©2000-2007 by Stacey Painter (Serena CrystalMoon)
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of it's characters.
Chapter 2The morning after Princess Serenity's secret 'escape', her court finished shopping and embarked on their journey to the Moon Kingdom for her 15th Birthday Celebration, now just two days away!
As the four girls appeared in the Rose Gardens of the Moon Palace they made their way to the throne room to greet the Queen.
"Queen Serenity, The Princesses Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus are here to see you!" one of the guards said as he led the four princesses to the Throne.
"Well, Hello girls! It's very nice to see you again! I trust you had a good trip?" the Queen asked lovingly as she looked at the four Princesses standing in line, each with their planetary sign glowing brightly in their respective colors on their foreheads.
Princess Mercury: with black-blue hair and dark-blue eyes was wearing a stunning dark-blue gown that belled out at the bottom as most gowns of princesses did. The bodice was elaborately designed with metallic-light-blue beads and a bit darker trim. Matching light blue heels that glittered like crystal clear water completed her graceful ensemble and an elegant tiara made of sapphires, diamonds, and pearls sat atop her head showing the planetary sign of Mercury.
Princess Mars, with raven-black hair and dark-purple eyes was wearing a stunning bright red gown that belled out at the bottom, much like Mercury's. The bodice was also elaborately designed with metallic-medium-dark red beads and a bit lighter trim. Matching bright-red heels that glittered like a newly sprung fire completed her graceful ensemble and an elegant tiara made of rubies, diamonds, and pearls sat atop her head showing the planetary sign of Mars.
Princess Jupiter, with milk chocolate-brown hair and dark-green eyes was wearing a stunning forest green gown that also belled out at the bottom. The bodice was designed elegantly with metallic-bright green beads and a bit darker trim. Matching dark green heels that glittered like bright green lightning completed her graceful ensemble and an intricate tiara made of emeralds, diamonds, and pearls sat atop her head showing the planetary sign of Jupiter.
Princess Venus, with shiny golden hair and light-blue eyes was wearing a stunning bright yellow gown that belled out and ruffled at the bottom. The bodice was intricately designed with metallic-light orange and gold beads and a bit darker golden-orange trim. Matching bright golden heels that glittered like the sun on a warm sunny day completed her graceful ensemble and an elegant tiara made of topazes, diamonds, and pearls sat atop her head showing the planetary sign of Venus.
"You girls are beautiful. And so grown up might I add!" The queen exclaimed as she looked over the girls affectionately. My they are getting so big! I remember when they were only little babies...
"Thank You, Your Majesty. We just arrived and were wondering where we might find Serenity?" Princess Mars asked excitedly. Oh, I can't wait! I haven't seen her in so long.
"She should be in her room, Mars. Please let her know that I'd like to see her at noon today to finish the preparations for the ball." the Queen answered
"Sure, Your Highness. Thank You!" Mars replied as the four girls left the Queen smiling.
"I can't wait to see Serenity." Mercury squealed cheerfully as she raced down the hallway; Her dark blue gown flowing behind her and her heels clicking madly against the marble floors. Just behind her, the three other girls followed in a mad dash to Serenity's room at dusk.
"Serenity, It's Mars. Open up!" Princess Mars said angrily as she knocked for the third time.
"I can't take this anymore. She's probably in the Bathtub in the back room and can't hear us. Jupiter Silver Millennium Power!" Jupiter said as she quickly transformed into Sailor Jupiter her Senshi identity. "Jupiter Thunder Crash!" Sailor Jupiter quietly commanded as she broke into Serenity's room.
As the girls rushed in, Sailor Jupiter de-transformed. After searching the room and its adjoining rooms they found no trace of their silver-haired princess.
Venus threw herself onto Serenity's bed "She's not in here!" the girl cried out.
"Hey guys look at this..." Mercury said to the others "It's a letter addressed to us and Queen Serenity. And It's in Serenity's writing."
"Well, just don't stand there. Open it!" Jupiter said
To my Mother and my Court:
I love you all very much and I wish I didn't have to do this: I have decided that I cannot put up with the hassles and the general life of being a Princess. It's just not for me. By the time you read this I will already be far from the palace and on my road to self realization. I hereby step down from my birth given right as the heir to the Moon Kingdom. I am truly sorry for this and I hope you all will forgive me in time.
Love Always,
Serenity
"I can't believe this! Serenity ran away and has given up being the Princess of the Moon." Mercury cried
"Well, as for now there's nothing we can do about Serenity. She was born the Moon Princess and no matter what she wants, that's who she is. We have find the Queen and show her this letter." Venus said as she led the girls out of Serenity's room.
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"Usagi! It's me Mamoru."
"Ok. Just a minute." Serenity replied sweetly as she hid Luna in her Bunny Backpack and walked over to the door to let Endymion in.
Whoa! Endymion thought as he walked in the room and looked at Serenity, wearing a pair of really short black shorts and a white tank-top, his jaw automatically dropped down, quickly he fixed it hoping she didn't notice. Down Sparky! Down! he chided himself as he felt his manhood harden in arousal as he looked at the beautiful angel in front of him.
"Hi Mamoru." Serenity greeted her friend happily, "Are you ready to leave?"
"As ready as I'll ever be!"
"Good lets go then." Serenity replied happily as she caught herself looking at Endymion as he stood there smiling. Black silky hair, deep midnight blue eyes, a handsome face, and a dashing smile. He's so dreamy!
"And since our first plans didn't work out I was wondering, would you like to ride with me on my horse: Storm?" Endymion said with a dashing smile.
"Oh I'd love to! Thank you Mamoru." Serenity gasped as he led her out of the room.
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As Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus ran into the large ballroom where the Queen was preparing for the ball. They heard low comments from their sudden hasty appearance as they crowded around Queen Serenity. A big hush fell as the Queen held up her hand and prepared to speak.
"Girls what is it? Why have you ran in here like a new war has brewed up?" Queen Serenity asked in earnest
"Your Majesty we are truly sorry for any trouble we have caused but it's urgent! We must speak with you in private! " Mars hastily replied
"All right girls follow me to my quarters," answered the Queen as she led them to her room...
After Queen Serenity led the four princesses into her room, they tried not to become upset and worry the Queen, but as Mercury sat down, she uncontrollably began to weep.
"Oh Mercury! What's wrong? Why are you all on the verge of tears?" Queen Serenity asked lovingly.
"Oh Queen Serenity you are like a second mother to all of us. We are so sorry to put you through this!" Venus said as she started to cry too
"Girls what's going on?"
"It's Serenity! After we arrived and spoke with you we went straight to Serenity's room. We knocked on her bedroom door three times. We figured she was in the bath tub and couldn't here us. Finally I got exasperated and transformed into Sailor Jupiter. I used my 'thunder crash' to open her door but when we entered her room she wasn't there. We found this on her dresser!" Jupiter replied hastily as she pulled out the letter addressed to Serenity's mother and court and handed it to the Queen.
As Queen Serenity read the letter, she sorrowfully began to cry. "I can't believe this. My own Serenity has run away! I should have checked on her when I came back this morning, but she wasn't anywhere in the palace or the gardens so I thought she was in her room." sobbed the queen sadly, "We must find her. Do you girls know when she disappeared?"
"We are so sorry you're Majesty. We haven't seen Serenity since the Beltane festival held on May-Eve two months ago! We were so excited to see her." Princess Mars answered
"Yes, I know girls. She may have run away but she'll always be our Serenity, the heir to the Moon Throne." Replied the Queen "Girls please go find Luna and Artemis, I must speak with them at once!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" the Princesses answered in unison as they left the queen's room.
"I think we should split up." Declared Mercury as the four girls began their search for Luna and Artemis.
"Great idea Merc." replied Mars "I'll search the gardens and the ground. Mercury you check the bedrooms and the balconies. Jupiter you take the halls and the dining rooms. Venus you check the Attic, basement, and ballrooms. We will meet back in Serenity's room in two hours. If either of them are found, transform immediately, use the 'Senshi Communicator' to contact the rest of us then teleport immediately to Serenity's bedroom."
"Okay." replied the other girls as they began their search.
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"Welcome to the Moon Kingdom, be you friend or foe?" asked the guard at the front gate of the palace grounds
"Friend." answered Kunzite, a silvery-white haired man dressed in a midnight-blue outfit with gold trim.
"State your name, rank and business that of which you have in being here." said the gates-man sternly
"I am Kunzite, First General in command of the protection of Prince Endymion of Earth. This, " he said while pointing to his companions each in turn "is General Jadeite, second in command; General Nephlyte, third in command and General Zoicite, fourth in command. We received invitations to a Grand Ball held in favor of the Moon Princess, Serenity's 15th Birthday!"
"Invitations please?"
They each handed the man their invitations and were treated kindly in return.
"Thank you...Please wait here while I summon the Queen and tell her of your arrival."
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"Excuse me you're highness." the gates-man said as he entered the throne room where the Queen was once more working on the preparations for the ball, hoping her daughter would be found in time.
"Queen Serenity?" the gates-man asked once more after not receiving a reply
"Huh? Oh yes, uh what is it?" the Queen asked, snapping out of her thoughts
"Queen Serenity, Prince Endymion of Earth's four Generals are here! They were invited along with Prince Endymion to Princess Serenity's Birthday Celebration. Would you like to meet with them?"
"Oh yes. I must speak with them at once. Have them meet me in the library." The Queen replied as she got up and made her way to the Library.
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"Luna! Artemis! Are you guys in here?" Venus called as she checked the corners of the ballroom that Serenity's party was supposed to be held in the following night. "Hey Luna! Artemis! Where Are you? Hey Lu-" she didn't get to finish
"Venus! what do you want? I was sleeping on the window sill!. came an annoyed voice
"Oh Artemis! I'm so glad I found you. Serenity has run away. Me and the other girls have been searching for you and Luna for hours. It's almost our meeting time." Venus said quickly as she looked down at the white cat with a golden crescent moon on its forehead.
"You've gotta be kidding! Serenity...gone...and Luna not to be found? She's probably with Serenity, we'd better alert the girls!"
"You're right." Venus said as she transformed into her Senshi identity "Venus Silver Millennium Power!"
"Wow. But how's Sailor Venus going to help contact the other girls?"
"You'll see Artemis. Just get into my arms."
"OK but I don't see a reason." Artemis said as he jumped into Sailor Venus' waiting arms
"Venus Silver Millennium Communicator!" Sailor Venus commanded as a small orange and yellow watch with the planetary symbol for Venus appeared on her wrist. "Girls its Venus. I've found Artemis. Teleport to Serenity's room quick"
"You gotcha!" the girls replied
"Venus Silver Millennium Teleport!" Venus cried as she and Artemis Sailor-Teleported to Serenity's room.
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After making a quick stop at the front desk to return their room keys Endymion led Serenity to the stable behind the inn where Storm was kept.
"Oh Mamoru. He's beautiful!" Serenity exclaimed as she caught sight of Storm. His black mane sparked in the early sunlight as he whinnied and jumped up and down.
As Endymion sat upon the amazing horse and helped Serenity up he smiled with glee, but quickly hid it so not to worry his beautiful maiden. "Looks like he likes you already." Mamoru said through a slight smile, "Especially when I'm the only person he lets get near him." I knew he'd like Usagi, She's like an angel from heaven, how could he not?
"Are you serious?" Serenity gasped, "He seems harmless."
"Yes, that's the thing. He's usually only this way around me. But I'm glad he likes you, 'cause I do too!" Endymion grinned like a fool but quickly hid his smile. How can she affect me this much! I'm never this happy! "Well time to go, Hang on!" he said as Storm began their venture out of town and Usagi quickly thrust her arms around his waist. Oh! Man! I can't believe she's having this affect on me! No, woman's ever done this to me! he thought as the discomfort of the tight space in his pants became tighter.
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"You're Majesty, may I present Generals: Kunzite, Jadeite, Nephlyte, and Zoicite of Earth!" the gates-man said as each of the generals entered the library in turn.
General Kunzite, First in command, had long silvery-white hair and wore a black outfit with gold trim.
General Jadeite, Second in command, had short sandy-blonde hair and wore a black outfit with bright metallic-red trim.
General Nephlyte, Third in command, had long dark-brown hair and wore a black outfit with bright metallic-green trim.
General Zoicite, Fourth in Command, had long light-brown hair that was kept in a ponytail and wore a black outfit with bright-metallic blue trim.
"Welcome to The Moon Kingdom. I am Queen Serenity. I trust you had a good trip?" The Queen asked the four generals
"Oh yes you're Majesty." Kunzite replied for them
"Good, very good. Might I ask where your Prince is?"
"You mean he's not already here, you're Majesty?" Jadeite asked questioningly
"No, we've been awaiting his arrival along with yours, but my gates-man had been on strict orders to not trust anyone...Seeing as how my daughter Serenity, has run away."
"Serenity's run away?" Zoicite asked, not believing the angelic Princess would do such a thing
"Yes, she has...I'm afraid. I have my daughters court searching the palace for my two advisers, Luna and Artemis as well as the Palace Guards searching the land for my beloved daughter."
"Oh we are very sorry you're Majesty, but we haven't seen Serenity." Kunzite said sadly
"Yes, I'm afraid she has disappeared without a trace. Now, do you know where your Prince might be, seeing as he's not here?" asked Queen Serenity
"Oh no. He left three and a half days before we did. We had also stayed at an Inn for about four days. He should've arrived here about a week ago!" Kunzite said worriedly
"Oh no, my daughter's run away and now the Prince of Earth has gone missing? What's next?" Queen Serenity asked sadly.
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"Wow! I didn't know you could do that." Artemis exclaimed as he and Sailor Venus appeared in Serenity's room.
The rest of the girls started laughing at the excitement and expression on Artemis's face as he sat in Venus' arms with a dazed look on his face.
"Okay! Down to business you guys." Mercury said as the laughter subsided.
"Will someone please fill me in?" Artemis asked
"All right!" they all cried in unison
And so the girls related their story to Artemis. After he heard all they had to say he came up with one conclusion. "Yep, my guessing seems to have been right..." he murmured as Mars finished their story
"Then what's goin' on Artemis?" The girls asked
"Well, It seems that Serenity decided to run away. Luna knew. Queen Serenity wasn't home. Serenity thought she left without being noticed but Luna found a way to 'Stowaway' in Serenity's Bunny-Back-Pack which isn't here either. If Serenity had known Luna was coming with her she would've wrote it in the letter she left for you."
"That does seem to fit right..." replied Jupiter
"Yeah, but now what do we do?" asked Venus
"Well, looks like we have to go inform the queen of our new findings." Mercury said
"Yeah, but where is she?" Venus asked
"She's in the library filling in the four generals from Earth on our problems. And get this, the Prince left a week ago on his way here for the Ball tomorrow night. He has disappeared!" Mars told the others
"And how do you know all this?" Jupiter asked with a bewildered look on her face
"I had been in the back room of the library searching for Artemis and Luna, when I heard the conversation held by the queen and the four generals."
"Wow… Aren't we lucky we have an eavesdropper!" Laughed Artemis
"Yeah, we are. But we better make for the library at once." Mercury resolved as she led the girls to the library.
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"Yes. I see no other reasonable thing to do." Queen Serenity said solemnly, "We must notify your Queen at once of our troubles. We will ask her to send a search party around on Earth as well."
"I strongly agree you're Highness. But we must stay calm at all costs." Jadeite stated firmly
"Yes, that would be the reasonable thing to do. Should we call off the ball tomorrow night, You're Highness?"
"Well, I truly dislike to sadden and disrupt my people, but in this case I fear there is no other alternative." The queen answered sadly
"You're Majesty! You're Majesty!" came the calls of the four senshi as they ran into the Library
"Girls! What is it? What have you found?" the queen asked quickly
"We've found Artemis and we believe we have the story mostly figured out." the girls answered together
"All right girls out with it then!" the queen replied as the four generals sat silently in awe as they watched the four beautiful soldiers relate their story to the queen.
After the story had been told, all was quiet as Queen Serenity silently sat contemplating their problems.
-To be continued
Authors note: I'd like to let it be known that in this story Zoicite is male and he is not gay, therefore Zoicite will not be in love with Kunzite in this story. There will be however, a paring of generls/scouts in this story as well, hopefully.
December-24-02
Review PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edited: December 17, 2007