Silver Moon Step.002 Midnight

Wow I'm on a roll! 8D Must be the Sailormoon marathon I'm having that's sparking all of the creativity in me! I've even been writing future chapters! With luck you'll actually be able to read these chapters titled "Pluto's Fate" and "Saturn's Fate" that I've already written up because they've been lingering in my mind and I needed to get rid of them! I had to get the depression out of my mind. zz But Gackt=good. You'll see why later. ;D

This chapter may be shorter then the first, but that's because I was running out of ideas for this one. :D;; But I wrote it real quick so I'm happy

Also, you must admit that dealing with 8 characters at once is pretty challenging...so hopefully I can develop the other characters' soon enough... x.x;;;

So, let us continue down the path of tradegy! Oh, and reviews of my work are highly appreciated! I like hearing what people think. :D

It had been about five minutes since Queen Serenity had left them to stare at each other. Apparently they were supposed to be talking to each other, but that was not happening. The silence almost made Saturn want to laugh. Already she was completely afraid of Neptune, as she just stared at Uranus, a cold icy look in her eyes. Uranus looked freaked out, not knowing what to do about this girl who had been attacked by her stupid brother. Serenity began to constantly smooth out her dress, while Venus fidgeted with her necklace, looking around the room and staring at the paintings. The room they were in was probably the smallest in the whole castle, but it was still huge. Mercury was staring with a blush on her face at the ground while Mars constantly sighed. She would give anything to get out of here.

Pluto scratched her head as she stopped her on gazing around the room and immediately her eyes fell on Neptune and Uranus, who were sitting across from each other. Had they been doing this the whole time? she wondered. The thought of such a thing made her start laughing like mad. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing to watch the Princess of Pluto rolling on the ground, barely able to breathe.

"What's so funny?" both Uranus and Neptune demanded at the same time. Immediately they turned to glare at each other. Uranus had enough of this bitch.

Pluto pointed at them and started laughing again. Mars stood up, an impatient tone in her voice, "Out with it all ready!"

Venus was so bored she jumped up, yelling to join the excitement. Saturn just stared at them and watched as Serenity also began to laugh. Mercury was dumbstruck and Jupiter just looked around at everyone, wondering how crazy they really were when not in their princess dresses.

"This, is, so, great," Pluto said in between laughs as she sat up, wiping the tears that had begun streaming out her eyes. She pointed at Uranus and Neptune, "What a great way to begin your fu-"

"I've had enough of your fortune telling!" Uranus stood up, hot in the face.

Pluto was taken aback. She placed a hand on her chest and leaned backwards, "Well excuse me!"

"Stop this at once! Please!" Everyone stopped to turn at Serenity, near tears because of all of the yelling. Immediately they all went silent and sat down again. A "forgive me, Princess" murmured throughout the room. Serenity stood up, "My name is Princess Serenity, future ruler of the Moon, but I think there's no need for introductions since it should be pretty obvious who is who. I know that my mother demanded that we all came here to introduce ourselves to each other, but I think it's pretty useless since see where this attempt has become? You all should be ashamed for what you are doing." Serenity felt weak in the knees. She fell down and held back tears. Never in her life was she able to say such words, and now she said them to the people who would be most important in her life. She had to get out of this situation and fast.

Venus yawned, "I want a bath."

"I just want to go to bed," Uranus stated looking away from Neptune's glare.

Pluto stifled more laughter. These two were great. The rest agreed with one person or another, but were interrupted when the doors opened and in bounced a short little girl with a Moon symbol upon her forehead. She grinned and swayed back in forth, as if there was music playing.

"I'm Luna!" she announced, "I shall be training you all! Well, of course, I won't be your teachers, but combat is fun, don't ya think?" She crossed her arms, still swaying, and a huge grin upon her face. "Wow, don't you all look pretty in those dresses! But you'll look even cooler in the Senshi uniform!" Luna laughed to herself, twirling.

"L-Luna…" Serenity said cautiously.

"Yeah?" Luna scurried over to her princess.

"Are you drunk?"

Luna stopped and put a finger to her lip, "Uh, let's see…how many drinks have I had tonight…uhhh…one, two, three, four…"

Serenity sighed, "I rest my case."

Luna smiled again and giggled. She bounced back over to the door and motioned for everyone to follow, "Well I think that's enough for tonight! I'll show you all your rooms! Your stuff has already been put there."

Everyone began to file out of the room, but Luna grabbed Pluto and whispered into her ear, "Um, you don't have all of your things here, right? You're not going to be here that long, right?"

Pluto nodded and the happy look disappeared from her eyes as she followed them all to her own room.

Serenity's room was located in a different place, but when she opened it, she saw her angry mother inside. Immediately she grabbed for the necklace hanging around her own slender neck. It was probably punishment time for what she did earlier, although she could not figure out what she had done wrong. Her mother sighed and smoothed out her dress, closing her eyes. She was obviously trying to choose the right words and try to say them in a non-angry tone.

"Serenity," she began, holding an arm out to her daughter, "You are my only daughter and the future queen of our solar system." Serenity did as she was told and was embraced by her mother. "That man is not who you might think he is." Queen Serenity began stroking her daughter's hair. "He is actually Prince Endymion, the prince from the Golden Kingdom of Earth."

Serenity pushed her mother back and looked up into her eyes, "I had no idea!"

Queen Serenity nodded and continued, "Yes, you have never seen a picture of him in all of your life so I forgive you for not recognizing him, but I demand that you stay away from him. Never talk to him ever again. He will hurt you and our lives. Understood?"

Serenity nodded. Her mother smiled and let her daughter go, "Good, now get ready for bed. It is very late and I think everyone will have a big day tomorrow."

Queen Serenity strode out of the room, closing the door behind her without looking back. Immediately with the click of the door closing, Serenity fell to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes. She knew that whatever her mother said could not stop what had already happened.

Venus stood in front of her mirror, staring at her reflection. She really did look beautiful, with this dress that matched her body perfectly. She could not believe that she was here now though. Her life had seemed to have flown by so fast. Venus was a spunky, free-spirited girl, but now she was terrified out of her wit. She had no idea what the future held for her. She broke the stare between her and her reflection and fell to her knees, clenching her fists in the beautiful dress.

"Can I really do this?" She asked herself, "I'm not a leader at all…"

She began to cry but quickly rubbed the tears away, careful not to ruin her dress. She took the straps and let the dress fall around herself. On a chair nearby, a light nightgown was waiting for her to wear. Venus grabbed it and put it on stiffly. It was a bit see-through, she mused, but she could get over it.

Venus began playing with her expressions in the mirror, from happy looks to determined ones. She could not help but laugh when she saw her serious face.

"Ahh, this is what I need," she told herself as she stretched, "I'm so tensed up about this whole Senshi leader business, I should relax some."

It should be easy, she added to herself, since these beds should be one of the best she ever slept in. Venus grinned and twirled around the room, kicking the princess dress aside. She was desperate to do anything to not make her feel so stressed. In the middle of one of her spins, someone knocked on the door. Venus dizzily went to open it, walking into things as she went. She opened the door slowly, as her dizziness faded away, and looked up to see the tall figure of Queen Serenity. She stifled an "EEK!" and bowed about fifty times. Serenity giggled at her, as this was exactly what she had expected from the daughter of Sailorvenus.

"Good evening, Queen!" Venus stammered, bowing some more, "Oh, uh, yes! Come into my room! I'm so sorry I've been so rude!"

Serenity laughed as she walked into Venus' room and held her hand to make her stop and be still.

"The reason why I am here is because I have something extremely important to tell you," Serenity began.

Venus bowed again, "All right! Anything you have for me to do will be accomplished!"

"As Sailorvenus," Serenity continued, "it is your duty to watch over the Princess. You are also the one who controls the gate between Earth and the Moon."

Venus stared at her, taking in every word she had to say.

"I fear that if Serenity and Prince Endymion are allowed to meet again, something horrid will happen," Serenity looked around the room, taking note of the dress on the floor, "You MUST watch over the Princess and stop her if she ever tries to go to Earth. Understand?"

She stared in disbelief. Stop her Princess from doing what she wished? Even if it was to see the planet rumored to have beautiful green trees, although everyone else knew that they were being destroyed by the people of Earth because of the pollution they put into their atmosphere or whatnot. Everyone else was thankful to have such a safe environment to live in, unlike Earth's horrid planet. It is rumored that if a person from another planet went there they would begin to suffocate and die within a few days. The thought of made Venus accept what the Queen told her all the more. Venus bowed, "Yes, I understand! It shall be done."

Serenity nodded, "Good. Have a nice night." With that, Serenity left her room silently.

Venus collapsed on her bed. Now THAT was nerve wrecking. But now she knew her duty and she would do everything to make sure it was carried it out.

The room was pitch black except for the strong light from the Ginzushou, the key to Serenity's power. With his arms crossed, Artemis watched the reactions it was having to activity in the solar system, as well as the protective shield, which remained unguarded since the birth of the princesses.

"It's weaker," he stated.

Luna nodded, stepping up beside him, "It is. Something must be fighting against the barrier."

"The barrier," he mused, "shall we go and see?"

Luna shook her head, "Let us wait. But don't tell the Queen. She'll probably have a heart attack or something." Artemis rolled his eyes. "I'm serious about this. But, let us give it part of our own powers until our Senshi are trained. If we do so, the barrier should be able to hold until then."

Artemis nodded slowly, "At all times but when we train the Senshi, see the Queen, or appear in public, we shall stay in our original forms. Can you handle that, dear Luna?"

Luna smiled, "Of course I can, Artemis. This is our duty to the Queen who saved us from the terror known as Mau."

They nodded together as they raised their hands, the moons upon their foreheads glowing. Slowly they felt their power given to them by Serenity draining. The good thing about it though, was that their power would always regenerate because they had been in allegiance with the family line of Serenity for so long. Their Queen would never know and this was to protect the family they owed so much to.

The grandfather clock read nearly two. Any moment now it would chime the hour. Neptune walked away from it and observed the artifacts in the room. After things seemed to have quieted down Neptune left her room to go for a little walk. She found herself lost and near Princess Serenity's bedroom. She assumed that where she ended up was the place where Serenity spent her free time. As she groped around in the dark, she found a stack of CDs on the table. She squinted her eyes to read the names: Minako Aino, Haruka Tenou, and…Michiru Kaiou? Neptune felt flattered beyond no end. She looked up to see a very familiar painting of the Moon.

"No way," she breathed, as she went to go touch the painting to make sure she was seeing things right. It was an original, just as she had suspected, "Then Usagi Tsukino is-"

Something was knocked over behind her. Neptune put the CDs back on the table and silently walked out of the room, caution in her step so she did not make any noise. She turned around to look back inside. She took a step back and bumped into someone.

"Nyao?" they asked pawing their face.

"L-Luna?" Neptune asked, her voice shaky.

"Yes, yes, it's me, Princess!" Luna jumped up and down in the dark, "What are you doing out so late? Are you lost?"

"Yes…"

"You go down that hall, take the first two rights and you'll be there eventually! Now if you excuse me, I've got some sleep to get!" Luna disappeared.

Neptune blinked and looked around. She did not hear any footsteps anywhere. She scratched her head and continued onward, taking the directions Luna had told her. She walked past some people on her way, but paid no heed to them until one person reached out and touched her arm.

"Princess Neptune?" It was a male's voice. That voice.

"What do you want?" Neptune whirled around, glaring at the person, snatching her arm away.

Princess Uranus' brother bowed many times to her, apologizing each time. "I'm sorry! Very sorry! Really sorry! I was drunk. I'll never do it again! Please, give me a second chance."

Drunk? "I guess that makes sense…" Neptune said, scratching her head.

The prince got down on his knees, his head nearly touching the ground. "Please! Please forgive me for earlier! Us Uranians get drunk easily! Especially me. I can't hold my liquor at all."

Neptune began laughing, what an IDIOT. But after what he did to her, she was unsure what to do about him.

"All right," she said softly, "I forgive you. Now if you excuse me, I am going to go to bed."

"Yes! Thank you very much!" he still bowed his head low as she walked away.

Neptune rolled her eyes, missing him murmuring "God, I can't believe I got myself into this situation." under his breath.

Princess Serenity sighed as she stared up into the glittering marble of the Earth. It was pretty much dark by new since where the kingdom stood was about to be rotated to the dark side. Serenity had pushed her bed over to where the window was, so she could sit on her fluffy, while leaning out the window to gaze at the Earth. She was too deep in though to notice how her door creaked open slightly and then closed. What snapped her out of her daze was a black cat jumping on her lap.

"Princess!" the cat scolded, "Why are you up so late? Don't tell me you're thinking about that prince guy!"

"Oh, Luna," Serenity began stroking the sleek fur of the black cat, "I don't understand why we hate humans from Earth so. I mean, they're barely considered part of the solar system."

"That's right," Luna licked her paw, "they refused to sacrifice their princess of the Golden Kingdom, so therefore there is no Sailor Senshi for Earth. Thus, we do not consider them apart of us."

"But why was he there this night?" Serenity gazed into the huge eyes of the cat, which seemed to glitter in the light from Earth.

"Only a few people from Earth are allowed here as an exception, just to keep good relationships with each other. I guess he was interested in seeing all of the princesses. Typical of a man."

"Typical, hmm?" Serenity sighed and put an elbow on the windowsill again, leaning her cheek in her hand, "like that weirdo guy who attacked Neptune?"

Luna pawed at Serenity's arm, "That guy is a weirdo! I've heard some bad things about him. Strange that the only son born to any royal family is so…ick!" Luna's body shook as her fur stood on ends, "He might have made the root of tradition take a different turn! Oh what to do, what to do if Uranus and Neptune never get along now…"

Luna and Serenity sighed in unison. Luna jumped out of Serenity's lap, yawning, "Artemis and I have got our work ahead of us, it seems."

"Why?" Serenity crawled to the edges of her sheets, preparing to get under her own covers as Luna curled up on a pillow beside her.

"Because they need to be able to at least work with each other," Luna closed her eyes and smiled, "Don't worry about them Princess, that's my job. You just concentrate on the training you yourself shall receive."

Serenity nodded, drifting off into a light sleep.

Neptune had finally made it to the room. She dug out the key to unlock her door in a pocket that was sewn perfectly onto her nightgown. She placed the key in the keyhole and began to turn it.

"Be careful of him," Pluto's voice was like a knife slicing through the dark. It sent shivers up Neptune's spine.

She whirled around, her hand still on the knob, searching for the owner of the voice.

"He'll be your downfall," Pluto stepped out of the shadows, "and please trust Princess Uranus. That would be the best action to take."

Neptune glared at her, "What are you, psychic? Like I'll ever trust that girl. Especially when she looks almost exactly like her brother."

Pluto sighed and looked away. She crossed her arms and shook her head.

"I'm only warning you," she said as she began to walk away.

Neptune did not give her a second thought. She opened the door, took the key out, and slammed the door behind her. Even more weirdoes she had to deal with. There was no way she would ever trust Uranus, she sensed something strange every time she thought about the family of Uranus. No matter how many times she though about it, she could not figure out what it was. Neptune sat on her bed, thinking it over, but it was no use because her mind was beginning to suffer from lack of sleep since she had none before she had gotten here.

"The Moon's cycles of light and dark are much different from Neptune's," she told herself, "Might as well enjoy something close to our calendar's definition of normal is."

But of course, by the time she figured out this feeling of hers towards the Uranians, it would already be too late.