In the last chapter, several Peruvian Monitors and their current Scout associates conversed for a while with each other in an Imperial Palace garden about certain matters of considerable importance to any or all of them at all. In order for you to find out what they all said during that conversation there, though, you had to read on to find out well enough, of course. For I didn't really want to spoil the last section of the story here, if I could avoid it, before you had a good enough chance to read it.
In the next chapter, I'm going to take a short break from the main action of this story, and provide a bit of an interlude of sorts here, if I may. This interlude will be somewhat short, when compared to the rest of the story yet to be posted for it, people. But it'll still be an interlude, nevertheless. I hope that you all enjoy it at least a little bit, before moving on with the rest of the story as I might put it up here. We'll be about halfway through this story when this interlude of sorts ends, more or less, by the way. There may not be another section that could serve as an interlude of sorts in this story. Or at least not while the main action of it still has to be taken care of, for your information, people. So please do try to enjoy it for a while, before you continue reading this story more, if you all possibly can do so, of course. For there'll be much serious tragedy to come in at least two chapters, if not more than that, for the rest of the story, before the end of it. And before the end of it, there'll be at least one good thing to happen for the Scouts and those close enough to them in their lives, if not more than just one good thing in those lives of theirs, in fact. Even though many people will still be grieving the loss of numerous people at the same time that good thing or those good things happen, in fact, that'll still be the case by the end of this story, just the same.
Now, without much, if any, further ado, if we may, readers, let's get on with the next chapter of this story here. If you like what you see, or feel the need to do so, then please don't be afraid to read, review, and enjoy my related story chapters here, readers. I await your rather clean, rather courteous, and rather constructive, comments about this story and its related parts, and about its related series, as well. Supposing, of course, that any of you all would ever feel the need or the desire to put up any reviews for any or all of my various stories. Remember, people, all the standard disclaimers will still apply here, if and whenever necessary. However, I'd still hope and prefer that you all not steal my own original characters and settings here. For I've spent many hours working on them for quite a few years, in fact. Now, let's get on with the story here again, everyone. And I really do hope that you'll all continue to read and enjoy it, readers! Now on to the story!
A Rather Hostile Takeover
A The Chrysanthemum Chronicles Series Story
Inside Serenity's Chambers In The Imperial Palace
Moon City, Moon Kingdom, Moon
February 15, 987 - February 16, 987
Meanwhile, back in Moon City on the Moon, it was about 7:30 pm there. Just as it'd be in Scotland back on the Earth, of course. Prince Daniel was in his wife's chambers, working to prepare it for possible use, at least on a temporary basis, by the children that Queen Serenity was now carrying in her womb. That was if things went well enough for all concerned, at least in that regard, if not in others as well, obviously enough. He was also hoping very strongly that things were well for those people he knew in his life who were now hopefully safe and sound somewhere on Earth.
He was primarily preparing several cradles for possible use by any more children that his wife might eventually have in the future, at the current time. Three of which had been used before, and two that never had been before. The three that'd been used before had been used by all three of his daughters for most, if not all, of the first year or two of each of their lives. Two others, he'd eventually made several months before, at most. Starting shortly after Queen Serenity and others had suddenly been whisked away to Ozotov IV about five months before.
The three cradles that'd been used before had been used in the past by Serena, Destiny, and Bethany. Who no longer needed them at all, of course. And they'd all given him permission to prepare them for other children that their mother might deliver some length of time in the future. So he was now preparing them as he felt it was necessary for him to prepare them all, during the current absence of his very own wife Queen Serenity.
The first of the babies that Queen Serenity might deliver would be using Serena's own cradle, in fact. While two others would use the cradles that Destiny and Bethany had used in each of their lives, of course. The two others would be using other cradles, as well, for the obvious reasons. And Daniel was also mostly repainting the three cradles that'd been used before by his three current daughters. That was so they'd have a mostly different look for their likely new occupants sometime yet in the future. Not entirely, for he wanted to be sure that any future children of his that might ever use them would most likely remember who'd used them before in each of their respective lives, if at all possible. But he was mostly repainting them, so that they'd look at least a little bit new, if not a lot new, just the same, of course.
As he was working on various things in his wife's Imperial Palace chambers, he eventually heard a knock on the door. It was his older sister Princess Eileen now knocking on that door, once she'd learned from various maidservants of Queen Serenity's that her brother was likely working on various things there for a while. He asked, "Who's there?"
"It's Eileen, Danny."
"What's the matter, sister?"
"In the past few days, I've noticed an area of darkness in a certain part of Earth. And this area of darkness is even there during the daytime there, it seems, at least whenever I can see it on Earth."
"What about it, sister? The Earth's supposed to get dark at certain times of the day there anywhere on it most, if not all, of the time, isn't it, Eileen?"
"But for at least 16 or so hours, normally, when someone's not in Earth's polar regions? Like if they might be near or on the Equator, Danny? I really don't think so. At least not normally, anyway, Danny."
Daniel thought about that for a moment, then said, "I suppose you're right, Eileen. But I don't think there's anything we can do to make that unusual area of darkness disappear, at least as of the current time."
"But it's near and on the continent of South America, Daniel."
"That may be so, Eileen. But we can't get there, most likely, to help anyone who might be near that area. Or at least not in the very near future."
"Don't you realize that Serenity and several others may be there by now, Daniel?"
"That may be true, Eileen. And if so, I hope that God's taking rather good care of them in whatever area of Earth He recently brought them to a while ago. This, of course, is for all the obvious reasons."
"What if they get in trouble there, Danny?"
"Then I pray that God protects them all very well, and any other people they might become friends with anywhere on Earth besides Israel, Scotland, or Japan, of course."
"Even if you don't really know who those people might be?"
"Yes, Eeny, I still pray that. Even if I don't really know who those people might be, for all the obvious reasons." Eeny was a pet nickname that Daniel often used whenever he was alone with Eileen enough in his life. Whether or not any other persons in both their lives used it as well around her, in fact.
"Especially for your family's sake, no doubt."
"Yes. I wish very much that our parents and Serenity's parents would have been able to meet up with my and Niti's children in this life. But as you know, that just wasn't possible, for the obvious reasons."
"Do you still miss Father and Mother?"
"Of course I do, Eeny. But missing them isn't necessarily going to bring them back here easily enough, is it?"
"No, Danny, it most likely won't. Or at least not in a fully physical sense at the current time."
"And I believe that the same thing's also true for our siblings and their own families, of course, at least, Eeny. I know that we all don't often see our older brother Mark, his wife Penelope, and their two children often. Nor do we see our younger sister Stacey and her husband Nicholas, or their five children often either. Not to mention our still-younger brother Kerry and his wife Winona, or their own three children, quite often, as well."
"Because they're often traveling, or if they're not traveling, they're usually living somewhere near Achilles City on the Moon?"
"Right, Eeny. That's right. Mark and his family are often away from the Moon on various Moon Kingdom-related matters for us all here in the Moon Kingdom. Mark and his families outrank the rest of our families. Except where Queen Serenity and our children are concerned, of course. I don't rank higher than our brother Mark and his wife, of course. And you don't, either. Nor do your four children by your lost husband James, if I'm not mistaken, Eeny."
"That's right. But I still outrank you, at least, if my children don't yet outrank you in our Moon Kingdom as well, Daniel."
"That's true enough, I suppose, Eeny. That may or may not ever change, of course. But if it doesn't ever change for the rest of either or both of our lives, Eileen, I'll probably outrank them at least until I fall asleep. And you'll also outrank me, at least until you also fall asleep eventually. That's supposing, of course, that we both do fall asleep eventually, somehow, and we both aren't lost instead."
"Danny, do you think Niti will make it to term with the babies she's now carrying inside her?"
"I think so. Or at least I hope so, of course. And I hope that she gives birth to them back here on the Moon, for the obvious reasons."
"But what if she delivers them on Earth, and not here?"
"Then we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it, if we ever have to do just that. But I still don't think that we'll ever have to worry about that happening at all, Eeny. I think God will make it possible for her and others to be back here in time for her to deliver the babies back here on the Moon somewhere. And do so before it's time for her to deliver them wherever she might be at that particular time."
"I hope that you're right, Daniel. For if I'm not too mistaken here, if whoever's in the area of darkness I've seen recently finds out that Niti's carrying any children, they might decide to really go after her. And they might try to make sure, at least, if they can't kill her, that she loses any or all of the babies that she's now carrying before she gives birth to them. Or failing that, of course, they might try to kill the babies rather soon after birth, if at all possible. That's supposing, of course, that she has to give birth to them somewhere on Earth, and not anywhere here in the Moon Kingdom. And if that's the case, I hope that the Scouts, and any friends that they might've made in the area of Earth they're then in, are able to protect each other and the babies well enough, of course."
"Especially Niti, of course?"
"Yes, of course, Danny. But you know that she may not actually be very strong after she gives birth for at least a little while, if she has to deliver the babies in question away from here. And the babies won't likely be able to defend themselves for quite a while, of course. So all of the available Sailor Scouts and their various friends will most likely have to try to protect each other and the babies to the best of their abilities to do so, if and whenever that's actually the case for all concerned parties here, Danny. I don't really know how successful they'll all be in doing just that, Danny. But I still really hope that they'll all be able to do that quite well enough somehow, of course."
Then Daniel and his sister Eileen talked about other things of importance, both to themselves, and to their own families, for at least a little while longer. They did this until she said, "Danny, I'm supposed to meet up with Jessica before too much longer in this palace's Hebron Garden. For we're planning on meeting there just before we head off to the Moon City Spaceport to catch a shuttle to Mars City elsewhere here on the Moon."
"Where's Mars City?"
"Near Mount Chrysalis, Daniel."
"You mean it's on the other side of the Moon?"
"Yes, I believe that's how things are for Mars City."
"Why are you going to Mars City here on the Moon?"
"Because several horses are going to be on sale there from all over the Moon Kingdom, and Jessica wants to see if she can acquire quite a few more horses for us to possibly use as breeding stock, at least, if not for any other purposes as well. You see, it seems that several, if not all, of our older stallions are no longer able to produce good offspring often enough. And some, if not all, of our mares are likely past their peak reproductive years. We'll most likely need to bring quite a lot of other horses into our total breeding stock to keep the quality of our stock of horses reasonably high. Besides, it seems that we might have an enemy coming in the near future, if I'm not all that mistaken, to try to wipe us out totally, if the need arises for them to ever try to do that. Am I right, Danny? And if I am, don't you think it might be wise of all of us to try to build up all our stocks of sufficiently high-quality horses as high as we can, before they most likely will someday come here and someday come after us all?"
"Yes, you're right, if the prophecies and predictions about our Moon Kingdom and its many inhabitants continue to be proven accurate, as they have been proven periodically to us all here in the Moon Kingdom for quite some time, if I'm not mistaken, Eeny. If they're going to come here, like so many other people seem to think that they eventually will, then I suppose we should try as hard as we can to make sure that we're all as ready for them to come here as we possibly can be here."
Then Eileen soon said, "Good night, Danny. Sleep tight, and sleep well, and I'll hopefully see you again very soon. God willing, of course, Danny. I'll pray for all of our friends and relatives who are still alive here in the Moon Kingdom, of course, as often as I can, in the meantime. Most especially for you, Niti, your children, and all of the other members of their crowd, most likely, of course, Danny, whenever I can do just that. I love you, brother Danny, of course. And I know that you love me too. May God watch over you and all of yours, as well as all the friends of you and yours, of course. At least until we all meet again someday, whenever that day might ever be, if it ever comes for us in the future, here in God's very own Universe." Then Eileen said nothing more, before she left her younger brother Daniel alone again. After which he soon returned to his working on the things that he'd been working on when she'd found him working on earlier, if he'd not already done so.
He worked on those things for a while after Eileen had left him again, before he eventually decided to get something to eat in the main dining hall of the Imperial Palace. He went to that main dining hall for a while. And he got himself a late supper, or a bedtime snack, as the case might be for him, for at least that long. He consumed some food and drink, before he then returned his dirty dishes to the necessary part of the dining hall, and before he finally returned to his wife's chambers, so that he could retire to their bed for the rest of the local night.
He eventually retired to their bed before local midnight. And he then slept in it until about local dawn the following morning, at the very earliest. But he certainly woke up by two hours before the following day's local noon in Moon City. He only woke up when the smells of some food being prepared began reaching his nose as he was in their bed for quite a while. And soon afterward, he was again in the main dining hall, of course.
A Rather Hostile Takeover will still take a while to put up here, readers, quite possibly. Until later, then, this is "The Universal Storyteller" signing off here. Happy reading, and God bless, and all that, of course, readers! Over and out!