The girl paused outside with the moon dust tickling through her soft yellow hair. Unlike her sister's, it was let loose so that it flapped wildly in the breeze and the white, silk dress she wore swept up around her ankles. A forlorn looked was fixed onto her elegant features and her body swayed as if teetering on the edge of destruction. Maybe she was.
She sighed, turning her back towards the castle; her shoulders were slumped in defeat and her body sagged with the appearance of grace used up. She appeared tired and beaten, beyond the point she knew she had, somewhere along the brink of suicide. The cooling night air and the vastness of space made her feel emptier, and she reached out a gentle hand to the star overhead. Unfortunately it was much out of reach.
She closed her hand into a fist, blocking out the small illumination so that a shadow of darkness blanketed her pale face. Her green eyes flashed with despair and she glanced once more to the palace behind her, glittering white and gold in all it's pearly magnificence, covered with the coruscating innocence of her childhood, her happiness, and her love. The love that ripped her heart clean in two then dumped it on the ground and left her to sob over the remains. Yes, that oh so painful love. Damn it all.
She had admired him for days on end, put her charm through the fittest to beat her older sister. She would have his heart if it were the last thing she did. Yes, she knew all about the prince of Earth, dark-hair and cobalt blue eyes that pinned you to the wall in anguish and desire. That unwanted yearning that trembled her girlhood pleasures even if she didn't want it to. How those vortexes of blue would whirl her into a frenzy of fantasies and fear! She loved it. She saw how those sucking, deep blue eyes would always settle on her older sister. Always so transfixed as if he could see straight into her very being. But if that much was true than couldn't he see through her too? See the pain he was putting her through with every glance?
She struggled. During his visits she would always try and be present, dressed elegantly and holding herself with an admirable prestige and lusciousness that she knew would make him crave. But her dumpling head sister was obviously not too far behind and sooner or later she was dumped quicker than five-day-old rice. But she kept fighting.
Sometimes they would speak, whether it be for seconds or hours they would talk and converse for any period of time and he always seemed engrossed in their conversation. One thing she knew she had control over when it came to her pig-tailed sister was what they talked about. The prince and she would laugh and giggle, eyes sparking with interest and curiosity to what the other had to say. "What will you say next Edymion?" or "What do you think about this Keiko?" Ah, the things they would discuss.
But then those moments were too quickly robbed from her, and Edymion would always run off with Neo-queen Serenity or have to return home. And she would be stuck alone again, thinking about the prince and how much she would miss him. Sometimes she would plan what they would discuss for his next mysterious visit. All these thoughts comforted her in some way. Not to mention her very best friend Jupiter.
Ah, Jupiter, comfort and confidant all wrapped up in a figure of elegant beauty and skill. She was her teacher. She was her friend. She was the only person Keiko really cared about. She would sometimes go to Jupiter and tell her about her day, entrusting the girl with all her secrets and worries. Jupiter was special. She was assigned especially to her in case anything would happen but nothing ever did. Everything always seemed to be happy and outgoing around the Millennium Kingdom. Until now that is… Even still it was good to have a protector around to be your friend, and sometimes Jupiter would even teach her skills she learned from being a Sailor Senshi.
Every practice Jupiter would smile and say, "You're getting better. Soon I won't be able to go easy on you."
She wasn't too sure if it was a lie or not. If Jupiter was really going easy on her than Keiko had a lot to learn, but she was developing over their sessions and was able to harness her lunar powers better than even Sailor Moon herself. Jupiter would nod and smile as she released a mind-numbing move with her scepter, swirls of color and magic filling the sky.
"Excellent." The brown-haired maiden would reply and Keiko would swell with pride.
Sometimes they would compete against each other, dodging and attacking each other with full force. Sometimes they got hurt and tired; sometimes they'd survive without a scratch. Either way they pushed themselves so hard they were pretty beat afterwards.
"You could probably beat Sailor Moon by now!" Jupiter smirked.
Keiko smiled simply up at her, giggling slightly then nodding. Maybe she could. She knew one way she wanted to find out though.
That night she knew that Edymion was coming and her whole body jolted with excitement. She would finally get to see him again! And then she would show them both her surprise. She transformed quickly, her long flowing hair grew longer and wrapped itself into a flowing ponytail tied with a bright red bow. The blue skirt seemed to sprout from her skin; the broach on her chest was the shape of a diamond, ruby in the center.
Finally, dashing down the walkway in her navy blue heels, she came to the place where they usually met the prince. Her whole person was overwhelmed with excitement. She could just imagine Edymion's impressed face as she caused her sister to fall in defeat. He wouldn't want a weakling like dumpling head, no; he'd want a woman who could protect herself. And if she conquered her sister tonight then she would be insured his admiration for life.
She peaked around the corner, her grin wide and pearly. The short blue skirt shuffled in the draft, but she felt hot with exhilaration. She stopped.
Her smile stood fast, lopsided and confused, the happiness she once felt melted away into the gust of wind that blew her hair about frantically. Her body was frozen stiff and a look of disbelief in her eyes made her perplexing face appear complete.
She was overwhelmed, the horror of the scene before her enough to rip her heart from her chest. She felt a sharp pain, one so jagged it was unlike any injury she had ever come across. She felt pointless, as if she had no purpose. The one thing she ever gave her heart to be destroyed by a simple kiss. The tender kiss that she longed to share with Edymion; the one her sister was having right now.
A lone tear escaped her green eyes and trailed down her wind-blasted cheeks. She let it drop to the ground below her, felt as if she was lifting and swirling. Burning. Why was she burning? She looked around, felt the fire nibbling at her skin. Is this Hell? Is this where she is now?
Her body shook with the burning hatred, her dedication slipped away like water on plastic. Slip and fell into that fiery pit flames spitting out accusations and faults; things that lurked in the back of her mind but she never acknowledged.
"You're not good enough for him!"
"Not old enough!"
"You talked too much!"
"Useless lump of flesh! Nothing but worthless royalty."
"Now we see who he really loves!"
"Your sister is better."
She slammed her hands to her ears, eyes still spellbound to the action in front of her. That kiss… That damning kiss!
"SHUT UP!" she cried, and her sister and Edymion snapped away.
"Keiko!" Neo-queen Serenity called, but it was much too late. Keiko was already running back to the castle.
During her dash back to her sanctuary, her transformation ended, flowing white dresses cascading down short, creamy legs as they pumped as quickly as they could. She dashed through the lofty halls, the ceiling decorated very similar to a cathedral in a catholic church.
She darted out the main door then stopped, her whole body restricted with fear. The she sobbed. Sobbed heavily as if she had never bawled before. She hit the ground in ravage shakes, the tears flowing out her eyes with the force of a miniature waterfall.
Her sadness was more deep-rooted than she thought, realizing how much glee and time she put into trying to please Edymion. And just like she feared the only thing he was interested in was her older sister. Everyone wanted her. Everyone envied her. And she was forgotten.
She finally ceased shedding her tears, whipping them away and making her way away from the castle. She didn't want to live anymore. She had nothing else to live for.
"Princess Keiko."
She stopped, looking around but seeing nothing.
"Your locket."
She looked down at her locket just as the unidentified voice commanded, and the ruby seemed to glow with a blood-red illumination that was quite unexpected. She fingered it softly, and then a small image almost seemed to appear in the jewel.
"Princess Keiko."
"Who are you?" she asked, voice shaking and unsteady.
"My name is Queen Beryl and I think I can help you."
The lady looked ghastly, orange hair tumbling down to bony shoulders. Her eyes were a glittering red, and her very appearance sent even more rigid tremors down Keiko's spine. The lady emanated an aura that even seemed foreboding, but Keiko was much too depressed to care or notice.
"What do you want?"
She seemed disregarding of the fact that she was talking to her broach, as if it was an every day occurrence. This woman was peculiar, one that looked familiar but she had not ever met her before.
The woman with wavy orange hair frowned as if genuinely insulted, waving a skeletal hand in front of her face in a dramatic gesture.
"I'm simply trying to tell you that I can help you. But if you want to be like that then…"
Keiko snorted.
"I know you're not going to abandon me that quickly. What do you want?"
The woman smiled, a malicious glint sparkled in her crimson eyes.
"I knew you were clever. Much more intelligent than your dumpling-head sister I can see that much right now."
Keiko rolled her eyes.
"Ok, so you're going to fix everything by boasting my confidence? Thanks, but I have parents who do that for me."
She snatched at the jewelry as if she was going to dump it to the ground but Beryl quickly threw up and hands and screeched, "No wait!"
The blonde paused, grasping the ruby in a way so that her face looked threateningly down at the female in the jewel.
"Talk or I dump this."
Beryl's face was fuming: eyes malevolent and hair trumped in frustration. She glared at Keiko with a hatred that seemed to radiate out her very heart, but the princess was callous. She wanted her to feel her pain.
"Fine." Beryl replied, "I have a deal for you. The question is, are you in?"
Keiko looked down at the little ruby, on the brink of crushing it in anger. Did she look like a fool?
"A deal? What are you talking about woman?"
Beryl snickered slightly, leaning upright in her throne.
"What would you do if I told you, that I could make you defeat your sister?"
Keiko smiled in interest.
donna
egao ni deaetara
The
two of us, smiling, meet here
A/N: Yea. That's it. R&R k?