A/N: Thank you to little princess of mercury for reviewing! Out of 22 hits, only one review…but that's enough for me to write the next chapter! So here it is! Oh, and Akane, from now on your name is QQ!
QQ, formally Akane: …QQ…?
:nods: yep. Get used to it.
QQ: -.-;;;
Oh, and I apologise if Michiru seemed out of character. Same for any other characters.
QQ: She is out of character…
:duct tapes QQ's mouth shut:
I don't own Sailor Moon or Fairy Realm. I only own the plot (not the Granny's bracelet getting stolen part), and some of the characters. Oh, and I don't own Sydenham either. It's a suburb in Sydney, Australia.
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Chapter 2: Temporary Queen
"Why are we here?" Rei asked the Queen.
The Queen did not answer immediately. Instead, she said, "There was a disturbance at the border of Fairy Realm. Seeing as Usagi is the granddaughter of the rightful Queen, I want her to take over the throne temporarily while I go to the border. Haruka and Michiru have agreed to help. You other girls can help as well."
There was a silence as the words sunk in. It was suddenly broken by Usagi.
"WHAT??? But I can't look after Fairy Realm! I'm only eight years old!"
"Please, please do! If you can't, then I have to let Nehellenia look after Fairy Realm, but I can't!"
"Why not?" Usagi was curious. When the Queen had said Nehellenia's name, the air seemed to drop a few degrees, and the others in the room had all gasped.
"She's to…ambitious." The Queen didn't say anymore.
"But your majesty…" Usagi began.
"Please! Don't call me 'majesty'! It makes me feel old! Call me Kakyuu." The Queen interrupted. If the atmosphere hadn't been so tense, Michiru would've started laughing.
"But Kakyuu, how will Fairy Realm react to an eight year old being the temporary Queen?"
"Don't worry. They will trust and love you. After all you are Serenity's granddaughter. The people love Serenity." Kakyuu reassured Usagi.
"Don't worry, Usagi. Michiru and I will help you." Haruka said. Michiru nodded in agreement.
"Thank you!" Usagi said. She was truly grateful to the two princesses.
"We'll help too!" Minako, Makoto, Rei, Hotaru and Ami said.
"Thank you all!"
ooOoo
When the Queen and her entourage left the Crystal Palace after informing Fairy Realm of their temporary Queen, Usagi sat in the Council Chamber. The Council Meetings continued even though Kakyuu had left for the border. Beside her was Haruka. Michiru was in the stream that ran alongside the throne. The other girls were barred from the Chamber. When the meeting began, Usagi finally knew why Kakyuu hated these Meetings and why Haruka looked like she was going to fall asleep at any moment.
Council Meetings were held every week. But since the disturbance at the border, they were held three times every week. The Council itself consisted of sixteen members. About half of them were elves, while the other half were of other races (eg. dwarves). Usagi felt nervous. Not only because everyone else was older than herself, but also with the topic: What to do with the Ghouls who were causing havoc in the nearby village of Sydenham. Not that they were asking Usagi, or Queen Usagi as everyone was calling her now, to deal with it, it was just that Usagi didn't like Ghouls. Or vampires, or ghosts, or anything of that type. Well, what else did you expect of an eight year old?
"Your highness, the ghoul crisis in Sydenham is escalating. If we don't do something soon, well, it won't be good!" One of the councillors, Kunzite, said. He was also the captain of the Queen's Guard, but due to his role as one of the Councillors, he couldn't leave for the border.
Haruka answered for Usagi. "The Queen understands that, it's just who can we send? Sydenham is many miles away, and most of the army are at the border."
Kunzite glared at Haruka for a second, trying to rein his anger in. He had never really liked Haruka. "We can send half of the palace guards."
"And leave the palace unguarded? You know very well there are only thirty guards, don't you?" Michiru butted in.
Kunzite closed his eyes for a second. He never liked Michiru for that matter either. "Fifteen guards should be enough to deal with the Ghoul crisis."
"It seems someone hasn't been studying their enemy. Or at least ghouls." A voice said from the shadows. A figure could be seen, leaning against the wall. The figure came out from the shadows a few seconds later. It was a cloaked figure, hunched over a crystal ball, who everyone except Usagi knew as Wiseman. He was a mysterious…thing. No one had ever seen what he looked like. Not that anyone wanted to.
Kunzite didn't answer. It was best not to anger Wiseman. Once, when Kunzite had said a snide comment about Wiseman, Wiseman had managed to blow up half of the East Wing of the palace. He used magic to fix it later, though. After that incident, no one dared anger him. Except Queen Kakyuu.
There was an uncomfortable silence, which Usagi broke. "What shall we do then? We can't abandon Sydenham."
"We won't, Majesty. I can go." Haruka said. Usagi was about to protest, so Haruka added, "A few Ghouls aren't gonna scare me. I've dealt with things far worse." Only Michiru knew what she was talking about when she said 'things far worse'.
"Now I wish I had legs. I wanna go with you!" Michiru pretended to sulk. The whole room sweat-dropped. Usagi started giggling.
Before Haruka could reply, Setsuna, the Queen's advisor, cut in, "Haruka, you go and deal with the Ghouls, but make sure you take a few Sky Warriors with you. And no complaints. Majesty, I suggest you send ships so the people can escape by sea. Michiru, you can go and make sure the ships make it, and that there aren't any Ghouls onboard." Of course, it wasn't really a suggestion. Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru had made a lot of decisions on Usagi's behalf. This was no different.
"Sure." Michiru said. "Come on, Haruka." And with that she bowed towards Usagi, sent a glare towards Kunzite, and dived under the water, going out of the palace. Haruka just ran out of the door after bowing.
Thank goodness. Setsuna thought. Another crisis avoided. "I'll go and make sure the ships arrive at Sydenham." She bowed, and teleported out of the room, going towards the docks.
With all three of her advisors not here, Usagi felt very vulnerable. But then she remembered the very quick lesson on Council Meetings Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru had given her.
"Is there anything else to discuss?" Usagi said, not quietly, but just loud enough so that she could be heard.
Each Council Member shook their head.
"Then, the Council is released."
The Council stood up, and after bowing at Usagi, left the room in a very orderly fashion. When the room was empty except for Usagi, Setsuna teleported back.
"The ships are on their way, Usagi." Setsuna dropped the formal title when no one else was in the room.
"That's good, Setsuna." Usagi was tired after the Council Meeting. "Where do I stay, Setsuna?"
"Oh, I almost forgot about that! Follow me." Setsuna walked towards the door. Usagi followed slowly. They walked towards the West Wing of the palace, the wing that was reserved for Royalty. Stopping at the second door on the right, Setsuna opened the door, and Usagi gasped at what she saw.
Her room had a gold velvet lounge suite, a medium-sized silver-rimmed table and chairs, and a giant four-poster bed draped with gold lace and covered with shiny pink-coloured pillows.
"If you need anything, just ring the bell beside the bed." Setsuna said, before adding, "If you want to talk about anything, I'm right next door. Door number three." And she left Usagi to look at her room by herself.
First thing Usagi did was to lie down on the bed, and fall asleep. She was sleepy after the Meeting.
Meanwhile…
"I swear Nehellenia was wearing a charm bracelet!" Minako said.
The other girls only sighed. Minako had been going on about that for the past thirty minutes. Not that any of the girls didn't believe her, they had all seen it, it was just Nehellenia was too strong for any of them, even if they could use magic. And they could. Rei was a Fire Mage, Ami an Ice Mage, Makoto a Lightning Mage, and Minako a Light Mage. And although she denies it to anyone who asks, Hotaru was a Darkness Mage. A fully-fledged Darkness Mage, unlike the others, who were in training. Being a Darkness Mage didn't mean you were Dark. It all depended on what the Mage used his/her power for. In Hotaru's case, she only used her power to help the others practise their powers.
Nehellenia was a Darkness Mage, and she used her power to manipulate people and destroy. Which meant she was Dark.
"Minako, I swear, if you say that one more time, I'm gonna burn you into crisp!" Rei all but screamed. That shut Minako up, and she didn't say anything until they returned to their cottage.
ooOoo
Haruka stood in the middle of Sydenham, surveying the damage. Half of the houses had been knocked down, and the houses that hadn't been were either in a mess or had their windows and doors broken. Good news was that there had been no deaths. Well, excluding Ghouls.
"Your highness, all the Ghouls have been destroyed." Said one of the Sky Warriors, Kaze being his name. Kaze was the Captain of the Sky Warriors. Also the only one Haruka could have a decent sword fight with.
"Good." Haruka didn't bother correcting him when he said 'your highness'. She had tried many times, only for him to say he had to stick to protocol. Which meant calling Haruka 'you highness' even if she didn't like it.
Haruka ran from the village centre towards the sea, looking for Michiru. She found her sitting on the beach, tending to a small cut on her arm.
"How'd you get that?" Haruka asked. There was no danger, since Ghoul weapons weren't poisoned like goblin and vampire weapons were, she was just curious.
"A Ghoul scratched me. Nothing much really. I've had worse." Michiru replied.
"Yea…" Haruka drifted off in her memories.
ooOoo
I finished another chapter! Yippee! Please review, by the way. No flames.
Yes, I know, when is there going to be some action??? Soon, I promise. You'll notice I didn't write about the actual battle between Haruka and the Ghouls. I can't write fight scenes. Read Sailor Moon: Start of a New Legend and you'll see.
QQ: Bribery…
Can it be counted as bribery? Anyway, next chapter should be out soon, so tune in next time on Charm Bracelet!!! Why did I just sound like a TV show?
QQ: o.O
ooOoo
Date created: 22 January 2008
Date edited: 24 January 2008
