"The Slumber"
Chapter 6
~Manipulation~
By: Willow Mae

Ami walked into the infirmary, her usually organized thoughts in disarray. Upon entering the infirmary, she crossed to Endymion still asleep on the bed. She quickly ran a few diagnostic tests to see how he was doing, and frowned at the results.

"Well sir, you certainly are quick to heal. If things continue like this, you'll be up by tomorrow morning." She murmured. She went to the nearby shelves and took out a few items. With nimble fingers she mixed together some herbs and oils and filled a needle with the concoction. Taking a deep breath, she went over to her patient once again and slowly injected the needle into his muscular arm. In his sleep, Endymion grimaced at the intrusion. Ami's eyes had a strained look as she finished the process and removed the needle. "For the Princess." She whispered. She watched with a practiced eye as Endymion's body relaxed once more on the bed and he returned to a deeper sleep. Satisfied that he would sleep for a while longer, she left to inform the guests about dinner preparations.

***

Endymion stopped walking for a moment as suddenly, the darkness began to recede. "What's going on?" He demanded.

"You're waking up." The feminine voice replied, obviously distressed. "Please, don't leave me here alone! I don't want to be alone again…" Endymion tried to see the speaker once again, looking around him in the growing light, but the darkness concealed everything but himself. Suddenly, the battle between the lightness surrounding him and the darkness concealing everything else in this dream world broke. Like a wave waiting to crest, the darkness overtook Endymion once again. It swallowed him entirely, and flowed past him, blocking out everything once more.

"Thank you…" the voice whispered.

"For what? I didn't do anything."

"You fell back asleep, that is action enough to thank you for." Endymion sighed. He wasn't sure what was going on.

"You sound closer than you did before." He decided to change the subject. "I'm coming to find you." He set out again, straining his ears to hear any sound that might lead him. Only moments later, he stumbled as he tripped over something in the dark. As he picked himself up, he found himself looking at the beautiful face of a frightened young girl…nay, young woman. She had crystalline blue eyes much like his own, and her ivory cheeks were touched with the color of sunrise. Her hair was a fine silver blonde, and it hung in elegant waves around her frame. It was tied up in two buns on her head, a style that would have looked silly on anyone else but seemed to fit her perfectly.

"Are you the one I was speaking to?" she asked. He recognized the voice, though it had lost the reverb and inhuman quality. He supposed this was because she was close to him, instead of across however far he had wandered to get here.

"Yes, I am. I am Prince Endymion, may I ask who you are, Lady?" he inquired.

"Of course. I am Princess Serenity."

***

Zoisite was lounging in the sitting room when the knock came. He was startled for a moment, but quickly regained himself enough to call out,

"Uh, it's locked…" there was a faint sound of a click and the door swung in smoothly to reveal the blue haired woman on the other side.

"I'm here to inform you that dinner will be ready in an hour and a half. Please be ready by then. Perhaps change into something more suitable. Someone will be here to escort you to the Great Hall." She turned to leave.

"What, you mean that we're not going to be on water and stale bread rations?" Jadeite said sarcastically. He received a hard smack on the arm from Nephrite, who was standing beside him. She narrowed her eyes at the gentlemen.

"Funny." She remarked dryly, trying to maintain manners and still keep an air of politeness. "Until supper." So saying, she turned and left. The three men watched her go.

"They certainly seem friendly enough." Jadeite commented cheerfully. He received another warning glare from Nephrite.

"Perhaps there is a reason behind their coldness. Don't be so quite to judge, Jade." He warned. Jadeite shrugged carelessly.

"Cold or not, they certainly are beautiful." Zoisite murmured. The others turned and looked at him in shock. There was silence for a moment then Jadeite gave him a hearty slap on the back.

"Zoi, I never thought I'd live to see the day you checked out a girl!" he laughed as Zoisite shot daggers at him through his eyes, though the man's cheeks had colored ever so slightly.

"What's the news?" Kunzite asked, coming from his room to join the others.

"Dinner. We're supposed to get prepared." Nephrite reported.

"Ah. Well, we should probably change into something more suitable then." Kunzite replied.

"Kunzite, we don't exactly have any other outfits." Jadeite raised his eyebrows and his voice was sarcastic.

"I thought we were trained to be more observant." Kunzite said nonchalantly. "If you had examined your rooms thoroughly, you might have noticed the strange wardrobes in every bedchamber. Apparently, they produce clothes for whatever purpose is needed. Quite extraordinary, really, I wonder how they manage that. Perhaps I'll ask at dinner…come, let's prepare, shall we?"

The generals looked at each other for a moment, and shrugging, went back into their rooms to freshen up before dinner.

***

The throne room was dark and gruesome, sinister shadows lurking in the walls. A large throne was in the centre of the room, and seated upon it was the current Queen of Earth. Beryl rested her elbow on the black throne and leaned her beautiful head in her hand as the youma before her gave its report.

"They got away…" Beryl mused, interrupting the youma's description of the battle. Her voice was sweet and held none of its usual wrath. Somehow, this terrified her minions even more, and they shrank back from the throne, afraid of what she might do.

"They got away," she repeated, her lips parting into a soft smile.

"Yes, my Queen, forgive us…" the youma pleaded. Beryl lifted her arm and shooed it away. Relieved, the youma scurried back into the ranks assembled in the hall.

"They got away!" Beryl was amused. "They got away…" she began to giggle softly, a light of joy shining in her violet eyes. "They escaped, they got away! Ha!" her giggles turned into uproarious laughter. Startled, her minions were silent for a moment as they watched their mistress's strange reaction to the news.

"Well, Endymion, you certainly are making this fun. It's more enjoyable than I thought." She said to herself. She stopped laughing and looked out at her followers, her face gone hard again. "Well, what are you standing there for? Find them!"

"Yes, my queen." Almost immediately, the throne room was empty, leaving Beryl alone with her thoughts.

"Where have you gone, my dear prince?" she murmured quietly. "What are you planning now?"

"The Slumber"

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