Keep Her Safe Chapter Thirteen
Lady Prin
Disclaimer Applies
Okay, I forgot what colors the generals hair were in the anime, so I'm going with what they were in the live action. Also, this is the most recent chaptor. You all will have to be content with these until I write some more! Which hopefully will be soon! -
It was late.
The sky was clouded over, so the moon shone little.
The room was lit by three lanterns which were spread sparsely around the room.
It was a fairly normal room, kind of like a study of sorts. No shelves or bookcases and no desk. Just four comfortably padded armchairs, a medium sized brown wooden table in the middle of the room, and the lanterns set around on the three window sills.
There were three young men sitting in three of the armchairs.
Dressed in normal brown and white cotton clothes that the English commoners wore, you couldn't tell that they were really from Tokyo, Japan.
The one with long brown hair was getting really tired of the quietness that had befallen the room when the third man had arrived.
"So. . ." He muttered softly.
The man with short white hair, and the man with short fiery red hair that stood up like a very messy birds nest, looked at him expectantly.
The man with brown hair leaned forward in his chair.
"Anybody know why we're here?" He asked.
The red head and white haired man shook their heads.
"We haven't a clue, Jedite." The white haired man answered.
Silence for a minute.
"Well, whatever we're here for, I came here on the arm of a beautiful women!" The red haired man stated proudly.
"Not as beautiful as mine, Nephrite!" Jedite countered. "The women who brought me had an aura of mystery around her!"
"Your's wasn't aqua haired was she?" Nephrite asked.
"No, long green haired." Jedite answered.
"Good! Mine was full of elegance!" Nephrite retorted.
"Mine was. . . tall!" Jedite countered again.
"Mine was twelve." The white haired man interrupted.
"What?" Nephrite and Jedite cried swinging their heads around to look at the white haired man, who turned slightly red.
"I got brought here by a girl of twelve. She had short black hair, and was rather cute."
"So, who do you think is going to bring Kunzite here?" Nephrite asked.
"I don't know. Zoisite?" Jedite asked the white haired man.
"Well, there's a pattern here. They were all women." Zoisite said rather smartly.
"I bet Kunzite's going to be brought here by a man!" Nephrite challenged.
"I bet he's going to be brought here by a women, and that she'll only look like a man!" Jedite replied.
"You're on!" Nephrite cried.
Zoisite hung his head in surrender.
"You two never give it up huh?" He sighed.
Then the door to the room opened.
Michelle walked in with a tray filled with tea cups and a tea pot.
She was followed into the room by Hotaru and Setsuna.
"Sorry you had to wait so long." Michelle said softly as she sat the tray on the table. "It seems your fourth friend, Kunzite, is a bit unwilling to come."
"He would be." Nephrite muttered.
"So, may I ask what we are doing here? Besides waiting for Kunzite to come here." Zoisite asked.
Hotaru started pouring the tea, as Michelle and Setsuna stood by the chairs.
"We have something very important that needs discussed with you. All of you." Michelle informed them as she started handing around the filled tea cups.
It was then the door opened for the second time that night.
"Ugh!" Amora grunted as she came through the doorway, Kunzite slung over her shoulders.
"Amora, I hope you didn't damage him too much." Michelle scolded lightly.
"Don't worry Nep." Amora said as she landed Kunzite in the only armchair left empty. "I only knocked him out. He'll come to soon."
Meanwhile Nephrite flung a large gold coin toward Jedite who caught it in mid air. Zoisite went red again.
"Okay, now that's a sight I thought I'd never see." Nephrite stated.
"You're never going to let him forget it are you?" Zoisite asked Nephrite and Jedite.
"Never." They replied together, grinning widely.
Abruptly Kunzite jumped from his chair, swearing vengeance on the man who conked him.
"Oh, shut it." Amora told him as she took the cup of tea that Hotaru gave her.
Kunzite looked at her once and realized it was her who had knocked him unconscious. He looked at her a twice and realized she was a women.
He went as red as an apple in spring.
"Okay, now that all four of you generals are here, we can begin." Michelle started.
Kunzite plopped back down in the chair now that he realized there was no immediate danger.
The others sat forward in their chairs.
"First, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Michelle."
"I'm Setsuna."
"I'm Hotaru."
"And I'm Amora the Kunzite knocker outer, and don't you forget it!"
"Amora!" Michelle cried.
Amora shrugged and sipped her tea again.
"Okay, so. . . .?" Jedite said in a questioning tone.
"We are the outer Sailor Scouts, and we need your help." Michelle stated.
The generals started. Kunzite leaned forward in his chair.
"Okay. Help with what?" Nephrite asked.
"First of all, I must inform you that you should not speak our sailor names. Or the moon queen's either. If you do, the enemy shall be alerted to our locations." Setsuna told them her soft tone.
The generals nodded.
"Did you know that the moon queen had a daughter?" Michelle asked.
The generals shook their heads.
"Well she did. Fourteen years ago. But the enemy knew about her, so we had to send the princess into hiding. We gave her to England's governing royals."
"Princess Serena?" Nephrite asked.
"Yes. We cannot call her by her real name. So we'll just call her princess." Michelle answered.
"Isn't she missing?" Kunzite asked.
"Yes." Michelle nodded.
"Let me guess, you need our help to find the princess?" Zoisite stated.
"That was it at first, but things have complicated themselves. On her fourteenth birthday, the queen was to tell her of her true birthright, but she went missing a few days before. Since then we've found out that she's in Tokyo."
"She's not anymore." Amora interrupted.
Everyone looked at her.
"I've managed to find out that the princess is on an island off the coast of Tokyo." She continued looking unperturbed by all the shocked looks. "I've also found out that Japan's army headed by the Prince of the Earth is gathering on that island getting ready to fight a war. A war with which they believe to be with England."
"England has not declared war on anyone!" Hotaru cried.
"You're right, they haven't." Amora confirmed. "Therefore, I think the enemy is setting up a fake war for some reason."
"Who is this enemy?" Jedite asked.
"We cannot speak her name either, but she is a powerful queen of a distant galaxy. She is pure evil that creature, and she wants to destroy the moon kingdom and the earth. But first she wants to kill the princess." Michelle said.
"I think the war is her way of messing up with the Earth from the inside out." Hotaru piped up.
"Our job was to find you four, and ask for your help in finding the princess. Now we must ask your help in protecting the princess, and protecting your planet." Setsuna said.
Jedite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and Kunzite looked at each other for a long moment.
"We're willing and able." Jedite said.
"Okay, we're here. Now what?" Rei asked Serena as they laid among the tall wild grass that grew under the trees. They were on one side of a low hill. The enemy lay spread out on the other side.
"I know!" Mina answered. She quickly rooted around in the bag that held their rations and had previously held Luna and Artemis.
Luna and Artemis had recently disappeared, but Rei and Mina hadn't seemed too concerned about it.
Mina pulled out about three sheets of paper and a pen.
"Why don't we spy on the enemy and make notes of their movements?" She asked. "That way we can be of help to Endymion's forces, we can prove we've been here for over five minutes, AND we can look for any sign of who they really are!"
"Sounds great Mina!" Serena and Rei both approved.
Mina quickly crawled to the crest of the hill and quickly started scribbling.
Ami slowly followed her.
Mina noticed her when she was halfway up the hill.
"You can help me Ami!" She whispered. "You can tell me what their doing, while I write it down. Okay?"
"Okay." Ami answered nervously.
Ami made it to the crest of the hill and looked out between the blades of grass, upon the lowlands on the other side of the hill.
She breathed in sharply.
"They're monsters!" She whispered in fear.
Mina stopped scribbling, and squinted between the grass blades too.
"They're humans Ami." Mina told her confusedly.
"No, they're monsters! All colors, shapes, sizes! They're lumbering about doing nothing. There's not even tents there!"
Mina looked again, but all she saw was human soldiers dressed in England's uniforms, going from tent to tent, building catapults, sharpening weapons, and a thousand other tasks.
Mina looked back at her, then realized what was happening.
Ami was Sailor Mercury. One of her powers was of Illusion. Therefore she wasn't only able to make illusions, but she was able to see through them as well.
Mina touched one of Ami's hands, and looked out through the grass again.
Now she was able to see everything.
And it wasn't pretty.
Mina turned around and called softly to the others.
They crawled up to join Mina and Ami.
Mina instructed them to touch one of Ami's hands and look through the grass.
When Rei saw the army's true form, she understood what was happening.
Serena on the other hand couldn't understand it.
She touched Ami's hand, and saw the truth. She took her hand off of Ami's, and saw the illusion. She did this for a couple seconds. Though she didn't understand how it was, she understood what was happening.
"I call upon my forbidden birthright, let us see through this illusion." She whispered.
Rei was shocked to hear her say that, and Ami was confused, but now they didn't need to touch Ami to see the truth.
"So the real enemy is monsters that look like they came from another planet." Serena stated, staring. "Endy's army won't be able to see this, and I'm running out of energy, so I can't help them see. What can we do, before they get here? They won't stand a chance, if all they can see is an illusion."
"We'll have to start the fight ourselves." Rei replied. "Now, before others get here."
"How? What will we do?" Ami asked.
Rei grinned widely. A mischievous light glinted in her eyes.
"We take them out, one by one." She whispered.
"This has not been a pleasant journey, huh Andrew?" Endymion asked with a smile as Andrew's horse caught up with his.
Andrew had just finished making sure everyone and everything was accounted for.
"No, sir, it has not." He answered grimly while riding his horse and drying his weapon before it got rusted in its sheath.
Endymion sat proudly upon his majestic black stallion. He was clad in shinning black armor that had not a dent in it. His sword was within its black sheath that was tied to his black belt, it having already been dried.
He sat there in silent amusement at Andrew's grumpiness.
Then the horses got restless, and the ground began to shake.
Endymion, Andrew, and the rest of the army tried to reign in their horses.
Then something erupted from the earth itself.
It was earth molded in the shape of a winged unicorn. It flew up into sky and circled around. As it came back down it transformed into a real winged unicorn.
It landed and trotted up to Endymion's horse.
Then it changed into a small kid sized man dressed in white and blue robes, with short white hair, light red eyes, and a small horn on his forehead.
"Helios." Endymion cried.
"You're highness." Helios bowed.
"Report?" Endymion asked.
"The girls escaped the tower. Some how they used the enchantment to their advantage. I lost their tracks in the village."
Endymion and Andrew looked at each other.
"I have no clue how they did it!" Helios continued to rant and rave as Endymion climbed off of his horse.
"Helios calm down!" He said as she put his hands on Helios's shoulders, kneeling so as to be level with him.
Andrew still sat on his horse, sword in hand, shaking his head.
"The first time one of his enchantments doesn't work and he goes bonkers." Andrew stated as he started drying his sword again.
Helios stared at him, breathing hard. Then he closed his eyes, took a breath, and looked back at the Prince.
"I'm sorry your highness, but I don't know where the girls have gone. They could be behind you, they could be ahead of you, they could even still be in Tokyo. I don't know!" He said while waving his hands to punctuate his words.
"Helios your getting yourself worked up again."Endymion told him. "If they're behind us, that's good. If they're still in Tokyo, that's even better. If they're up ahead, it's okay. We'll figure something out to keep them from harm. Right now, why don't you calm yourself down by flying ahead and scouting the area out? Make sure we don't run into the enemy before we see them, and keep a look out for the girls. Okay?"
Helios took a couple more deep breaths, then nodded.
Endymion stepped back, and Helios turned around and started running over the ground.
A bright light started shinning at the tip of his horn, then worked it's way down his body, changing him into the winged unicorn as it passed. He was off, flying swiftly, and silently into the sky.
Endymion climbed back upon his horse.
"Let's go!" He yelled to the troops.
As they continued, Andrew, his sword now dry, turned to him.
"I've noticed that you have yet to call the opposing army by its name. You have always called it by 'the enemy.' Why? It's like, if you call it by its true name, England, it'll hurt you worse when you come to fight them."
Endymion was silent for a moment, staring straight ahead at the green trees and grass which stretched on for miles ahead.
"That's the reason why I made you my second in command, Andrew. You seem to know my very thoughts."
Andrew looked down at the back of his chestnut brown horse's head.
"Yes. To give the enemy a name, would bring me great sorrow when it comes time to fight them. To give them a name, is to give them a face. Queen Ikoku and King Kenji, I liked them allot. I respected them as people, as they respected everyone around them. They also had the same views on slavery as I do. They were opposed to anybody having slaves. They refused to have them. The people who work in the palace work there of their own free will, are payed for their work, and can leave at any time. It's one of the reasons they're loved and respected so much. I still can't believe that they would do this. We haven't even gotten a messenger from them letting us know the princess was missing. They should've asked for our help in searching for her. Not declare war on us first and foremost. And I was so much looking forward to meeting the princess at this years holiday ball for all the governing royals. From what I've heard, she's better than the other princess's that mother selected for me to try and court."
Endymion tried to catch his breath as Andrew thought for a moment.
"I understand how you feel." Andrew admitted, then added. "Do you think that maybe, one of those girls is the missing princess?"
Endymion looked at him with a surprised expression.
"I mean, from what Helios said, it sounded like at least one of them had magical abilities. And it's rumored that Princess Serena has magical abilities. Plus Princess Serena has long blond hair. Both girls have long blond hair. I mean, it sounds outrageous, but at the same time makes since. The Princess and her double."
Andrew fell silent as Endymion pondered this with a frown on his handsome face.
"I can't see how that would be, but I can't say it's impossible." Endymion muttered. "We'll have to ask them when we find them. Look, Helios has spotted something. He's landing."
Endymion and Andrew looked into the distance and saw the small figure of Helios flying straight like an arrow to the earth.
"Let's hurry up." Endymion commanded.
They and the troops quickened their pace.
Endymion and Andrew hadn't noticed that one of the soldiers behind them had been eavesdropping.
"The princess, here?" He asked himself quietly. No one heard him over the thunder of millions of hooves upon the ground.
Helios crouched low among the tall wild grass. Their tips tickled his nose, but he ignored them.
He had spotted movement from the air and had landed to investigate.
He silently crept forward, his white slipper-like shoes soft and soundless upon the earth that was his friend.
There! He saw it again. A black creature, small, and silent as well. Crouching low within the grass too.
Then something white flashed across the corner of his eye.
He turned slightly to look and in that moment the black creature leaped at him.
Only to stop itself halfway.
"Helios?" It said.
Helios looked at it. It was small black cat, with red eyes, and a gold crescent moon on its forehead.
"Luna?" Helios replied.
"Artemis, it's Helios!" Luna called to the white streak that bounded forward to her side.
"What are you two doing here?" Helios asked them.
"We're here to protect our charges." Luna replied.
Helios thought for a moment.
"The moon princess?" Helios asked, his eyes wide with realization.
"Yes, her and and three of her protectors. One of which doesn't remember who she is. They are up ahead, waiting for the prince's army to come." Luna replied.
"Wait a moment. Was the princess one of the girls that escaped from the palace tower?" Helios asked.
"Yes. She was one and the other was her double. They met up with the other two in the village. Helios, the opposing army is not England's." Luna warned him.
"It's not?"
"No." Artemis answered. "It's the enemy whom we had to hide the princess from. It has to be!"
"The princess knows it's not England, and she wants to stop the war." Luna continued.
"If her protectors can't transform without alerting the enemy, how are they planning on stopping it?" Helios asked.
"We don't know, Helios." Luna replied.
"You need to go back, and warn the prince that all is not as it seems. He needs to proceed with caution." Artemis told him.
"Right." Helios nodded. "Be careful yourselves."
He turned and was swiftly gone.
Luna and Artemis turned around and headed back to the girls.
Rei crouched within the tall grass, a little in front and between two big trees.
She turned her head and looked up at Ami who was clinging to a thick tree branch on her left, and Mina who was clinging to another tree branch on her right.
Serena was laying in the grass a little ways behind Rei.
'I can't believe I'm letting Serena do this!' Rei thought.
Rei gave the signal, and the battle began.
Serena stood up.
"HEY YOU!!! BIG AND UGLIES!!! COME AND GET ME!!!" She yelled.
The monsters stood dumbfounded for a moment. How could humans see through the illusion their Mistress had set up?
Then they started bumbling, walking, sliding or by various other means of transportation went after Serena.
She just stood there watching them.
"NOW!" She yelled.
As the monsters came underneath the tree branches, Ami and Mina started pelting them with rocks which they had collected and stored in their clothing.
The monsters couldn't figure out what was hitting them, and the others who were out of Ami and Mina's reach stopped and watched.
Rei sprang up then and started throwing paper scrolls at them. With each monster a scroll hit, the creature went up in smoke.
That's when all heck broke loose.
The rest of the monsters came at them in a rush.
They shook the trees that Mina and Ami were in, making the girls leap off the trees, so as not to get captured. Rocks fell out of their clothes as they jumped, hitting monsters on top of their heads.
Ami and Mina raced towards Rei and Serena.
By the time they got to each other, the monsters were very close.
"RUN!" Rei yelled, and they all four sprinted through the tall grass and through other trees.
Then something landed hard on Serena's shoulders.
"AH!" She cried as she tried to fling whatever it was off.
"Serena stop! It's just Luna and Artemis!" Rei cried.
"Oh! Okay!" Serena replied and they ran some more.
They cleared the trees, and doubled back to the monster's campsite.
No monsters were there.
"Okay," Rei started, taking charge. "Serena! Are you sure that calling upon this. . . forbidden birthright of yours, doesn't make anything bad happen to you?"
"Yes, I'm sure. I become weaker the more I use it, but so long as I don't use too much I'm fine." Serena replied.
"Okay, give us swords then." Rei told her.
Serena whispered a call to her birthright once more and four swords appeared. Weirdly, Rei's sword had a red hilt with a fire symbol sketched into the blade. Ami's was a blue hilt, with a water symbol sketch. Mina's was a yellow hilt, with a heart sketch. And Serena's was a white hilt, with a crescent moon sketch.
"This is cool!" Serena said inspecting her sword.
"Don't pay too much attention to it, Serena." Rei said hurriedly. "The monsters could be here any minute."
"Right." Serena replied, lowering her sword.
"Um, how do I use this?" Ami asked.
"You already know how, Ami." Mina replied. Then she looked at Serena with a worried expression. "It's you I'm not so sure about."
Serena smiled at her.
"Don't worry!" She assured her.
"Yeah, the reason she's been so late for lessons most of the time, is because I was giving her sword lessons." Rei explained. "She's actually pretty good. On some days."
Serena stuck her tongue out at Rei.
"Alright then, girls." Mina said, turning around to face the wood that they had just come out of. "Let's save this world!"
"Yeah!" All four girls cheered as they raised their swords together toward the trees.
"Helios's, this is the second time you've come to me out of breath. Whatever you're doing to get like that, stop!" Endymion cried as Helios's bent double to try and catch his breath.
"I'm sorry your Highness." He panted.
Once again, Endymion had stopped the army as Helios's came flying towards them. Once again, Helios was out of breath.
Finally he stood up straight.
"It's not England!" Was his first words.
Everybody looked taken aback.
"Then who is it?" Endymion asked.
"Monsters!" Helios replied.
"Monsters?" Endymion echoed.
"That's right! Monsters! In all shapes, sizes, colors, with every appendage known to man! And even a few that not even I have seen!" Helios confirmed. "They are using an illusion charm, to look like England's troops. Your army wouldn't last five minutes there!"
"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Endymion cried.
"Of course not!" Helios said in an annoyed manor, like as if the thought never crossed his mind. "But you need to proceed cautiously. With as few soldiers as possible. If you brought the whole army, it would be a huge massacre!"
"True if we can't see what we're fighting. . ." Endymion started to say thoughtfully.
"There is someone who can help you to see through the illusion, but their energy is low as it is, so they can't do your whole army. Pick only those who you trust, and who is best at fighting." Helios advised.
"Andrew's one." Endymion said immediately.
"I knew I would be. . . This time though, I'm not sure I want to be." Andrew replied.
"So you're not coming?" Endymion asked.
"Of course I am! Don't be dumb!" Andrew cried.
Endymion smiled triumphantly, and went on to pick five other soldiers.
The rest were to stay there, and to keep a look out for Helios's signal. If Helios flew up in the air, then straight down, then they were to come armed and ready for battle.
The Prince, Andrew, Helios and the five other soldiers, one of which was the eavesdropper, rode on.