Thank you to everyone for their reviews. Mr. Panta-I already read your story and as soon as I get a chance I will review on all of the chapters letting you know about each of them. Hope you like this chapter!
Someone other than the kitchen staff watched the interaction between Usagi and Mamoru. This person was far away, in a room filled with darkness. A large mirror served as the screen for this person. The mirror was pure crystal. It was two feet wide and tall. The edges were carved with onyx. The being in the darkness reached out a long, slender hand with fingernails painted pink and brought the mirror closer to her. She traced the edges as the mirror depicted Usagi watching as Mamoru stormed out. The woman's face curled into a wicked smile. Then she let out a tiny, mocking laugh. Her single laugh echoes throughout the darkness. Her hands cupped the mirror and stared into Usagi's face. "Such a pretty girl…" her voice was smooth and melodic. "Titan..." she cooed softly.
Less than a second after her voice called, a man appeared out of the shadow. He was dressed in normal clothes from the twenty-first century. He wore a plain black T-shirt and blue jeans. His hair was black with blue streaks through it. Around his neck was a sliver of a black crystal. As soon as he appeared, he threw two balls of fire towards the woman. She stood her ground and they landed in two torches behind her. The faint light now outlined her body. She was wearing red spiked heels that were partially hidden by her black dress. The dress hugged her curves, showing off her shapely thighs and cleavage. Titan could see her wings behind her. They were black and flimsy now, but he knew in an instant they could change to bat wings that could slice a person in half. On her neck was another black crystal shard.
She levitated into the air and moved backwards towards the torches. Between them now sat an ornate black throne that looked like a rock that curled out and now prepared to devour her. She placed herself gracefully in the throne. Her hair was a mixture of black and red, and her bangs perfectly framed her pale face. "Anything new Titan?"
"Oh, yes, dearest sister." The woman rolled her eyes at the sarcasm in his voice. "Both the princess and the prince have left the current time."
"You don't say. I've seen them in my crying mirror. It would appear that Pluto has sent them back to the Silver Millennium," the woman began to rub the crystal on her neck.
"How…sweet." They both laughed for a moment. Then Titan noticed that his sister was touching her crystal. "Hungry, sis?" The woman's smile was a wicked one. Titan nodded and snapped his fingers. In an instant, a young man about the age of 17 appeared. He had flaming red hair and simple glasses. His school uniform added to the look.
"What? Huh? Who the hell are you!" he yelled into the darkness when he saw the stunningly beautiful woman standing next to a man who looked like someone he would know. The man's arm was currently on her shoulders. The woman smiled a little wider and pointed at him with her index finger. Then she curled in and he came closer to her. One of her hands grabbed the right side of his head; the other grasped his left shoulder. She bit into his neck and sucked his veins dry of any liquid in them. As her body filled with his blood, she also drained his energy. Even once his blood was gone, his energy continued to pump. She realized she had summoned someone with a great soul. She released him and kissed his lips softly.
Then she pushed him away from her throne. He hovered for a moment before a ball of white light came out of his chest and landed in her hand. Then his eyes opened up. His feet finally touched the ground. "Go, my pet, see what you make of the Sailor Senshi." The boy nodded and disappeared.
The woman touched the ball of light to her crystal and it sucked it in and began to glow. Titan smirked. "Sending an infidel after the Senshi?"
His sister licked her lips and smiled. "The only thing that was keeping them alive was Tuxedo Mask. Now that he is with his precious princess, there is no hope for them."
"Ah," Titan responded, now seeing her plan. "And what shall we do with Endymion and Serenity?"
"They may have peace for a while, and then we send out our first line." The woman called her mirror to her again and watched as its foggy appearance shifted to Serenity's bedroom.
Serenity watched in the mirror as Usagi brushed her hair. She was happy for the help. She hated to have her servants do it, it was too impersonal. But having a friend brush your hair was comforting. In her mirror she saw the prince of Earth, his beautiful face smiling back at her. His lips looked so appealing that she leaned in for a kiss. It wasn't until Usagi cleared her throat did she realize she was frenching the mirror. Serenity flushed bright red and said, "Oh God! I'm so sorry!"
Usagi smiled. "Don't worry, it happens to the best of us." They both giggled.
"So, were you thinking of Mamoru when you kissed your mirror?" Serenity asked with an eyebrow arched.
"I thought I cleared that up earlier. We are NOT together!" Usagi stated defiantly.
"I don't believe you," Serenity said in a matter-of-factly tone. Usagi rolled her eyes and finished her job. Then she left for her own room and got ready for the ball.
"Mamoru!" Gregorius called just before Mamoru entered his room. Gregorius was dressed in simple armor. Mamoru suddenly remembered that his clothes were messed up.
"Yes?" he responded, trying not to sound irritated.
"I just wanted to remind you about the ball tonight. I think one of the palace's maids dropped off clothes for you," Gregorius answered motioning to the door.
"Oh, ok. Well, thank you. I'll go get ready then," Mamoru said and tried to walk into his room. Gregorius put his hand on his shoulder to stop him. Mamoru whirled around to face him again.
"Well, I heard what you did to Endymion earlier, and I just wanted to say, bravo!" With that, Gregorius walked back to his own room. Mamoru rolled his eyes and finally entered his room. Everyone acts like I won a crusade or something. All I did was beat a prince up…
The ballroom was decorated beautifully. All of the walls had banners depicting all of the planets. There were three tables, formed into a "U" shape. Selenity, Endymion, and the Senshi's parents sat at the center table and other people of the court sat at the other two tables. In front of the tables, six young men were waiting anxiously for their dates. Gregorius, Chadwick, Joseph, and Druisus. They were all wearing simple armor, but each had a sash where their swords were and they were blue, red, green, and orange respectively. Mamoru was wearing the same armor, but without a sash. Endymion was in armor more ornate than the others, but still fairly simple. (Not quite the regular Endy armor.)
The girls were lined up outside the ballroom. First was Amy, wearing a light blue long-sleeved dress that came all the way down to her feet; then came Raye, in a dark red spaghetti-strap dress that flared out as it came down to her knees; after Raye was Lita, in a short-sleeved dress whose color was a mixture of earth tones; and Mina wore a strapless orange dress with a short hem. After the Senshi came Usagi in a plain white dress that wrapped around her neck and had a low back. Last, but not least, was Princess Serenity wearing her favorite princess gown.
At last it was time for them to enter the ballroom and meet their dates. Amy entered the room with an air of sophistication. Gregorius was shocked at how amazing she looked in such a simple dress. Seeing his face, Chadwick gave him a nudge and he stumbled forward to take the hand of Princess Amy of Mercury. The Princess of Mars came next and Chadwick was sure to meet her at the end of the stairs to take her hand. Next was Lita, who quickly and roughly descended the stairs to meet up with Joseph, who was dragged after her. Mina was next, and Druisus's mouth hung open at the sight of her. She went down the stairs gracefully and waited for him anxiously at the last step. Noticing Druisus's state of shock, Mamoru cleared his throat and pushed him forward. Druisus fell out of his daze and gave a bow before taking the lady's hand.
Mamoru held his breath, knowing who was coming down the stairs next. And so when the doors opened for the fifth time, he felt his breath hitch in his throat. She entered like a princess. She smiled at everyone in the room and slowly glided down the stairs. He watched her for a moment in all of her radiance, and then did his duty. Mamoru had done this many times before, so he smoothly walked over to the end of the stairs and offered his hand to Usagi. She took it with a quick icy glare towards him. He noticed this and just smiled at her. They both walked with each other to where the other couples were, standing before Selenity. Everyone watched and waited for Serenity.
Finally, the doors opened and Princess Serenity of the Moon was revealed. Endymion was frozen on the spot. He basked in her ethereal glow. Her dress looked fabulous on her and her beauty was clearly shown. She wore only white barrettes in her hair and a bracelet. She absolutely floated down the stairs to meet her prince. If he hadn't fallen in love with her at first, he was now. Now I feel horrible for before… He grimaced in his mind at the remembrance of his act earlier.
Queen Selenity had given her speech and now everyone was dancing. Usagi was reluctant at first, but soon remembered how great it was to dance with Mamoru. She quickly had to keep running this thought through her mind: I hate him, I will not swoon, and I HATE him! "You look beautiful tonight, my princess," Mamoru whispered into her ear.
"Don't bother, bastard. Your sweet little nothings don't affect me anymore!" she hissed in response. He flinched at her words. He had actually tried to help her with his actions before she left.
"What is the matter with you, Usagi?"
"What's the matter with me? What the hell's the matter with you! Acting like nothing happened!" she responded angrily, barely keeping her voice down.
"Look, I'm sorry, if you haven't noticed! I was trying to help us," Mamoru responded, trying to remain calm.
"Oh yes, that worked out famously!" As she said this, the tempo changed, signaling a change in partners. Usagi gratefully switched to Druisus. Mamoru danced with Amy, Chadwick with Lita, Joseph with Serenity, Gregorius with Mina, and Endymion with Raye. They all chatted with each other, and quickly ran out of small talk.
"So, did you hear about the fight with Endymion and Mamoru?" Chadwick asked Lita. Lita's face lit up visibly and she shook her head no. Chadwick eagerly told the story and Lita took it in vigorously. This was GREAT. It had been years since they had a royal scandal. She was so disappointed when they had to switch partners again. She was now paired with Gregorius.
He was a great conversationalist, but Lita needed to hear more about Endymion. "So, what about Endymion and Mamoru?" Lita said.
"Oh, yes. Endymion got put in his place. But I'm the only one that knows what happened afterwards," Gregorius answered with a wink.
"Oh? And what exactly is that?" Lita asked hungrily.
Gregorius saw this. "Okay, I'll tell you if you will tell me how to win Princess Amy's heart," he answered with a blush.
Aww, how sweet! "You got it, Greg!" He made a face at this name. "Tomorrow we start your wooing classes!"
"Wooing classes?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Ok, well I stayed back to put away my clothes while the others took a walk around the palace. I saw Endymion come back with his clothes in such a state. I was going to say something, but before I could. He grabbed one of the palace maids and took her into his room."
Lita gasped and covered her mouth. Gregorius nodded solemnly. "But-but he's Serenity's fiancé!" she hissed.
"I know." He paused and then thought of something. "You CANNOT let anyone know what I just told you!"
Lita flashed a fake smile. "Of course!" Gregorius saw this and was about to saw something when he was partnered up with one of the other girls in the ballroom. Lita walked over to where she saw Mina standing, getting some water. On the way, she saw Queen Selenity and King Endymion dancing, and he had just dipped her very low. She laughed and walked over to her friend. "Hey there Mina! Guess what I just heard."
Mina walked with a shocked look on her face as she approached the dance floor. Druisus was just finishing with what must have been his twentieth partner that night. He graciously bowed and asked for Mina's hand. She accepted and the two began to dance gracefully as they had before. "So…Dru." Druisus cocked an eyebrow at her, and she winked. Apparently this was her name for him. "You will never guess what I just heard, from a very reliable source I might add…"
Mina walked away with a satisfied smile on her face as she told the tale of Endymion's betrayal. Druisus didn't move for a second and then Princess Serenity asked him for a dance. She had just as many dancing partners that evening, and thought they could get away from the others. He grinned and they began to dance.
"So, Serenity. How are you tonight?" Druisus asked innocently.
Serenity looked at him and smiled with her blue eyes. "About as good as anyone can do when it's obvious her friends are keeping something from her," she said, while looking pointedly at him.
"What?" he asked, putting on an innocent face. "I? Keep something from someone as great as you? Princess, surely you jest!"
"Drop the crap, Druisus!" she replied with a smile. He couldn't help but grin at her phrasing. "Now, tell me what's going on before I put you into a wheel chair." To make her point, she pirouetted and flashed her spiked heel.
Druisus took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, today, after you showed us to our rooms, Endymion got into a fight with Mamoru. Mamoru gave him a decent beating, not as much as he would have liked, but still a good one."
"Yeah, I know that. Usagi told me. Now what else is there that I should know?"
"Well," he gulped, "as I hear it, when Endymion arrived back at our suites after his slight brawl, he, uh, took a amid in to his room with him." When he finished, he cast a look at Serenity. Her face was hard and her eyes were wet. She quickly wiped her eyes and curtseyed to Druisus.
"Thank you for telling me. Now, I do have to dance with my fiancé." She stressed the last word harshly, and swiftly walked over to where Endymion was dipping one of her friends, Amy. "Excuse me, Amy? May I have his dance with Endymion?" she asked sweetly. Amy smiled and blushed as she walked over to where Gregorius was standing. Serenity felt herself drawn up into Endymion's strong embrace. He grinned down at her rakishly. She forced a smile back. They began to dance rather quickly, but they were both proficient dancers.
"I hated seeing you dance with all those other guys," Endymion told her as they moved across the dance floor. She looked up at him with an unreadable face. Jerk thinks I wouldn't figure it out? Oh, he'll pay for that.
"Oh?" she asked with a hint of ice. He didn't notice. Then she poked hard at a bruise on his face. "Why were you and Mamoru fighting earlier?"
He winced when she pushed his bruise. "How did you hear about that?" he asked.
"Oh, I hear about many things, being princess and all." He looked somewhat worried. "Like say, just earlier, I heard that my fiancé had sex with one of my palace maids!" She pushed herself away from him and glared daggers at him. "How could you, Endymion?" she shouted loud enough for the entire room to hear and then slapped him loudly. He recoiled and looked back at her with a shocked expression. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt? Well, that's exactly what it felt like you did to me!" Then she kneed him in the groin. When he dropped, she spat out, "Royal bastard," and left the ballroom.