Princess Serena Awoken
Serena's cries of agony reverberated throughout the castle halls, as Prince Diamond entered the room followed by Rubeus. "Princess, it's okay" said Dimond in a soothing tone, but to no avail, Serena kept on screaming and thrashing on the bed. "You have to restrain her before she hurts herself" said Rubeus as he came closer to the bed. "Let her calm down" said Prince Diamond but it was too late. As her screams became more insistent the walls started to shake more violently. "She is going to cause a cave in, do something now extend your spell" cried Rubeus as some falling debris fell around them. "Serena!" yelled Diamond over her cries, as he reached out to touch her hand a light emanated from the princess knocking them to the ground unconscious.
Lunarian Temple…
Mars stumbled as she heard it, the screams, it was as clear as if someone had screamed next to her "Princess" she whispered and just as suddenly it was gone. She watched the crackling fire before her. She stood on shaking legs and made her way to the war room where the others stood huddled around the table strategizing their next move. The doors opened with a loud bang as she entered and made her way into the room.
"She's awake"
"What?" said Uranus looking up from the hologram of the city.
"Serena, she's awake" said Mars again
"Pluto is already guarding the door of time; our soldiers are healing as fast as possible as you know they will fight even in their weakened state" said one of the senior members of the lunarian army.
"As you know the only way to get to the ruins of the old kingdom is through the very same door that we cannot open," said Venus
"Well, it's a risk that we'll have to take," said Uranus.
"Mars get a messenger hawk ready to send to Moros, have them alert Queen Nehelenia and Pluto of our impending arrival"
"Wait, you are all going? Who would lead us?" asked the Lieutenant
"He's right General, let the inner guardians go, you and the outer guardians should stay and get ready for the incoming war.
"Well then, prepare yourselves then, I'll have Neptune prepare a ship for you"
"NO!" said Mars "We ride"
"It will take you half a day to reach Moros by land," said Uranus
"She right" said Jupiter "It's better if we go undetected"
Uranus let out a long-suffering sigh, but finally agreed to what her compatriots were saying. "Fine, but be careful surely Metaria will have spies on all roads leading out of the kingdom"
"We can handle it," said Mercury
"Leave immediately," said Uranus
"Yes General" answered all four guardians in unison before taking their bows and exiting the room.
Ruins of the old kingdom…
Prince Diamond woke to the pounding in his head, he opened his eyes and found Rubeus also stirring. As he sat up, he looked over at the bed and found it empty. "Where is the princess?" asked Prince Diamond. Rubeus had to blink a couple of times to clear his vision "She's gone," said Rubeus
"I can see that Rubeus; the question was where is she?" said Diamond in exasperation. Prince Diamond stood and ordered his men to find her, Rubeus exited the room in a hurry while the prince stayed back and looked at the bed one more time. "She must be in so much pain" he thought. And with one final longing look he left the room and headed for the grand throne room. As he entered the double doors, he was surprised to find the princess standing before the throne with her back to him.
"Princess" said Prince Diamond with caution.
"You betrayed the children of the night Diamond, why?"
"Princess" said Diamond in a whisper
"Why!?" she screamed without turning around "Why did you betray us? No don't answer that I already know it's because of me"
"You were not the only one who was betrayed, princess" he said but she only laughed bitterly at his statement.
"You're a coward!" she yelled
"I know, please my princess tell me what I have to do to make this up to you, please just tell me what to do" he begged.
"There is nothing," said the princess
"There must be something" said the prince in a pleading tone falling on his knees.
"My mother is dead, my people are gone, nothing that you do could ever make up for what you have done" said the princess closing her eyes refusing to turn around and look at him.
"Where are we?"
"In the ruins of the old kingdom, milady"
"What about the guardians? Are they dead?"
"No princess like you they were under a sleeping spell and have awoken"
"Good"
Princess Serena heard footsteps heading in their direction and voices arguing in the hall. "Who else is here?" she demanded finally turning to Prince Diamond and looking to the doors. "Just the members of my court and a legion of my sandmen princess" just then the double doors opened and in came Rubeus with Esmeraulde following close behind both stopping the argument and looking forward in shock.
"Princess" they both said bowing their heads in submission. Princess Serena looked on and frowned.
"I need to get back" she told them as she made her way to the doors when suddenly Rubeus' voice stopped her "Your highness, there is no need I just received word that the inner guardians are on their way here"
"I'll met them a halfway"
"Princess" Esmerualde spoke "I have been told that the door of time is being guarded by one of your guardians"
"Is that supposed to mean something to me" she scolded
"Princess, the guardians are on their way here maybe you could use this time to rest" Diamond spoke in a soft tone.
"How long was I out?" asked the princess.
"A year to the day," said the prince
"Then I have rested long enough" said the princess, and before they could stop her, she made her way out the double doors. Prince Diamond stood and faced his two compatriots "What, now?" asked Rubeus. "I don't know," said the prince.
North Woods just outside of Lunaris…
"Are we ready?" asked a large minotaur
"Yes" responded a soldier with a frown looking out at the other soldiers among him.
"This is wrong" the soldier thought with a heavy sigh. The Solarian soldiers were ordered by their prince to keep all inside the realm of the north. That included closing the borders to the other kingdoms of the light. "Ismael" another soldier called out "what are you thinking" The other soldier or Ismael walked over to his friend. He knew that he could trust the men in his unit as they felt as he felt. "The prince has been bewitched by that evil and conniving Beryl and now here we stand attacking one of the more powerful dynasties to have existed, this is wrong Darius, we should do something"
"But what can we do, any soldier who refuses to obey is to be executed, by order of the prince himself, and with Metaria's forces in play it is best to just keep quiet and hope for the best" said Darius, just as an arrow launched itself into the nearby minotaur setting him ablaze "Guardians!" screamed one of Metaria's men just as a light whip surrounded him turning him into dust. Darius, Ismael and company all stood and looked up into the night sky as heavy thunderclouds began to form. When they realized Jupiter's intentions they separated and went in different directions. Ismael ran but stopped when a heavy fog engulfed his feet and suddenly a blade was at his throat.
"Wait!" he screamed before Mercury could slice him from ear to ear.
"Why should I?" asked Mercury "You betrayed us all"
"No please" said Ismael getting down to his knees and begging for mercy. "I wish for this war to be over and our prince to be set free"
"Your prince is a betrayer"
"NO!, he has been bewitched by the sorceress"
"Mars" called out Mercury. Mars came strolling out of the woods the sound of fighting in the background. "You called?" she asked as she let another arrow fly and hit its mark. "I need you to read this man and tell me if he is telling the truth"
"Now?"
"Yes, now"
"Fine" said Mars and placed her hand on the man's head closing her eyes. All the while Mercury fought the opponents that came for them in order to give her more time.
"Well?" asked Mercury, and when Mars opened her eyes, she nodded her head in the affirmative, "he's telling the truth, him and his friends. Ismael breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.
"Please you have to help us we are prisoners of Metaria's forces many of us have been killed for not obeying orders, we're just trying to stay alive please help us," said Ismael.
"Take your friends and go to the temple we could use all the inside knowledge we can get"
"What will you do?" asked Ismael
But Mars and Mercury just smiled and went back to the heat of battle.
Ruins of the old kingdom…
Princess Serena stood in front of the Hologram of herself when Prince Diamond came into the room.
"Why do you have this?" she asked in a barely audible whisper.
"I…" but the prince was at a loss for words. How could he tell her that everything he did he did for her, that he was in love with her, when he knew that her heart belonged to another.
"Never mind I don't think I want to know," said the princess
"I thought you had left" he said instead
"I have nothing to get back to" she said.
"You have everything to get back to princess," said Diamond.
"Do I?"
"I know, I can never make amends for what I have done, but I can at least try"
Serena let a single tear slip by her and run down her cheek falling to the ground. "My mother is gone" she cried letting the tears spill in earnest now.
"I know but you can go back and reclaim your crown, now you can defeat Metaria just as your ancestors did…"
"But I am not ready!" she screamed "I was never ready to take the crown, I could never be like her" she said crying more insistently now.
"So, is that what this is about?" asked the prince "You don't think you can fill your mother's shoes"
Serena raised her head to the sky and closed her eyes. "Yes" she said in a choaked sob. "Your wrong," said the prince. "I saw you on that night, fighting alongside the Solarian prince, you were fierce, a force to be reckoned with. You fought with passion, and I know your will have that same passion when you rule"
"My people are gone"
"Not gone just lost, and anything lost can be found again princess"
Serena looked at him this time with a skeptical quirk of her brow. "Where is the door of time?"
"I believe it is in the Kingdom of Moros"
"Is Pluto guarding the door?"
"I believe she is"
"Good, how long until my guardians get here"
"They are traveling by land so they should reach the door by midday tomorrow"
"Good, when they get here, I will take back what is mine" said the princess with determination.
Lunaris North gates…
Ismael and his company of soldiers traveled towards the north gates, where a company of soldiers awaited them. "Halt" said a Lunarian soldier "Who are you and what are you doing here"
"Sir" said another Lunarian soldier "they are from the kingdom of the sun"
"Weapons ready" yelled the soldier
"Wait" said Ismael and then reached into his pocket. "What have you got there" said the Lunarian soldier, Ismael pulled out a silver insignia bearing the sign of Mars showing it the soldiers at the gates. "Mars" said one of the soldiers "Where did you get this?" asked the other soldier.
"We go this from Mars herself," said Ismael
"Did you kill her"
"No, she gave it to me told me to come here, that the soldiers of the night would protect us from Metaria's wrath"
"Why should we believe you"
"Please" said Ismael in desperation. Despaired that they might be turned away or be killed. "What is going on here," said a female voice.
"Lady Saturn" said the first soldier "What is going on here?" she repeated her question
"These men are from Solaris they had this with them" he said showing them Mars insignia. "Shackle them and bring them inside I think the general will want to know what we have here," said Saturn.
On the road to Moros…
"Well, that fight was rousing" said Venus "Are you sure giving your insignia to that man was a wise choice"
"I know he was telling the truth, I felt it come off him in waves, he was scared," said Mars
"We know Metaria has managed to fool you once before, who's to say she hasn't done it again"
"Well, they were a small company of soldiers most likely Uranus will have had them imprisoned in the dungeons by now"
"And what if they escaped and overpower our forces"
"A company of six men overpower the children of Nyx?" said Jupiter
"Anything is possible"
"Otherwise, we wouldn't be in this mess and our queen wouldn't be dead and our princess wouldn't be a royal hostage of the children of Somnus," said Venus
"How much father?" asked Mars changing the subject
"Hours and Hours" replied Mercury
"Sun is setting, should we make camp" asked Jupiter
"Yeah, the path will only get more treacherous as we go along, and the horses can use a rest. said Venus.
"Fine let's find a spot," said Mars
The Solarian North Sea…
Artemis reached the edge of the Solarian boundaries and looked out over the sea. "Now how do I get across this" he murmured to himself. When suddenly he heard voices. Artemis immediately lunged for a bush to take cover in. He waited until the passing strangers' voices faded away before emerging from his hiding place. "What now?" he thought. What to do indeed.
Lunarian Temple…
"What's wrong?" asked Saturn. "I'm worried about Artemis, no one has seen him for days, do you think something could have happened to him?"
"I don't know"
"I better go look for him"
"I should go with you"
"Thank you" said Luna appreciating Saturn's gesture. They both turned to head back into the war room. "Luna and I are going to look for Artemis" she told the others as they sat around the table strategizing their plan of attack. "Maybe I should go with you," said Neptune. "No, it's fine we can handle it"
"Okay but be careful" said Uranus and with that they departed in search of their lost familiar.
Guardians' campsite…
"I wish I knew what had happened to Artemis, it's been days," said Venus "Mars can you see anything about him"
"I haven't really tried to look for Artemis, but I can try now" she said as she sat cross legged in front of the fire. She prayed to the goddess of the night, when suddenly she saw him, Artemis. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath "Well?" asked the others in unison "He's in Solaris"
"Solaris, how?" asked Venus
"He was taken there and tortured"
"Metaria must have spies in the city, that's the only way that Artemis could have been taken," said Jupiter.
"Is there anything else you can tell us; can you pinpoint his location?" asked Venus
"He's near the north seas"
"He's trying to get home," said Jupiter
"We have to warn the Outer Guardians," said Mercury
"On it" said Mars as she extended her finger creating messenger hawk out of pure fire. Mars spoken the warning in the fire hawks' ear and sent him on his way. "How long until he gets there?" asked Venus.
"Not one is faster than my little companion," said Mars
"Good let's get some sleep we ride at dawn" said Jupiter
The Guardian's rolled out their mat as they got ready for the night unaware that they were being watched from the darkness of the trees.
Guardian Temple…
Mars' messenger hawk landed on the closed window and peeked at the glass. A nearby soldier looked to the window and saw the messenger hawk perched on the sill and opened the glass frame to let him in. The hawk screeched and spoke the message in Rei voice. The soldier took off at a run towards the war room. He entered out of breath and relayed the message to Neptune who instructed the soldier to find Luna and Saturn and tell them of Artemis location. Then she turned towards Uranus who asked, "What is it?"
"There is a spy in the city," said Neptune.
"The Solarian soldiers?"
"I don't think so"
Uranus quickly turned to her Lieutenant and instructed him to have soldiers scour the city for the spy. "What of the sandmen?" asked the Lieutenant "No one has seen them since we have awoken," said Uranus
"Amara, I must go," said Neptune
"Where?"
"According to the note Artemis is near the North Seas, I have to warn Atlantis and see If they can bring him home"
"Then go," said Uranus as she turned back to the plans for defending the city should an attack happen. And it was going to happen.
Darkside of the Moon…
Serena stared out one of the palace windows facing the earth with a sad look upon her face. "Princess" said Esmeraulde approaching her from behind.
"Yes?" said the princess in a questioning tone... "Dawn will be breaking in your kingdom by now, milady" she said contemplating. "You love him don't you" said Esmeraulde as more of a statement.
"Yes" responded Serena without looking at her. "I do but if it wasn't for that love none of this would have happened" said the princess looking down at her feet, then back up this time facing her companion. "What will you do once this is over" asked Esmeraulde
"I don't know, what if this truly the end of the moon kingdom"
"I don't believe that"
"Why not"
"Because princess I've come to know you since we were young, and one thing I noticed is that you're a fighter, you don't give up and you won't give up on your people or your loved ones"
Serena gave a quite reflective smile and turned back to gazing at the earth, suddenly she said "And here I thought you didn't like me"
"I don't" she said "But you do have my respect"
With those words they came to an unspoken understanding. Each looking towards tomorrow instead of looking to the past.
The Kingdom of Moros…
"How long until we reach the palace" asked Jupiter.
"From the position of the sun I'd say an hour or less," said Venus
"And how long until we reach the door" asked Mercury
"It's buried deep under the palace" it might take us another few hours
"Great and as, we do all this traveling the more danger approaches the kingdom and the princess"
"I can tell you one thing" said Mars "The princess is safe"
"Has anyone thought about the silver crystal"
"No, why?"
"Because it wasn't with Queens Serenity's remains when we found her"
"Do you think Metaria has it?" asked Venus
"If she did, she would have killed us while we still slept don't you think," said Jupiter
"Mars have you tried to find the location of crystal?" asked Mercury
"Yes"
"And"
"There is nothing, I can't find it, I can't even sense it anywhere"
"That's not good," said Jupiter
"How can we hope to defeat Metaria and her forces without the crystal?"
"Even if we had it, the only one who can use it is the Queen and she is dead"
"Then the only hope we have is to find the princess and have her ascend the throne maybe then the crystal will reveal itself"
"Well then what are we waiting for?" said Venus as she and the other's looked to Jupiter. Jupiter dismounted her horses and walked ahead of them and unfurled her wings taking flight. She soared high into the sky and looking to the east for the palace of Moros where Queen Nehelenia resides. Jupiter dove to the ground and landed in front of the other guardians.
"We're not far from the palace, just over a mile to the east"
"Good, ladies we ride" said Venus as Jupiter remounted her horse "Come on" she said as she took off at a galop the other's following suit.
Lunarian royal docks…
Neptune, Saturn and Luna walked down to the docks together "Are you sure that he is in Solaris?" asked Luna.
"Yes" said Neptune
"Okay then how to we get to him, do we take a ship or…"
"We let the Atlanteans bring him to us"
"How, I admit that as immortal beings we can survive a lot but even we can't breathe under water" said Luna skeptically
"Don't worry I have a plan," said Neptune
"Care to share"
Neptune just smiled at her companions and said, "I can't risk telling you and it getting heard over by Metaria's spies, just trust me Luna I have everything under control" That being said Neptune called out the siren's song that would draw out any nearby Atlanteans. Immediately a mermaid's head peeked out of the water and Neptune proceeded to instruct the mermaid on what she needed to do in Atlantean.