by Kaekilia LeoLynn
Hi again! I have successfully taken over pluto and, now that I'm back on earth, I can continue writing my story. There's a bit of dirty language in this one, but it'll leave you on the floor laughing.
Randomness:
Moving slower than a herd of turtles stampeding thru peanutbutter
Chapter 4
It was a short hike to the outskirts of the city. Now, the Earth Soldiers were being lead thru a buisy outdoor marketplace just outside the palace gates. They passed stalls of strange foods, beautiful jewlery, delicate fabrics, and various other goods. As she ogled at the jewlery, Mina noticed something. Everywhere she looked, there were women; young and old.
"Hey, Griever, where are all the men?"
The Starlight laughed. "The only men here are Off-Worlders like Dentyne and Kkorian."
"The whole planet is female?" Ami was astounded.
"We're not actually female... nor are we male." Singer explained. "We can become pregnant as well as impregnate. We're...Complicated."
"How does that work?" Serena was as confused as her comerades.
"Didn't you ever wonder how Healer, Maker and Fighter could switch genders so easilly?" Dancer asked.
"I thought they used a disguise pen or something." Lita shrugged.
"Nope. It's all natural." Singer winked. "But we usually only switch for mating. Other than that, we're always female."
"Weird." Ami muttered.
"Strange question." Raye spoke up. "When you switch genders, does your entire anotomy change too?"
"No. We're chicks with dicks." Raider deadpanned. The other Starlights burst out laughing leaving the Earth Soldiers confused.
Griever finally calmed her laughter to explain. "Yes, our anotomy changes with our gender. A pregnancy, in the early stages, can even be canceled by switching."
"That can have it's advantages." Serena mumbled. She glanced upwards and discovered that they were just outside the palace grounds. Ahead of them was the golden gate gaurded by four more Starlights. They saluted their teammates as they passed by and entered the Crystal Palace.
"Beautiful!" Mina whispered, taking in the archetecture. The ceiling was painted in a way that made it look like the night sky. Elaborate onyx columns spanned the distance to the marble floor that mirrored the ceiling. Carved marble statues and lush folliage decorated the room.
"Glad you like it." Singer smiled. She motioned for the Earth Soldiers to follow them down a hall. "Lady Healer painted the ceiling herself. It took her ten days to finish it."
"Really? Wow. I'm impressed." Serena glanced up at the ceiling once more before the entered the hallway.
"Odd. Fighter's not at her office." Greiver frowned and stopped outside a closed door. She touched her star earing and her microphone appeared.
"This ought to be entertaining." Dancer chuckled. Raider silenced her with a glance.
"Fighter, this is Griever. Come-"
"YOU are supposed to be on Earth!" Fighter's angry voice came in loud and clear over the microphone. Greiver winced and her teammates refrained from laughing.
"Trust me, Love. I have a good excuse."
"Don't call me that, Griever."
"Sorry, Fighter. Where are you?"
"Running away from the throne room. I'll give you three guesses why."
"Meet me at your office."
"Fine... But you'd better have a good reason for leaving your post. Other than Uranus kicked your ass."
"She was a bitch like you said, but she didn't kick my ass. And I do have a very good excuse for returning so soon."
"Very well. Fighter out."
"I didn't think she'd be that mad." Griever said after her microphone disappered.
"Don't worry. As soon as she sees we're here, I'm sure she'll forgive you." Mina smiled. "My question is, where's Yaten?"
Griever smiled knowingly. "I'm sure Lady Fighter will summon Healer and Maker once she knows you're here."
"Yay!" Mina hugged herself. She stopped when she heard heels clicking on the marble floor. Everyone turned in the direction they had just come to see a shadow entering the hallway. The shadow soon turned into Sailor Star Fighter. She stopped dead in her tracks; mouth agape.
"By the Gods!" Fighter hid her face with a gloved hand.
"I told you I had a good reason." Griever smiled.
"Are you suprised to see us, Seiya?" Serena asked, stepping towards the Starlight.
"Who wouldn't be?" Fighter replied, hugging Serena and the others in turn. "So you got my letter?"
"Yeah." Serena produced the letter as proof. Fighter sighed.
"Forgive us, Lady Fighter." Dancer interupted. "We must be going."
"Yes, return to your post before I fire all of you." Fighter joked, unlocking the door to her office. She ushered the Earth Soldiers inside.
"Cruel of you." Griever smiled. Fighter winked at her.
"Don't let Uranus kick your ass, or I'll have to do something drastic."
"I think it'll be the other way arround. I'll kick Uranus' ass." Griever laughed before turning to leave. "I'll see you later."
"Contact me if you have any issues." Fighter replied, watching the others leave. She sighed and closed the door to her office.
"So, who's forcing you to get married?" Serena asked, sitting in a chair by a desk. Fighter rolled her eyes and moved arround to the other side of the desk.
"Whatever happened to 'How have you been? What's new?'?" Fighter laughed and plopped into a chair. She sighed again and leaned forward; elbows on her desk. Her Sailor suit shimmered and vanished leaving her clothed in her old school uniform from Earth. "What do you know about my situation?"
"Only that 'They' are forcing you to marry this Dentyne character because you're second-in-line to the thrown." Serena answered.
"Pretty much." Seiya leaned back in her chair. "The Grand Council, that's the Rulers of all the systems we've treaties with, are focing me to marry because their laws say that their seconds to the thrones must be married before their 17th birthday... THEIR coming of age. It just so happened that Prince Dentyne was also coming of age, so they forced him on me. However, OUR laws state that I don't have to be married at all and I can choose whom ever the hell I want!"
"Why would they force their laws on you?" Ami asked. Seiya shrugged.
"Because the Council is a bunch of testosterone infused sexist assholes. And they think that since we're ruled by a Queen that they can force their laws on us."
"That's stupid!" Mina exclaimed.
"Can't Kakyuu do anything about it?" Asked Lita.
Seiya shook her head. "Kakyuu's in the same posistion as me... And she's not Queen yet. Kakyoku is. And her hands are tied."
"Who's Kakyoku?" Raye questioned.
"Queen Kakyoku is Kakyuu's mother and my, Healer's and Maker's adopted mother. We never mentioned her because her star seed was stolen by Shadow Galaxia. It was too painful." Seiya explained. Then a smile spread across her lips. "I bet you want to see them, huh?"
"I want to see Yaten!" Mina exclaimed, bouncing up and down.
"I knew you'd say that." Seiya laughed. "It's lunch time, so we can probably catch them in the dining hall now. Leave your bags here. After lunch we can sort you into some guest rooms and settle you in."
"Thank you, Seiya." Serena smiled.
"Don't worry about it." Seiya smiled and got to her feet. She went to the door and opened it for her friends. Her smile instantly faded. Standing in the hallway was a handsome young man with spikey white hair, red eyes, and tanned skin. He smiled warmly at Seiya causing her to scowl. "What do you want?"
"How are you today, Love? Would you care to join me for lunch in the gardens?" The man asked, extending a hand to Seiya. She promptly slammed the door.
"Let me guess. That was Dentyne?" Serena watched as Seiya sank to the floor in front of the door.
"Introductions made." Seiya mumbled. After a moment she whispered, "Why can't he leave me alone?"
"He's kind of cute." Raye stated, earning a glare from Seiya.
"Maybe he went away after you slammed the door." Mina knelt down beside Seiya and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Let's go eat."
"You just want to see Yaten." Seiya smiled at Mina's blushing. She sighed and stood up. "Okay. Let's go eat."
After a daring escape from Dentyne, the six friends entered the Grand Dining Room. An elegant woman sat at the head of a long, marble table. She had blood red hair tied up in braided rings that connected to an obsidian crown and crimson eyes. She smiled at Seiya as she entered and bowed.
"May I present Queen Kakyoku." Seiya said, turning to the Earth Soldiers. They immedeately bowed to the Queen.
"Oh, don't do that. She's spoiled enough already." Came an amused drawl. Mina instantly spun arround at the voice and tackeled Star Healer to the floor in a tight hug. "Mina, you're breaking my ribs."
"I'm so happy to see you!" Mina squeeled, releasing her hold, but she remained sitting on the Starlight. Healer rolled her eyes. The others in the room laughed at the scene.
"Are you going to let me up anytime soon?" Healer asked, sounding bored. Mina smiled and jumped off of Healer and gave her a hand to her feet. That's when Mina noticed her ponytail. It was tied in several braids and fell down to just above her ankles. "What?"
"You grew your ponytail out." Mina stated.
"And I hacked mine off." Came another familiar voice. Ami's jaw dropped in suprise as Maker strode closer to the group. Her ponytail was indeed gone and the rest of her hair was short and spiked upwards, leaving her long bangs to frame her face. She smiled at their reaction to her appearance. "I wasn't sure if you would come. And I don't know if I'm thankful that you didn't bring Uranus or not."
"You should have seen her reaction to Griever when she broke into the mansion and walked in on our conversation." Raye laughed at the memory.
"Please be seated and we will discuss such things over a delicious lunch." Kakyoku said, her voice like liquid silk.
"Thank you for your hospitality." Serena replied with a bow before taking a seat at the long table. She watched as Healer and Maker faded out of their Sailor suits and took seats close to their Queen.
"Anything for the daughter of an old friend." Kakyoku smiled at Serena's suprise and went on to explain as servants brought food out. "Queen Serenity, her little sister, and I went to finishing school together and became fast friends."
"Sister? My mom had a sister?"
"Yeah." Yaten answered bluntly. "My grandmother, Queen Metallia."
"WHAT?" All of the Earth Soldiers yelled in unison. Yaten smiled smugly.
"My grandmother is Serena's aunt, Metallia. So what?"
"'So what?' How long have you known this?" Serena asked, looking from the strange food on her plate to the silver-haired Starlight. Yaten shrugged and carved her meat into bite-size pieces before popping one into her mouth. "I don't mean to sound rude, but what are we eating?"
Seiya choked on her wine before laughing. Taiki chuckled and Yaten rolled her eyes. "The meat is spice rubbed wyvern. The vegtables are called reebatoor, kind of like carrots on Earth. There's a side of tek berries; mmm, good. And the wine you're drinking is called Ridge Wine, it's the best in the universe. And the soup is called Hiba, made from pleti and drekka. It tastes kind of like a miso and pea soup mixed together." Seiya explained, pointing to each thing on her plate.
"It's delicious!" Lita said, tasting everything. "My compliments to the chef."
"Wait until dessert." Yaten winked.
Light conversation and joking continued all thru the meal and even long after. It wasn't until mid-evening that the group sepperated to sort everyone into guest rooms and tour the Palace. The retired early that night with a promise from the Starlights to get a full tour of the city the next morning... and maybe a shopping spree.
Author's Note: blah. blah. blah. You've heard it all before. I just do these to annoy people and make my word count longer. LOL. So what do you think of Dentyne (the whole five seconds you "saw" him)? Don't worry, there'll be more of him later. I have evil plans...
You finally figure out who "They" are, Lunadoragon?
please r/r/f.