courtyard again, she then fired several emergency beacons into the air, just as quickly as she possibly could do so here. This she then did so that her mother would hopefully be able to see them well enough, if all went sufficiently according to plan for her with those emergency beacons. She did this just before she had to drop that system on the ground again, in order to actually keep it from being destroyed by any of their remaining opponents in the courtyard.
Then she made her way just as quickly as she could back to where everyone else was now quite closely crowded together. Even Luna and Artemis, who by now had been forced to abandon their attempts to drop the robots' difficulty level down to a more manageable level of difficulty for the Scouts. When she got there well enough, Mars and Mercury were nearly on the brink of unconsciousness, and Venus wasn't much better.
By now, the robots' artificial intelligences had bumped up the average difficulty level of the Scouts' current training session to at least difficulty level 20, if not higher. Many other robots from elsewhere in the Rainbow Springs Palace had just recently teleported themselves into the courtyard from where they were normally kept. Which normally was quite far from the palace's South Courtyard. Which, of course, then made it quite a bit harder for the Scouts to defeat the robots that were now opposing them in that palace's South Courtyard.
Somehow, Junior Sailors Mars and Mercury were both able to stay conscious at least long enough for Queen Serenity to see the emergency beacons that Eclipse had fired not more than a few minutes before, and for Sentinel Serenity to teleport into the South Courtyard in time to distract several robots away from bothering both of them. And after Sentinel Serenity teleported into that courtyard, she then began cleaning house, in a manner of speaking, by engaging those robots with all of the necessary powers, weapons, and items that she now had to use against them. She soon had piled those robots up to a level of at least ten feet high off the ground, if not higher than that. And then she began making her way to the nearest console now available to her, hoping she'd not have to destroy all of the remaining hundred or so robots still fighting against her and her Junior Sailor Scouts. This she did as she also protected Mars and Mercury from any further harm. For they'd both just slipped into states of unconsciousness. Even though they were still in their Sailor Scout states as Junior Sailor Scouts.
She then quickly got to that console, and she managed to put enough of the remaining robots into inactive mode. And far enough into such a mode, in fact, so that they couldn't be reactivated by other robots still opposing the Junior Sailor Scouts and Sentinel Serenity. Or at least not very easily, for the obvious reasons. That done, she and the rest of the still-conscious Scouts then began destroying all the remaining robots that were still opposing them. Even though she'd also managed to drop the level of difficulty of the Scouts' current training session down to no higher than difficulty level four, they'd all still have to destroy all the remaining robots who hadn't yet been rendered sufficiently inactive. That was the case here due to the current inability of Mars and Mercury to fight in the Rainbow Springs Palace's South Courtyard.
So Sentinel Serenity, Eclipse, Corona, Jupiter, Venus, and Moon each did whatever they yet had to do in order to destroy all of those remaining robots. Even though, except for maybe Sentinel Serenity, it wasn't very easy for them to do so. Venus soon slipped into unconsciousness, and then Eclipse and Corona did that too, not long afterward. And, at that time, there were still about forty or so more robots for the three remaining Sailor Scouts to fight, once Eclipse and Corona both had slipped into unconsciousness as well. Jupiter then borrowed Corona's Gavel Of Justice, after Serenity made it temporarily available to her during the current fight.
Jupiter swung it several times just as quickly and as effectively as she could. But she was still unable to destroy the rest of the robots still opposing them in the South Courtyard. Several robots stunned her not long afterward. And they made her slip into unconsciousness as well. She fell mostly, if not entirely, right on top of Corona when they did so.
"Mom, are we going to actually be able to destroy the rest of these robots?" asked Junior Sailor Moon, a few very brief moments later.
"I think so, Moon. But I'm about to fall out of my Sailor Scout state as Sentinel Serenity, though, Moon. I need you to fight back-to-back with me, Moon. Call out, 'Mini-Moon Crystal Storm,' Moon. And that'll make you able to bombard them with Mini-Moon Crystals. That'll hopefully render about half of the remaining twenty robots inactive due to their destructions. Then I think I can take care of all the remaining robots all by myself. Even if I actually do fall out of my second-power phase before I can do that here."
So Moon immediately obeyed her mother, with no argument of any kind about it, for the obvious reasons. And when she did so here, she soon saw a bazooka-like weapon appear in her hands that was then loaded with at least a dozen Mini-Moon Crystals of varying sizes. If not more than just a dozen of them, here. That done, she then began bombarding the remaining robots as frequently as she could, actually reloading whenever necessary, of course.
As she did so, Sentinel Serenity broke the necks of four robots before she then dropped into her first-power phase as Royal Sailor Serenity. And she did that before she then had to resort to various other methods of fighting those robots than those that she normally had at her disposal in her second-power phase as a Sailor Scout. Such as various forms of martial arts she'd been trained in ever since she'd been a very young Moon Princess herself, for instance.
Certain judo techniques destroyed two other robots. While she used karate and other martial arts to destroy four other robots, the last just after Moon had knocked out the next-to-last robot still opposing them in the Rainbow Springs Palace's South Courtyard with the last of her available Mini-Moon Crystals that Sentinel Serenity had made available to her not long before. Finally, Royal Sailor Serenity destroyed the last of the robots that'd still been fighting against her and seven Scouts after she'd rendered enough other robots sufficiently inactive without having to destroy them along with any of the other robots that'd been opposing her and/or them for quite some time. Even before she'd come there to help them all out in their current training session.
After she realized no more robots would be fighting against her or any of her Junior Sailor Scouts for at least a while longer, she then began checking on her Junior Sailor Scouts who were now quite unconscious. Even though they were still in their respective Sailor Scout states of being. Fortunately, none of them were worse off than just being in states of unconsciousness. However, they'd all have to refrain from training for at least a while, of course. Then, once she'd checked them all out well enough here, she soon laid them all in a row on the ground. She did this quite obviously with Serena's help, as they both put all the other Scouts side by side, just before she took two nearby long rods in her hands. She did this so that she and Moon would eventually be able to somehow teleport everyone back to Moon City for closer medical observation. She had Luna sit down between Mars and Mercury. And she had Artemis sit between Corona and Eclipse. Then she had Moon take hold of the long rods' other ends, so that a rectangle of some sort would be formed around everyone who was now in the Rainbow Springs Palace. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.
Then she stretched out her arms, and so did Moon. That done, she then said her first-power teleportation phrase once, just seconds before Moon said her own teleportation phrase, for the obvious reasons. Just after Moon said, "Junior Sailor Moon, Sailor Teleport," as loudly as she could, everyone in the necessary rectangle vanished from the Rainbow Springs Palace's South Courtyard in Rainbow Springs on the Moon.
Moments later, they all actually materialized in Dr. Matthew's chambers in the Crystal Palace. As soon as they did, Dr. Matthew asked what had happened to everyone. Of course, Royal Sailor Serenity then told him, just as quickly as she could, what exactly had happened on the other side of the Moon. She was able to tell him, simply because he also knew she was a Sailor Scout. And because he also knew about the secret training center in the Rainbow Springs Palace on the other side of the Moon, having been there as a doctor for at least a little while before Queen Serenity's own birth on the Moon. Dr. Matthew was now approaching seventy Terran years of age, after many years of loyal service to the various rulers of the Moon Kingdom. Even for a number of years before Serenity and Daniel's own births on the Moon quite some time before the current time. He, as a matter of fact, had helped Serena's maternal grandmother deliver Princess Serenity many long years before. And he'd done the same thing when Serena's paternal grandmother had delivered Prince Daniel roughly around the same time as Serenity herself had been born on the Moon.
So he was quite well aware of the kinds of things that might happen every once in a while on the other side of the Moon on the Rainbow Springs Palace's grounds, because of those facts. And then he rather quickly summoned a number of Serenity's maidservants and a number of his nurses, for the obvious reasons. This he did just as Serenity dropped out of her own current Sailor Scout state of being as Royal Sailor Serenity, and back into her usual state of being as Queen Serenity. That done, he began working quite quickly on each of the unconscious Junior Sailor Scouts, of course.
Then, when Junior Sailor Moon realized that she could do nothing more for everyone else, at the current time, in Dr. Matthew's chambers, she asked Queen Serenity if she could leave them now, of course. Queen Serenity, of course, said that she could. And she was backed up in that statement by the kindly Dr. Matthew. For they both agreed that Moon should now leave his chambers, for all the obvious reasons.
As soon as Queen Serenity and Junior Sailor Moon were out of them, and far enough away from them, Queen Serenity then had Junior Sailor Moon transform back into her normal state of being as Princess Serena. Then she had Serena follow her to the main dining hall of the Crystal Palace. For she had this feeling that Serena was now quite hungry, due to the fact that Serena had been fighting against numerous robots for most of at least the last six to ten Terran hours, if not longer than that. Which, in fact, Serena and most of the other Princesses had been doing. Even before Sentinel Serenity had helped them destroy enough of the remaining robots to save their own lives, of course.
"Will the other girls be all right, Mom?"
"I think so. I think we got them out in time to save them all. Who sent the emergency beacons in the sky to alert me of a very serious emergency?"
"Eclipse did. I don't think we'd have survived if she or one of the others hadn't done so. For I don't think I could've been able to do so. Just because I was backed quite a bit into a corner, as were a number of the other Junior Sailor Scouts with me at the time, Mother."
As Serenity made some food for Serena and herself to eat, she often discussed the just-ended training session that'd taken place on the other side of the Moon with Serena. Of course, various parts of that very training session had been very scary for Serena, at the very least. Just as they'd most likely been for everyone else that had been there before Sentinel Serenity's sudden arrival during it. But Serena still discussed them as much as she could bring herself to discuss them with her mother. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.
Eventually, Serenity brought some food to the table in the Crystal Palace's main dining hall that Serena was sitting at, and she began feeding Serena a good deal of that food. After making up a plate or two of food for Serena, she then did the same for herself, of course. Then she and Serena joined hands and prayed for the ultimate safety of all the other Princesses now with them in the Crystal Palace. And most specifically for those Princesses who were now in Dr. Matthew's chambers there, for the obvious reasons. When that was finally done, Serenity then let Serena dig in and begin eating the food Serenity had just prepared for her consumption.
As the two of them ate, they spoke of many other things of varying importance to either or both of them, and this they were doing when Darien entered the main dining hall, apparently in search of something he could eat in the meantime. It was now approaching local midnight in the Moon City area of the Moon, by the time that he entered that dining hall. He didn't see them at first when he entered it. But as he began getting deeper into it, he began noticing that they were in it, and otherwise occupied in it. He saw them first, and then he sent a red rose toward them to let them know that he was glad to see them again. For he'd not seen them for quite some time.
This red rose whistled behind and past their ears, and between their heads, until it landed about six inches in front of both their plates. It struck their table and stuck in it about six inches in front of both their plates. When Serena saw that rose do that, she knew exactly who'd thrown the rose toward them. She then broke off her conversation with Queen Serenity, and rose from her seat at it. She said, "I'll be right back, I hope, Mom. Seems someone just sent a rose our direction. And I believe I know exactly who just did so. I think I'm going to have to talk to them for a while, if that's all right with you. If I don't return here by local midnight, or just after it, though, please bring what's left of my food to my chambers, at least before you retire for the rest of the night, Mom."
Serenity soon afterward agreed to do that here, if necessary. But before she did, she said, "Serena, if you feel you must talk to him, please don't mention where you've all been, and what you've all recently been doing, if you can possibly avoid it, of course, for the obvious reasons. Which, I'm sure, that you're already quite aware of, mainly for those reasons, of course. You might want to, Serena. But right now, I don't think that you should do so, at least not for a while. That is, if you can possibly avoid it, of course, my dear Princess Serena."
"Understood, Mom. What are you going to do then, if I'm not supposed to tell him what's been going on for us all since he last actually saw us all?"
"I'm going to try to take care of the rest of your royal Court, for all of the obvious reasons, Princess Serena. And there's nothing much he can really do for us, at least not at the current time. Except to try to stay out of the way of me, your father Prince Daniel, the medical personnel here in the Crystal Palace with us, and any number of my servants who are also here with us all, of course."
"So, in essence, you want me to occupy his time quite frequently for a while, as much as I possibly can, at least for the time being. What will I get out of it, then, Mother?"
"First, you'll get to be with your 'honey', as you've so often called him, again for at least a little while. Second, you'll most likely not have to train for a while as a Sailor Scout. Which you often don't like to do anyway, Serena. Third, you'll most likely not have to attend too many 'boring' meetings and conferences for at least a little while, as well. And maybe you'll even get more out of it that just those three things from me, Serena."
"I see, Mom. Will you then let me know as soon as you possibly can, Mother, whenever you have news that you think I might be interested that relates at least partly, if not entirely, to my royal Court? Or to any or all of its current members, if I do as you're obviously suggesting that I do now?" asked Serena.
"But, of course, Serena. I don't think that you really do want to lose any members of your royal Court if you don't absolutely have to. Even if they're apparently only temporary members of it, at least at the current time. So I'll certainly do that, at least to the best of my ability, if and whenever I possibly can, Serena."
Serena soon said, "Thank you, Mom. Now I think I need to have a chat with a certain Terran Prince who we're all quite well-acquainted with in our lives, of course." This she said, just as she began to leave her mother alone at the table upon which his rose had just landed. She carefully took the rose out of the top of the table. And she then left the table behind to find him elsewhere in the main dining hall of Moon City's very own Crystal Palace on the Moon.
Minutes later, after Darien had tried to hide from her elsewhere in the main dining hall, once he'd seen Serena rise from her seat at the table he'd thrown his rose onto, she tapped him on the shoulder, as she came up behind him as silently as she could. Then she grabbed him by an arm. And she essentially forced him out of that dining hall, and into a nearby hallway in the Crystal Palace. She didn't stop tugging on his arm until she and Darien were far enough away from that dining hall, and in her own Crystal Palace chambers.
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!