Playing with fire.
Part one: You're playing a dangerous game, Princess.
From the moment she found Princess Serenity and Princess Darlene she could tell that something was up.
Aithne wasn't stupid. She was well aware of the Serenity's misadventures and daydreams. Really, it was rather childish of her. Serenity was meant to be the future ruler of the Moon Kingdom. She needed to get her act together and focus on her studies rather then gallivanting around all day and getting nothing done.
It was so frustrating. When they had came into their powers they were assigned to be Princess Serenity's soldiers. That meant that they were the ones who protected her and guided her through any trials and tribulations. But, Serenity didn't see them as her protectors. She told them that they were of equal rank and that she wanted to become friends with them. The others accepted Serenity's kindness straight away whilst Aithne decided that they should just be acquaintances, at least to begin with.
Now though it seemed like Darlene was encouraging the Princess to run off whenever she pleased. There again what else did she expected from the daughter of Queen Aphrodite?
"Where have you two been?" She demanded.
Serenity and Darlene jumped as soon as she said that. They had been too busy talking and laughing with each other that they didn't notice the Martian until it was too late. Aithne crossed her arms, she had her eye brow raised as she was waiting for one of the Princesses to start talking.
"O-oh. Hi, Aithne. How are you today?" Serenity said.
"Don't give me that waffle, Serenity. You were suppose to be doing your Princess lessons in the library yet you decided to run of again." Aithne scolded her.
Serenity hanged her in shame, she looked like she was about to cry. Perhaps it was a bit too much but, if they weren't more stricter with Serenity. then she wouldn't be able to give them the slip ever now and then. Aithne turned her eyes on Darlene. The Venusian looked ready to defend her Princess. Good. Aithne had been itching for a fight all day. What she would give to be on her home Planet and in the combat room with her Brothers.
"Don't be too harsh on her, Aithne. Serenity is perfectly safe and no harm has come to her. I made sure of that." Darlene replied.
Aithne sighed. "Its not about that, Darlene. Its about taking responsibility for her actions and focusing on her studies. Serenity is to be the future ruler on the Moon, she shouldn't be running away all the time. And really, Darlene, you shouldn't be encouraging such behaviour. I would've thought that you would have brought her home instead of gallivanting around with her."
"Gallivanting!" Darlene exclaimed. She was ready to transform. "I'll have you know that I was watching Princess Serenity whilst she was on Earth. And now I know the reason as to why she has been running down to Earth."
"Did you find them, Aithne?" A gentle voice asked from behind her.
Turning around she saw two ladies about the same age as her. The shorter one of the two had short blue hair and blue eyes, whilst the taller one had chestnut brown hair which was neatly done up in ponytail and green eyes. The bluenette was Princess Halimeda and the brunette was Princess Josephine.
"You can tell them." Serenity said.
Darlene nodded to her before turning back to there friends. "Princess Serenity has been meeting somebody on Earth. His name is Prince Endymion and she is in love with him."
Aithne scoffed. Really? Love. This was what it was about. Princess Serenity was in love with somebody, and with the crowned Prince of Earth no less. Just what were thinking? It was one thing to go down Earth in the first place, it was another to start a relationship with the crowned Prince of Earth. Relations between the Moon and Earth were forbidden, Queen Serenity's own Mother put that rule into place. If anybody found out about what they were doing it could be disastrous for all of them, and they were already on thin ice as it is.
It was Josephine who spoke up, voicing her concerns. "As wonderful as that is, Serenity, these little outing have to stop. We can't keep covering for you each time you decide to run away. Especially since the place you're running of to is Earth."
Darlene sighed. "Its not that simple, Josie. Serenity and Endymion have a special connection, one that cannot be broken."
"What do you mean, Lena?" Halimeda asked.
"Before I went looking for Serenity I had a feeling she had gone down to Earth again, only this time the feeling was much more stronger that before. So, I went after her and eventually I found out the reason as to why she had been going down Earth in the first place. She was meeting with Prince Endymion and, yes Aithne, they are in love with each other." Darlene explained. She gave Aithne a glare, a warning not to say anything negative about Serenity's feelings. She carried on. "As I told you before Serenity and Endymion have special connection, one that binds them together. They are connected by a red string of fate."
"What is the red string of fate?" Josephine asked. "And, what's so important about it?"
"As the name implies two lovers are connected to each other. Serenity and Endymion are meant to be together, even if its goes against the rules created by the Queen Serenity's Mother." Darlene explained. "The reason as to why its important is because if somebody was to come in between them then it would be disastrous for the people involved." Darlene explained.
"So, from what your telling us, it sounds like Serenity and Endymion are soul-mates and by forcing them to never see each other again, or if something came in between them, then it would be dangerous for everybody around them, themselves included." Halimeda supplemented.
"Exactly. That's why I'm proposing..."
"Darlene, you not seriously suggesting..."
"I am, Aithne. I know it goes against everything we and our Mothers have worked for but it would only make Serenity and Endymion more determined to see each other." Darlene replied. "We just need to do some careful planning."
Aithne was staring at the Venusian is disbelief. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Darlene was suggesting that they should allow Serenity to continue her little outings. It was reckless. Anybody could've found out about this and there was no need for them to add more fuel to the fire. Besides only Serenity and Darlene had seen Endymion face to face. They had never seen the man before and, even though both blondes had spoken nothing but positives words about the Earth Prince, they were asking her and the others to take a lot on faith.
She could only guess at what type of man Endymion was. He could be sweet or humble, kind or generous, violent or stubborn. It would be wrong of her to judge the man without seeing him first but, unlike some, she stuck to the rules they had to abided by.
She looked over to Halimeda and Josephine. They hadn't said much as Serenity and Darlene explained themselves, they had been equally worried for the Moon Princess's safety.
"Am I the only one who has a problem with this?" She questioned. "Its bad enough that we are allowing Serenity to keep sneaking off whenever she wants but this... This is just asking for trouble."
"I have my concerns about the matter, Aithne, but its more to do with Serenity's protecting then anything else." Josephine told her. She turned to look at Princess Serenity. "I'm sure this Endymion fellow is a nice man but we don't know that much about him, least of all what he thinks about the Lunarians. He might be kind to you now but he could easily take advantage of your kindness. Then there's the people of Earth themselves. We all know how they feel about us and if they were to find out about what was going on between you and the Earthen Prince then they could use it against the Lunarians. We could go to war over something like this."
"I understand how you feel, Josie. But Endy wouldn't harm me like that." Serenity said.
Darlene nodded. "I saw the way the two were interacting with each other. Endymion was kind and gentle to her. He loves her and is willing to protect her."
"He says that now but what happens if her back is turned?" Aithne questioned.
"That's why we will take it in turns to chaperone Serenity down to Earth. That way we can protect her from anybody who want to harm her." Darlene countered. "Is that alright, Aithne?"
Aithne was about to protest but, upon seeing the pleading look on Serenity's face she decided to back down. She knew Serenity hated it when they fought with each other, even though she had a valued reason, and right now the last thing any of them wanted was to cause a scene - though Aithne couldn't help but wonder how long it would be until somebody found them. At least Darlene had a plan on how to deal with Serenity complicated love life. Whilst it was still reckless, she and the her fellow Princesses weren't exactly defenceless and they could easily defend themselves if needed.
Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that but you never know when you need to defend yourself.
Darlene explained her plan to them. They would have wear cloaks to disguise themselves, they could pass for oracles if anybody were to see them. The people of Earth didn't exactly know what the Moon Princess looked like but if they saw her with Endymion, or saw the symbol on Serenity's forehead for that matter, then they would be able to put two and two together and they would know just who she was. Serenity could use magic to make the symbol disappear but Aithne didn't know if she could pull it of yet, she was still learning healing magic.
Like Darlene suggested one of them should chaperone Serenity down to Earth whenever she and Endymion wanted to meet - there would have to be some limitations on that as well, perhaps one a week or over the weekend? They would have to take a ship with them, it would be much more easier and comfortable for Serenity. They would have to use the cloaking device when the close to Earth and landing the ship. They would have to be transformed whenever they were on Earth. The people of Earth were probably aware of life on the other planets, that probably meant that they knew about the other royal families as well. It was better to be safe then sorry.
The meetings would have to be scheduled around their own visits to their home world. Even though they were the protectors of Princess Serenity they were allowed to visit their own kingdoms. Serenity herself had suggested the idea to her own Mother. She didn't think it was fair on them that they had to stay on the Moon when they were Princesses in their own right, they should be allowed to see there families and their Kingdoms.
Finally, there was a matter of the actual meetings. So far, according to Darlene, Serenity and Endymion were only seeing each other near the Golden Kingdom of Terra. If Aithne had to guess it had to do with Endymion being in close proximity to the capital that way he could leave without anybody being suspicious. That would have to change. They would have to find a place where they could meet in secret so that no one would find them.
Aithne had to admit it was a good plan, she couldn't help but wonder how long the Venusian was planning this - on top of that she douldn't help but wonder just how long Darlene had allowed these meetings to happen without telling the rest of them. She had always thought that it was suspicious that both Darlene and Serenity had gone missing whenever they needed, at least it made sense now.
However, she couldn't shake the feeling that something unfortunate was going to happen since they had decided to allow the meetings to continue.
Aithne missed being on her home Planet. Despite being full committed to Princess Serenity she wished that she didn't have to stay on the Moon for long period of time. She had a feeling that the other felt the same. It wasn't fair. Serenity had the pleasure of being around her family and her loved ones yet they were only allowed to see there loved ones every so often. They could contact there loved ones in the surveillance room but it wasn't the same. There were no physical interactions, just words.
Sometimes she wished Serenity was a Sailor Soldier. That, or she would be able to defend herself. Aithne didn't understand why Queen Serenity didn't allow her Daughter to take some defence lessons on top of her usual Princess training. The Moon Queen had been a Sailor Soldier before Serenity was born - she still was - and she had been able to defend herself. So why couldn't she allow Serenity to do the same?
Aithne sighed as she changed into something more practical. Whilst she was on Mars she was going make full use of the combat room and continue her training. On the Moon she and her fellow Soldiers had to do mandatory training lessons, they needed to practice their skills and Aithne wasn't going to stack off whilst she staying on Mars. Besides that would go against everything the Martians stood for, they weren't known as the people of war for nothing.
She gave herself the once over as she was tying her long, raven hair into a ponytail. She was wearing a black jumpsuit with a thick material and a red stirp on the shoulders, the arms and trousers. There was a belt around her waist and on her feet were black boots. It was perfect for blending in with the dark. She would have transformed into Sailor Mars but sometimes she needed to train outside of her Soldier form in case she didn't have the time to transform. Besides she didn't exactly like her outfit when she Sailor Mars. Why did her Soldier form consist of a sailor suit, a skirt, two bows, gloves and some heels? That was just asking for trouble.
When she was satisfied with her look she left her room and made her way to the combat room. Aithne and her Brothers had been trained by there parents. She was trained by her Mother, Queen Nuraya, whilst her Brothers had been trained by there Father, King Ignatius. As much as Aithne wanted to train along side her Brothers it made more sense for her to be trained by her Mother. Queen Nuraya was - still is - Sailor Millennium Mars. She had been blessed with elemental power which was connected to her home planet and, of course, Aithne had been blessed with that power. Queen Nuraya was also quite successful with battle magic so who else to train her than somebody who was a Sailor Soldier.
When Aithne entered the combat room they were two people already in there. They were both male. One of them was using a training dummy and the other was meditating by the fireplace. They were her Brothers. They were older than her, but only by a year, and they were twins. There names were Vulcan and Hakan.
Vulcan, the one who was using the training dummy at the moment, had long, wavy red hair that went down to his mid-back, purple eyes and around his chin light facial hair. He was wearing a long-sleeved red body suit, though the pants were a darker shade of red, and a gold breastplate. On his feat were black shoes and on his forehead was an arrow like symbol with a heart at the top of the arrow that was pointing to the left side of his head.
Hakan, the one who was meditating by the fireplace, had dark red hair, which went down to his neck. He was wearing the same red body suit as his brother but his pants were black. On his feet were red shoes. There was also a long, purple cloak which covered his body. He too had the Martian symbol on his forehead but that was covered by the hair fringe which went past his forehead and curved towards the bottom.
Without looking, Vulcan asked. "Aithne, is that you?"
She didn't answer him. Silently, she called upon the fiery bow she uses as Sailor Mars, an arrow was already waiting for her to use. She pulled back the bowstring - her target was the dummy's head - and fired the arrow which went flying towards its target. Vulcan swiftly moved out of the way before the arrow could hit him, having stuck the dummy instead.
Aithne smirked. "Does that answer your question?"
"A simple greeting would have done." Vulcan replied.
Aithne giggled. "You know me, Vul. I never did like the simple approach."
The redhead turned around quickly and, as he did, he threw a dagger at Aithne who quickly ducked before it could hit her. Aithne retaliated, having thrown fire projectiles at him - thankfully, the flames were nothing more than illusions so the flames didn't do anything when they made contact with Vulcan. For the next few minutes Aithne and Vulcan were sending their own projectiles towards each, having dodge or ducked out of the way before the flames could make contact with the other.
Eventually, a shield was put in between the two of them, preventing them from doing anymore damage.
"You two need to tone it down."
They looked over to where Hakan was sitting. His eyes were open, revealing a pair of black eyes. "You're creating a mess. Do you two not remember the last time you did something like this?"
Aithne and Vulcan stiffened in response. The last time they did something like this they combat room was in complete disarray and the room wasn't tidied up when they were finished - it was almost time for dinner when they had finished. Naturally, upon hearing what had happened, their parents weren't happy with them and, as punishment, they told them to clean to the combat room after they had finished eating. They hadn't realised just how messy the room until they went back to the combat room.
There were weapons and scorch marks everywhere, suits of armour and tables had been knocked down, their own weapons had been left on the floor before they went back to their bedrooms in order to make themselves look more presentable.
Seeing as they didn't want a repeat of last time, Aithne and Vulcan decided to start tidying up right away before word got out to their parents.
Hakan shook his head. Sometimes he hated being the voice of reason but he didn't want to his siblings getting into trouble again. Despite watching them, he was preoccupied with his thoughts. He had another visions last night, this one was involving his sister and there was something about it that troubled him. The visions was brief but he could hear other voices besides his Sister's. He saw his Sister down on Earth which should be impossible given the laws set out by Lunar Queen, Queen Merrity. But, somehow, he saw his Sister on Earth in unfamiliar territory. And there was another by her side. A man with blonde hair and blue eyes.
That man, he decided, was troublesome.
But what was even more concerning was the fact that they were on Earth. If anybody found out what she had been doing, then he knew his Sister would get into trouble. He knew they would be punishment involved if anyone found out, though he had no idea what that punishment might be. Somehow he had a feeling that the man he was seeing in his vision was responsible for getting his Sister into potential trouble.
As one of Aithne's older Brothers, and the most wises out of the two of them, it was his responsibility to look out for her. He needed to know if she was in danger. Since she was one of Princess Serenity's protectors, there was only so much he could do for her whilst she was living on the Moon. But, the least he could do for her was point out any potential danger to her.
He concentrated harder, and eventually the vision came to him.
"Oh, so you must be one of the Princess Serenity's protectors. Kunzite already told me Sailor Venus. Between you and me I think he's smitten with her, though he hides it rather well."
"If you know about Kunzite then you must be one of Prince Endymion's protectors then."
"Yes. I'm actually one of the youngest members of Endymion's protectors, second youngest actually. Speaking of my Master, you haven't seen him have you? Its my turn to supervise him today and he gave him the slip when I wasn't looking. I promise it was only for a brief moment."
"We should look for them together then. They're most likely to be hiding somewhere together. They love each other, even if it goes against our rules. That's why Princess Serenity keeps coming down here. Because she wants to see the Prince, and she loves him."
"As he loves her. But, you needn't worry, Sailor Mars. I have known Prince Endymion since childhood. He would never hurt the Moon Princess."
Hakan gasped as soon as the vision ended, thankfully neither Vulcan or Aithne heard him. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he reached out for the glass of water on the near by table. He took a few sips of water, unfortunately the water was no longer cold but he didn't seem to mind. Instead his thoughts were preoccupied with the visions he just had.
The vision he had was quite alarming.
The voices he heard in his vision were the same as the ones before - His Sister and that man again. Princess Serenity had been down to Earth before, and Aithne knew about it - Princess Darlene knew about it as well, and that probably meant that Princess Josephine and Princess Halimeda knew about it too. Hakan shook his head. Just what were they thinking? They were all playing a dangerous game by allowing Princess Serenity to keep visiting Earth.
But where did the young man come into this?
He mentioned the name Endymion, and the word 'protector'. He was one of Prince Endymion's protectors. But Hakan had no idea who he was, he was not familiar with the people of Earth. He only knew about Endymion because his Mother had talked about him on a few occasions, his Mother was friends with the Queen of Earth before the forbidden rule was put in place.
For some reason this man was looking for Endymion, as his Sister was looking for Princess Serenity. Why were they hiding together? They mentioned the word 'love'. Were Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity in a relationship? Or, was this just a simple fling?
…No, he didn't think it was the latter. If this had been going on for a while then there was no way that this was a simple fling. Besides both of them said that Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion loved each other, they wouldn't be willing to risk everything in order to keep seeing each other.
Hakan shook his head. No, this needs to stop. Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion might be in love with each other but they could land in some serious trouble if anybody found out about it. Love is never easy, and there was always the dangerous side to love. And he wasn't going to just sit by and allow his Sister to get into trouble.
He eyed Aithne and Vulcan, the former of the two was showing the redhead her archery skills. He needs to time to think before he confronted his Sister, and that needs to happen whilst Vulcan wasn't in the room - The less people who know the better, and Vulcan wasn't the best at keeping secrets.
With that in mind, Hakan stood up and left the room. Neither Aithne or Vulcan noticed him leaving.
The combat room was quiet now. Vulcan had a lesson with his teacher and Hakan had left the room before either of them had noticed - as far as Aithne knew he didn't have any lessons any time soon so she she didn't think that was the reason as to why he disappeared. But he was definitely hiding something. Much like her Bother, Aithne had the ability to see visions as well. She could do fire readings but Hakan's visions were much more stronger than hers. Surely, if he had seen something, he would've told her by now.
She put that information on hold for now. There was another reason as to why she had came to the combat room in the first place.
She had her right hand out in front of her and she was rubbing it with her left thumb. Lately, she felt her powers getting stronger. She felt something stirring inside of her. She had been trying to create a new attack for a while now. She had come close quite a few times but she hadn't been successful so far. Aithne had hoped that being on her home planet would help her channel the necessary energy she needed in order to create her new attack.
Aithne closed her eyes and concreted. Whispers were coming to her, muttering familiar words that were helping her decided a name for her attack. Yet, nothing was popping out to her. It was almost like the attack she was thinking off wasn't connecting to the right words.
After another five minutes of considering which words would work with her new attack, Aithne let out of sigh. Nothing was working. She was about to give up and start meditating, hoping that with a clear mind she might be able to hear the whisper better, when all of a sudden she heard two words being whispered to her. 'Burning' and 'Inferno'. They seemed to work together, and she muttered the full name of her new attack.
"Mars"
She crossed her hands over her chest allowing phantom flames to engulf her hands.
"Burning"
She turned her hands around and started to create a large circle with her hands. When her hands were at the top and the bottom of the circle she moved them towards her again and crossed her hands over her chest.
"Inferno!"
She moved her hands up slightly upwards so that her arms were crossed. She pulled her arms away quickly and moved them into an arms wide open position. She released the flames, the circle create a horizontal like tornado which went hurdling towards the target dummy and engulfed it. When the attack was finished the flames disappeared, leaving behind a severely scorched target dummy.
Aithne went down on knees, she was feeling lighted-headed and she was panting heavily. She used a lot of energy whilst using that attack, and she needed a moment of rest before she stood up again - Thankfully, no one was in the room to witness her weakness. That would be embarrassing! Aithne took a few deep breaths. It wasn't exactly what she was hoping for. A fiery tornado was what she had in mind but she had hoped for something different. She would need to rework on the movement of her hands. Still though the attack worked, that's the main thing.
"Impressive."
Aithne looking over her shoulder. Hakan was standing by the door, his arms were crossed over his chest. When did he come in?
"Thank you, Hakan. But I'm still working on it." Aithne replied.
Hakan walked over to her and helped her stand. He guided her over to the chairs and helped her sit down. Aithne thanked her Brother as he sat down in the chair next to her, even though she felt guilty for asking for help. She preferred to do things by herself but she was unable to do that at this very moment. Besides she was still feeling a light-headed.
"What exactly are you working on anyway?" The redhead inquired.
"A new attack." Aithne replied. "Lately, I've been feeling my powers getting stronger and I'm trying to put that newfound energy into good use. But, I haven't been successful so far. I was hoping that, by being on my home Planet, I would be able to find out what I am missing without having any distractions."
"Distractions?" Hakon repeated. "Like a Princess running away for example?"
What? Cautiously, she eyed her Brother. Where exactly did he get an idea like that? She didn't exactly know why but dread was building up inside of her, like Hakan was about to reveal something that she didn't want to hear. She was dreading what might happen
"What are you saying , Hakan?" Aithne thought.
"So, do you want to tell me the truth, Aithne?"
The black haired women froze. Did... Did she just hear that right? The truth? What truth? Did he... Oh, he definitely knew alright. He knew about Serenity. That's why he didn't say anything before. …Perhaps he was joking, or maybe he was thinking about another secret she kept from him. Yet, Hakan's face never change. His face was natural, his mouth was in a straight line, there was no glint of mischief in his eyes. She waited a few minutes to see if he would start laughing. He didn't. Aithne gulped, her Brother was dead serious about this.
"I... I don't know what you are talking about." Aithne denied.
Hakan shook his head. "Your a terrible liar, Aithne. You know exactly what I am talking about. You know about Princess Serenity go to Earth."
Aithne felt her blood run cold. How exactly did he know about know about that? She never told him about it, never gave any indication that she was hiding a secret - Did her little mistake just now count? Judging from her words, Hakan knew she was lying but didn't tell her anything until just now. Did he over heard one of her conversations she had with her fellow Princesses? Did she leave something in her room and he uncovered it when she wasn't there?
"How... H-how did you you find out?" The black haired Princess muttered.
"I had another vision. You were talking to a young man. He didn't say his name but he knows about Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion's secret meetings." The redhead explained. "But, I'm guessing you know more."
Aithne nodded. "I do, but not here. Is there somewhere private we could go?"
Hakan thought about it before standing up. He helped Aithne stand up and guided her to a secret place within the Palace's garden's. There was a bench and a little water feature. Aithne smiled. Nobody knew about this place. She, Vulcan and Hakan had discovered it when they were children and it had been there little spot since then. It was secluded, the shrubs and the trees prevented anyone outside of the secluded spot from looking in. Since nobody apart from them knew about this area she didn't think anyone would be listening in on them. If they did, she would know about it.
They walked over to the bench and sat down.
"So, how did it start?" Hakan inquired.
Straight to the point, is it?
"Its been happening for a while now. At first Princess Serenity was only interested in the planet. She wanted to see what it was truly like down there, despite our warnings. We didn't want her to get into trouble. But, she didn't listen to us and went down there anyway." Aithne started. "We knew she was up to something. She likes to sneak off when no one was looking. Sometimes, instead of doing her lessons, she would sneak off and we wouldn't know where she was. When we would ask her about it she would lie to us and told us that she was in Palace's gardens."
"Then how did Princess Darlene found out about it?"
"She was the first one to find out what was really going on. She didn't tell us anything until I caught them returning from Earth. That's when Darlene told us the truth. Princess Serenity is in love with the Prince of the Earth." Aithne told him.
Prince of the Earth... Endymion. Serenity was in love with him, so that confirmed his suspicions. But why though? Why would Serenity be in love with him? Maybe Aithne would be able to tell him more? Or... Maybe she couldn't? She didn't sound too happy when he had asked her about the truth - she seemed rather startled by the revelation. But maybe there was more to it than that?
"I know about him." Hakan said.
"You do?" Aithne questioned.
"Mother mentioned his name a few times, and his name was brought up in my vision." The redhead clarified. "Why? Have you never seen him or heard of him before."
"I haven't actually met him. But, I suspect that I will eventually. Both Princess Darlene and Princess Serenity had both mentioned his name." Aithne replied before sighing. "I can't decided if he is a good person or not. As much as Serenity frustrates me, I still care about her and I am concerned for her safety - I seem to be the only one who is. Allowing Serenity and Endymion to carry on the way they are was not my idea, it was Darlene's."
Hakan groaned. "What has she done now?"
Aithne told him about him about Darlene's planning process for allowing the secret meetings to continue. She never told Darlene had she felt about her plan, having restrained herself before she could tell her the Venusian exactly what was wrong with her plan. Truthfully, it wasn't bad plan, but they were serve consequences for allowing Serenity to keep meeting the Earthen Prince. Instead of allowing the meetings to continue, they should be stopping them from happening.
Things were... already tense between the people of Earth and the people of the Moon. There was a risk of possibly conflict between the two Kingdoms. Both Queen Serenity and the Queen of the Earth were trying to diffuse the situation as best as they can without breaking the rules. They didn't need to give them another reason to add fuel to the fire.
"Its... not a bad plan, even though its quite risky." Hakan commented. "That being said though, Aithne, These meetings between Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion must stop..."
"Don't you think I don't know that!" Aithne snapped. "I explained this to Serenity and Darlene. We are just asking for trouble by allowing Serenity and Endymion to keep seeing each other. If anybody on Earth found out about this then they'll probably think that Serenity used her magic to seduce him, and we could go to war over that. But would they listen to me? No, they wouldn't. And its not like we can put a stop to these meetings, it would just make Serenity more determined to see him and..."
Aithne trailed off upon seeing the hurt look on Hakan's face. She felt guilty. She didn't mean to snap at her Brother. In her defence she did have a lot of built up anger and she couldn't help but wonder how long it would be until she snapped - She just wished it hadn't been her Brother who she yelled at. But she was tired. Tired of people not listening her, of people stating the obvious when it came to Serenity and Endymion's forbidden relationship, of Serenity being allowed to run off with facing any consequences - of her not realising the true consequences of her actions. Of everything being put on their shoulders whist everyone else was allowed to do other things.
Not that she would tell anyone about that...
"I-I'm sorry. I just... don't want to see Serenity hurt because of this." The blacked haired women mumbled. "If something were to happen to her... I'd never forgive myself..."
"Its understandable. You are concerned about Serenity's safety. She's not just your Princess. She is your friend, and she's like a Sister to you."
"I..." She trailed off again, completely taken aback by what her Brother said. No, she and Princess Serenity were not friends even though the Moon Princess had offered her friendship numerous times. Yet, Aithne rejected her every time. Its... not that she didn't want the Princess's friendship. She did, but she didn't want anybody getting close to her. She considered herself as a guarded person. She didn't like opening up to people - she knew Darlene and Serenity were close to one another and she had a sneaking suspicious that they shared secrets with one another.
But Aithne couldn't do that. She couldn't get close to the other Princesses, Serenity especially. If anything were to happen to them, she knew it would hurt in the long run. She thought that, if she wasn't friends with someone she truly cared about, then she wouldn't have to experience that pain for herself.
"I'm a horrible person, Hakan." Aithne admitted.
"No, your not." Her Brother assured her.
Aithne smiled weakly. She knew her Brother meant well but that didn't make her feel any better. "Yes, I am. Princess Serenity wanted to become my friend but I kept refusing her. I knew I was hurting her but I couldn't allow her to come near me. At first I thought that I would need to put my duty first in order to protect Serenity. But, as time went by, I realised that if I were to become her friend and something happened were to happen to her then it would just make me feel guilty. That I couldn't do anything to help her."
Ah... That was unexpected. Honestly, Hakan had no idea his Sister felt this way about Serenity. He knew she had the tendency to become standoffish but she did warm up to people eventually - There was a reason for that. Sometimes, when he and Vulcan were visiting the Moon Kingdom, he could see the similarities between Aithne and Darlene. Both of them were dedicated to there duty, and they were extremely loyal to there Princess. But he had no idea that she was keeping Serenity at arm's length.
It made sense as he was thinking about it. Though Serenity was a bright and bubbly girl, she could become quite the nuisance at times. There were times where she would cross boundaries. It could just be down to her wanting to make friends but, even then, there are some boundaries that you don't cross and you can't be expected to open up about everything in one sitting. Maybe that's why Aithne kept her guard up whenever she was talking to Serenity.
"What do I do, Hakan?" Aithne questioned, interrupting his thoughts. Her arms were wrapped around her body and, honestly, it was the first time he was seeing such vulnerability. "Its... not like we put a stop to these outings, like I said it would only make Serenity more determined to see him. And, Darlene told us that... Serenity and Endymion are tied together by a red string of fate. They are meant to be together, even if it does against the laws set by Serenity's Grandmother."
Hakan closed his eyes as he gathered his thoughts. Truthfully he didn't know what he could do. Even though the meetings had to stop, that's not going to change anything. Serenity wouldn't be able to see the Prince anymore but would that put a stop to her running around from the Moon Kingdom? He couldn't exactly tell the Planetary Princesses about what he already knew and what he had found out, that would only land Aithne in trouble and they probably wanted to keep Serenity's secret to themselves - the less people who know the better.
Perhaps, until he can think of a alternative solution, he could tell her to make a compromise on her own terms. Aithne had told him that she had already agreed with Darlene's plans but that didn't have to stop her from making her decisions. She should investigate the matter for herself and not take Darlene's or Serenity's word for it.
"You don't need to break it. Perhaps you need to understand and reason with it. Talk to Serenity and Darlene. Tell them how you feel and explain your frustrations to them, its not fair on you that you have to keep everything bottled up whilst they do all the talking." Hakan suggested. "And, for Serenity's sake, maybe you could see this Endymion fellow in person. See what kind of man he is before making any judgements. Darlene said all four of you would be taking turns to escorting Serenity to Earth, right? Why not use that to your advantage and talk to him? That way you will be able to see why Princess Serenity loves him and vice versa. It wouldn't make things any better but perhaps you will be able to understand why Serenity and Endymion want to take these risks."
Oddly enough, Aithne found herself agreeing with him. Perhaps she had made her judgements prematurely but who could blame her? She knew almost nothing about Prince Endymion - save for his name, of course, and that he was the Prince of Earth and that he was in love with Serenity. Both Serenity and Darlene had talked about him but she couldn't just take their word for it. She would need to see him for herself before she was to make any judgements... again.
Also, she would need to apologise to Serenity and explain the situation to her. She wanted to tell her that, although she didn't like the idea of allowing her to keep visiting Endymion, she was willing to rectify her previous judgements and see him for herself. She had been frustrated with her before hand - she had a valid reason at the time - but she did care about her and she had no ill feelings towards her. Though, that would have to wait until she returned to the Moon Kingdom. She needed time to gather her thoughts and she wanted to spend the remainder of her time on Mars with her family.
She hoped Serenity wouldn't hold it against her. If she did... she wouldn't know what to do. She didn't want Serenity to hate her, though she didn't if that was possible.