Night of the Ball
It was the night of the Ball, Darien stared up at that moon praying to the gods when suddenly the doors behind him opened King Hyperion stepped through and called out to his son. Darien closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he walked through the balcony doors and smiled at his father.
"Are you feeling any better?" asked the king
"Yes, I'm fine" answered the prince
"Good, the guests are starting to arrive so finish getting dressed and we'll head down to join in the festivities" said the king as he walked to the closet and pulled out his son's formal coat, it was a deep burgundy color with gold trimming the perfect attire for the prince of the sun kingdom and a compliment to the king's current attire of white and gold. Darien looked at himself in the mirror he wondered whether the princess would like it, he was wearing white pants and white riding boots with a white shirts and gold embroidered vest and the burgundy coat he looked out of the window and he prayed yet again, the night would start off as a celebration, a millennium of good fortune but were the night would end who knew.
Prince Diamonds Room…
"Is everything ready?" asked the Lady Beryl
"Yes" answered the prince as he tied the cravat around his neck he was dresses from head to toe in a light silver blue. Beryl was sitting opposite of him in a dark navy blue dress with a sliver choker that had a green gemstone in the middle, her eyes were harsh and her smile grew wider with every passing moment.
"Do they suspect?" she asked
"Even if they do, nothing can done, are your men in place?" asked Diamond
"Of course, I have my soldiers spread around the kingdom in plain clothes to not arouse suspicion from the Lunarian soldiers" said Beryl.
"And what of the guardians?" asked Diamond
"They are powerful I'll give them that but not even they can stop what's is coming" said Beryl with a smile.
"Will they be a challenge?" asked Diamond
"No" she said, "not for Metaria" she smiled again, suddenly there was a knock at the door it was the prince manservant.
"Your highness?" asked the manservant, when he looked up from the floor he saw the prince standing there alone. Beryl was gone and the prince just looked at him with an expectant glared waiting for him to speak.
"Yes?" said the prince glaring at him and the manservant seemed to remember his place. "Oh, sorry my lord, it just that the ball is starting and the guest have started to arrive"
"Good" said Diamond as he gestured to his sliver cape draped over the armchair, the manservant walked over to the armchair and picked up the cape and wrapped it around the prince's neck.
"That will be all" said Diamond dismissing him, the manservant walked out of the room and down the hall. He stopped near a dark corridor, a voice called out from the darkness.
"Well?" suddenly Mars walked out of the shadows wearing a dark cloak with the hood up her golden eyes gleamed in the darkness.
"It is as you suspected my lady, Prince Diamond is in league with the Dark Moon Kingdom" he said
"And the woman?" asked Mars
"The Lady Beryl, she is betrothed to the Solarian prince and she mentioned someone named Metaria" he said
"Metaria" Mars repeated "I knew it" she said suddenly another figure came out of the darkness, it was General Uranus dresses in full armor.
"Do you know of their plans?" asked Uranus.
"Only that they have men stationed throughout the city in plain clothes, to not arouse suspicion" said the manservant.
"Are you sure?" asked Uranus
"Yes, I heard him talking to the Lady Beryl right before I came in" he said as Uranus and Mars looked at each other.
"Fine" said Uranus.
"That will be all" said Mars dismissing the manservant, he walked away back down the corridor and the two guardians faded back into the darkness.
Lunarian Temple 30 Minutes before the ball started…
"So Metaria really is involved in this" said Venus as she stood from her chair and walked over to stand next to Mercury who was busy looking at a hologram of the city.
"Unfortunately," said Mars "According to our source prince Diamond is in on this he Hypnotize the Queen into going ahead with the ball"
"How did he get involved in all this? Somnus has always been our ally for millennia they've stood by us, why now? What's his end game?" asked Jupiter looking puzzled.
"Don't know, but obviously, he is after something and Metaria must have made him an offer, one he couldn't refuse" said Uranus
"Is he after the crystal?" asked Pluto
"Can't say for sure what's in it for him, but obviously Metaria wants the crystal so she can be set free and is using Beryl and Diamond to do it?" said Uranus.
"But what is Beryl's motive though? Why is she in league with Metaria?" asked Neptune.
"Jealousy" said Mars "She is jealous of Princess Serena's closeness with Darien…"
"And that left her open to the darkness" said Mercury finally looking up from the hologram. "Metaria took advantage of a weak moment"
"More like a weak woman" said Venus
"Whatever the reason we have a problem" said Mercury
"What is it?" asked Uranus
"Diamonds manservant said that Beryl has men stationed around the kingdom hiding in plain sight"
"Yeah" said Saturn finally coming out from the shadowy corner she was standing in.
"Well even if we deploy men to scout the surrounding areas we're are still short-handed. Who knows how many men Metaria has out there plus we have Prince Diamond's men, we must assume they are working for Metaria, plus Prince Darien's own Shitennou have been turned and who knows how many others. We are vastly out manned plus the ball, we are basically…"
"Screwed" said the voices of Mars, Uranus and Neptune at the same time.
"If worse comes to shove…" they all turned to Saturn "You know what to do" said Uranus. Saturn simply nodded her head in acknowledgement, suddenly they heard the bell ringing in the distance.
"The Ball is starting" said Venus
"And the Queen" asked Pluto
"I have it covered" said Mars
"Alright Ladies armor up and get ready for a fight by the night's end…"
"We know" said Mercury looking back at the hologram
"Let's not let our legacy be one where we failed" said Uranus "Pluto is the door of time closed?"
"Yes, locked and sealed whatever evils may befall us they won't spill to the other worlds" said Pluto.
"Good" said Uranus
And with those last words one by one the guardians left the room leaving only Uranus and Neptune alone.
"I'm scared" confessed Neptune standing next to Uranus who was standing by the balcony. Uranus took one of Neptune's shaking hands in hers and brought them to her lips. She kissed her hand and looked deep into her eyes.
"Whatever happens tonight know that I will always love you" confessed Uranus and with that Neptune broke down in tears. Uranus held her and kissed her cheek.
"Back to your station" she said as she broke from Neptune's shaking form. Neptune smiled and gave her lover one last kiss before taking off down to the docks. Uranus stood at the railing of the balcony and looked up at the moon shinning bright in the night sky.
The Royal Garden's 10 minutes before the start of the ball…
Princess Serena stood by the railing overlooking the gardens when suddenly she heard a voice calling her name "Serena!" she looked down and saw Prince Darien looking up at her.
"Darien?" she called out in confusion "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I don't have time to explain right now but I need you to listen to me" he said as he stared up at her, she was wearing an off the shoulder white gown with little golden crescent moon in the trimming the golden tattoo of a crescent moon on her forehead shone in the light of the moon she was a sight to behold, she looked like and angel he thought but now was not the time to for those thought. He shook his head to clear it and started talking.
"Serena we're are all in grave danger I suspect that the Moon kingdom is no longer safe, there is a darkness looming over you my princess" he said
"Darien what are you talking about?" asked the princess looking more confused than ever.
"Serena, I think Metaria is planning an attack for tonight, you need to prepare yourself for a fight" he said looking over his shoulder he was pressed for time his father would no doubt be looking for him at the moment, the prince had made an excuse that he had forgotten something in his room in order to sneak away to warn the naïve princess.
"Darien what you are saying is impossible Metaria has been imprisoned for over a millennium there is no way to she can escape, not without the silver crystal which is under the protection of my mother" she told him.
"Serena, I don't have much time, please just believe me when I say you are not safe. Metaria may not be able to escape but she has found a way to manipulate the situation to her advantage, you can't trust anyone Serena please believe me" he plead to her.
"Surely my mother can help, if Metaria really is behind…" the princess began.
"No!" said the prince "your mother can't help us she's been put under some sort of spell"
"What about the guardians?" surely they can help" she said
"I've already spoken to them" said the prince
"And?" asked the princess
"They are preparing for the worst my princess" said glumly "we're are outnumbered, we don't even know how many of them there are that is why you can't trust anyone now, only me and guardians. You need to be ready for a fight"
"What of my people?" asked the princess
"There was an evacuations plan in place, but we can't risk getting anyone out without alerting the enemy that we know. Right now, Metaria and her cohorts think we are oblivious to their presence here we can use that to our advantage, Serena I'm sorry I'm so sorry this is all my fault"
"Your fault, how is this your fault?" she asked
"The reason Metaria was able to do all this was because of me and my feelings for you" Serena looked well and confused now "Metaria was able to manipulate my fiancée Beryl into doing her bidding, it was her jealousy over us that caused this"
"Darien" said the princess when suddenly another voice filed the night air.
"You there!" called one of the place guards "What are you doing!" and with that the prince took off at a run "Stop!" called out the guard's voice as they chased him down the garden one of the guards stopped when he saw the princess while the other gave chase.
"Princess, are you alright?" asked the guard
"Yes, everything is fine" said the princess
She dismissed the guard and he took off after the other to chase down the intruder. Serena walked back into the place and looked all around some of the guest had already arrived and were standing around the grand ballroom conversing in hushed tones when suddenly a booming voice called out over the top of the stairs.
"Presenting her Royal Majesty Queen Serenity, the 1st of Lunaris" the large double door opened and in walked the Queen taking slow and steady steps until she reached the edge of the top step, the room erupted in thunderous applause as Queens Serenity made her way down the stairs her eyes landed on her daughter who was still standing by the doors that lead to the balcony overlooking the garden. She motioned for her daughter to join her, Serena felt like she had lead weights on her feet holding her down but somehow, she managed to move and joined her mother on the dance floor.
Five minutes before the Queen's entrance…
The Queen stood in the parlor waiting for her grand entrance when a soft knock come from the door. "Five minutes my Queen" said one of the servant girls and the Queen turned and smiled and thanked the girl. When the Queen turned back around there was Mars standing before her in full armor.
"What is this? How dare you…" but before the queen could finish Mars grabbed a hold of the queen cradling her head in her hands.
"Look into my eyes" she commanded and suddenly the queen saw flashes in her mind her screams echoed around the room but no further Serenity collapsed on her knees holding on to Mars hands.
"What was that?" the queen asked, "What happened?"
"I'm sorry for causing you so much pain my lady but it was necessary" said Mars.
"What happened?" repeated the queen.
"Prince Diamond, we think that he hypnotized you in order for you to his bidding" she told the queen.
"Why would he do that?" asked the queen
"To keep you from canceling the ball" said Mars
"What?" said the queen incredulously
"We think that Prince Diamond is working for Metaria"
"Metaria?" said the queen "So she is behind all this after all"
"Yes, we don't have much time your Majesty" and with that Mars dissolved into a rapid explanation of the events of the day. Three minutes later the queen entered the ballroom with as much dignity and grace as she could muster. She saw her daughter standing by the double doors that lead to the gardens with a look of apprehension on her face Serenity called for her daughter to join her on the dance floor. The Queen and Princess lead the dance as everyone joined in and Serenity leaned in to whisper in her daughter's ear.
"Worry not my darling daughter my mind is clear" said the queen at her daughter's worried expression and Serenity smiled, she sighed a sigh of relief and relaxed into her mother's embrace.
"Serena" her mother called out her name and turned her daughter in her arms, when Serena looked up there he was with his arm outstretched and a white mask covering his eyes. She looked back at her mother and saw the smile on her face.
"Go on" she told her daughter and Serena took Prince Darien's outstretched hand and started to dance. Suddenly the queen and the rest of their honored guest were gone and in that moment, there was no threat to the kingdom, no Metaria it was just them Serena and Darien.
Over the mountains to the east of Lunaris 30 minutes later…
There was a large cloud looming over the mountains and it seemed to head straight for Lunaris. Mars had made her way to the guard tower where the other archers were stationed at the ready. She took a spyglass from one the other archers.
"Look to the east of us" she told the archer "prepare a messenger hawk, they are attacking from the east"
"Are you sure my lady?" asked the Archer
"Now!" she screamed
The archer ran to the aviary and arrived a few moments later with a messenger hawk; Mars attached the note to its leg and sent it on its way. Uranus was standing by on her warhorse when the hawk landed her outstretched arm. She read the note and ordered her men to deploy to the eastern gates in preparation for the coming attack.
"Sound the alarm" she said to one of the men as she handed him the hawk.
The other soldier ran to the nearest tower and rang the warning bell. While another took his horn, and blew into the night wind. Serena looked up from Darien's gaze and saw the panicked looks flying around the room. "There here" said the prince "Serena run!"
Screams pierced the night air the Queen ran up the stairs to the dais and tried to placate everyone's fears when she noticed there was someone missing from the room. "Where is prince Diamond?" the Queen asked Saturn. She did not reply simply nodded to the nearby soldiers and gave them a silent command to find anyone who was missing, suddenly Serena came running to her mother's side "It's happening isn't it?" she asked, "It's really happening? were under attack" the Queen said nothing for a long and torturous moment and when she finally spoke it was one word "Armory".
Serena had made her way to the armory while her mother had gone to get a status report, she entered the room filled with weapons and made her way to the long cabinet at the end of the room, there were two swords sitting inside, one a large silver blade with a golden crescent moon engraved into the handle with two silver wings sprouting the side, her mother's sword, right next to it was a smaller version of the blade with the same delicate features adorning it, her mother had it made for her when she came of age to learn how to fight. She extended her hand and grabbed the smaller sword and took off back down the hall to the gardens.
There was a gasp from the guardian on the temple "What is it?" asked Jupiter. Mars was struggling to catch her breath she knelt to the floor and clutched her head, Jupiter rushed forward and helped her to her feet "We're too late" she said gasping for air.
Down to the East…
A Dark cloud moved forward towards Lunaris the sounds of soldiers screaming pierced the night Uranus and her soldiers stood their ground unbeknownst to them of the horror that had struck at that very moment in the town square.
Town Square…
They moved with grace around the courtyard wearing long sliver capes as they sprinkled their dream dust on the unsuspecting citizens putting them to sleep. The Sandmen flew across the city, through every street corner and every alleyway all the while prince Diamond and Beryl sat on their horses looking at the beginning of the Moon kingdoms fall.