Chapter Five: Birthday Masquerade
The Moon Kingdom...
For Princess Serena's fourteenth birthday party the King and Queen decided to throw her a masquerade party. Princess Serena was up in her room figuring out what to wear when a knock came at her door. "Come in." The young princess hollered from her large closet. "Serena, dear, are you ready?" A soft femine voice asked as she entered the room. The young princess poked her head out of the closet. "Mama I can't find my costume.." She whined. The Queen smiled softly at her daughter as she walked towards the closet door. "Well then we will have to make one out of what you have." The Queen said gently as she looked through her daughters dresses. "Here we go." She said as she pulled out a silver shimmering dress. "Put this on and I will be back in a moment." She said as she handed her daughter the dress and left her room.
Serena put on the silver dress and her silver glittered dress shoes. After a few moments the Queen walked back into her daughters room holding a large silver box. "What's that mama?" Serena asked as her mother sat the box down on her bed next to her. "This my dear, is the rest of your costume. " She said as she slowly opened the lid of the box. The young princess's eyes brightened up at what was in the box. The Queen pulled out a large set of white feathered wings. Princess Serena stood up and turned her back to her mother as she gently pinned the wings on to the back of the dress. When the Queen was finished she turned her daughter around and pulled out a silver mask that was out lined with white feathers to match the wings. Princess Serena giggled as she skipped over to her vanity mirror and looked at her refelection.
"Oh mama, it's perfect!" Serena squealed as she ran to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Thank you." She whispered. The Queen wrapped her arms around her daughter and hugged her back. "Your welcome dear. Now come on, you don't want to be late for your own party." Queen Serenity said as she pulled out of the hug. Serena nodded and followed her mother out of her room.
They stood at the top of the stairs and looked down at the ball room. "Have a magical night my dear." The Queen said as she walked away from her daughter. Serena took a deep breath as she stared down at all the people who had come to her party. After a moment she lifted the front of her dress and slowly glided gracefully down the stairs, leading to the ball room.
On the right side of the room there was a large group of teenagers taking up two table. At the one table was five young men. Each dressed in a Tuxedo with mask over their eyes. At the other table was five young girls each one wearing a different styled and colored dress and different styled masked. The young girls were giggling and talking amongst themselves when a young man approached them. "Ladies." He said as he bowed. They giggled and smiled at him. "What can we do for you sir?" The one in a red gown asked. "You haven't by any chance seen, my sister, have you?" He asked as he stood tall and smiled. "Depends, who is your sister?" She asked playfully. He stared at her as her long black hair was pulled around and laid over her right shoulder. "Now Rae, my costume isn't that good." He said with teasing eyes. Rae stared at him. "Your right Sam, your costume doesn't hide your identity very well." She said with a sly smile. "And neither does yours." He said as he grinned. "It's not suppose to.." She growled. Sam chuckled slightly at her irritation.
The guys chuckled at Rae until she shot them an evil glare. The young man in a black tuxedo looked up from his drink to find what appeared to be an angel walking down the stairs. In that moment he was mesmerized by her beauty and a firey feeling burn intensly inside of his heart. He slowly stood up and walked towards her. "Dar? Where are you going?" Samuel asked as they all watched him walk away from the table.
She stepped onto the ballroom floor to be greeted by a man in a black tuxedo. "Princess, may I have this dance?" He asked as he bowed slightly and held his hand out for hers. A soft small of delight spread across her lips as she stared down at his ebony black hair. "But of course, Prince Darien." She said sweetly as she placed her hand in his. He smiled softly as he gently lead her to the center of the dance floor.
"Look you guys!" The blonde haired girl sitting next to Rae squealed as she pointed at them. "Are they really dancing together?" Rae asked in shock. "Looks that way." Samuel answered as he sat down next to the blue haired girl. "I can't believe this..usually they are at each other's throats." The brunette girl said in shock. The others chuckled as they watched in amazement.
He stared into her beautiful sapphire blue eyes as they danced gracefully across the floor. 'I never realized how beautiful this meatball head was.' He thought to himself. She stared back into his mid night blue eyes and found herself lost in them. 'This night couldn't be anymore perfect.' She thought.
The King and Queen watched them from the balcony, that over looked the ball room. "Oh Jonathan, look at them." Queen Serenity said with a smile. "Yes, I see them. They are finally getting along. " He said softly as he placed an around the queens waist. "Yes and they almost look like their in love.." The King frowned at his queen's statement. "I hope that's not true.." He said sadly. The Queen looked up at her husband. "Why is that?" She asked. "Oh Serenity, don't you remember? Eric and I came to an agreement that Serena and Roman would be married." "Right..." She answered sadly as she gazed back down at the two.
"Ouch!" Darien groaned as Serena accidently stepped on his foot. She turned a bright shade of red as they stopped dancing. "I'm so sorry." She whispered. "Watch what your doing, meatball head." Darien groaned. She could feel her heart racing and a knot tighting up in her stomach. "I was wondering when your ol' jerk self was going to come out." She said angerily through greeted teeth. "Well if you had been paying attention and hadn't stomped on my foot.." He began as he looked up at her as they stood in the center of the ball room. Hurt and frustration was shown all over her face as she stood there silently staring at the blue marble floor. He sighed and lifted her chin with his finger, so he could look into her beautiful blue eyes.
"I'm sorry, Serena." He said softly as she stared into his eyes. "Do you want to continue dancing?" He asked. "Are sure you want to? I might step on your feet again." She asked nervously. He smiled as he noticed the nervous look in her eyes. "Yes." He said as he pulled her close to him as they began to dance again. Her heart began to race once again as she tensed up. "Relax, it just me 'the big ol' jerk." He whispered as he stared into her eyes. She looked up at him and smiled trying to hide her nervousness.
While the two of them danced Samuel stood up and looked over at the young princess in black. "Princess Alaynia, would you do me the honor of having a dance with me?" He asked as he held out his hand for her. She looked up at him and smiled. "Of course." She said as she stood and took his hand. He led her to the dance floor as they began to dance. The four remaining Knights followed suit and asked each princess of their planet to dance.
As they became lost with in another, everyone around them seemed to vanish from their minds. Then suddenly a strange feeling washed over her. Darien watched as her beautiful smile faded and was replaced with a frown. "What's wrong?" He asked. Cold chills ran down her spin as she stopped dancing. "Serena?" Darien asked as the lights flickered and the windows to the ballroom shattered. She heard screams come from all around her as she felt Darien's strong arms wrap around her and pull her close to him, to shield her from the shattered glass that flew around them.
A shadow figure appeared in a dark cloud as everyone looked up at him. "Lord Hector...Why have you come?" King Jonathan shouted angerily. Lord Hector said nothing as he shot a dark blast of energy at the King and Queen. They quickly jumped out of the path of the blast as it hit the wall. Suddenly several of Lord Hector's men appeared in the ballroom. Party guest ran to the nearst exits screaming in terror. Darien looked down at Serena. "Come on.." He whispered as he took her hand and ran towards the nearest exit. "Not so fast!" Lord Hector shouted as the exit doors slammed closed. Darien and Serena stopped in front of the closed doors.
"She's mine, Earth Prince..." Hector growled as he turned his attention towards them. They turned around to find Hector walking towards them. Darien pulled Serena behind him as he pulled out his black sword handle. "In your dreams, Hector...Earth Prince Power!" Darien shouted. A red light swirled around him and his sword as his black and red armored knight suit appeared along with a red blade. "Earth Rose Beam..Slice!" He shouted as he aimed his sword at Lord Hector. A red beam shot from the tip of the blade and hurrled towards Lord Hector. "Ahh!" Hector growled as the beam sliced the side of his arm.
"Jupiter Lighting Bolt..Crash!" Jupiter Knight yelled as the blade of his sword glowed bright green. A lighting bolt shot out of the tip and killed a few of Hectors men. "Mercury Ice Crystals...Shatter!" Mercury Knight yelled as his ice crystals pierced through a few of Hectors men. Lord Hector looked around as he watched the knights one by one kill his men. Anger rose inside of him as he rose in the air. "This isn't over...Jonathan...I will return and your daughter will be mine..." He growled as he vanished.