The party is still in full swing, and, covering my face with one of those masquerade masks, I manage to make it through the room unnoticed. There is no sign of my mother, and that worries me, but I am too determined to give up now!
The halls of the palace are empty, except for servants preparing rooms for the night. Some of them curtsy as I pass, but most simply accept my presence and continue about their tasks. I have been scolded more than once by Minako-chan for telling the servants not to bow or curtsy, but I have never truly felt the need for anyone to curtsy or bow at me in my own home.
Mother's chambers are excatly like mine, the tall, silver domed room with large windows facing the bed. I can remember being a small child who wet her bed often, and my mother would scoop me up into her arms and I would stay the rest of the night in her room, sleeping next to her in that big fluffy bed, and awakening with the bright morning sunlight shining on my face, blowing the white curtains in the breeze. I feel a small ache in my heart at what I am about to do, but I know I will feel more than that small ache if the Earth and the Moon war. War? Why should we war? It feels as though, for a momement, I had forgotton myself, my life, and everyone around me. It was if, for a moment, I was somebody else. With a shake of my head, I hurry across the room and search the wall for a small cresent shape.
Pressing the crescent shape reveals a glass display case in a hollow space behind the wall. My mother showed me where she had hidden the ginzuisho just once, and told me that I could never reveal it's location to anyone. She told me that I should never attempt to wield the ginzuisho by myself because the price would be to great, and the loss to unberable. Cradling it protectivly in my hands, I open the locket, and gently insert it into the center. It seems as though the locket was meant to hold the cyrstal, although do not understand how that is possible. Sadly glancing around the room, I wish I had time to say goodbye to mother and the girls, but if they knew what I was planning, they would never let me go! Say goodbye now, you won't have another chance! The voice is back inside my head, urging me to speak to them before I go, making my heart race with all the possibilites...but I stubbornly squash it down. What could possibly happen if I'm with Endymion? I ask myself as I tiptoe out of the room.
Back in the hallway, I notice Minako-chan striding down the hallway in my direction, with a yelp, I duck into a corner and hold my breath. As she passes me, she stops and seems to be listening to something, but she shakes her head and I can almost hear her mumble:
"Where is that princess? Geez, she's so irresponsible! When I get a hold of her" The rest is lost as she steps out of earshot.
I feel the urge to run down the hallway to her, every nerve in my body screaming that something is wrong! Instead, I head in the opposite direction, to the teleportation docks, to Endymion.
Endymion is tucked away in the shadows when I arrive. His velvet black cloak helps to conceal the white of his shirt. He has a masquerade mask across his eyes, and his top hat lowered over his face makes him unrecognizable. Thunder rumbles in the distance and my heart beats harder, I hate thunder and lightning!
"Endymion!" I wimper. He is there, wrapping me in his velvet cloak, shielding me from the harsh wind that has suddenly begun to gust from nowhere. He leads me towards one of the transportation pods, and I eye them nervously. I remember it being an unpleasant expierence, traveling to earth, with you elbows tucked tightly at your sides in a narrow tube, the world spinning wildly just above your head. The one window you can see out of is a blur of stars and sky, and you can neither lay down, nor curl up.
"Serenity, you know we each have to take our own pods, right?" Endymion is saying. I nod. "Yours will probably arrive on the other side of the palace. Do not be frightend if you arrive and I am nowhere to be seen, just stay in the shadows, and wait for me. Do you understand? Do absolutly nothing and wait for me!
I think he can see the fear in my eyes, even in the dark, and he gently lays a kiss on my brow.
"I love you," he says.
"I love you," I reply.
He kisses me once more on the lips and then he is helping me into a pod. I wish I had thought to change clothes or collect some money before leaving, because having to wear this gown for several days will probably bring more attention to myself than I'd like.
The tube is narrow, and heat quickly builds up after being out in the cool night air for so long. I clutch the locket to my side as hard as I can, and try to ignore the churning of my stomache as I am lurched upwards. I can feel myself spinning and, gazing up, see the stars and sky whirling above my head. I shouldn't have looked, but I was hoping to catch the reassuring sign of Endymion's pod, I was hoping to see anything reassuring for that matter! After a time, I feel myself getting sleepy, my head falls against my chest and I begin to dream.
In the dream, I'm me, only I'm wearing a different dress, a sailor uniform I think. My hair and eyes and thoughts are all the same, yet I float in emptiness. This girl, whoever she is, and because she surely cannot be me, seems to be in a deep state of slumber. Beside her, is another girl who looks excatly like me, except she is dressed like one of the girl's. That's odd, I think to myself, why would I wear such an outfit? I'm a princess, not a soldier!
The sailor suited version of myself, who has been gazing over the sleeping version of myself, glances up at me.
"You should not be here," she says gently. I can sense a wariness in her, as though she herself is not quite sure what to make of this meeting. For some reason, she makes me angry.
"Why shouldn't I be here!" I snap. Snapping is not something I do, but I am afraid, and confused.
"I want to go back to Endymion!" I cry out. I try to turn my body, but nothing happens.
With a shock, I realize that I am not truly there. There is no physical me! If I had a beating heart, I am sure it would have exploded with my fear by now!
"You can't go back until you listen," the sailor suited version of me says.
"Why not!" I feel frustrated tears slipping down my cheeks.
"Because you do not truly exsist. You are a form of the past, that was written in tradgety. It cannot all be allowed to be undone." She gestures to the sleeping version of myself. "They are trying to awaken her, even now. If you go on pretending this is real, we will not be born, the future will unravel, and evil will be allowed to destroy the things we all love and protect!"
"I exsist!" I shout. I am like a child, protesting that she has done no wrong, even when the evidence is presented to her. "I exsist! I do!"
"It dosen't matter," the sailor suited version of myself turns away, back to staring at the sleeping version of myself. "History will rewrite itself, even if you go on pretending. It will find a new way to destroy the moon, to create an opening for us to be born."
"I don't believe you! Who are you!" I shout!
"I am...Sailor Moon," she says.
"I don't believe you! I don't!" But everything around me is growing brighter, blinding me. Sailor Moon continues to stand guard over the sleeping version of me. The last thing I hear her say is:
"Her name is Usagi. Please, let her be born."
I awaken to find that the sky has stopped spinning above my head. Dimly, I am aware that the doors are swinging open. Rain seeps in and in seconds I am drenched. The cold is a shock to my system as I numbly stumble out into the dark. In the distance is the Earth's palace. It is a warm and inviting glow. Where the moon should be suspended above my head, the sky is black and angry, boiling with clouds.
"Stay where you are!" Someone orders.
Fear grips me as I try to locate the person who shouted at me.
"I said, stay where you are! What's that in your hand! Give it here!"
Someone is roughly gripping my arms and wrenching the locket out of my hands. Sudden light bathes Kunzite's face in front of me.
"K-Kunzite?" I almost throw my arms around him in a hug when I realize that he is sneering at me.
"You are being taken as a prisoner of war Princess," he says coldly. More hands roughly grip me and start pulling me away into the night.
"Kunzite, Kunzite wait!" I am screaming now, I can't help it!
Why would Kunzite do something like this? I think to myself. More shocking is the sudden realization that we are at war, that the enemy has the Ginzuisho, and that Endymion is in danger! You cannot go on pretending that this is real, it will destroy us all. I remember Sailor Moon saying this, and my resolve is hardend. I will make this real! I promise myself. If I make it real, there won't be any reason for them to be born, and I can go on with Endymion forever. We won't die! I won't let him die!
Well, reviews anyone? Stay tuned for updates!
