Seeking You

Chapter 7

Did he notice me? Did he notice that I was the one who changed into Sailor Moon and not Mina? Serenity sat on the cold tiles of the hot steaming shower. The water clung to her skin, streaming over her closed eyelids, and dripped off of her chin onto her sailor suit. There was no point in undressing; the servants were going to have to wash the garment anyways. Blood tinged with dark blue ran down the drain. What just happened? Serenity asked herself. One second she was with Kunzite, and the next she was engulfed in darkness. As if she were in a casket that she couldn't escape from. She could feel Kunzite grabbing her arm, and pulling her this way and that. Then she was blinded by light, and she only caught a glimpse of her soldiers. Next there were fire balls, swords clashing, and that monster. The battle had all been a blur of adrenaline, and she could only think about Kunzite, and if had noticed her transformation into Sailor Moon.

Endymion and the guardians were lounging on various pieces of furniture in the library. Each caught up in their own world with thoughts of an oncoming war on their mind. The plan was to research the demon, and figure out how to capture it so they could interrogate the thing. They needed to know if it was here for the Prince? Or for the Princess? What was its M.O.? Nobody seated on the Earth council had even thought to predicted an attack on the Earth Kingdom. There had been no conflicts with the outer or inner rings of the solar system. That left some unknown power beyond the realm of light where darkness only dwelt.

A knock bounced off the walls of the delicate room. "Who is it?" asked Kunzite.

"It is the young ladies sir," a servant replied.

They were all cleaned up as if everything that day had gone according to plan. As if there was no battle, no wounds, and no panic. That is what they looked like at least.

Princess Serenity and her soldiers took seats across from the Prince and his guardians. Nobody knew where to start the conversation. Nobody knew if their identities had been compromised, there was the attack to talk about, and security risks had to be reassessed.

"So are we going to just sit here, or are we going to find a solution to our problems?" Rei impatiently asked, breaking the silence.

Nephrite stood up, and swiped his hand underneath the table. The table top lit up, and turned into a hologram platform. A projection of a similar looking creature as the one they encountered stood on the table.

"I've already looked through the database, and what we know about the outer realms. I've only gathered that this lizard human hybrid has rarely been seen by anyone. The last time a sighting was documented, was over 200 years ago. I'm not sure if it is the same creature or an evolved one. There wasn't a lot of information on its' origins. As we have all seen, it shrouds everything in darkness, and attacks its victim with its tail like a whip. It carries a deadly poison in its' mouth, and will usually attack its prey while hiding in the dark," Nephrite tried to explain.

"Did it say anything about how to defeat this creature?" Ami questioned.

"No, as I said earlier, we don't have a lot of information."

"So what are we suppose to do then? Just sit here," Mina started, "and wait to be hunted?"

"No. We will find a way to protect you. To protect all of us." Endymion responded. "We are not cowards."

Serenity, scoffed at him, and turned her face so she didn't have to look at his. To imagine that they had just spent two hours with each other, and she hadn't picked up on his arrogant attitude.

"Cowards or not! Bravery isn't going to help us here. It isn't a weapon. What we need is a plan."

"If you think I am so worthless, why don't you think of one."

"I will!"

The argument between the two continued with meaningless banter. Nothing was being accomplished, but the rest of the group was able to tune them out.

"So the creature covers itself in darkness. So why don't we just find a way to keep out of the dark. Ami was able keep it bright while the rest of us were all lost in the creature's trap," Makoto started to mention.

"Hmm.. That's actually not a bad idea. Why am I being so dim! We have a sun globe we use during the Spring festival, it was a gift from the Sun Seers. They said it would always shine through any misgivings and shadows. Maybe it will cancel out the hybrid's power," Kunzite added on.

"At least that keeps us safe for the time being while we try to find out more. We almost had the monster, and it's roaming around without a tail." Zoisite mentioned while checking if Endymion and Mina were still in battle with each other. Wasn't one fight enough for the day?

"I can go talk to the council and see if they have any input or ideas on the situation," said Mina. She kicked Serenity under the table to get her attention. "I think it would be in both MY interest and the Prince's to seek council advice."

Serenity finally quit bantering with Kunzite, and shut him out of her mind. He was a waste of her time, obviously!

"Yes, I think that is the wonderful idea," she agreed with the Princess.

"So what is the plan?" Endymion asked.

Serenity grew red with frustration. "Haven't you been listening?"

"No. because I was too busy dealing with you!"

"Okay, that settled it then. You are a complete moron."

Endymion stood up in such haste, that his chair fell over. His face was full of disgust, and he quickly left the library. No one had ever called him, the Prince, a moron. He wasn't going to let a simple girl, who was crazy enough to just lie on the ground on a whim, to start calling him one.

"I believe it would be best if we all took some time to think more on the matter." Kunzite suggested with earnest. He had never seen the Prince overreact like he just did.

"That would be good for all of us I think." Mina curtsied, and then tried to unclamp Serenity from the chair. The girl's knuckles had turned white with fury.

Kunzite asked Nephrite if he could keep researching the hybrid, and asked Jadeite to try track down where the globe was in the festival. He then started walking towards the Prince's chambers. Endymion needed to be talked to, and to be calmed down. All the guardians knew that the Prince had never been addressed in such a way before - never by a woman. His knuckles rapped on the man's door. There was no answer.

"Prince! Let me in! We need to talk.. we need to discuss things." Kunzite pleadingly yelled through the door. "Endymion!"

He knocked and groveled until he finally became fed up with straining his voice. Shaking the handle to cause a racket, the expected bolted door open instead. The door wasn't even locked. Stepping through the door, Kunzite saw that the room was empty. The Prince wasn't in the room, and he had spent all that time on the other side of the door for nothing. Sometimes the Prince could be a little too "Princely" for Kunzite's taste. Actually, not princely.. more like snobbish. He rarely seemed to care about his duties the last few months, and started pushing everything on his guardians. They were there for him, but they could only do so much.

Endymion had been to his room, but only to quickly change and gather some items to go to the festival that night with Natsumi. He knew she was probably the one thing he shouldn't have his mind on at the moment, but he couldn't deal with the pressure from everyone anymore. The council and his father were breathing down his back about this marriage, and then this attack! Was he really ready to lead this Galaxy in the coming years. He remembered his promise that he would protect the Princess, but Kunzite looked like he had it under control. Nobody would know he was the Prince tonight. He would just be Mamoru, plain and common Mamoru.

Serenity needed a break. That is all she desired, and all she hoped for. What an awful day. She was still debating about going on her date with Takeshi. It would be completely wrong for her to go, but there wasn't anything she could do here at the palace. Once Kunzite left, the Prince basically pushed her aside like cold soup. He treated her like the trapped girl in a tower her mother always told her about in fairy-tales. Serenity had a problem with those growing up, and forced her mom to reinvent new endings. She couldn't get the idea out of her head that the heroine had been abandoned by the ones she loved, or that damsel just didn't have enough confidence, or inner strength. Who could look up to a person who couldn't seem to do anything for herself?

Sitting in her room combing her hair, her mind had decided. She wasn't going to just sit here. There was always more information roaming the streets if you knew how to coax it out of them. She could do some searching, and then find Takeshi. She was in the mood for dancing, and for the festival. Maybe she would even try to negotiate with the Prince to let her girls out to have some fun. Filling the day with gloom wouldn't look like a good report to the King, and she knew that the Prince wouldn't want that.

After a quick chat with his royal highness, he finally relented to the idea. Only on one condition, that everyone stayed together. The globe's power was to be quadrupled in strength, and hung high above the festivities, like a second sun. This didn't erase all the shadows, but it did create more safety for all the citizens of the capital. The ladies were here to tour Earth, and the Spring Festival was one of the most celebrated holidays in the Kingdom.

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I'm working on Chapter 8. The story is finally unfolding.