Thanks again for reviweing, it really does mean a lot to me! :D
So, I'm trying to draw this story to a close but it'll be several more chapters before I actually reach the finale of this fanfic.
Anyway, here it is, the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon
"Endymion!" Mars cried, going at a failing attempt to conceal her revelation. "What are you doing home so early? You still have two more days before it's a week."
As much as Mars was grateful of Endymion being back at the palace and by her side, she still needed to buy a bit more time to entirely polish her scheme in ridding Sierra.
Endymion on the other hand didn't seem to notice how flabbergasted Mars was; his head was still spinning from the image of Serena and Seiya disappearing into the house together yesterday. There was something about those two being together that utterly infuriated him.
"Never mind me. Where's Mercury? I need to speak to her, it's urgent."
"Why?" Mars asked, deliberately allowing suspicion to drip from her tone.
No reply. Instead, Endymion is rummaging through the mahogany drawers.
"What in the world are you looking for?"
"Nothing important."
"Fine, then. If you're not looking for anything important, do you mind if we have a talk?"
Endymion snaps his head up from the open drawer it was buried into and stares at Mars as if he's waiting for her to say more. Like she was joking or something along those lines. But when silence closes in, Endymion realizes that she's humourless. "A talk?" He drawls. "Sure, I guess." He closes the open drawers and proceeds to his desk to toy with his pens, waiting for his wife to speak.
"Kiki said she saw you cuddling up with a girl in Crystal Tokyo the other day." Mars sounded sane and calm, as if she was merely regurgitating a fact from a textbook and not accusing her husband of infidelity.
But in contrast, Endymion was hysterical. "You spied on me? And what right do you have to do that?"
Mars was taken aback and felt her jaw unhinge. "The right of being your wife!"
Endymion shook his head, a mocking grin creeping across his face. "Ha! You were no more a wife to me than that chair was! For as long as I live, I will have one and only one wife and that is Serenity. Nothing, absolutely nothing is going to change that!" Endymion knew what he just said would hurt Mars but he was fuming and riled of the fact Serenity was gone and even Serena was now lost to him with gratitude to Seiya. The reality never hurt him so much before. Even on the day Serenity left him.
Even now that he just wanted to be with Serena for a few moments, the world was restricting him. He needed someone to blame and at the moment, Mars was the only person for the role.
He couldn't help it. His temper was sputtering out of control.
The tears that were long pooling in Mars' eyes began to slobber down her cheeks. She had to lean against the bed in order to avoid toppling over from disbelief and heartbreak. The next thing that crawled out of her mouth presented itself in a mere whisper. "I never knew you felt this way all along. After all these years, seventeen long years, after all I've done for you, you still haven't forgotten her."
Endymion ignored her comment and headed toward the doors of the chamber when Mars screeched out this next part at him, a threat.
"But if you ever dare take a mistress, Endymion, mark my words, I will make your life merciless!" By now, Mars was weeping frantically.
They both knew who Mars meant. The girl Endymion was "cuddling up" with. Serena. Sierra.
Again, ignoring her ultimatum, Endymion resumed his stride toward the doors and left it swinging behind him. When Mars looked at the doors again, she saw several meddlesome maids peering into the room, happily devouring the scene that viciously unfurled.
Mars confidently marched up to the doors and slammed them shut in the maids' prying faces as if her position as Queen of Crystal Tokyo was never in jeopardy.
She then collapsed onto the bed and before long, found retreat in slumber.
"I'm back!" Sierra announced in a sing-song voice to the kitchen staff.
There was no response. Everyone ignored her and continued with whatever they were doing as if she never said anything.
Sierra shrugged and began skipping around the kitchen to see where ever help was needed. Sierra had already dropped off her bags in her employee dorm room and gotten into her maid uniform with her hair neatly brought back in a bun. No one in the palace has witnessed her in her pig tails.
Well, no one except Lady Mars and King Endymion.
When Sierra skipped over to Kiki who was chopping onions, she was finally offered a welcome greeting.
Well, sort of.
"You seem to be in an awfully cheerful mood," was what Kiki said. She passed Sierra a knife and a few onions to chop.
"Well, a trip to the city is very refreshing."
Sierra quickly scanned the spacious kitchen and the faces of the maids doing their strenuous labour. "Why is everyone so gloomy?"
Kiki had a mischievous grin lashing out across her face. "Lady Mars and King Endymion got into a huge fight earlier this evening. It's rumoured that they'll either get an annulment or the king will take a mistress. That's why everyone here is doing their very best to impress because they don't want to get fired by the crummy mood of the monarchs."
"Whoa."
"Yeah. Some of these girls are even getting the most expensive makeup into the palace because they want to look their best so they can be the mistress that the king will take."
Tears were beginning to cloud Sierra's eyes from the stench of the sliced onions. "Well, that's incredibly stupid. How are they going to compete with Lady Mars? They're just asking for trouble, if you're asking me."
"Well, if you ask me, I think Lady Mars deserves some competition to show her that she isn't all mighty and superior. She needs someone to show her up."
Sierra would have rolled her eyes but the water in her sockets prevented her from doing so. "Then I'm guessing you're also throwing yourself into the ring as well? To win the king's heart?"
Kiki stifled a giggle. "Of course. I'd be insane not to. I mean, he's smart, brave, handsome, and—"
"And don't forget obnoxious, rude, and oh, that he's still head over heels in love with Serenity and married to Lady Mars."
"Sierra, you take the fun out of everything, don't you?"
Sierra dismissed the comment and instead, moved on to a question of more serious matter. "How's King Endymion, anyway?"
"Locked up in a room in the palace's tower. Either he's ashamed of what he said to Lady Mars, which I highly doubt, or he's fuming in that room and thinking about what he's going to do next. He's been up there for hours and no one has dared disturb him."
Sierra then dropped her knife, shoved the onion choppings to aside and wiggled out of her apron.
Before Sierra completely stepped out of the kitchen, Kiki called behind her. "What in the world are you doing?"
Sierra beamed at her. "Doing what no one else has dared to do," and she dashed out into the palace garden.
Endymion stood on the balcony of the tower, looking down over the gardens and Crystal Tokyo while sweet little Diana was stretched out across the balcony's banister. The kitten purred under Endymion's gentle strokes.
As all girls would.
"I just miss her so much. Apart from her looks, she's still so much like Serenity. Her wit, her charm, her kindness for others. But she's also different in such a way that intoxicates me. She's so mysterious and I just want to know more about her. I want to see her again."
Endymion then looks down at the petit feline and scratches her lovingly behind the ears. "Is that so much to ask?"
But Diana is too distracted by the hypnotic scratching to give him a response. After all, innocent kittens have more important things to worry about than the matters of love.
Like whether or not they're going to get a back scratch.
Endymion smiled at his daughter's kitten until a crisp knock cracked at the door. His serene mood was suddenly shattered.
"Go. Away," he rumbled.
But the knocking continued.
"Leave."
Now, instead of a knock, there was a voice. "Your majesty, I will not leave until you let me in."
"Did Mars send you?"
"No, I came here voluntarily."
"Why?"
"Because you must be hungry."
This was ridiculous. They were yelling back and forth with a door stationed solidly between them.
Diana finally spoke up in her high, shrilly voice. "My king, Diana thinks you should let her in. She seems nice."
Endymion reluctantly granted permit for the maid on the other side to enter because a pinkish-purple kitten told him so.
But Endymion recognized the maid and he decided to give her a chance, recalling that Rini was particularly fond of this girl. "Sierra, is it?"
At the sound of her name through his lips, Sierra's stomach dropped a thousand feet and her pulse was hammering hard against her ear. She swore it was clearly audible from where Endymion stood and was booming across the room. Sierra suddenly lost her tongue.
She simply nodded in assurance.
Sierra was fighting an attraction since that faithful day in her backyard. Instead of a cold hearted monarch, that day Sierra saw Endymion for a tender, ordinary gentleman that was thoughtful and teasing. There was something about him that causes her breath to get caught in her throat and her heart to stutter before it frantically accelerates. This was a sentiment that Seiya just cannot offer to her.
Sierra has fallen helplessly in love.
But then again, Sierra knew that there was an undeniable attraction between her and Seiya as well but it just wasn't the same.
Sierra then shook herself out of her thoughts and brought her focus back to the king. She began to open her mouth to speak but the king spoke instead.
"Would you mind cleaning up after Diana? It seems she's left a hideous mess. I would do it myself but I promised Rini to read her a story tonight. Thank you."
And with that request, Endymion scooped up Diana and departed the luxurious tower chamber to fulfil his promise.
Before Sierra could even oblige, she was already left alone in the vast room clutching a tray of food with an odorous muddle to scrub.
Her stomach practically imploded from disappointment. She fell faster than she soared.
At least he said 'thank you' she thought.
Who was she kidding? When she's a maid, she's only Sierra. But when she has her pigtails, she's beloved Serena. How in the world is she supposed to compete with a deceased Serenity, Lady Mars, and now a rumoured mistress?
She's not going to compete, that's what she's going to do. She's not going to put up with the stress and steal a husband. Instead, she's going to be an obedient maid and do what she's told.
Sierra angrily slammed the tray on a nearby table and started with the mess.
It seems that Endymion had broken two hearts that evening.
So, what do you think? Any thoughts on Sierra, Endymion, and Mars?