Reunited
Jupiter opened her eyes and saw stars shinning brighter than usual in the night sky. She could hear them the song of the stars as they twinkled when suddenly a sound caught her attention. The sound grew louder and more incessant it was the sound of another guardian groaning a few feet away from her. "What happened" said another voice to her left, Jupiter turned and saw Venus on her hands and knees looking off into the distance. "I think we passed out" said the voice of Mercury sitting up from her position on the cold hard ground. "Where is Mars?" Asked Jupiter looking at her surroundings and finding no sing of the guardian of fire.
"I don't know" said Venus "We better go look for her" The guardians all stood on shaking legs and started their trek through the unfamiliar grounds. "Are we there?" Asked Jupiter "the moon?"
"Only one way to find out" said Mercury "let's get moving"
"Which way?" Asked Venus
"Over here!" Called out the familiar voice of Mars the other guardians all turned at the sound of her voice and saw Mars standing fifty yards away looking at a large crater. Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury all smiled heading towards their friend, when they arrived, they saw what she had seen, there in the center of the large crater was the ruins of the old kingdom. "We made it" she said
"So, we are really here, we are on the moon" said Jupiter in awe
"I would say so" said Mars looking at the horizon towards the earth. "OK, we are one step closer to finding the princess"
"And one step closer to the night of the ascension," said Mercury
"Our princess will be the Queen and with the power of the full moon will be able to lock Metaria away forever."
"And hopefully destroy that bitch Beryl"
"What about the prince?" Asked Venus
The guardians all looked at each other with a resigned expression. "Come on" said Mercury moving forward as the others followed right behind.
Ruins of the Moon castle…
Rubius burst through the door of the throne room where Prince Diamond and Esmerauld talked in silence. "Your highness! They are here."
"Already? Huh I thought it might take them longer, how long until they reach the castle?"
"I give them under an hour" said his faithful servant "Should we have the sandmen…"
"No let them come through with no hassle" said the prince
"You realize once they get here, they will try to punish you for your betrayal of not only the moon kingdom but to our gods" said Esmerauld
"Then let's hope that the princess will vouch for us before that happens"
"Where is the princess" asked Rubius
"In her quarters," said the prince
"Don't you think we should go to her?" Asked Rubius
"Diamond, aren't you worried?" Asked Esmerauld
"No, they will understand"
They had too, if the princess understood his reasons for his betrayal then so would her guardians. He hoped.
Castle grounds…
The guardians laid low as they saw the sandmen sweeping the grounds of the old castle. "Sandmen" lipped Jupiter so as to no be heard by the enemy. "We'll have to be careful" whispered Venus. Jupiter nodded in understanding as Mars and Mercury moved into position. They guardians had planned to sneak their way through the castle so they would not be detected, they moved swiftly through the grounds when Mars' bow accidentally knocked over an old small flower vase from the stand causing to crash and alert the sandmen of their presence. Three sandmen turned at the source of the noise, the guardians took out their weapons and were poised to strike when they notice that the sandmen were not attacking them.
"Why aren't they attacking" asked Mars
"Who cares," said Jupiter and then she noticed that the sandmen were not only not attacking but they were also moving out of their way. The suspicious guardians moved through the garden and into the large double doors that lead to the receiving area. "There's more of them in here" said Venus
"Yes, and they are just letting us through"
"I don't like this," said Mars as they swiftly moved through the castle halls, until they reached the throne room and saw him Prince Diamond sitting on the throne looking absolutely regal.
"YOU!" Jupiter's voice raised as the electricity crackled in her veins, she was about to strike him down when a voice called out to her. "WAIT!" The voice was familiar soft but with a commanding edge that belied that softness.
"Princess!" Said Venus in surprise as she knelt down and bowed her head in the princess direction, followed by Mars and Mercury. Jupiter however stood her ground and stared at Prince Diamond with a look of utter disdain. "You betrayed us, you filthy piece of scum"
"LITA!" Said the princess in a voice the brooked no argument.
Finally at the use of her given name and not her title Jupiter took her eyes off the prince and looked the princess bending at the knee and bowing her head. "Forgive me your highness," said Jupiter.
Princess Serena stepped out of the shadows and into the light she smiled serenely at her friends her guardians. With her head still bowed in supplication Jupiter asked the one question that was on all her guardians minds. "Princess with all due respect why are you with him? he betrayed us not just the children of our gods but the children of all gods" The other guardians also wondered why the princess stood with prince who had so obviously betrayed them all.
"While the prince's actions are reprehensible, I…" she hesitated and looked over at the prince as he stood from the throne "… understand it, he did what he did out of both love and jealousy and that only makes him human not a malicious person. And although I have not forgiven him, yet I can let it go for the good of all of us, for the good of our gods and for the good of CHAOS"
While she did not understand her reasons for not punishing him, she did respect the princess decision and let the subject die for now.
"Then it is with the grace of my ancestors, I understand," said Jupiter
Serena then smiled and said, "I have missed you Lita, Amy, Rei and of course I've missed you most of all Mina" The guardians all stood and smiled at the princess' statement. "And we have missed you" said Venus with her arms wide open in a gesture of a hug. The princess eagerly ran into her waiting arms as the other guardians joined in and formed a group hug while Prince Diamond stood to the side watching with a slight smirk on his face.
"So, what now" asked Venus
"Now, I take back what is mine" said the princess with determination.
Metaria's Fortress…
"Everything is going according to plan mistress" said the hooded figure to the giant hourglass. Metaria gave a gleeful laugh "good" sha said soon this world will have consumed itself and then I will be free to travel to the realm of the gods and take my revenge on my siblings and my father will know I am worthy. "What will you do after, mistress?"
"Take my father's place, and rule all of the cosmos and shape them to my will" she laughed again. The hooded figure smiled at the thought of her mistress finally getting everything that she desired and of her own reward.
"My lady what do we do about the Prince of Solaris as strong as your dark magic is I am afraid that the power of his love for the Lunarian Princess is still proving to be a problem" said the hooded figure.
"Yes, I didn't account for that" said Metaria "But worry not my servant, death is the solution to all problems"
"You wish to kill him?"
"Not me, nothing kills love faster than hate, all we have to do is ensure that sniveling princess' love becomes hate"
"How, my lady"
"Jealousy" laughed Metaria "jealousy"
Solaris…
"It's been hours" Beryl thought to herself as she paced the length of her suit "Where is that damned shadow creature" suddenly a dark portal opened up and the hooded figure Emerged from it's darkness "Well?" She asked "Where is it?"
The hooded figure pulled a small box from its robe and handed it to her, "Are you sure that this will work"
"Absolutely" said the hooded figure
"Good, now leave" she said
Beryl held the tiny box in her hand staring at it and then herself in the mirror, "with this he will be mine forever" she said to herself. She opened the box and there sitting between the cushions was a man's wedding ring. The dark curse placed on the ring rolled off of it like smoke, the prince was informed that the wedding had been moved up and he had agreed with as much as enthusiasm as he could muster which wasn't much t begin with in the first place. By the night of the full moon the prince would be forever hers and there was nothing that simpering princess could do about it.
Prince Darien sat in the gardens of the palace and stared at the setting sun. The wedding would be in a few days and and he could not find it in himself to be at all happy or enthusiastic, the voice calling his name has stopped he mourned the sound of that sweet voice gone forever and him bound to that witch for the rest of his life. "My lord" said one of the guards as he approached. "What is it?" Asked the prince in exasperation.
"We have learned that a small company of men have defaulted to Lunaris" said the guard
"So"
"My lord, they have betrayed you"
"I understand" he said as he stood from the bench and walked passed the guard and back inside the palace. The guard just looked shocked but not at all surprised ever since the prince became involved with the Lady Beryl and the loss of his personal guards he has wondered around like a ghost haunting his own home. "Sir" said another guard approaching the first "Did you tell him?"
"Yes"
"And"
"It seems that our prince no longer cares about anything" suddenly one of Beryls dark soldiers appeared from behind them. "Gossiping about the prince, are we?" Said the shadow soldier, "get back to your post" he said in a hiss.
"We answer to the prince, not to you" said one soldier. The shadow soldier laughed and tapped his finger on the belligerent soldiers' head turning him to stone. The first soldier looked on in horror, "Back to your post" said the shadow soldier, the first soldier ran as fast as he could back to the castle as the shadow soldier vanished into thin air.
Lunarian Temple…
"They arrived, they are with her now" said Pluto as she entered the room. A sigh a relief escaped Uranus' lips "Thank the Goddess" she said as she leaned against the table, looking over the hologram of Lunaris. "I cannot wait for Mars to come back I could use the input regarding our new prisoners" said the Uranus exhaustion evident on her face "You should rest" said Neptune placing her hand on Uranus' shoulder. Uranus laughed "We've been resting for a year" she said "You've been at this since the inner guardians left" Since the awakening Uranus had been busy looking after the guards, strategizing their next attack and making sure that the awakening citizens were kept safe. Ever since Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus left the citizens of have comeback in droves from Moros and the ones who had stayed behind were slowly awakening from the year long slumber.
"Come my love, you are no good to us if you are dead on your feet" said Neptune taking her hand and leading her to her chambers. "Neptune we don't have time for this"
"One hour just rest for one hour and then you can jump ack into it"
Uranus reluctantly agreed and laid down on the bed next to Neptune. Neptune draped her arm around her lover and told her to "sleep"and as her eyes closed she smiled.
Two hours later…
Uranus opened her eyes and found herself alone on the bed, "Neptune?" She looked around the room not finding her second in command. She stepped out of the room and walked back to the war room only to find her and her junior commanding officers strategizing. "Strategizing without me" she said with humor in her tone "we just got a bit of interesting information"
"Which is?"
"A wedding is taking place in a few days"
"A wedding? Are we invited"
"Not at all" said one of the officers around the table. "And how is this good for us?" Asked Uranus as Neptune smiled.
Ruins of the Moon…
"So how do we get back to earth?" Asked Venus breaking the hug. "Same way you came here, The door of time"
"Is the door even here?" Asked Jupiter
"Like myself the door is everywhere" said a familiar voice coming down the hallway towards the throne room. "Pluto" said the princess smiling and running to meet her old friend at the door. "Princess" said Pluto kneeling "Rise" said the princess laughing. "Pluto how is everything back on earth?" Asked Jupiter coming to a stop behind the princess. "Well I do have news"
"What is it?" Asked the princess
"The prince is getting married before the next full moon"
"Before the ascension ceremony" said Venus
Serena looked hurt by these words, like a knife had been stuck in her heart and twisted around. "We can stop this" said Jupiter placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "How?" Asked the princess
"I know how" said Mars who up till this point had stayed silent. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and the princess all turned to look at her. "Are you going o share" stated Jupiter, Mars smiled and said "They crashed our party last year, why don't we crash their wedding" "Crash the wedding?" Asked the princess with a questioning look.
"Exactly" said the guardians at the same time
"I can send a hoard of sandmen to weaken their defenses" added prince Diamond
"Right, lets go" said Serena picking up the skirts of her gown, looking at Pluto with an expectant look.
"Follow me" said the guardian of time as she made her way out of the throne room to the hall that held the door of time.