OKAY!!!! The long awaited story Reaching Out has finally been revised and
is ready for your reviewing pleasure. Please read and review and tell me
what you think of this concept. I have another story in the works that
centers around an FBI thriller. The more reviews I get on Reaching Out,
the faster the chapters will come. I hope all of those who liked Painting
Love will enjoy this story just as much. Enjoy!
~Lady Hino
* * *
Prolouge
"Highness, someone requests to speak with the Princess Mars. . ."
The Queen of Mars looked to her husband who in turn looked to the High King who then looked to his lovely wife. "Darling. . ." he asked hesitantly.
Queen Serenity lowered her head and sighed. "Tell whomever it is that the Princess of Mars is not present at the moment," she told the servant.
The man bowed low and exited quickly, fearful of the queen when her mood was not at its best.
"Serenity. . .I would like to know where my daughter is," said a very angered dark-haired woman. "You abduct her in the middle of the night and send her to some foreign place with—I'm assuming—very little...what have you done?"
"I, too, would like to know the whereabouts of my daughter, Serenity," said a lovely blonde-haired woman with blazing blue eyes. "You have taken both our daughters without telling us your reasons. What in the universe is going on?"
Serenity looked at them both; both of who were beautiful beyond words and yet so burning with an angry fire she could not face them. She turned her head away from the lovely women and took a deep breath. If she didn't tell them where their children were now, she would never be able to do it. "They are residing on Earth. . ."
The dark-haired woman raised an equally dark brow and snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Earth. . .come, Serenity, now is not the time for jesting."
The blonde woman nodded in agreement and crossed her arms over her breasts. She absentmindedly swung her heavy braid of hair over her shoulder impatiently.
Serenity couldn't bear to tell her dearest friends where she had hidden their daughters. It was too much for even her to bear, let alone their mothers. "I do not jest. . ." she said simply.
"Do not jest?" the blonde woman echoed.
"No, Aphrodite, I do not. . ."
"What is the meaning of this?" a handsome man with dark hair and dark eyes shouted. "Serenity, you had better come up with a good explanation for all of this for I will not have it!"
Serenity's husband held up a hand and stepped closer to his lovely wife. "Now, Ares. . .I suggest you calm down. What Serenity did was for the girls' own good."
"Please, Selene. . .tell me where my daughter is," the beautiful dark- haired woman pleaded. "She is but eighteen, she cannot survive alone on Earth."
Serenity looked at the lovely woman and frowned. This was not how it was supposed to be. She had planned on visiting each of them personally, not all at once. It was too hard to explain. "Rae. . .I've taken Reina, yes, but it is not as innocent as it seems."
"What are you trying to say, Selene?" Aphrodite asked quietly.
"Reina and Minette are on Earth. . .Reina. . ." and she addressed Rae as kindly as she could when she spoke of her daughter. "Reina is living in a small cottage just on the outside of a forest near the coast of England." She then turned to Aphrodite, whose beauty marveled her still; even at her age, she outweighed many women. With a sigh she began, "Minette is living very near a cliff that overlooks the ocean. It is an hour walk at most from each of their homes."
"But why, Selene. . ." Rae asked quietly. She hadn't realized she was shaking until her husband put a reassuring arm on her shoulder and solaced her with a gentle squeeze.
Serenity looked at the women who she considered her best friends in the universe. There was no other way to put it. It had to be said. "Reina is being hunted down by enemies unknown to me and Minette witnessed one of the assassins trying to enter Reina's bedchamber at night."
Rae would have collapsed if she were standing; so hard were her knees shaking. She looked to her friend and cringed. Aphrodite was as pale as death, her lovely complexion an unappealing gray. She then turned to Serenity and smiled, "Surely no one would be after my daughter. . ." she said.
Serenity shook her head. "I had trouble believing it when Rei and Mina first came to me. Rei said she was afraid of saying anything at first, thinking that it was all in her imagination, but once she realized that Mina had discovered the same thing, they both came to me."
"Who is trying to have my daughter killed?"
"It is hard to discern and I cannot give out the name Mina so cautiously planted in my mind that day. I know that this person resides on the Moon, yet I have no thoughts as to who could be. It is a man, of that I am sure, and he is a noble."
"But why?" Aphrodite asked softly.
"I fear I know naught. . ." Serenity said simply.
* * *
Jadeite sighed heavily and looked at the brown hawk that was perched unmoving at his elbow. "I've made a mess of things, have I not?" he asked the beast. The bird ruffled his feathers and screeched loudly. "You're no help, Eos," he said watching the bird spread his wings.
He shook his head and went back inside with a frown. He went over his plans again, but it was no use. He was surely going to fail. He ground his teeth in frustration and slammed a fist into the wall of the inn. If he failed, it was over. His family would be killed and his life altered forever.
He leaned his head wearily against the wooden boards of the wall and hit it again. Beryl. It was all her doing. Why hadn't he listened to Kunzite? It was simple; do not ever approach the Queen Beryl. She would pull you in, care for you as you were her own, and before you were aware of it, the invisible leash was in its place and she had you ready to do her bidding at the drop of a hat.
Yet how could he explain to Kunzite? The woman had lured him—he was incapable of ignoring her. She was not beautiful, no, far from it. But the haughty resemblance she held to his late wife made his heart pound. She even had the same hair color. And the closer he had gotten to her, the more she began to look like his beautiful wife. And the more he spoke with her, the more she sounded like his wife, until he had gone mad, until he saw and heard his wife in front of him, until he was dreaming of her, clutching her to him because he was so lonely without her.
Now the witch wanted an innocent girl killed all because she did not fancy her. No, that wasn't entirely true. She wanted the Princess Mars killed because she wanted revenge. Beryl's husband had gone crazy with lust over the princess and in the end had killed himself because he could not have her. And so, Beryl blamed the princess for her husband's death. She believed that the princess purposefully lured her husband to her and very roughly put him in his place.
But how could an innocent princess do such a thing to a powerful king? And why did Beryl send him away without any other further explanation? How was he to know the truth behind the matter? Was he to sit back and allow the bitch of a queen to rule him like a mother rules her own offspring? Was there more to this charade than Beryl was letting on?
Jadeite shook his head and leaned against the window. It wasn't right. Did he blame his wife's death on Viola?
Jadeite closed his eyes. No, he did not blame his daughter...he blamed himself. How could he blame his daughter? His daughter, who was dead even as she slipped free of her mother's womb? He didn't even have the heart to—no; he would not dwell on the past when the future lay ahead.
Kill the Princess Mars. That was his mission, yet he had no idea of how to go about doing it. He had already paid a man to do the deed, but another girl discovered him. Now it was his responsibility to do so. But how? He didn't know what she looked like, didn't know where she was. If Beryl had not had his family locked up, he would not do this. It was all Beryl's fault.
"Beryl. . ." he hissed to the darkening sky.
~Lady Hino
* * *
Prolouge
"Highness, someone requests to speak with the Princess Mars. . ."
The Queen of Mars looked to her husband who in turn looked to the High King who then looked to his lovely wife. "Darling. . ." he asked hesitantly.
Queen Serenity lowered her head and sighed. "Tell whomever it is that the Princess of Mars is not present at the moment," she told the servant.
The man bowed low and exited quickly, fearful of the queen when her mood was not at its best.
"Serenity. . .I would like to know where my daughter is," said a very angered dark-haired woman. "You abduct her in the middle of the night and send her to some foreign place with—I'm assuming—very little...what have you done?"
"I, too, would like to know the whereabouts of my daughter, Serenity," said a lovely blonde-haired woman with blazing blue eyes. "You have taken both our daughters without telling us your reasons. What in the universe is going on?"
Serenity looked at them both; both of who were beautiful beyond words and yet so burning with an angry fire she could not face them. She turned her head away from the lovely women and took a deep breath. If she didn't tell them where their children were now, she would never be able to do it. "They are residing on Earth. . ."
The dark-haired woman raised an equally dark brow and snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Earth. . .come, Serenity, now is not the time for jesting."
The blonde woman nodded in agreement and crossed her arms over her breasts. She absentmindedly swung her heavy braid of hair over her shoulder impatiently.
Serenity couldn't bear to tell her dearest friends where she had hidden their daughters. It was too much for even her to bear, let alone their mothers. "I do not jest. . ." she said simply.
"Do not jest?" the blonde woman echoed.
"No, Aphrodite, I do not. . ."
"What is the meaning of this?" a handsome man with dark hair and dark eyes shouted. "Serenity, you had better come up with a good explanation for all of this for I will not have it!"
Serenity's husband held up a hand and stepped closer to his lovely wife. "Now, Ares. . .I suggest you calm down. What Serenity did was for the girls' own good."
"Please, Selene. . .tell me where my daughter is," the beautiful dark- haired woman pleaded. "She is but eighteen, she cannot survive alone on Earth."
Serenity looked at the lovely woman and frowned. This was not how it was supposed to be. She had planned on visiting each of them personally, not all at once. It was too hard to explain. "Rae. . .I've taken Reina, yes, but it is not as innocent as it seems."
"What are you trying to say, Selene?" Aphrodite asked quietly.
"Reina and Minette are on Earth. . .Reina. . ." and she addressed Rae as kindly as she could when she spoke of her daughter. "Reina is living in a small cottage just on the outside of a forest near the coast of England." She then turned to Aphrodite, whose beauty marveled her still; even at her age, she outweighed many women. With a sigh she began, "Minette is living very near a cliff that overlooks the ocean. It is an hour walk at most from each of their homes."
"But why, Selene. . ." Rae asked quietly. She hadn't realized she was shaking until her husband put a reassuring arm on her shoulder and solaced her with a gentle squeeze.
Serenity looked at the women who she considered her best friends in the universe. There was no other way to put it. It had to be said. "Reina is being hunted down by enemies unknown to me and Minette witnessed one of the assassins trying to enter Reina's bedchamber at night."
Rae would have collapsed if she were standing; so hard were her knees shaking. She looked to her friend and cringed. Aphrodite was as pale as death, her lovely complexion an unappealing gray. She then turned to Serenity and smiled, "Surely no one would be after my daughter. . ." she said.
Serenity shook her head. "I had trouble believing it when Rei and Mina first came to me. Rei said she was afraid of saying anything at first, thinking that it was all in her imagination, but once she realized that Mina had discovered the same thing, they both came to me."
"Who is trying to have my daughter killed?"
"It is hard to discern and I cannot give out the name Mina so cautiously planted in my mind that day. I know that this person resides on the Moon, yet I have no thoughts as to who could be. It is a man, of that I am sure, and he is a noble."
"But why?" Aphrodite asked softly.
"I fear I know naught. . ." Serenity said simply.
* * *
Jadeite sighed heavily and looked at the brown hawk that was perched unmoving at his elbow. "I've made a mess of things, have I not?" he asked the beast. The bird ruffled his feathers and screeched loudly. "You're no help, Eos," he said watching the bird spread his wings.
He shook his head and went back inside with a frown. He went over his plans again, but it was no use. He was surely going to fail. He ground his teeth in frustration and slammed a fist into the wall of the inn. If he failed, it was over. His family would be killed and his life altered forever.
He leaned his head wearily against the wooden boards of the wall and hit it again. Beryl. It was all her doing. Why hadn't he listened to Kunzite? It was simple; do not ever approach the Queen Beryl. She would pull you in, care for you as you were her own, and before you were aware of it, the invisible leash was in its place and she had you ready to do her bidding at the drop of a hat.
Yet how could he explain to Kunzite? The woman had lured him—he was incapable of ignoring her. She was not beautiful, no, far from it. But the haughty resemblance she held to his late wife made his heart pound. She even had the same hair color. And the closer he had gotten to her, the more she began to look like his beautiful wife. And the more he spoke with her, the more she sounded like his wife, until he had gone mad, until he saw and heard his wife in front of him, until he was dreaming of her, clutching her to him because he was so lonely without her.
Now the witch wanted an innocent girl killed all because she did not fancy her. No, that wasn't entirely true. She wanted the Princess Mars killed because she wanted revenge. Beryl's husband had gone crazy with lust over the princess and in the end had killed himself because he could not have her. And so, Beryl blamed the princess for her husband's death. She believed that the princess purposefully lured her husband to her and very roughly put him in his place.
But how could an innocent princess do such a thing to a powerful king? And why did Beryl send him away without any other further explanation? How was he to know the truth behind the matter? Was he to sit back and allow the bitch of a queen to rule him like a mother rules her own offspring? Was there more to this charade than Beryl was letting on?
Jadeite shook his head and leaned against the window. It wasn't right. Did he blame his wife's death on Viola?
Jadeite closed his eyes. No, he did not blame his daughter...he blamed himself. How could he blame his daughter? His daughter, who was dead even as she slipped free of her mother's womb? He didn't even have the heart to—no; he would not dwell on the past when the future lay ahead.
Kill the Princess Mars. That was his mission, yet he had no idea of how to go about doing it. He had already paid a man to do the deed, but another girl discovered him. Now it was his responsibility to do so. But how? He didn't know what she looked like, didn't know where she was. If Beryl had not had his family locked up, he would not do this. It was all Beryl's fault.
"Beryl. . ." he hissed to the darkening sky.