*In the process of revision*
Ages
Endymion: 15
Kunz: 15
Zoë: 14
Nephi: 14
Jay: 14
Trista: 14
Alex: 13
Michelle: 13
Heather: 11
Lita: 12
Raye: 12
Amy: 12
Mina: 12
Serenity (the younger): 10
Serenity (the elder): Who knows? Who has the guts to ask?
Luna: looks 22, actually 33 in Mau time.
Artemis: looks 24, actually 36 in Mau time.
CHAPTER ONE – MEIOH SETSUNA
Day arrived as silently as the night. The sun was a mere speck in the sky, one of the many sprinklings of stars in the dark sky that remained unchanged from morning to night, except for occasionally, when Charon drifted by. One could only tell the difference between night and day if one observed the people of Pluto.
It was market day, and many odd figures were about. Everyone was dressed in warm woolen cloaks, for even summer in Pluto has below-zero temperatures. In fact, most people preferred to inhabit Charon, Pluto's moon, because it was more comfortably suited, being the first place settlers had attempted and succeeded to civilize. Charon, like most of the other moons and planets, had a magic orb equalizing its environment and making it livable. Pluto, alas, was unsuitable for such magical conditioning. It was, of course, livable, had nowhere near the comforts of Charon. This happened often on various planets, the moons being more receptive towards magical condition than the planets, with the exception being the Earth (and its uncivilized peoples) and the Moon (the epitome of civilization).
The most conspicuous and suspicious characters were a young woman and a young man. Instead of being dressed warmly, they were in loose-fitting clothes that barely kept any heat in. This marked them as tourists, but peculiar ones, for they had not even bothered to bring any protection from the cold besides the silver glow around the two marking magical protection, which would insulate them enough to grant them life, but would not work enough to keep them comfortable. Magical protection was expensive, and was usually used for purposes other than protection from the cold, so the two had to be incredibly rich and incredibly stupid, natives reasoned.
But all this was unnoticed to young Princess Trista Susan Hadei. As Crown Princess of Pluto, she was currently in etiquette class, and was bored to death, not at all interested in learning the polite way to accept flowers from a married man or how to politely reject a marriage proposal. She didn't see herself in either position anytime soon, especially seeing as how she was only 14, and not even come of age yet.
"Princess? Are you listening, Princess?" The voice of her tutor intruded on her innermost thoughts and she looked up rather irritably.
"Of course I'm listening, Etiquette Mistress," Princess Trista said sweetly, suppressing an urge to roll her eyes at the flighty and frivolous blonde. "You were just talking about how to reject a marriage proposal."
"And what did I say?" Etiquette Mistress asked, narrowing her beady eyes. Her pale blonde hair and dark blue eyes were reminiscent of Lunarian heritage, and her accent was lilting, pointing towards noble upbringing. How such a woman had come to be tutor to the Crown Princess of the most remote planet in the Sol System, Trista did not know, but the Etiquette Mistress's resentment at being stuck on such a cold, forbidden planet had always been plain.
"One must be gentle, yet firm, kind, yet cruel. One must squelch all possible thoughts of proposing again, yet leave him feeling as if it were a privilege for him to have been spoken to at all. One must leave him thinking one is a goddess, yet out of his reach. One must no longer accept any of his gifts, and cut off all communication, making it final, but one must also leave him with kind words to dream over at night," Princess Trista recited word-for-word from the textbook. The Etiquette Mistress always taught exactly from the textbook anyways, so it never mattered.
The Etiquette Mistress stared at the Princess for a while, before nodding. "It seems that I have taught you well, Princess. You may have a break."
"Thank you, Etiquette Mistress," Princess Trista said humbly, before turning away to hide her laughter. She? A good teacher? As if! Etiquette class is such a breeze. The answer to everything is a lot of excessive fainting and unnecessary weeping, and being regal yet compassionate, gentle yet firm. You'd think they'd have some more imagination. Shaking her head, Princess Trista stood upright so that her back was straight as a rod, and gathered up her excessively flounced skirt, before moving to go to the Temple of Hades.
The Temple of Hades, dedicated to the patron god of Pluto, was open to both peasants and nobility. Princess Trista was accustomed to coming here when her troubles were too much to bare, and generally as soon as she bestowed a beneficiary smile on the people, they were satisfied with the blessing and left. She enjoyed this duty, perhaps the only enjoyable duty of being the Crown Princess. She was aware of how her long green-black hair swept around her, and how her stunning maroon eyes looked. She knew perfectly well that her long black cloak done in the latest style was eye-catching, and she was proud of it. When she walked, she took care to glide so that she looked like a Goddess herself.
Today, however she had not expected to see anyone inside the Temple, as it was market day. To her complete surprise however, there were two standing before the statue of Hades, God of Death. One was a man, and the other a woman.
Princess Trista Susan Hadei put on a superficial smile, even as she contemplated the origin of these two. They were certainly not natives—they had on simple linen togas that were more reminiscent of the Venusian style, not at all useful in the cold Plutonian weather. They could not have been tourists—tourists were not allowed in the City of Anubis any longer. They were a strange pair indeed.
"Are you from around here?" she inquired in her perfect princess voice as was required of her. As Crown Princess of Pluto, one of her many duties was to greet all that were in the Temple of Hades each time she visited it.
The woman with long black tresses, wearing a yellow sundress—strange, had it not been a toga earlier?—turned around, and nodded rather absentmindedly. "And who are you, dearie?"
Princess Trista was surprised. Everyone knew who she was. "I am Trista Susan Hadei, Crown Princess of Pluto," she said proudly. She unconsciously flipped her hair, and stood even more upright.
The man bowed respectfully, but queerly. Instead of the required bending at the waist with his hands placed across his chest, one of his arms was in front of him, and one behind. Princess Trista mentally reviewed the male bowing styles of the Sol System, and recognized this as the Lunar style of greeting.
"You are far from the Moon," she said curiously.
"We are not from Charon," the woman began.
"I was referring to the capital of the Silver Alliance," Princess Trista said politely, interrupting the woman to gaze more intently in the man, who was now dressed in the style of a Plutonian peasant, complete with el-lined coat. Now she knew something was wrong. She had seen him in a toga earlier. "Magic," she whispered.
"What?" the white-haired man (who did not look very old) asked.
"You have used magic on your clothing," Princess Trista said in awe. On Pluto, magic was so highly prized that even she, Crown Princess, was not allowed to use it for everyday comfort. It was reserved for important ceremonies and crises only. Even if this man came from the capital of magical industry, to have magic that changed clothing according to climate surely indicated great wealth.
"You have sharp eyes," the woman noted, now also dressed in the style of a Plutonian peasant. She held out a silver necklace on her neck. "We were gifted this by a friend," she said. "It supplies us magic when needed."
At that moment, it emitted a burst of silver light. Startled, Princess Trista took a step back, but not before the crystal struck her forehead the symbol of Pluto appeared upon it. Trista, of course, did not see this. All she noticed was that the man and the woman had begun to look at her strangely.
"Is there something on my hair?" she asked anxiously, moving to pat her pride and joy, the hair that her mother refused to let her cut.
The man stepped forward. "We have been looking for you," he stated simply.
Princess Trista stared at him, before backing away slowly. "Okay …"
"You are Meioh Setsuna, Mage-Princess of Pluto."
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
"We have done as you bid, Queen Serenity. Shall we take the Mage-Princess to the Moon first?"
"No, I'm afraid we don't have time, Luna."
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes, Artemis. Queen Metallia is planning her attack on Earth right away. I have already arranged for you to be transported to Earth. You must find the Mage-Prince of Earth, and his four Mage-Protectors. She will know when they have been found, and will hold back on her attacks. You must find them quickly!"
"Yes, Queen Serenity. We are on our way."
To be continued …