Amaterasu watched the approaching castle. It really wasn't her favorite time, going by the Earth year. Like most of the princess and senshi of the other stellar systems, she tended not to travel much. As a matter of fact, like other Solarians, she hardly ever left her estate. She disliked the small space ship, and even to an extent the castle at Sagitarius. It simply wasn't…home. It simply wasn't home. There was nothing like being on her estate, in her own mansion, attended by her staff, who knew just how to look after her. Oh, well, it was customary of all of them to attend the ceremony. After all, it was the end of the Chaos.
The spaceship landed, and Amaterasu took her fan, and rose to disembark. She took out her handkerchief, and put it to her nose. She would have to brace herself, as always. Stepping off the ship, onto the surface, she looked around, awed. It always amazed, and even though she hated to admit it, it always thrilled her. Looking at the different people around, it felt like a multi view, only everyone there could be touched, and smelled. She smelled the lilac scent she always associated with the princess of Kinmoku, and several other alien scents the others brought from their own planets. After a while, she seemed to notice them less, and was able to remove the handkerchief from her nose, and walk away from the ship.
Looking around, she 'turned off' her telepathy, so as to not be overwhelmed by their thoughts. She made her way, being careful not to touch anyone. It amused her to look around at what the others wore. On Solaria, functionality was at the very bottom. The last thing that was important. Things should be beautiful, decorative and ornamental. There were no sharp edges, or anything plain. At least not on her estate. Noticing her surroundings, she began to notice how the others were dressed. She clicked her tongue. Obviously, some of the others were somewhat barbaric, and plain. They obviously weren't too concerned about looking pleasant, some were outright plain.
Even not scanning the crowd telepathically, she noticed that someone's attention focused on her. She turned, noticed two small girls, one with a small gray cat on her head. She'd never seen them there before, but she thought one looked vaguely familiar. Of course, she realized, once she had scanned her mind. She was Queen Serenity's daughter. Amaterasu smiled, and started to wave, but stopped, and frowned. While scanning the mind, and thought she saw another peering out from within. She turned, and walked away.
Small Lady and Saturn looked from room to room, exploring the castle.
"Wow! It's pretty!"Diana exclaimed.
"Yup. And when do we get to meet everyone?"Small Lady asked.
"Well, you three haven't been here before, so you'll have to be introduced."Luna told them.
"But we haven't seen anyone else."Saturn complained.
"You'll have to wait until the ball."she said.
"There's a ball?!"asked Small Lady, enthusiastically.
Luna nodded.
"Of course."
Small Lady and Saturn looked excited.
"Oh, boy, I wonder who we'll meet!"Saturn exclaimed.
"Royalty, and nobility, of course."Luna told them. "So I expect you to behave yourselves."she added, sternly.
Small Lady rolled her eyes.
"Kunzite told us the exact same thing just a little while ago."she said.
"And he's absolutely right."Luna said again. "We don't want to put King Endymion, Queen Serenity, and Crystal Tokyo in a bad light among all the foreigners, do we?"
"And what makes you think we'll be the ones to put everyone in a bad light. I say that Kunzite always does, because he never does anything fun. He's always so…strict. What if everyone thinks we're like that?"Small Lady demanded.
"Kunzite simply worries about giving a professional appearance and things like that. You know how he is."said Artemis. "Instead of complaining about him, you girls should watch him, and learn a bit. Make the proper comments and all that. Although I have to agree with you on the fact that he's not the most intelligent person, and he's so critical of everything and everybody."he shook his head. "Not a very pleasant sort of person at all. I will never begin to understand why Venus married him, much less why she loves him so much. She should never have married anyone so below her-"he stopped, noticing the frown on Luna's face. "Um, anyway, what I really meant is that Kunzite is really…a very…good teacher for you girls where things like manners and such are concerned."
"Why was Mama looking at you funny, Daddy?"Diana asked him.
"Huh?"Artemis looked confused, and turned to Luna.
"Yeah, you suddenly changed your mind about Kunzite when you saw that Luna looked like she suddenly got some very bad news, or something."Small Lady told him.
"Uh, I don't know what you girls are talking about."he said, glancing sideways at Luna, who was indeed, throwing him warning looks. "You girls must be imagining things."he said sternly. "So, why don't you just go tour the castle, and we'll talk about the ball later."he told them, and he and Luna disappeared around a corner.
"I think Luna's mad that Artemis doesn't like Kunzite."Small Lady told Saturn and Diana.
"I think so, too, Small Lady. But no one really likes Kunzite. Except King Endymion and Queen Serenity a little, and Princess Venus, but I think that's because she has no choice, and she's married to him. Married people have to like each other. Or they wouldn't be married."Diana said wisely.
Small Lady and Saturn nodded.
"That's true, Diana."Small Lady answered thoughtfully. "Do you think Luna likes Kunzite, then?"she asked.
"Mama's never acted like she did. Daddy's never liked him, though. He sometimes shakes his head, saying that Princess Venus married below her, and that she deserves better, and sometimes that makes Mama mad, and sometimes she just says that Venus knows what she's doing, and she's old enough to decide for herself, and she feels sorry for anyone who might want to marry me, because if he gives Kunzite a hard time, any other cat who might court me doesn't stand a chance."Diana explained to them.
"So he doesn't want you to get married?"Saturn asked incredously. "Wow. I thought everyone got married."
"Not everyone."Small Lady interrupted. "Remember, in our study of Interstellar History, there are some star systems where not everyone marries. Even one where no one EVER marries."
Saturn nodded.
"That's true. Do you think we'll meet them?"
"Maybe. Everyone from all the star systems is here. We're bound to bump into them, don't you think!"
"Do you think we'll get invited to visit other planets!"Saturn wanted very much to see other planets, as she was too young to rule at Titon Castle yet. "Do you think they have their own castles? Just like in our star system?"
"They probably do."said Small Lady looking very serious. "But do you really think there might be a chance that we'll get invited?"she looked excited at the thought.
Saturn smiled.
"I hope so."Diana added. "It'll be fun, just to hear about their planets, though."
The girls nodded.
"You're right, Diana."
They heard footsteps, and they saw Jupiter walking down the corridor towards them.
"What have you three been up to?"she asked.
"We were just looking around."Saturn said.
Jupiter smiled.
"Well, it's time to start getting ready for the ball this evening."she told them.
Small Lady nodded.
"Luna and Artemis told us that there's always a ball here. Will it be like the ones Mommy and Daddy give at home?"she asked.
"Not quite. There'll be a lot more people here, and most of them are foreigners, of course. I hope you've been studying your Interstellar enough. That'll be what's spoken most around here. Although…"Jupiter hesitated. "Well, that might not be quite a good idea. You never know. Nothing pleases some people more than the fact that you know their speech. Nothing angers others more than the fact that you can't get their language right. You learn to tell who's pleased and who gets angry after a while, but just to be safe, stick to your Interstellar tonight, all right."
Both girls and the kitten nodded.
"We will."Small Lady assured her.
"What will everybody wear?"Saturn asked.
Jupiter laughed.
"These balls are always fun. Since everyone's from a different star system, there's so much variety! You should just see what some people wear!"she laughed. "But try not to laugh, or make comments. It's hard sometimes, but some get easily offended."she added seriously.
They walked to their own quarters to get ready for the big event.