souna no miko
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and all original characters mentioned in this story is owned by the great Takeuchi Naoko. There is no way I would claim them as my own. The song/s that will be used as part of the story are not mine either, they are owned by their respective writers and singers.
A/N: I'm cutting this chapter into two parts because it's kind of long…xD
Chapter 5 (part 1)
Haunted by the Past
When Haruko got home, she went straight to bed and missed dinner. It bothered Haruka for a while until Michiru was able to convince him that his sister is probably tired from her first day of school.
That night on the other room beside Haruko's, her brother was past asleep. He was dreaming of the moon palace, Prince Endymion and The Moon Princess. However, of all the celebrations of the past, he was dreaming of the day he begged to be erased from his memory, the engagement of Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity.
That day he was assigned to prepare the decorations of the palace. As usual Princess Lita and Princess Michelle were in charge of the food, Princess Trista and Princess Amy were in charge of welcoming the guests, Princess Aphrodite and Princess Hannah took care of the entertainment for the night while Princess Raye was his 'team mate' with the decorating job.
"Well, well, well, today's the day Alexis! The Princess will finally be formally engaged to the Prince of Earth! What can you say about that?!" Princess Michelle exclaimed as she entered the throne room.
"Don't start with me Michelle, and besides what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the kitchen burning something?" Prince Alexis teased as he balanced on a chair to hang a ribbon on the wall.
"Oh shut-up Alexis, you wouldn't recognize gourmet food even if it was shoved up your nose. You're just upset because sooner or later she'll be moving in with her dear brother." Princess Michelle replied
"Upset? I think that's not the right word we're looking for Michelle, pissed is more like it!" Princess Raye added with a laugh.
"Why, you're so right Raye!" Princess Michelle agreed.
"Will you two just stop it?!" Prince Alexis exclaimed.
"Oh will you quit being a sour puss." Princess Michelle said as she "accidentally" kicked the chair Prince Alexis was standing on.
Prince Alexis gracefully landed on his royal behind as Princess Michelle and Princess Raye laughed their hearts out.
"I hate you Michelle." Prince Alexis said as he picked himself up.
"And I hate you too Alexis." Princess Michelle replied in a sarcastic tone.
"Whatever."
"What is wrong with you anyway Alexis? Why are you so pissed off with the idea of Prince Endymion's sister staying here in the moon palace?" Princess Raye asked.
"I just can't figure out why she can't stay on Earth! She's so annoying and I can't stand that Earth Princess!" Alexis replied quite annoyed.
The doors swung open as Princess Trista and Princess Hannah entered the throne room.
"Watch your tongue Alexis. Have you forgotten that Princess Persephone lost her parents when she was only seven? And besides the Dark Queen is after her, if she stays on Earth she might die." Princess Trista said.
"Besides she's also one of us, a soldier of the white moon, a teammate." Princess Hannah added.
"She may be one of us but she's an inner soldier, as in I-N-N-E-R soldier!" Prince Alexis replied.
"Hello? Standing here!" Princess Raye exclaimed annoyingly as she pointed at herself.
Prince Alexis turned to Princess Raye and sweat dropped,
"Go-Gomenasai Raye, I didn't mean to..err..ehem.."
"hmph!"
Haruka sweat dropped again and cleared his throat and continued,
"My point is, that Earth Princess doesn't know where she belongs. She fights our battles outside the palace where in fact she should stay inside to protect the moon princess!"
"She may be one of us but her powers can equal or even surpass yours! She is more useful outside the palace and you know that! Besides, the Queen herself appointed her as the guardian of the Eastern Gate!" Princess Raye exclaimed.
Prince Alexis looked away, clenched his fist and replied,
"I still don't care."
"I sense a tone of jealousy." Princess Hannah said afterwards.
"And what do you mean by that?" Prince Alexis demanded as he looked at Princess Hannah angrily.
Princess Hanna stood confidently as she replied, still in a calm manner,
"Who are you jealous of Alexis? Is it Persephone and her powers or those three guardians of hers, that like you transforms into a woman when duty calls and the fact that they're all close to her, especially that short guy. So Alexis, which one? The power or the guardians?"
"I bet it's the guardians." Princess Raye whispered to Princess Michelle who giggled softly at the thought.
"What do you mean by that Hannah? Are you insinuating that I'm in love her?!" Princess Alexis asked.
Princess Hanna smirked and replied,
"That came from your own mouth Alexis, not mine."
"Why you..." Prince Alexis was about to punch her when Princess Aphrodite suddenly came in and exclaimed,
"Alexis! It is not good to hit a fellow soldier, and of all people you should know that! She is one of your soldiers and even if you're their leader you also have to respect them. I don't know what's going on in here but I don't like what I just saw. Restrain your anger and will everybody please go back to your tasks?? We're running late you know!"
Prince Alexis placed lowered his hand and just walked out of the throne room and into the garden.
"I fear that in the near future he will commit a mistake that will greatly affect him and all of us as well." Princess Hanna said when Princess Aphrodite and Prince Alexis left.
Princess Michelle looked outside where Prince Alexis was and said,
"I hope you're wrong Hannah, I really hope you're wrong."
Everybody returned to their assigned tasks, all except for Prince Alexis who stayed in the garden. He was deep in thought when Queen Serenity came,
"Lavender's her favorite, did you know that?"
Prince Alexis was surprised. He turned around and kneeled before his Queen. Queen Serenity shook her head and said,
"You think so much of your duty as a soldier that you neglect your duties to your heart. Alexis, your soul is full of worries and confusion. Listen to your heart once in awhile and you shall see what you've been missing all these years."
Queen Serenity smiled and winked at Prince Alexis before entering the palace. Prince Alexis stood up and looked at the lavenders dancing to the soft beat of the wind. Soon trumpets sounded, signaling the arrival of moon kingdom's very important visitors.
Prince Alexis entered the throne room just in time. Beside Prince Endymion was Princess Persephone wearing a lavender tube gown with small diamonds scattered here and there and on her long flow-y black hair was a small blue diamond encrusted silver tiara. She was smiling, but Prince Alexis somehow knew that it was a fake. Something was bothering her and his gut feeling knows it.
Soon the Prince's four generals and the Princess' four guardians entered the throne room and the celebration finally began. Everybody danced across the room, all except for a few, including Prince Alexis. Then one of the Princess' guardians approached him and said,
"What're you still waiting for you knuckled head, dance with her"
"Who you calling 'knuckle head', knuckle head??" Prince Alexis snapped back.
"Oh puh-leez Alexis. If I were you I'd dance with her the whole night or better yet...I'd take her away." The guardian replied, her last few words lowering into a whisper.
Alexis just 'hump-ed' and walked away as the guardian just shook her head in defeat.
An hour later, Queen Serenity called everybody's attention; it was time for the announcement. Prince Endymion stepped closer to her and whispered something to her. The Queen nodded and stepped back as Prince Endymion faced the crowd and announced,
"Ladies and gentlemen before anything else I would like to personally invite all of you to our palace a day after tomorrow. That day will mark the day of my dear sister Persephone's engagement to Prince Ares, heir to the throne of the Palace of Fire."
"My cousin? Eew! He's disgustingly ugly!" Princess Raye whispered to Princess Lita.
"Shut up Raye, somebody might hear you." Princess Lita replied.
The crowd 'awed' and clapped their hands with delight. This news angered Prince Alexis so he left the throne room and went back to the garden. The celebration continued and so did the announcement of the Moon Princess and Earth Prince's engagement but right after Queen Serenity said the good news the ground shook violently. Prince Alexis ran back and saw all of the people panicking. A guard ran inside and announced that an army of youkais were on their way to attack the Palace. The Outer Soldiers looked outside and saw Queen Akashtra leading the pack. They were under attack and everyone knew why.
Tsuzuku…