Sleeping Beauty By Chibi Maylan
Chapter Six
A/N: I just realized, is there any difference with a Unicorn or Pegasus? There the same, right? Lol!! Oops... 'cause I keep on saying Helios turns into a Unicorn..
"Princess! Come, quickly!" The three senshi were next to the carriage, were two white stallions awaited Rini. Pluto placed Rini's last luggage bag and prodded Rini in the back, "inside, dear get changed now while we finish things out here." she said. Rini stumbled and nearly tripped, as she changed into a elegant white evening gown, she admired the sequins and the way it glimmered in light. She suddenly fell backwards, hitting her back sharply onto a box, which snapped open.
A closer look inside, she saw a diamond necklace and matching earrings. She quickly snapped them shut, and peeked outside.
Her three mentors, were dressed in what seemed to Rini like the school girl photos she'd seen in picture books. The Senshi were destroying any evidence that the four women had been lately living in the cottage.
"Haruka-san! Your turn!" called out Pluto, as she finished off the fence. Uranus nodded, and yelled "Uranus World Shaking!!" and with that, the cottage came tumbling down, crumbled to bits.
Rini gasped, tears were starting to roll down her cheeks, her home were she was raised was destroyed. Pluto, Uranus & Neptune turned back into 'peasant' clothing and placed tattered cloaks over their heads. Pluto carried one velvet cloak to Rini.
Neptune & Uranus took the front seat, and lead the carriage as Pluto sat next to Rini.
"You gave me such a fright when you left us, Princess..." Pluto said, combing Rini's untangled hair. The two women were jerked forwards, as the horses took flight into the air. Pluto continued combing. "Where did you go, Princess?" she asked.
Rini bit her lip, worried of what Pluto would think... She knew she couldn't lie, so she silently said what happened. "I ran, ran until I reached the lake and the willow. Cried until I couldn't cry, then... A young man met me." Rini gulped. Pluto pulled abit too hard on her second braid.
"What did you just say?" she asked, her voice near to a yell to Rini's ears. Rini waited for Pluto to put down the comb, just for her own heads sake.
"I met a handsome man, he was passing the forest and asked why I was crying and well.. He looked like the Prince I told you about in my dreams when I was younger, Pluto-sama!" she exclaimed. Pluto's eyes widened. "Princess Rini! I surely hope you did not talk with this.. this man of yours." she stated. Rini guiltily nodded. "Oh, Pluto-sama! I'm so sorry." she whispered. Pluto hushed her, and opened the jewellry box. "We must put these on now, no more talking of that, Princess. I expect you to not tell anyone else." she mumbled. "Unless you want to be married to a sleazy Prince." she added. Which made Rini smirk at Pluto's joke.
Back in King Damon's castle, Prince Helios was 'copping an earful' from his father. He had been caught out of bounds, and was getting a earful of lecturing.
"After all, Helios, you could have been kidnapped for all we know! Beryl's henchman can sniff royalty a mile away, they'd be at your feet tying you up and taking you back to their home. Didn't your curse teach you not to go out of palace walls without safety?" he paced in a circle.
Helios sat down, yawning. "I was fine, father. I actually ended up meeting someone deep in the forest, by the lake's willow tree." Helios said, ruffling his hair.
King Damon ruffled his hair too, and raises an eyebrow. "A person? Fool! It couldn't have been a person, why would they be in the forest, no one lives beyond that region, even Beryl's castle is further away from that lake you claim." said King Damon. Helios nodded in disagreement, and stood up to walk next to the window that viewed the forest gates.
"I saw a young girl, father. She had cried under a willow tree, and sang to her hearts content. Her melodic voice lured me to her, perhaps, she wasn't human. Maybe a Forest sprite.. but she was so.. beautiful.." he said, savoring his memory of the pink-haired maiden in his mind. King Damon snorted in disbelief.
"Nonsense, Helios! You're lucky we are invited to the Crystal Tokyo Kingdom this evening, so you're punishment shall wait. I have ordered for your other white uniform to be cleaned. Await your new clothes in your room. Dismissed." He said.
Helios glumly walked out of the living room, leaving King Damon with new thoughts. 'Could it have been a sprite, to have captured his thoughts? Perhaps Beryl's henchmen did try to lure him.. Curious..' King Damon thought, taking a sip from his goblet.
"Your Highness, your bath awaits thee." said a servant, holding his robes. King Damon nodded, and proceeded down the corridors.
It was near nightfall, that Rini awoke to hear the carriage halt and Pluto to exclaim "we are here, at last! How I miss my friends." and she scurried out of the carriage, to hear loud greetings of "Setsuna-san!! Haruka-san!! Michiru-san!!" all first names of Rini's mentors. Rini yawned, stretched and heard Pluto giggle.
"Princess, come on out dear." she knocked. Rini replied, and slowly opened the door to see several ladies in light coloured dresses. Each one 'awed' at Rini, and soon bowed in honor. The smallest one, in a purple dress hugged Rini instantly.
"My, you have grown beautifully!" she squealed. "Princess, these are the Kingdom's Senshi. They are the honorable Ladies of the Planets; Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus & Saturn. You will learn their real names in time." said Neptune.
Rini curtsied politely, she felt quite shy.
They had gone through a short tour of the first floor for Rini when they crossed a hallway to see three figures coming closer. One in particular, gave a rather loud gasp in surprise and ran forward, followed by the other two.
"My, may it be?!" cried out a female voice. "Yes, it is!" said another. "She has arrived at last!" said a male voice. Neptune grinned.
"Luna! Artemis! Diana! How long has it been. This is the Princess, before you." Neptune called to them, as the three came to a halt to bow.
Pluto whispered to Rini to state that Artemis and Luna were Rini's grandmothers guardians, and were loyal servants to her parents. Their daughter, Diana, was younger than Rini. She hid behind her father in shyness.
"We welcome the young Princess, and wish you a Happy 16th Birthday!" said Artemis. "Don't we, Diana?" he poked his daughter to advance forward. Luna giggled, "give her a gift, Diana." she said. Diana looked shyly at her mother. "Aww, but mother! I haven't mastered my magic skills yet!" her small voice said. Luna simply nodded. Diana sighed, and held out her tiny hands to reveal a diamond bracelet. "Yours, Your Highness." she said. Rini smiled, and gladly accepted her gift.
"We are sorry, but we must continue or scheduled errands. See you all soon." said Luna, as they walked past. Lady Jupiter clapped her hands together. "Who's hungry?" she asked. Which to Rini's surprise everyone cheered and said "We are!"
Queen Serenity fidgeted in her bedroom chair, she played with her handkerchief as her King came out of the bathroom, with his crimson robes. "Oh Serena! Why are you so worried?" he asked, drying his hair with a towel. Serenity grumbled. "What if she doesn't like me Darien?" she replied tearfully. Darien kneeled by her side, and kissed her. "She will, I know she will." he replied huskily.
Serenity began to smile, as Darien turned to his closet. "Now, get on down and greet our guests, Serena." he said, before disappearing into the walk-in wardrobe.
King Damon fixed his robes at the very last minute, to see the carriage doors flung open and the Kingdom's elegant garden glimmer with fairylights. Helios watched as King Damon handed him a mask. "You'll be wearing this tonight." he said. "It's a masked ball event." he added. As Helios took the mask, it was a white mask, with a bright yellow star on the left eye. "It looks foolish." whined Helios. King Damon laughed, "Well, your advisor picked it, not me." he said, placing his own mask.
They were introduced to the other guests formally, as the heads turned towards the main entrance. "Your Majesties; King Damon & Young Prince Helios." echoed the scribe.
Queen Serenity and King Endymion were sitting calmly at the other side of the ballroom, a third throne empty beside the Queen. Queen Serenity had ditched her handkerchief, feeling more confident and stood up to greet King Damon & the Prince. "Evening, Damon, Helios." she said.
King Damon & Helios bowed. "Evening." they said in unison. Serenity placed back her white feathered mask. "Enjoy yourselves, the kitchen has cooked up wonderful cuisines for us tonight. Even Lady Jupiter helped." Serenity giggled.
Helios excused himself, and head for the bar, only to be stopped by a bunch of young Princesses from other Kingdoms.
"Prince Helios?" they giggled bashfully. Helios smiled falsely, "Yes, that is I, Prince Helios. What is it, that you lovely ladies want of me?" he asked. One giggled with a high pitched voice. He flinched. 'They're horrible..' he thought. "Would you care to take a seat with us, Prince Helios?" the squeaky girl asked, as they showed him to a table with other Prince and Princess' awaiting to greet him.
Poor Prince Helios endured ten minutes of mindless talk on hunting, chess and eachother's kingdoms. Until one Princess leaned close to him, her putrid perfume toxicated his nostrils. "What is it?" he gagged. she picked up one of his medals, and to his dismay it was his magical medal - the one that controlled his curse.
He snatched it back, before his other form was to be revealed. The girl sniffed. "I was gonna give it back, Prince Helios. Geez." and she babbled about the band soon after. Helios sighed, pinning it back into place. 'Close call' he thought.
A trumpet silenced the two ballrooms, as the couples stopped their dance, young children stopped running and the Queens & Kings turned to face the scribe. Helios tried to look at the thrones' stand, but a large man was blocking his view from seeing the royal family's re-unitement.
"Ladies & Gentleman, the long awaited return of the lost Princess has come to you this evening, we, the Crystal Tokyo Kingdom are glad to represent the birthday girl to you, to officially claim her to the royal throne beside her mother, Queen Serenity and father, King Endymion." he breathed deeply, before the spotlights glimmered onto just the annoucer and a red curtain near the thrones. "Without further ado, I give thee the Princess of this Kingdom, Princess Rini." he exclaimed, as his spotlight joined the curtains light. Every pair of eyes watched the curtain un-ravel to reveal the young Princess in her white gown. She had a white mask held onto her face, her eyes peered down at the audience. She could hear Pluto whisper "Walk, Rini!" and it jerked her to focus onto the thrones. To her shock, she saw for the first time, her true parents. Queen & King stood up, both looking teary. As Rini took her first few steps, a thunderous applaud echoed in the ballroom. The Queen & King unveiled their masks, and so did Rini as she faced them. The Queen was speechless, as she hugged her daughter. The King began a speech:
"Ladies & Gentleman, it had been sixteen years ago, when Beryl had interferred our daughters life. We had lost our daughter, but to be reunited once more is a gift of miracle." the King said. "We now celebrate the Princess' birthday, and her reunitment of the family!" he said. Everyone cheered, many said 'Hoorah!' and 'Long live the Princess' The Queen shushed the audience.
"We shall now continue the feast! Eat, dear friends. At the end of the night, shall be the Princess' crowning." she announced, single tears escaping her mask. As the band struck it's song, everything went back to normal.
Queen Serenity hugged Rini again. "My, your first meeting of us, ain't it weird, Rini?" she asked. Rini nodded shyly. "Well, you must know we have missed you dearly. But now you are back with us!" said her father. "I dont even know your names." blurted Rini. The parents were taken aback. "Well, I'm Serena." said her mother. "And I'm Darien." said her father. Rini smiled. "And, I'm Rini!" she replied.
Back deep within the enclosed fortress of Beryl's castle, came the footsteps of Beryl's henchman, Jedite and Malachite.They halted, bowed and awaited a response from their master. Beryl stood before them, her orb staff in hand. "What is it?" she asked. Malachite looked up at Beryl.
"My Queen, we have spotted a celebration at the Crystal Tokyo Kingdom! Yet, the barrier is hard to fault, they are using the Senshi's planet powers. Some of our men heard it's a birthday event." he stated. Beryl nearly had a heart attack.
"WHAT!" she yelled. She stormed off to her throne, placing the orb onto a stand.
Malachite & Jedite in tow, as they watched Beryl stare into the orb. The castle was indeed protected by a strong force of power.
"They are holding something alright, and I feel I have forgotten something." said Beryl, tapping her fingers on the throne. "But I cant seem to remember, you say it is a birthday event? Tell me, what is the date?" she asked Jedite, who looked up and thought of the question.
"Let me see, I think it is the 30th of June, my Queen." he replied. Beryl took thought, "June 30th... June... OH MY!" she yelled. Malachite and Jedite advanced forward, "Queen!" they called out. She calmed down, and shut her eyes with a laugh.
"Jedite! Come to me this instant. You said 15 years ago, that in the very same Kingdom.. the princess was revealed as 'missing'?" she said in a calm voice.
Jedite nodded. "yes, my queen. She was declared to be murdered. The parents held a funeral for the baby daughter, her room was burnt to a crisp." he replied.
Beryl narrowed her eyes, "Then why do I see her, the Princess, sitting next to her parents within my globe!!!" she yelled. Jedite was taken aback, his mouth opened. "My Queen, it.. it.. it cannot be..." he stuttered. Beryl was raging furiously, as she began to tremble in her voice "Jedite! You have given me false pretenses! For that, you shall be returning back into the darkness!!!" she yelled. As Jedite began to scamper away, "No, my queen!" he yelled, and that was his last words.
Malachite gulped, as Nephrite apparated nearby. "My Queen, I have found a way to get in, it is very small passageway, I figure only 5 men may enter it." he said.
Beryl interuppted Nephrite, her hand grabbed for the staff. "There will be no need, as I will be going myself. They always say, 'What can be done, can be done by yourself.' and I'll do my evil deed tonight." she cackled.
"Their Princess will be in a forever sleep, locked in this time, her beauty may still be present, but the loved ones will suffer. It'll be my ultimate revenge on the good for nothing Kingdom." she cackled once again, before apparating to the secret passageway.
To Be Continued.. Please review now!
-Chibi Maylan.
