Okay, okay, I have been a bad, bad girl. I have been horrible at updating. I do have reasons! I won't bore you with excuses; I'll just say that I've been suffering from terrible computer problems and, um, life. Not life problems, just life. Sorry!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.
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In the last chapter, Rei, Minako, Ami, and Makoto plotted to go to the Earth to save Princess Serenity themselves. Bad girls!
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Light of Love: Red Moon
Chapter 21: Prayers to Selene
Princess Serenity sucked in a deep breath and clamped her eyes shut. She sunk back until her head was completely submerged in the warm bath water. A small smile curled the corners of her mouth. Finally, she had some time to herself. With her head underwater, Serenity could, at last, hear herself think.
Her solitude was quickly interrupted by a persistent tap on her left knee. Startled, the princess quickly sat up in her bath. She opened her mouth and took in a large breath of air. Serenity wiped the damp from her closed lids. She opened her eyes and blinked them into focus.
The innkeeper's wife towered over her. Viewed from Serenity's perspective, the elder woman looked like a massive, ruddy-faced witch. The innkeeper's wife flapped a folded square of maroon-colored fabric in front of the princess. The girl frowned.
"Ya stay in there any longer, an' you'll turn into a prune!" the innkeeper's wife announced.
Serenity's frown deepened. She didn't know what a "prune" was, but she assumed, from the woman's tone, that turning into one was not desired. The princess nodded quietly and reached her hand out to take the fabric. She frowned again; what Serenity assumed to be a towel was actually a blanket. The innkeeper's wife shifted her attention away from Serenity while the girl stood and stepped out of the tub. The princess hastily toweled herself off as well as she could with the scratchy wool blanket. Although she stood in the middle of the inn's hot kitchen, Serenity shivered uncontrollably.
The princess impulsively scowled and stuck her tongue out at the elder woman's still-turned back. The woman seemed well-intentioned enough, but Serenity found her to be an annoying old gossip. During the princess' bath, the innkeeper's wife scrubbed Serenity's skin raw while chatting nonstop about anything and everything pertaining to the inn, Alendoor, and the Terran kingdom. It was no wonder, the princess silently considered, that the girl's only moment of peace was when her head was completely underwater.
Serenity managed to ignore most of the old woman's muttering. She had overheard the innkeeper's wife drone on about the preparations for tonight's supper; the inn was completely filled with boarders, she explained to Serenity, which meant more cooking.
"Not that I'm complaining, mind ya," she said upon conclusion of a particularly long rant to the contrary.
Serenity sighed wistfully. She suddenly missed Luna. The cat's favorite pastime seemed to be pestering the princess, but, in retrospect, Serenity guiltily considered that she had taken her mother's feline advisor—and Luna's genuine concern for her well-being—for granted.
"Here ye go, dear," the innkeeper's wife said. She absently shoved a wide-tooth comb in Serenity's general direction.
The princess accepted the item with her left hand—her other hand held two corners of the frayed blanket together in front of her chest. Her bright blue eyes scanned the flat, crudely-hewn comb; she noticed that three of the teeth were broken. Serenity ran her thumb over the object's dull white surface. Suddenly, her eyebrows arched with surprise.
"Is this…" her voice came out in a squeak. She licked her lips and cleared her throat before continuing, "Is this comb made of bone?"
The innkeeper's wife smiled proudly and nodded. "Yes 'tis dear," she declared. Her eyes sparkled. "The innkeeper made it fer me, fer a wedding present. Course, I'm sure ya have much finer combs where ya come from…"
Serenity felt her cheeks turn hot. She doubted that her blush was visible; the princess' normally pale complexion was still bright pink from the bath.
The innkeeper's wife busied herself with transporting fresh pots of steaming water from the stove to the half-filled tub basin in the far corner of the kitchen. Serenity still stood in the center of the room, feeling very much out of place. Her matted, wet blonde hair dripped on the grooved old floorboards beneath her bare feet. She trembled.
"You best leave," the innkeeper's wife said. "I took the liberty of clearing out the dining room fer ya, and the innkeeper added more wood to the hearth. You'll dry up in no time. I'll be there in a minute to help attend to that mess a' hair you've got. I just want to make sure the prince's bath is nice and hot."
The princess nodded quietly and turned to leave the room. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat in her chest. She twisted her head back around and inquisitively peered at the innkeeper's wife. She blinked her eyes several times. Her eyebrows knitted together. She frowned.
"Did you say 'prince'?" Serenity questioned.
"Indeedy, I did," answered the elder woman. "He insisted that you get the first bath, said he didn't mind the dirty water, but I ain't havin' no prince taking no bath in no cold water. It just ain't right."
The innkeeper's wife grunted as she tipped another hot bucket of water into the bath. A slick, damp layer of steam covered her face when she stepped away from the tub. She wiped her forehead with the back of her arm. The woman then crossed to the stove, where a large pot of soup simmered. The innkeeper's wife, seemingly indifferent to Serenity's lingering presence in her kitchen, stirred the contents with a large wooden spoon.
The princess, still startled by what she had been told, stared dumbly at the floor.
"Ya must be special, though," the innkeeper's wife finally stated, smiling at the young girl, "Fer Endymion to insist that you take yer bath first."
Serenity felt more blood rush to her cheeks.
Endymion?
She clamped her eyes shut. The princess knew of Prince Endymion; he was the son of Sailor Earth. Serenity frowned. For some reason, she had always thought that Endymion would be much younger than her. In fact, the princess remembered the day when news of Prince Endymion's birth reached the Moon Castle; it seemed almost like yesterday. How was it possible for Mamoru, Jedite, or even Zoicite to be the Terran Prince?
With horror, Serenity recalled her conversation with Mamoru the day before, when they had discussed their ages. He was only sixteen. He thought she was twelve, but, in actuality, she was 996 years old.
A knock on the kitchen door interrupted her thoughts. A muffled voice spoke through the closed door.
"Um, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if everything was okay in there."
Serenity's eyes shot open. Her cheeks felt hot. Her stomach fluttered. The knuckles on her right hand turned white as she tightened her grip on the wool blanket.
It was Mamoru.
"Course it's all okay!" the innkeeper's wife muttered beneath her breath. The woman wiped her hands on the front of her apron. She crossed to the door and opened it a crack.
Serenity stared, wide eyed, at the woman and the partially-opened door. The princess was relieved that she couldn't see the young man who stood on the other side of the wooden panel. Still, she stared at the door. Confusion creased her face.
"Everything's fine, your highness, I'm just gettin' your bath prepared. But ye can't come in yet! The young lass hardly has a thing on, an' I need to send her out before I let ya in. I'll be ready for ya in a bit."
Serenity heard the young man's response. She thought she could feel his sudden embarrassment. "Oh, certainly. I'd never dream of barging in…I'll just…be outside…"
The innkeeper's wife closed the kitchen door and turned around. She paused when she noticed Serenity's blank face. The woman crossed to the princess and placed a hand gently on her shoulder.
"There, there," she said. "The prince won't be walkin' in on ya while yer indecent." She noticed the girl tremble. The elderly woman frowned at the princess and took a step back. "I should get ya somethin' to wear, though."
She left the room, closing the door behind her.
Serenity hardly noticed. Her mind filled with past memories. She thought of Sailor Earth. Many years had passed since Queen Kyrena had been one of Queen Serenity's senshi, but Princess Serenity still remembered the kind Terran woman. She recalled Kyrena's vibrant blue eyes, dark as the deep sea, and her long, shining obsidian black hair. When Serenity envisioned both Kyrena and Mamoru—er, Endymion—standing side-by-side, she realized how much the son resembled his mother.
"Here we are!" the innkeeper's wife said when she reentered the kitchen. "I 'ave some of my dead boy's clothes fer ya, but I need to find 'em. I figured this would do for now."
The innkeeper's wife helped the princess into a nightgown three times larger than the small girl's petite form. The woman then threw the damp wool blanket back over the princess' shoulders before she ushered Serenity out of the kitchen. Gently, she led the princess by the shoulders to the empty dining area. The elderly woman pulled a long bench close to the fire and urged the Moon princess to sit down. Serenity silently complied.
"No one will bother you here," the innkeeper's wife said reassuringly. "An' I'll come out to comb yer hair, once his highness is settled in his bath."
"I'm fine," Serenity defensively stated. She was suddenly aware of how poorly she had fared since arriving on the Earth. Without Endymion guiding her along, Serenity would have probably died in the cold. The princess felt utterly incapable. Everyone seemed to think that she was completely helpless.
"I can comb my own hair!" the princess proudly announced.
The innkeeper's wife grunted.
"Don't matter to me," the woman muttered, retreating from the room. Serenity heard the front door open and close; she assumed that the heavy footsteps that crossed to the kitchen were Endymion's, but she was too embarrassed to actually look. Instead, she focused her attention to the roaring fire that blazed in the hearth before her. She stared at the dancing flames of orange and yellow and eventually allowed her eyes to lose their focus. She clamped her lids shut and felt the heat radiate off of her face. The warmth calmed her.
A squeak of a bench in the corner of the room jolted the princess to attention. The girl's blue eyes snapped open. She twisted her head. Her gaze scanned the room. Seated in the furthest corner of the dining area, hidden in shadow, sat a man. His face was almost completely covered by a dark hood; the firelight reflected in one eye, making it glow orange. Serenity shivered; the man stared back at her with his single eye.
"Hey you!" the innkeeper's wife suddenly snapped, waggling a finger at the hooded man. Serenity jumped at the woman's tone, but she was relieved that the innkeeper's wife had returned to the room. The elder woman's face narrowed with a frown. "I told all of ya that no one was allowed down 'ere until supper."
The man did not move. His only visible eye glimmered with amusement.
"My apologies," he hissed. "But my mistress requested to be left alone."
"Well," the innkeeper's wife huffed, crossing her arms over her large bosom, "I request that you leave this young lady alone."
"Where would you have me go?" the man demanded. "It's already getting dark out."
"The Stuffed Pig would suit the likes of you!" impatiently snapped the innkeeper's wife. "You have no right being in here, eyeing this girl when she ain't decent!"
Serenity's face flushed. She stared down at the stained nightgown and wool blanket that loosely hung on her small frame. The princess tightened her grip on the blanket.
The man slammed his wooden cup on top of the table in front of him. He stood abruptly, which caused the bench to slide back and slam into the wall behind him. He was remarkably short, but his cloaked form still appeared menacing in the low light. Serenity noticed that one of his hands was wrapped with a blood-stained bandage. Her blue eyes trailed up to his shadowed face. He shifted to look at her. For a brief moment, his face was bathed in the light of the fire. His skin looked melted and shiny. He had only one eye; the other socket was vacant. The man grinned. His teeth were soiled and rotted.
"Do you like what you see, little girl?" he tauntingly hissed.
Serenity averted her gaze back to the fire. Her face was again hot.
The man stepped toward Serenity. The innkeeper's wife wedged her wide form in front of him, which drew his focus away from the princess. The man glared at the elderly woman with his single eye.
"You heard me," she said sternly. "You either go up to your room or go outside. I won't have you botherin' this girl!"
The man with the melted face paused for a moment, like he was silently considering his options. He finally turned to go outside when Jedite entered the room. The innkeeper's wife also retreated to another room of the inn, leaving the prince's guardian alone with the Moon princess.
"Seen a ghost?" Jedite asked playfully. Serenity twisted and looked at him. She smiled with relief. She frowned suddenly and sighed.
"Sort of," she answered. "That man who was just here, his face was deformed. What would cause such a thing?"
Jedite shrugged. "Perhaps he was injured in battle," he suggested. "A lot of the older men have scars from The Wars."
The princess squished her face into a deeper frown. "What wars?"
The blonde guardian inquisitively grinned at Serenity. His left eyebrow arched while he observed her.
"Are you serious?" Jedite said. "Surely you've heard of the Terran Wars?" Serenity shrugged and shook her head. Jedite stared at her with disbelief. "You don't know about the Battle for the Rose? The murder of King Tyren? The revolution of brothers? The fight for the Crown?"
Each battle mentioned prompted Serenity to shake her head. The princess had heard that the Terrans were war-like; however, she didn't know the details or names of any specific battles.
"Where do you come from?" the guardian questioned lightly.
Serenity's eyes widened with worry.
"From the Northern Territories," she earnestly answered. "I thought we covered that earlier…"
Jedite laughed. He held a hand up to prompt her to be quiet. "It was a figure of speech. I just assumed that every Terran had heard about The Wars, that's all."
The young man sat beside the princess on the bench. He rested his back against the edge of the table top behind him and stretched his feet out near the fire. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"I guess you're too young to have learned about it," he said, yawning. "It's a pretty boring history lesson, I guess."
Serenity recalled the thick volumes of Lunar history that Sailor Mercury forced her to read. The princess shuddered at the thought of her studies.
"I detest history!" Serenity proudly announced. She relaxed and mimicked Jedite by stretching her own legs so that they were closer to the hearth.
"A girl after my own heart!" Jedite chuckled, winking. He abruptly cleared his throat and sat up. "Well, I suppose a little is necessary, so that you can appreciate what came before. Things were pretty bad before Demetrious was crowned."
"Do you think," the princess carefully questioned, "that Demetrious is a good king?"
Jedite nodded. "Oh, absolutely," he said. "I mean, there are still things that need to be done. There are always things that could be done better, but he's a good, fair king."
"And…" Serenity said timidly, "Is Mamoru a good prince?"
"Well, he's a bit of a handful," the guardian answered with a laugh. "But I think he'll shape up to be a good king someday…"
Jedite's voice trailed off. His grey eyes widened. He twisted to face Serenity. He stared at her. The suspicion in his expression reminded Serenity of Zoicite's scrutinizing gaze.
The princess dropped her head. She stared at the fire. She grabbed a section of her damp hair and combed it frantically. She blinked her eyes. She wished Jedite would stop staring at her.
Following a maddening, uncomfortable silence, Jedite cleared his throat.
"He said you didn't know who he really was," the guardian whispered. Serenity noted a strain of suspicion in his voice. She shifted her body to face him.
"I didn't," Serenity defensively answered. "Not until the innkeeper's wife mentioned the name 'Endymion.'"
Her eyes stung. She thought she might cry. She clamped her lids shut and willed her tears to go away. She tugged at her hair with the broken comb. Jedite gently placed his left hand on the princess' right shoulder. His touch steadied her trembling body. The princess opened her eyes and stared at the guardian. His face was lined with concern.
"Please don't get upset," Jedite said softly. His voice was warm and kind.
Serenity sucked in a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
"You all must think I'm very stupid," she said, sniffling. She rubbed her eyes. "How many girls can't recognize the prince? His image must be on every coin!" In a muffled voice, Serenity added, "No wonder Zoicite hates me."
"Zoicite doesn't trust you," Jedite corrected. He stared at the fire and shook his head. He grinned and rolled his eyes. "Zoicite doesn't trust anyone, though. But it's kind of our job. In case you haven't noticed, he's a lot better at it than I am."
Serenity smiled. She appreciated Jedite's humor.
The guardian chuckled. He shifted his attention away from the fire and focused on Serenity. He stared into the princess' blue eyes. His expression suddenly softened, then, just as quickly, transitioned to reveal a seriousness that Serenity had yet to see in Jedite. The guardian moved his hand from her shoulder; the movement was abrupt, like he had been burned by her skin. He averted his gaze and rubbed his forehead. He swallowed.
Serenity blinked. Jedite's sudden change of demeanor surprised her. She wondered if she had said or done something wrong. She glanced absently away from the guardian. She wondered if her cheeks again felt hot from the fire or if the flush was caused by embarrassment. What reason did she have for feeling embarrassed?
Another uncomfortable silence was shared by the princess and the guardian.
Jedite shifted and sat up. He laced his fingers together in front of him. He cleared his throat.
"Don't worry about Zoicite," He solemnly stated. "He's harmless. He's just looking out for the prince."
The mention of Endymion's title flooded Serenity's head with questions.
"Why didn't he tell me?" she pondered out loud. "Why didn't Mamo…" She stopped herself. That wasn't his name. She licked her lips before continuing. "Why didn't he mention he was the prince?"
Jedite scratched his chin. He shrugged.
"I think," he began, "I think did it to protect you."
Confusion wrinkled Serenity's brow. "How is that a way of protecting me?"
Jedite was quiet for a moment. He stared into the fire. He then shifted to face the princess.
"You see," he began carefully, "Endymion ran into some trouble with some, uh, foreigners, and so he sort of went into hiding."
"Hiding?"
Jedite nodded. "Yeah, uh, sort of. But he ran into you, and well, he figured he should stay in hiding, but he also wanted to help you. Oh, here! Give me that damn comb. At the rate your going, your hair is going to be dry and knotted before you're finished."
Reluctantly, Serenity handed the comb to Jedite. The guardian motioned for her to turn around. The princess silently complied. The guardian, with a competence not normally seen in a young man, delicately took a portion of Serenity's hair in his left hand and worked the comb in his right hand through a mass of snags.
"Ouch!" the princess squeaked, covering her mouth with her hand and clamping her eyes shut.
"Sorry," Jedite muttered.
He gently worked the comb through her hair. When he was finally finished, Jedite leaned forward and handed the comb to the princess.
"Please don't be upset with Endymion for not telling you," Jedite whispered in her ear. "He must have had his reasons."
Serenity nodded.
The innkeeper's wife burst into the room. She held a pile of fabric in her arms.
"Here we are!" she shouted triumphantly. "My boy's clothes. He died young, so I imagine these things will fit ya fine. At least it's somethin' while yer own clothes dry."
Serenity tried to smile at the woman to show her appreciation, but inwardly, the idea of donning a dead boy's clothes horrified the princess. Still, she was glad to wear something other than a nightgown and a blanket. The princess retreated to a side room to change. Only Jedite was present when she returned to the dining area. The guardian frowned amusedly at Serenity's new ensemble.
"Well, the boy may have died young," he said with a wink, "But apparently not young enough. You're drowning in fabric!"
Serenity leaned forward and stared at her body. She longed for Ami's mirror fountain trick, so that she could catch a glance of herself in a looking glass. Judging from Jedite's reaction, the princess could guess that she looked somewhat ridiculous. She knew that the dead boy's clothes fit poorly on her tiny frame. The grey short pants loosely covered her legs, the cuffs of the yellowed, long-sleeved shirt dangled past her hands while the tails hung just above her knees, and the patched-together vest almost slid off of the princess' shoulders. Jedite suggested tucking the shirt in, but that only remedied one part of the problem. The blonde guardian peered at the princess thoughtfully for several moments before snapping his fingers and pointing at her still sagging pants.
"Hang on," he said. He retreated and returned with a short length of rope. Jedite instructed the princess to tie it around her middle.
"Like a belt," he suggested. He frowned while Serenity finished knotting the ends of the rope at her front. "Well, sort of like a belt. It's better than your pants falling around your ankles, right?"
The princess sheepishly grinned. She eyed him with concern.
"How ridiculous do I look?" she demanded timidly. "Seriously?"
Jedite's left eyebrow arched. "Seriously ridiculous," he answered with a smile.
Serenity wrinkled her nose. "The clothes smell."
"Well, I'm sure no one will notice at supper," Jedite whispered. The guardian excused himself to check on the prince.
Just before he was out of her sight, Serenity called him back. When he stood very close to her, the princess quietly whispered a request.
"Please don't tell Endymion that I know that," she gestured awkwardly. "You know. That I know he's Endymion. I'd like to tell him myself. Later. Tonight."
Jedite nodded. "Don't worry," he assured her. "But, you may not get a chance to be alone with him."
Frowning, Serenity noticed that Jedite was no longer looking at her, but at the staircase on the opposite side of the room. The princess followed his line of sight. She shuddered. Standing in the shadows, halfway down the stairs, stood Zoicite. Her mouth dropped open.
"Has he been there the entire time?" Serenity whispered to Jedite.
The blonde guardian shrugged. "Probably. Just remember that he's Endymion's guardian. Anyone is suspect in his book."
The princess nodded, finally understanding Zoicite's motives. He didn't simply dislike her. He was doing his job; he was protecting his prince. She could easily imagine one of her own senshi—namely Rei—behaving in such a way.
Serenity smiled and waved at Zoicite. The guardian scowled. The princess shrugged away the guardian's indifference. She could win his loyalty later. Right now, she had to decide what she would say to Endymion.
Tonight, she would tell him that she wasn't Tsukino Usagi from the Northern Territories, but Princess Serenity of the Moon.
The princess sighed. Her thoughts were no longer consumed by Linnaus. Her mind was consumed by Endymion. She felt a pang of guilt for forgetting so quickly about her cousin.
Please Selene, don't let Endymion hate me for lying, she thought solemnly to herself.
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Sailor Mercury blinked and peered at the shadowed forest around her. She stared at a tree with an S-shaped trunk. Frowning, Mercury pivoted in a full circle and inspected the patch of forest she and Sailor Jupiter now stood in. She cleared her throat.
"I know you don't want to hear this," she said quietly to her companion, "But I swear we've already been here."
Jupiter grunted an acknowledgement. The brunette's breathing was labored and heavy. Her voice was a whisper when she spoke. "I never…said that tracking…was an exact science."
Mercury nodded silently at Sailor Jupiter's comment. She walked over to the S-shaped tree. She extended her gloved hand in front of her and touched the grooved bark of the trunk. Her blue eyes shifted to look at the black of the wood beyond the tree.
Night came much faster here on Earth than it did on the Moon. Sailor Mercury was amazed at how dark the forest already was; the warrior missed the Moon's perpetual glow. Here, the darkness swallowed everything in its path. With night falling, Mercury and Jupiter's assignment to quickly find Princess Serenity and return her safely to the Moon had become more difficult than either senshi had earlier anticipated.
Sailor Mercury shivered. Her cloak, lost in the bottomless pit during her and Sailor Jupiter's encounter with Orleana, was sorely missed in the freezing cold of the early night.
"It's too bad about my computer," she said wistfully. She laughed casually. "Don't get me wrong, Jupiter, you've been great at tracking…"
The Mercurian's voice trailed off as she turned to face her comrade. The freezing air caught in her chest when she noticed that Jupiter was no longer standing, but laying face down in the snow.
"Jupiter!" Sailor Mercury shouted.
She rushed to her companion's side and knelt next to the brunette. Sailor Mercury delicately rolled the Jupiterian on her back. The injured senshi groaned and winced in pain. The Mercurian peered at her comrade. In the fading daylight, it was difficult to see, but Sailor Mercury still recognized the large stain of blood on Jupiter's normally white fuku.
"I knew I should have checked your injuries!" she whispered. She trembled, not from cold, but from fear. She tucked her blue hair nervously behind her ears. A tear slipped from her right eye. She sniffled.
Sailor Jupiter placed a hand on Mercury's shaking arm. Her lids opened halfway to reveal glazed brown eyes.
"We must find the princess," the senshi muttered.
"Serenity is with Endymion," Sailor Mercury choked. "She should be safe. I must see to your wounds."
"Orleana may have slipped in front of us," Jupiter said stubbornly. "We have to…keep going."
"How?" demanded Mercury. Her calm demeanor cracked, the senshi of water began to sob. "How? You can't even stand, much less walk. Please, just, let me bandage them…"
She ripped a strip of fabric from the bottom of Sailor Jupiter's cloak. The Mercurian frowned in dismay when she noted the dried blood caked on her comrade's legs. Sailor Jupiter needed more than just a few bandages, Mercury grimly realized.
"I'll be fine," the brunette whispered. "Just hurry with the patch-up. We need to go. The queen is counting on us."
Mercury's eyes drifted from Jupiter's blood-soaked fuku to her companion's chocolate brown eyes. The senshi of water wiped her tears from her face with the back of her gloved hand and silently nodded at her comrade's request. She shifted her attention back to Sailor Jupiter's injuries.
"Thank you for understanding," the brunette sighed. "We have to finish…" she winced when her companion pressed against the wound at her side. She gulped the cold air before continuing, "…finish what we were sent to do."
Sailor Mercury paused. A chill ran up her spine.
Jupiter was right. Their well-being was not important. They had pledged their lives to protecting the Moon's heirs.
"We'll get to Serenity on time," she said out loud. She said it more for herself than for Sailor Jupiter. The Mercurian clamped her eyes shut before attending the task of bandaging her comrade's wounds. Her hands were steady while she worked.
Please, Selene, don't let Jupiter die, she silently prayed.
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End of Chapter 21
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed in the past. I will try very hard to post more regularly. Now that I have a computer that is up and running, that will be a much easier task to accomplish!
Take care, everyone!
Hollie