Disclaimer: I only own the story, not Sailor Moon.
Chapter 15
Serena walked silently, next to Lita, up the hill to the mansion in deep thought. She had never once seen Katri that angry, especially since she had just been busted for being out of the mansion when she was supposed to in her room going over the coronation papers.
"Are you okay, Sere?" Lita asked quietly.
"Yeah, just thinking about how angry Katri was." Serena responded quietly.
"You sure that is all that's bothering you? I saw how white you looked when Darien walked in with Akusai. You weren't expecting that, were you?"
Serena shook her head. "No, I didn't expect to ever see him with his fiancé. I am just grateful that he didn't recognize me and that Katri didn't reveal who I was. I am not ready to face him. I just hate this whole thing. I am not ready for any of the things that I have to do, especially taking away Darien's power and title."
Lita looked at her friend in surprise. "Do you even want to take those from him?"
"Not really, but I know that Katri is right about having no choice in the matter. Darien doesn't even realize that he is giving up so much of who he is just to be with this woman that he is engaged to." Serena sighed as she realized that they had reached the mansion. "Michiru is not going to be happy with me. My bet she has checked on me and will be at the front door waiting for me to come in and try to explain why I wasn't where I am supposed to be."
"You got that right, Princess." Haruka responded from the open double doors of the mansion. "Hello Lita, I am guessing you two got busted by Katri at the arcade."
"Did Katri call you already?" Lita asked.
Haruka looked at the two women standing in front of her in confusion. "Katri didn't call us; I called her when I realized that you were not going over the coronation ceremony like you were instructed to. What are you doing here Lita?"
"Serena and I were talking at the arcade when Katri busted us. We were about to leave because Darien showed up with his fiancé when she walked in the door. She told me to make sure Serena got here and that I was to stay here until she got here." Lita explained calmly, even though inside she was not feeling so calm.
The look on Haruka's face was one of not only displeasure but disappointment. Her disappointment was directed only to Serena, and Lita could tell there was so much that she didn't know that had gone on with her friend while she was gone.
"Serena, go to the gym and wait for Katri to arrive. She has determined that you and Lita should learn a more intense way to train." Michiru walked out onto the front steps. "She will be here in twenty minutes."
Serena nodded and turned to walk to the back of the mansion where a private gym had been built for Senshi training. The gym had a main room with a large mat on it for hand to hand combat as well as for sword practice. The side rooms were specially designed to withstand the elemental powers of the Senshi so that they could work on honing their planetary powers. The back room was a security room that only Katri had the access codes to.
The security room controlled all of the security for the mansion, grounds, gym, and the stone wall. Serena went into the main room and stood by one of the walls.
"Wow, now this is what I call a gym. This place is huge." Lita commented as she walked into the room after Serena.
"Katri made sure this place was fully furnished for us so that we don't have to train in secret any more. She told me that this would help out more so once you were all here as well." Serena replied quietly.
Suddenly the two women heard the door bang open and in walked a very angry Katri. Katri slammed a fist into the wall before placing her palm just under a light switch by the main entrance to the room. Several of the wall panels opened up revealing weight equipment, weapons, a full array of workout clothes, and a changing room.
"I didn't know about that." Serena whispered as she looked around the new areas of the room.
Katri ignored the two women and walked over to where the weights were and began to work out. She was just too angry with Akusai to pay attention to the two of them. For twenty minutes she worked out intensely before turning to face the other two in the room.
"Okay, ladies for breaking the rules I have something special in mind for you. Lets get to work."
Serena laid on the large mat in complete exhaustion. Katri introduced a new training rule before starting and it had been more for her benefit than for Serena or Lita's. Katri called it her no holds bar rule and she kept coming after the two women until she was satisfied that they understood what she meant by the new rule as well as that they learned their lesson about breaking the rules. Katri finally stopped after a two hour long training session and now Serena didn't want to move.
"I can't believe she did that to us." Lita collapsed to the floor next to Serena. "I almost feel like I have done this type of training before, but I can't put my finger on it. What do you think will happen next?"
"You two of you will stay here and begin a rigorous training schedule." Katri walked back into the room. "Lita, you will also begin your specific training for becoming part of Serena's court on the coronation day. As part of your new schedule you two will also begin to put the final touches on the coronation celebration and the ceremony it's self."
Serena sat up in surprise. "I thought that everything was ready for that day."
"The important details of that day are ready, but you get to choose the look of the invitations for the ceremony and the special invites that will be required to get into the celebration that night. You both get to help put on the final touches of the food choices as well as picking out the special final touches of the decorations and floral arrangements." Katri explained rattling off the list of final touches from memory.
"What about the others?" Lita inquired. "Will they have any say in the final touches?"
"They will in time, but right now I don't think they are fully ready to face the challenges that will come from living here. You are have already faced some big challenges Lita, just by witnessing what happened at the arcade earlier. Now, I think it would be best if you two got cleaned up and headed into the house for dinner. Tomorrow will be an even harder day of training and more coronation work will be done."
Dream Sequence
Lita looked around at her surroundings, realizing that she was reliving a memory of her days on the moon. She walked around watching the royal guards at their posts noting that they were all happy, but also very watchful.
"Lady Lita, there you are!" A guard smiled at her warmly. "Lady Katriana is looking for you. She has some things she wanted to discuss with you in private."
Lita nodded in response to the guard. "Thank you Damien. Is she at the center, or in her room at the palace?"
"She is in her office at the center. She wanted to make sure that you two had the proper privacy that you need." Damien explained further.
"Then it must be a very serious matter. I will go immediately. Have a good day, Damien." She headed over to the training center to Katri's office where she noticed just how serious the matter was going to be.
"I am worried about the Princess." Katri began as Lita sat down across from her fellow Solider.
"About what, Katri? Prince Endymion cares deeply for her and will protect her when we are not around." Lita asked in concern.
"That's just the point. I've already spoken with the Queen about this and she agrees that this is an issue we must address before he arrives back up here for the engagement ceremony before their wedding." Katri paused as she looked at her dear friend and second in command. "Prince Endymion has been looking out for his interests and his alone. I am really worried about what will happen to Sere. She deserves the best and I think Endymion is not looking out for that right now."
"What do you think changed?" Lita asked as she sat back in her large arm chair.
"Akusai." Katri stated calmly.
"Isn't she one of the ladies of the court?" Lita looked at her in surprise.
"She is. She is the one lady who has openly refused to take part in the security back ground checks that were ordered by the Queen for her daughter's protection."
"Only Akusai refused? What is going on in the court these days?"
"I'm not sure. I have made a special request from the Queen to do a quiet investigation. While I am doing that I want you to be in charge of the others. You are my second in command and I can only trust you to know exactly what is going on. I'll keep in touch."
Lita nodded in understanding. "Good luck, Lady."
Dream Sequence end
Lita sat up in a start. She finally understood what Katri had meant by her being ready for the challenges. She remembered everything that Katri knew had not come back, until now that is. She remembered everything; even the mission that everyone thought took Katri's life. The final mission that was taken before the kingdom fell. Lita knew exactly what that dream had been, a memory.