"As once with prayers in passion flowing,
Pygmalion embraced the stone,
Till from the frozen marble glowing,
The light of feeling o'er him shone,
So did I clasp with young devotion.
Bright nature to a poet's heart;
Till breath and warmth and vital motion
Seemed through the statue form to dart.
"And then, in all my ardour sharing,
The silent form expression found;
Returned my kiss of youth daring,
And understood my heart's quick sound.
Then lived for me the bright creation,
The silver rill with song was rife;
The trees, the roses shared sensation,
An echo of my boundless life."
-- Pygmalion --
They turned up at the Miranda Castle at sundown with no difficulty and notified the monarchs the appearance of one more warrior among them. The Uranus Royalty welcomed Haruka with much more reverence than needed causing the others to be bewildered and suspicious.
Nephrite and Zoisite along with Endymion were having their meal in the kitchen when Haruka and Kunzite came striding in. Haruka now wore a uniform similar to the Yoningumi, a dark blue jacket with matching trousers and a grey cape, a breastplate and a new sword tucked in the side of her waist. The only thing different about her garb was the sign of Uranus embedded on the left side of her sleeve. Her hair was tousled and she wore a scowl on her face.
"Damn and damnation! Why do I have to wear this blasted cape? And this breastplate weighs a ton! I can hardly move as it is." She complained, tugging the breastplate.
Zoisite smirked.
"The cape shows your position. Only those who are in higher ranking wears a cape. If you were a common warrior, and I am convinced you are not after saving our lives, you only wear the garb. As you can see, the four of us are wearing a cape to accentuate our position as the Earth generals. You, on the other hand, are wearing one to conclude that you have been positioned as one of us, or a warrior who carries a great honour in his name. As for the breastplate, it is necessary to wear one to protect you from any harm. Believe me, it helps when you are in a battle." Kunzite explained calmly.
Zoisite smirked once more.
Haruka scowled at him. "If you do that one more time I will be forced to shove this sword down your throat."
Zoisite's eyes narrowed. "I would like to see you try."
"Oh for the love of--! Enough you two! You have been bickering like two broods ever since yesterday. It is a shame really knowing you two are grown ups and yet you tend to enjoy acting like fools." Endymion snapped.
"It is a good thing the monarchs are not here to witness the two of you. I would have loved to see you two make a fool out of yourselves." Jadeite commented amusingly.
"Jadeite not you, too." Nephrite said disgustingly.
Jadeite shrugged innocently and resumed eating.
Haruka sat down beside the prince and ate her meal.
Silence was greeted in the kitchen, at last.
King Ura'ns called for them after their meal and went in the throne room, where the king and queen sat nervously on their throne, with their advisor sitting by their side.
The men bowed graciously after the monarchs.
"Gentlemen, I am afraid I have some bad news." King Ura'ns stated agitatedly. Queen Nebestanka held her husband's hand, trying to lend her support.
"What is it, Your Highness?" Endymion enquired gently.
"I fear that your quest for the celestial gems has to be delayed gentlemen. Venus is under attack by the Erebus army. The personal guard of King Ta'ura contacted me through the communicator and their army are losing. I have already sent my own army but I am afraid it is not enough. They need your help as soon as possible. Since you have dealt with the likes of the Erebus before I am certain you have a good chance on overpowering them." King Ura'ns explained.
"But of course. We'll go prepare right away, Your Highness." Kunzite said and bowed. The others followed shortly.
The king nodded to them. "Thank you, gentlemen." Then his attention was riveted towards Haruka who was trying her best not to be noticed. He closed his eyes and bowed his head to her in respect, which shocked everyone. "I must say that it is my greatest pleasure to have known you even in such a short while, noble warrior. I thank you for the depth of my soul." The king said, sombrely.
Haruka frowned, confused. "I did not do much, Your Highness." She objected gently.
"In time, you will… For that I am certain." The king said, smilingly.
When they were out of sight of the monarchs and the rest, Zoisite confronted Haruka.
"What was that all about?" He asked her, frowning.
Haruka shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps he thought I was one of the celestial warriors you spoke of." She said amusingly. She was already briefly informed yesterday about the celestial gems and celestial warriors.
"Nah that can not be it." Jadeite muttered.
"Ah, so you think I do not have the skill to be the celestial warrior, is that it?" Haruka asked teasingly.
Jadeite just shrugged. They all parted and went into their own chambers to collect the things they needed.
"Oh my. I did not even realize that one of them is here in our planet." Queen Nebestanka said, looking at the departed warriors.
Her husband beside her sighed. "Neither of us did, dear. But the aura of Uranus is so strong in her. I have no doubt that she is one of them. I must say The Elders will be pleased about this information." He said, smiling slightly.
They've been boarding their ship 'Kagemusha' for three hence days towards the planet Venus when they heard a beep in the communicator room signifying that someone was trying to send them a message. They were all asleep when they heard the noise.
Zoisite was already in the room when the rest of them, save Haruka who didn't bother waking up, arrived there.
"Who is it?" Kunzite asked, running his hand through his dishevelled hair.
"I am not sure. It was cut off even before I found out whoever it was." Zoisite exclaimed, figuring out the machine in front of him. Just then another beep was heard and a figure came on the screen.
"Mother!" Endymion exclaimed in surprised.
"Oh hi dear. I trust that you have heard of the news?" She said, her index finger on her cheek as if in thought.
"Yes mother I have. We are on our way over there." Endymion frowned. "Is that all the reason you contacted us mother?"
"Well… I am afraid Lady Beryl has gone missing, my dear. There are talks that state she has been kidnapped. She was not found in her palace early in the morning and her bed was rumpled when one of her maidservants walked in."
"Are you certain mother? Perhaps she is only in her garden." He guessed.
Queen Chikyuu chuckled slightly. "You and I both know Endymion that she does not like flowers. If such is the case, then I am certain she has no garden. But I am sure you are right. She is possibly inside the palace or outside it, taking a stroll. Nothing to be concern about. I must apologize for disturbing you, gentlemen. I will contact you again if I have more news." She said to others before breaking off the connection.
"Forgive my mother for the disturbance." Endymion explained to the others with a sigh.
"It is of no concern Endymion. Let us just sleep on it." Nephrite shrugged and turned away to his chamber. The others followed with a yawn.
Endymion also went back to his own chamber. From his bed he lay, eyes toward the unmovable ceiling, deep in thought and sleep apparently forgotten.
"Lady Beryl…" He murmured, his mind on the red-haired woman.
Lady Beryl or Berlgiakash as her real name was the ruler of the cold side of Earth, Atlantis. It was a vast city, almost the size of Lemuria where the Golden Kingdom inhabited. The Atlantean were a force to be reckon with, with their much more advanced technology. However, Lady Beryl practiced Wicca and for Endymion, that did not bother him in the least considering a lot of people practice magic these days, but still they considered Beryl as a black sorceress. He could not understand why people were such cruel as to judge the others like they had no feelings at all. Granted, Lady Beryl at times was brutal to her own people or to others but that only emphasized her position as a ruler. They have been betrothed since he was ten and five years and she of the same age. It was known to every telluric that if Atlantis and Lemuria combined their forces they would be one of the greatest civilization known to Earth. Endymion would do anything to vastly improve his kingdom. He was a man of twenty and five years, another year and he would be taking the throne.
With those last thoughts in mind, he fell asleep with the sound of nothingness.
Haruka woke up alert when she heard a loud honk. She stood up immediately and put on her garb and her sword and opened the door.
"What the devil was that?" She asked Nephrite who was about to knock.
Nephrite shrugged. "We have arrived on Venus. Now come let us go." He said and started walking away.
"Matte! What about our breakfast? I am starving." She grumbled.
"Meal has to be delayed. We are needed in the battle immediately."
"What? I did not agree on this." But she found she was talking on thin air, having Nephrite disappeared already.
She rejoined the others and found them standing outside the ship and gathering their weapons.
"So where do we go?" She asked them.
"I can not see any battle going on around here." Jadeite commented, trying to spot any enemies in front of him. The Venus was a very beautiful planet with its lush and golden surroundings.
Kunzite observed the quiet surroundings with narrowed eyes. "You are right. Venus is peaceful as always. There is no sign of army Erebus at all."
"Then I suppose we should go to the Magellan Castle and informed the King and Queen that we have arrived." Zoisite said.
"Hmm… it might be the castle that is under attack do you suppose?" Endymion enquired.
"Let us go find out before it is too late for us to do anything." Kunzite said.
They found the Magellan Castle with its usual peacefulness and still no sign of the Erebus army. They were brought to the throne room with two of the sentinels guarding the castle and Queen Afërdita welcomed them with open arms.
"My goodness, Yoningumi, Prince Endymion, what a surprise." The queen smiled.
The men and Haruka bowed. "Your Majesty."
"So what brings you to Venus, gentlemen?" Afërdita asked kindly.
"We were informed that Venus was under attack, Your Majesty so we came here to lend our help if need be." Endymion explained.
Afërdita was puzzled. "Under attack? But… as you can see clearly gentlemen, we are not. As a matter of fact, we have not been attacked for a very long time now and for that we are grateful."
Nephrite frowned. "But Your Majesty, King Ura'ns informed us of your predicament. He said that one of your guards, His Highness' personal guard to be precise, contacted them that you needed help to defeat the Erebus' army."
"King Ura'ns even sent his armies here. Did they not arrive here, Your Majesty?" Zoisite added.
Afërdita frowned. "Oh now that you mention, yes they did arrive here and they, too, thought we were under attack so I sent them back to Uranus. Oh my, what a misunderstanding."
"Where is King Ta'ura, Your Majesty?" Jadeite asked.
"Oh I am afraid my husband is not present at the moment gentlemen. He is in Mercury trying to make a settlement with King Hermes and Queen Mearcair."
"Then perhaps we should contact the King and Queen of Uranus once again, Your Majesty to clear this misunderstanding." Kunzite suggested.
"Yes, we should." It was then that the queen became aware of Haruka.
"Oh, so you have a new general Endymion?" She asked the prince curiously.
Endymion glanced at Haruka. "He's not one of my general, Your Majesty. He saved our lives in a battle when we were in Uranus and he has agreed to help us in our journey."
"Ah, I see." Afërdita nodded.
As a group they walked towards the communicator room and the queen tried to made contact with the monarchs in Uranus.
There was a slight static with the connection before they broke through.
"Yes…?" King Ura'ns demanded, his voice cutting off.
"King Ura'ns… are you all right? I cannot hear you very well." Afërdita said.
"Queen Afërdita!!… Oh-- is-- every-- thing-- all-- right-- I alrea-- dy-- sent my-- army over-- there--"
"Yes, and I sent them back, Your Highness. The Yoningumi are here with me now and they told me that you presumed we were under attack."
"Well-- are you-- not? I re-- ceived a message-- from one-- of your-- guards and they-- informed me-- of such matters--"
"Oh dear, I am afraid there is such a misunderstanding. I will talk to every one of them and confront whoever is responsible for this." Afërdita said worriedly.
Before the king could respond however the screen was cut off and another figure appeared. The queen and the rest gasped when they realized who it was.
*Gomennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn gomennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn for the late update… I was working overtime … imagine 12 hours a day and six days a week!!!! And I didn't have the time to type my story so I really really apologize to those who were expecting this… and once again gomennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn if this chapter is slightly shorter than the rest but I know that you guys are already itching for another chapter so I said to myself "What the heck it is better than nothing, ne?" *LoL* But not to worry I will update as soon as I can….
Peace \./
-- The story is Copyrighted © by dloveheart 2002 --
(some characters excluded)