"The Slumber"
Chapter 3
~Well Met By Moonlight~
By: Willow Mae

Rei was having trouble concentrating on the spar with Makoto. There was something unfamiliar nagging at the back of her mind. It had been a long time since anything had disturbed her like this. Nothing could upset the balance of the Moon unless…Makoto broke her thoughts when she landed a shot into Rei's stomach. Rei doubled over, and Makoto knelt by her side to help her friend up, worry on her face.

"Rei, what's the matter? You could have blocked that one." Rei looked at her friend, her face tense. Mako laughed. "Relax Rei, it's only a spar. No big deal!" Rei fiddled aimlessly with the maroon bow of her senshi uniform.

"I know." She caught the towel that Makoto tossed in her direction and began to cool off. "you always win anyway Mako!" Her taller friend shrugged.

"That doesn't really matter, does it? We still need to practice and keep in shape. I guess it's all in the Jovian blood!" The two women laughed, but the tense look on Rei's face didn't leave.

"Mako, I need to go see Minako. There might be something wrong…I'm worried." Makoto pulled her long chestnut hair into a ponytail and opened the door back into the palace.

"It must be serious then." Rei nodded. The two left the arena in search of the Lady Venus.

***


Minako was trying on various dresses when the knock came upon her chamber door. Hastily she pulled on the peach gown and opened the large doors.

"Rei! Mako!" she greeted her friends warmly. Noting their senshi uniforms she quickly decided that they had just come from a spar. Mako smiled at her friend, but Rei did not return the warm welcome as quickly. Her serious face was a dead give away that something was wrong.

"Venus, I felt something out of place." Rei told her, voice calm. The way she spoke with such formality made the senshi leader tense.

"Find Ami. We should have a meeting. Could Beryl have possibly…" she didn't finish her thought as she brushed past the others. Her shoes clacked softly on the marble, echoing through the empty halls as she moved, the only source of color among the pure whiteness about her. Rei and Makoto turned to retrieve Ami.

***


The men gathered once more around Endymion.
.
"We couldn't find any way into the palace. All the doors were locked. We did not see any useful herbs in the gardens." Kunzite informed Zoisite.

"That is, no herbs we would know. There are some very odd-looking plants around here." Jadeite interjected. Zoisite sighed and sat back, staring at the still unconscious prince.

"The bleeding has stopped, finally, but without proper care I don't know what more we can do for him."

"Why don't we ask her for help?" Jadeite motioned to the palace, where a young woman walked quickly through the corridors. Her long blonde hair flew gently behind her and the folds of her elegant peach gown framed her thin body majestically.

"Excuse me, miss?" Nephrite called to her, taking a step toward the palace. "Would you…" the woman turned abruptly toward him, the startled look on her face mixing with suspicion and anger.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What are you doing here?" Two other women joined her, both wearing looks of shock and suspicion. The one with long raven hair spoke quietly to her friend before calling out to the men, her voice harsh.

"So you're the cause of this disturbance." She looked ready to defend herself. "We don't need your kind here, leave now."

"But Lady!" Jadeite protested, unsure of the cause for this sudden hostility. "What do you mean? Our kind? We only meant to ask…" the third woman cut him off, growling.

"Don't make us fight you. If you leave now you may go peacefully." Nephrite threw his hands in the air. Things were getting confusing.

"Where could we go Lady?" he called to them. "We don't even know where we are, or how we got here! How can you make judgments if you don't even know who we are?" Kunzite laid a hand on his shoulder and shook his head in warning.

"Don't let your temper get the best of you, and don't anger them. It's obvious we have trespassed on their ground, and it would not be wise to get on their bad side. We may never get any information from them."

"But Lord Kunzite," Nephrite protested. "They aren't giving us a chance. We haven't the strength to travel with Endymion in his condition." Kunzite nodded his head gravely.

"I realize this. We must try to explain ourselves, but…"

"What's going on?" another young woman called, her voice hinting at irritation. She stood slightly aside from the others in the group, her arms crossed over her chest. Her short blue hair was clipped up and matched the blue of her gown. She was so focused on her angry companions that she didn't even notice the men in the garden. "I'm trying to do my reading and you three are making a racket!"

"Not another one…" Zoisite moaned softly. The blonde woman on the steps motioned to the men in the garden.

"See for yourself what makes us so angry." The newcomer followed her gaze.

"I see." She said icily. "I would have appreciated being called in a different manner however."


"We were coming to fetch you when we ran into these intruders." The tall one informed her. The woman nodded and pushed her thin framed glasses onto her nose.

"I see." She said again, and turned to the group in the gardens. "Sirs,"

"Wait!" Kunzite drew himself to his full height before striding to the palace steps and falling to one knee before the women. "Please let us explain before you turn us away." The blonde woman glanced at her companions, who acknowledged her with nods. She turned back to Kunzite.

"Very well, we agree to listen. Do not waste our time." Kunzite nodded.

"Of course not, my lady. We are terribly sorry to have come uninvited to your lands, but we had no real choice and did not mean to intrude…" the brunette sniffed indignantly, but Kunzite continued. "We are fleeing from the war, our friend was gravely wounded and we are in need of a healer. We can not leave until we know his is well, if you would be kind enough to find the palace healer we shall be gone of this place and go back to the fighting."

"You Earthlings are constantly fighting. I shall heal your friend." The woman with blue hair swept down the steps and walked to where Endymion lay. She quickly checked his pulse before turning to Zoisite. "Take him and follow me." She tuned on her heels and walked swiftly back to the palace. The women disappeared down one of the corridors and the men had to walk swiftly to catch up.

"Lady, I mean no offense but we would rather have a healer tend to our friend…"

"I am the healer." she snapped.

"But… a woman…" Zoisite started, very confused.

"If you do not want a *woman* " The dark haired woman hissed the word at him, clearly offended. "to tend to his wounds, you may leave now. I find we are being quite hospitable in letting you Earth people stay as long as you have." She walked briskly ahead and opened the door to another room. The one with blue hair turned to him.

"Lay him on the bed." She instructed, motioning toward the cot located in the centre of this infirmary. Zoisite compensated, gently laying his friend on the hard mattress.

"Why do you keep referring to us as Earthlings?" Jadeite finally voiced his wonder.

"Well you're from Earth. What else would we call you?" The woman with black hair stated in a matter of fact tone.

"By our names of course." Jadeite shot back. "Do you call each other Earthlings too? Or don't you have names?" the woman bristled.

"Of course we don't call each other Earthlings, such insult! We use our names. However, we will not know each other long enough to warrant introductions. There is no point in learning names."

"I'm afraid that may be inevitable." The healer joined the heated conversation. "The wound reeked of dark magic, he will sleep for a long time and it will take a while to heal completely." She drew the women around her as the men gathered around their prince. "He has a good heart, that one. The poison was running deep within him, to cure it I had to pour some of my own life-force into him. I received a good taste of his spirit in return. Perhaps we should let them stay while he heals. They care about him a lot."

"Let them stay?" Rei hissed. "Ami, have you lost that brilliant mind of yours? They're from Earth, the place that started this whole mess!" Ami sighed and glanced over her shoulder at the men.

"Do you forget so quickly? If we let them stay, there may be hope for the princess. The people of earth are the only ones still awake besides us. After they were cast from the Planetary Kingdoms, they escaped our mothers' spell."

"She does have a point." Makoto stated flatly. "Perhaps we should let them stay." Ami smiled up at her friend. Minako looked at the group.

"Rei?" she prompted. "I won't make a decision until everyone has agreed." Rei sighed heavily.

"Let's listen to their story before we make any decisions. They still make me feel uneasy."

"The Slumber"

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