Prologue |
Chapter One |
Chapter Two |
Chapter Three |
Chapter Four |
Chapter Five |
Chapter Six |
Chapter Seven |
Chapter Eight |
Chapter Nine |
Chapter Ten |
Chapter Eleven |
Chapter Twelve |
Chapter Thirteen |
Chapter Fourteen |
Chapter Fifteen |
Chapter Sixteen |
Epilogue
It was a warm night, an unexpected change from the cool evenings the Moon Queen had been favoring lately. The air was still and moist - a throwback to midsummer - and all was silent as the city slumbered in the ethereal glow of the Moon Castle. The kingdom's sleep, however, was not as peaceful as it had once been. Only a few days had passed since Princess Serenity and her entourage returned from Earth, but faint rumors were already reaching the Lower Quarter, passed from noble to commoner by the workers who served the houses closest to the royal family. Nothing was known for certain, but it was being said that the Moon Princess had been found wandering the Golden City in disguise, and that the proposed alliance with Earth was on shaky ground. Speculation was running wild over secluded tables in shadowy pubs. Up in the castle on the hill, the Sailor Soldiers had gathered to discuss the situation. This was the first meeting they had managed to arrange since returning to the Moon Kingdom, and already tensions were running high. Two of the four chairs in Sailor Venus' office were vacant. Sailor Jupiter was pacing restlessly, strolling from the bookcase against one wall to the cabinet on the other. She had spent much of what little free time she had had since their return on the training grounds, loathe to sit still. Only Sailor Mercury was making a serious attempt to keep the meeting going. "The Golden Kingdom certainly has intellectual potential," the blue-haired soldier said, although she was largely talking to herself. "Zoisite, for example, is well-versed in the technological theories of the other planets, despite Earth's long isolation." "Maybe they've been spying on us," snapped the red-suited warrior in the chair across from Mercury. She was leaning tensely to one side in her seat, her fingers drumming the arm of her chair, her violet eyes troubled. "Come now, Mars, you know that's impossible," Sailor Mercury replied, startled by her fellow soldier's terse tone. "I observed nothing on Earth that indicated any espionage or subterfuge at work." "That man, Jadeite; he bothers me," Mars muttered, shifting in her chair. "He seemed friendly enough on the surface, but there's something wrong about him. Something I can't quite put my finger on." "Do you think he'd do something to sabotage the alliance?" the blue-suited soldier asked, now concerned. "Is he against the treaty between the Earth and the Moon?" "I don't know," the other woman confessed. "There is fierce loyalty in him, but it seemed skewed somehow; misfocused. He is dedicated to the Golden Kingdom, but..." Sailor Mars trailed off as her thoughts reorganized themselves. One hand flew to the brooch at her waist. She closed her eyes, chasing the elusive revelation. Recognizing the familiar gestures, Sailor Mercury waited patiently without speaking. Finally, the red-suited soldier's eyes flew open and she bolted upright in her chair. "That's it," she proclaimed. Now that Mars was away from Jadeite's influence, her senses were finally clear and she was caught between relief at finally solving the mystery that had plagued her and apprehension at what the answer might mean. "His loyalty is to the Earth, not to its royal family. He feels no real love for Prince Endymion or the King and Queen. It is the planet's best interests he serves, not its rulers." "What difference does that make?" Sailor Jupiter broke in, pausing in her pacing to lean on the back of her forest-green chair. "What's best for the rulers is what's best for the planet, every kingdom knows that!" "Earth is not like the other worlds," Mars reminded her, glaring up at the woman who was so quick to dismiss her analysis. "It can support life without the magic of a ruling Queen." "Are you saying Jadeite would betray his rulers if he thought that was best for the planet?" the green-suited soldier scoffed incredulously. "I know they're only Earth-children, but it seemed to me the Four Generals are as closely bonded to their King and Queen as we are to ours." "Perhaps if you'd spent more time focusing on your duties instead of flirting with that Nephrite man," hissed Mars, clenching her gloved fists in irritation, "you might have noticed something other than how pretty his eyes were!" "Are you accusing me of neglecting my responsibilities?" Jupiter demanded, nearly shouting as her skeptical gaze became fierce with sudden fury. "Perhaps all your suspicion is just a cover-up for your own interest in Jadeite!" "Stop it, both of you!" The normally soft-spoken soldier in blue leapt to her feet, her abrupt cry startling the other two into silence. Sailor Mercury hurled the notepad she had been holding to the floor in frustration, her expression hovering between anger and sorrow. "What's happened to us?" she asked her fellow soldiers, looking from one to the other with distressed eyes. "We used to be friends! Not long ago we would have been teasing each other about casual romances like this! When did playful flirtations become fuel for cruel accusations?" "Times have changed, Mercury," Sailor Mars said bitterly, glaring at the floor with her fists trembling on her lap. "The world has changed." "We were a team," the blue-haired soldier protested, searching her fellow soldiers for signs of the friends she once knew. "Now we fight amongst ourselves and keep secrets from one another and...and..." She trailed off helplessly and waved a hand in the direction of the fourth chair in the circle, the one accented in yellow. All three of the soldiers stared at the vacant seat, symbol of the one of their number who was absent. Being in Sailor Venus' suite without her being present added a measure of discomfort to the tension, but it was the Sailor Soldiers' meeting room and they had all agreed to continue using it despite the circumstances. "Sailor Venus is a traitor," the tall soldier of Jupiter muttered. "She chose to forsake her vows of loyalty." "Perhaps she is the only one upholding them!" Sailor Mercury shrank back as this outburst brought incredulous stares from the other sailor-suited warriors. "All right, what Venus did was wrong," the woman in blue amended, bending under the heat of the soldiers' eyes, "but the Princess was our friend. We grew up together. We loved each other and trusted each other. I can't help but feel we should have been more compassionate, more considerate of her feelings." "She is the Princess!" Sailor Mars burst out defiantly. "There are more important considerations than her feelings!" "She is a woman as well, and she was our friend," Mercury shot back, a fresh spark of anger emboldening her words. "Nothing should be more important than that! As her friends, we could have brought her to accept her responsibilities. Who among us can help her now?" At these words, Mars and Jupiter were forced to look away from the soldier's blazing blue eyes in shame. Princess Serenity would no longer tolerate the presence of either of them, let alone speak to them. Whenever either of the soldiers who had banished her lover came near, Serenity flew into a violent rage and could not be calmed until they had left her presence. Mercury glared from one of the shunned women to the other, seething with the tension of a dam about to burst. "Venus dug her own grave," the blue-suited soldier admitted, "but so have the rest of us." Without another word, she strode out of the circle of chairs and left the room, slamming the door behind her. There was a long moment of silence before the two remaining soldiers could bring themselves to meet each other's eyes. "I didn't know Mercury had it in her," Sailor Mars said at last. "She's right, you know." The tall brunette swung herself around her green chair and sat down heavily, slumping beneath the weight of her worries. "Whatever impact we may have had on the Princess, our influence is worthless now." "What choice do we have?" Mars fired back indignantly. "We are Sailor Soldiers, bound to protect and obey the Queen! We cannot set aside our oaths to the Silver Alliance. If Princess Serenity will not willingly do what is best for the Moon Kingdom, it is our duty to do our best to make her." At these words, Jupiter looked at her oddly. "Is that so different from what you sensed in Jadeite?" she asked quietly. Sailor Mars shot out of her chair, fresh fire roaring in her violet eyes. "How dare you?" she demanded, gripping her skirt in her hands in an attempt to resist the urge to strike her comrade. "How dare you compare me to that...that..." "Perhaps we are going about this the wrong way," the brunette soldier mused, ignoring Mars' outburst. "A blade of grass cannot be pressed through a wall by force. Given nurturing patience, however, it can penetrate even the hardest surface." Her eyes fell once again on the orange chair standing vacant in the circle. "Although our goals were noble, our methods may have been wrong. Perhaps Venus-" "Venus is a traitor!" Sailor Mars glared down at Jupiter, seething, unable to believe what she was hearing. Mercury was weak, sentimental, but Jupiter had always seemed strong. Could the Jovian soldier really be implying their figurehead leader had done the right thing by betraying and deceiving them all? "Do you want to share her fate, Jupiter?" The green-suited soldier was silent as the memories flooded her mind. It was treason, what Sailor Venus had done; the worst possible transgression for any citizen of the Silver Alliance, let alone a Sailor Soldier. Still, the blonde had stood firm, remorseless, when she was discovered to have replaced the Princess. Her pride and conviction had not wavered in the least when she was shackled and taken to the dungeons upon their return to the Moon. As far as the other soldiers knew, she was still in a cell somewhere under their feet, awaiting the judgment of the Alliance and not speaking a word to save herself. "Princess Serenity is no longer a child," Sailor Jupiter said at last. "Her mother will not always be there to hold her in check. Before long, the Princess will be Queen and we will serve her and her alone. With Venus gone, who among us can reach her?" "She will not always be this way," Mars said dismissively, reclaiming her chair. "She is in love," the brunette soldier reminded her. "She has suffered a wound that will not heal easily." The observatory of the Moon Castle was dark, starlight and earthlight falling unheeded on instruments that had been shuttered and covered for the night. The light crystals in this room were not automatic, for the benefit of the researchers who needed freedom from the interference of unnatural light, and the switches that operated them were untouched on their panel. The observatory's sole occupant preferred the darkness. A figure in white stood alone near the edge of the floor at the observatory's open wall, the earthlight bestowing upon it a blue-tinted glow that shifted and teased the eye. The figure itself was motionless, hands clasped over its breast, face uplifted toward the shining planet hanging in the dark sky above. The full Earth poured down its light upon pale skin and colorless hair and white cloth. It had been doing so for the past several nights. Princess Serenity stood as if she were a statue, a marble pillar of aching misery. Her life now hovered between empty nothingness and desperate pain. There was no relief from the agony, save a retreat into herself and an extinguishing of all her thoughts and feelings. If she hid from the Earth, she wept from the need of it, her very soul aching to lay eyes upon the blue-green globe where her beloved spent his hours. When she did look upon the planet, every fiber of her being was soon seeped in despair, her body freezing for his warmth and her skin tingling for his touch and her heart screaming for the comfort of his love. There was no escape from her suffering. It had been like this ever since Serenity was rushed back to the Moon Kingdom upon her return to the palace on Earth. She was a true prisoner now, and would not be allowed to return to the planet as long as her mother's word was law. Not that it mattered. I never want to see you again. Endymion's words echoed hollowly in the void in Princess Serenity's soul as she gazed up at the shining world, her eyes filled with the tanned man's face and hair and form. The brightest light in her life had been extinguished, and by her own hand. There was nothing left now save the chains of responsibility that bound her to her kingdom; the chains for which she had sacrificed her heart. There was nothing to be done but wait for her life to organize itself for her, to wait to grow cold and numb as her mother the Queen had done, and hope against all logic that she might someday see her beloved again. The days of the Princess were now more empty than they had ever been. Her movements were severely restricted, although there was no longer any need for her to escape. She moved through her waking hours as if in a trance, following where Luna bade her go, spending her free moments staring lifelessly into empty space. There were no tears now. There was only the pain, the dull ache of loss that consumed Serenity whenever she allowed herself to feel. She ate mechanically when instructed to do so, slept when she was too exhausted to dream, and existed without truly living. There were no more lessons with Queen Serenity. The Princess vaguely remembered rage, and a hand striking her across the face, and tears that were not her own, but since then she had not seen her mother. Nor had she seen Sailor Venus, although, in her despair, Serenity had not spared a thought for the soldier's fate. In her current state, the Moon Princess was unfit to entertain anyone. Any attempt at continuing her general education was useless, so her days were largely filled with nothing. The only activity the heartsick woman was remotely conscious of was the preparation for the wedding. The event approached steadily and relentlessly, like an advancing invasion force. The events on Earth seemed to have only accelerated the wedding plans. Princess Serenity stood through hours of fittings and measurements and adjustments as the castle tailors prepared her adult dress. For the most part, she was excluded from decisions regarding the impending ceremony, but from time to time swatches of cloth and bunches of flowers were waved in front of her face. Servants were forever running here and there throughout the Moon Castle with supplies and deliveries and lists of instructions. When the first lengths of bunting appeared in the Great Hall, Serenity began to subconsciously avoid that place. When she drew too near it, the engagement pendant around her neck choked her with its weight. Still, the Moon Princess withstood it all as the plaything of the nobility that she was. For the most part, she withdrew into herself so thoroughly that she could not even hear the words of the people beside her. In the evenings, when there were no further demands on her time, Serenity climbed the steps to the observatory and gazed up at the Earth until sheer exhaustion claimed her. As the only Sailor Soldier the Princess would still permit to enter her presence, it was Sailor Mercury's duty to watch over her during these pilgrimages. Tonight, the blue-suited soldier stood in the shadows near the observatory's exit, watching her Princess with sad eyes. Not a year earlier, all four guardians had been smiling and laughing together, helping a woman they called their friend prepare for her betrothal ceremony. Now the Sailor Soldiers were reduced to three, and their beloved Serenity was a broken shell of the energetic star she had once been. A movement in the doorway caught Mercury's eye and she spun around swiftly, one arm half-raised in a defensive pose. The soldier both relaxed and tensed further as Queen Serenity appeared, outlined in the faint light shining up the stairwell. Sailor Mercury turned to call out to the Moon Princess, but the Queen laid a hand on her gloved arm and shook her head to stop her. "How is she?" the monarch asked quietly. Her voice was nearly a whisper, but she needn't have bothered to conceal herself. Nothing could distract Princess Serenity during her nightly vigils. "The same." Sailor Mercury cast a pitiful glance at the white-robed figure under the earthlight. "Utterly lost. Will you not speak to her, my Queen?" "There is nothing to be said." The Lunarian's eyes rested on her daughter, sorrowful but resolute. "I have done all I could to convince her to choose the right path for herself, and she still forsook the duties to which she was born. The only option now is force. Under such circumstances, I doubt she would be any more receptive to me than she is toward Jupiter and Mars." These words brought another concern to the monarch's mind, and Queen Serenity paused a moment before speaking again. "Do you know what passed between my daughter and your fellow soldiers, Mercury?" she asked at last. "I cannot imagine what could have made such enemies of lifelong friends. Venus knows something, I suspect, but she will not say a word." "Whatever may have caused this rift, I am not privy to it," the blue-suited soldier said stiffly. For the first time, Mercury was glad to have been left out of the secret, as it freed her to deny information to the Queen without the treason of lying. The Lunarian's attitude was beginning to get under Mercury's skin. Queen Serenity was a mother, but she offered no comfort to her daughter in the girl's hour of need. If she wanted to know the details of her child's life, she could ask the Princess herself. Sailor Mercury wanted no part of the persistent distance between the women of the Moon Kingdom's royal line. It was in itself odd that the Queen needed to ask at all. Mercury had never known the lavender-haired ruler to be in the dark about anything; in fact, the Lunarian Queen prided herself on always being on top of anything that happened in the Solar System. By the time the first rumor formed on a peasant's lips, to Queen Serenity it was already old news. Why should she need to ask a Sailor Soldier for information? The Queen's skills of perception were certainly unchanged. A wry smile curved the corners of her lips as she correctly interpreted Mercury's expression. "Why need I ask, you wonder," she said knowingly. "I must admit I've been rather distracted by other matters lately. Are you certain you've told me everything you learned of the object that fell to the Earth?" "Yes, my Queen." After the runaway Princess fiasco, the visitors to the Golden Kingdom had had to return to the Moon so quickly that Mercury had not had time to press the generals for information. Her report on the matter had been painfully brief. "I have an informant on Earth investigating the matter, but thus far, he has uncovered precious little." Queen Serenity's expression was so troubled that the blue-suited soldier's stomach became queasy with unease. The ruler of the Moon had always been calm and collected in every circumstance. If she was unnerved, the cause of her concern must be serious indeed. "I will leave you to your duty," the Queen said, leaving Mercury's unspoken questions unanswered. The Sailor Soldier could only bow respectfully as the lavender-haired monarch turned away and headed down the stairs. Escaping Mercury's presence gave Queen Serenity the freedom to remain vulnerable. She had allowed the soldier to see weakness in her, something she had avoided at all cost in the past. There would be consequences, there always were, but at the moment the Moon Queen was too unsettled to bottle away all her concern beneath a tranquil mask. She had left before Mercury could question her further, and descended the softly-lit staircase with her worry showing plainly on her face. It would have helped if the Queen could have pinned down exactly what was bothering her so. True, all was not well in her realm; her daughter and one of her guardian soldiers had rebelled against her, but the Queen had the rest of her life to get Princess Serenity to see the light. There was a mysterious force at work on Earth, but it was only a matter of time before Queen Serenity's informants would discover all there was to know. The power of the Silver Crystal was absolute in any eventuality. The Moon Kingdom had endured without any apparent damage thus far. Despite this logic, the Moon Queen was filled with a terrible sense of dread she could not shake. It didn't help that the foreboding was spreading to the other worlds. Aside from Queen Acidalia, whose continuing inability to forecast more than a few days of the future was rapidly becoming a cause for alarm, the rulers of the other planetary kingdoms had admitted to encountering bad omens of their own. Queen Serenity attempted to reassure them by labeling it paranoia, but she could not banish her own inexplicable feeling that the era of peace was drawing to an end. It was in this mindset that she encountered Luna at the foot of the observatory stairs. "My Queen!" The Mauan woman dropped a hurried curtsy in surprise. Serenity was just as surprised to see Luna. "What are you doing about at this hour?" the monarch asked, her troubles momentarily forgotten. "Weren't you with my daughter all day?" "And will be tomorrow," the dark-haired woman assured her. She wished she had the right to ask the Moon Queen a similar question. It was clear at a glance that the ruler was deeply troubled, but although she had been the Serenity's advisor for many years, she was bound by propriety to wait for the Queen to freely offer information. "I couldn't sleep," Luna continued. "I thought I'd check on the child." "She is hardly a child anymore," Queen Serenity reminded her, but she smiled gently. No matter what else happened, Luna was a constant presence of stability and support. There was no better person to watch over the distressed Princess. "Walk with me a moment, will you?" The request was an unusually honest one, carrying a trace of a sincere desire for companionship that was nowhere to be found in Queen Serenity's public persona. Even if she could have refused, Luna would not have considered it for a moment. The two women strolled slowly down the corridor, their dark and light hair of equal lengths reminiscent of the opposite sides of the Moon. At that time of night, the castle was utterly silent; all the servants had finished their various housekeeping duties. Luna automatically adjusted her pace to match the Queen's, waiting with practiced patience for the monarch to speak. "You would protect my daughter, wouldn't you, Luna?" the lavender-haired woman asked at last. "With my life," her companion answered truthfully, although she could not hide her surprise. She had not expected such a question. No explanation was forthcoming as the pair walked on for a while in silence. Out of the corner of her eye, Luna saw Queen Serenity clasp her hands above her breast, her expression distant and distressed. The Mauan forced herself to remain calm, trying not to notice how much Serenity resembled her ailing daughter in that pose. What was weighing so on the Queen's mind? The Lunarian opened a door and Luna received yet another shock. Queen Serenity had led her to the heart of the Moon Castle and they were entering the anteroom of the Crystal Tower's sanctuary. Luna waited for the Queen to say something, but the monarch just kept on walking, crossing the darkened room and opening the great silver doors on the other side. They stepped through into the grassy enclosure that surrounded the Crystal Tower. Luna had never been here at night. It was still and calm, and the earthlight shining down from above gave the white stone of the surrounding walls a blue-green hue. Their footsteps were the only sound as they approached the small temple, the crystal spire that extended through its roof a striking sight against the black sky. "The Crystal Tower," Queen Serenity said suddenly. "The tower of prayer." After their journey in silence, Luna was startled by the monarch's voice. She looked over at the Moon Queen, whose attention was fully fixed on the translucent pillar that rose over the castle. Serenity turned to face Luna, a half-smile on her lips, but there was no light in her eyes. "In her current state, my daughter is unfit to commune with the Crystal Tower," she said heavily. "You cannot enter the temple, but you have stood outside its walls every day for many years. The Silver Crystal knows and trusts you. You believe in this kingdom, don't you, Luna?" The Queen's voice was little more than a whisper, but her tone was insistent and clearly pleading. Luna hardly dared to breathe, shaken to her core by the Lunarian's strange behavior. Queen Serenity was a rock, an unshakeable pillar of strength. She had carved out a kingdom from chaos and dust. What was facing the Moon Kingdom that was so terrible it could cause the monarch such fear? "Of course, my Queen," Luna vowed, mustering all her willpower to prevent her voice from shaking. "I swear it." Inside she was screaming, her heart aching to demand an explanation for this unsettling conversation. She had always trusted in the Moon Queen's power over all things. How was she to take this new side of her ruler? "If anything should ever happen to this world and the ones we love, pray to the tower." Queen Serenity's hair was an eerie indigo in the earthlight and cast shadows over her pale face that were almost as disturbing as her words. "If you do that, the Crystal Tower will protect its children, and our moon, even if the Silver Crystal is no longer inside it. Will you remember that, Luna?" All the Mauan could do was nod a nervous response. After another moment, however, she could no longer keep the words she really wanted to say from spilling out. "What is happening, my Queen?" she asked, trusting in her long record of service to grant her permission to break protocol. Surely even monarchs needed a friend to confide in on occasion. "Is the Moon Kingdom facing a threat?" Queen Serenity did not answer. She looked at Luna, her constant in an ever-changing world, and did not dare burden her any further than she already had. Surely there was nothing to her fear. Surely nothing could overcome the Silver Crystal's power. The stone had not been as responsive to the Moon Queen of late, but surely if the entire civilization were threatened, it would not fail to protect them. The uncertainty, however, was more than Serenity could bear. There was one thing precious to the Lunarian ruler above all else, one star that had to outshine any darkness if the utopia she had created was to endure. Regarding that, she could not be too careful. "You have served me well, but Princess Serenity is your true mistress," the Queen said to Luna. "Always protect your mistress. Even if the time changes, even if her form changes, protect your one mistress." She turned to face the Crystal Tower again, symbol of a power only those of her line could wield, the power to create life when there was nothing but death. "As long as she lives, there is hope." "The Moon Kingdom is lying to us!" The unease plaguing the planetary kingdoms was not limited to the Silver Alliance. An unsettling sense of dark times on the horizon was spreading in the Golden Kingdom as well. No one was ignorant of the unrest now, from the highest nobleman to the lowest beggar. Some citizens lay awake in their beds at night and worried silently. Others were more vocal. "The alliance is a sham! They mean to enslave us with promises of equality!" Today's rabble-rouser was an earnest young man with bold eyes and the athletic build of a lifelong worker. At first, only drunk raving drifters spoke against the Moon in public, but now that members of the more respectable working class were joining the cause, it was becoming more difficult to dismiss the speakers' words as madness. "Do you honestly think the Earth will be admitted to the Silver Alliance? That they will share the secret of longevity with us? Do not be deceived!" The criers were becoming braver, as well. What had been whispered mutterings in darkened rooms had become bold speeches shouted from upturned crates on the very edges of the palace grounds, and the audiences were growing. The impassioned Earth-child currently preaching at the entrance to the Central Gardens had already drawn quite a crowd, and the evening exodus from work to home was only just beginning. "They will never accept us as equals! Even now, their spies walk among us, uncovering our weaknesses, plotting our destruction!" Several people who had stopped to listen to the man's words grumbled their agreement, and a good number of bystanders looked more concerned than skeptical. In this respect, the speaker was at least partially correct. One of the Moon's spies was, in fact, watching him that very moment, although he was far from the cloak-and-dagger shadow of the night the Earth man was imagining. "They are taking our Prince, and we will have no choice but to bow to their rule!" From his hiding place beneath a nearby bush, Artemis watched and worried. On his earlier visits to the planet, it had seemed the disgruntled Earth-children were a small portion of the citizenry, a voice certain to fade away over time. Now something had stirred the controversy into a new frenzy, and the authorities were doing little to combat it. Where were the soldiers who should have been encouraging the growing mob to disperse? A mere week ago, no dissenting speaker would have been able to gather such a crowd. "And what awaits the Prince on the Moon? No innocent devoted bride, that is certain!" Artemis' fur stood on end as he snarled involuntarily at the harsh words against his Princess. He dug his claws into the dirt to prevent himself from springing upon the speaker right then and there. The Earth-child did not dare speak his meaning plainly, but Artemis knew well what was being implied. Somehow, the true motivations of Princess Serenity's visit to Earth had become the stuff of rumor in the Golden Kingdom. Try as he might, Artemis could not unravel the mystery of how such sensitive information had been leaked to the public. Serenity had been seen by dozens of common citizens while she was loose in the Golden City, but the exiled stable hand had been nowhere nearby. How had it been inferred that she was meeting with a secret lover? Although Artemis could not fathom how, it seemed someone on Earth had discovered the truth and was determined to make it known to the entire planet. "How can our rulers support this?" the enthusiastic young man demanded of the world at large. "How can they sell their people to a false goddess? Are they in league with those who wish to destroy us?" "All right, that's enough!" At last, a guard appeared on the scene, stirred into action by the accusations now being levied against the Earth's King and Queen. She had only two companions with her, however; not nearly enough to handle this crowd. Where were the reinforcements that should have been sent by a higher authority? The Four Generals were in the Golden City; why were they not performing their duties? "What of the darkness to the north, and the monoliths appearing right on our doorsteps?" the dissenter called out, refusing to be silenced. "It's a sign!" Scowling, the guard reached out and pulled the man down from his crate, but all that earned her were the jeers of the crowd. Artemis edged out from beneath the bush, watching the scene warily. If something didn't happen to turn the situation around, it looked as if things were going to get ugly. Unfortunately, the Mauan didn't get to hang around to watch the outcome as a new voice struck true terror into his feline heart. "Kitty!" With the lightning reflexes only a cat could possess, Artemis spun around and sped off into the Central Gardens at top speed. He did not risk even pausing to investigate the source of the small bright voice. One of the children in the crowd had spotted him, as often happened. The Mauan's feline form was ideal for slipping through windows and lurking near doorways, but while the adults whose conversations Artemis wished to hear took no notice of him, children always did. The white cat shuddered all over as he darted through a gap in the stones of the palace wall and headed into the royal gardens. The last thing he wanted was for some grubby common child to get her hands on him. He wished he were back on the Moon where he belonged. With her darker fur, Luna was better suited to hiding unseen, but now she was needed to watch the Princess on a daily basis. Besides, Artemis could hardly refuse this duty when the Sailor Soldier who had been his partner had proven to be a traitor. A deep shame that was becoming as familiar as an old friend stole over the white cat. He had never expected Sailor Venus to jeopardize the stability of the kingdom she was sworn to protect. What had possessed her to disregard the orders of Queen Serenity in favor of the emotional whims of the Princess? Artemis tried to cling to anger, but it kept being overrun by guilt. He had been Venus' partner, yet he had not a clue what motivated her. Even though the Moon Queen demanded much of his time, he still should have been a friend to the Venusian soldier. Maybe if he had made more of an effort to bond with her, he could have turned her aside from her destructive path, saved her from condemning herself to a dungeon cell. Artemis shook himself as he skirted a pillar and dashed across an open space. He needed to focus on his mission, and stop dwelling on- Strong fingers seized him by the nape of the neck and lifted him into the air. Artemis struggled and snarled, but the hand refused to let go and he could not twist enough to scratch or bite. The Mauan was both furious and shocked. He had never been caught before. Who was fast enough and strong enough to catch and hold onto a moving cat? The hand turned him around, and Artemis got his answer. Kunzite, the Golden Kingdom's Middle-Eastern commander. The Mauan paused only a split second before resuming his frantic struggle to cover his surprise, but the man's piercing eyes narrowed. He had seen the moment of recognition, had been watching for it. He suspected this white cat was more than a mere animal. Still writhing in the general's grip, Artemis cursed his poor luck. Of all the Earth-children who might have captured him, it had to be Kunzite. Of course, Artemis could have easily escaped by shifting into his human form, but if there was any chance Kunzite could still be prevented from learning the truth about him, he had to pretend to be a normal cat. Queen Serenity would never forgive him if he revealed himself. Proving to the leader of the Four Generals that the Moon Kingdom did indeed have spies on Earth would be disastrous. Artemis struggled with all his might, hoping to break free. Kunzite responded by tightening his grip. He squeezed the loose skin of Artemis' neck between his fingers until the cat yowled with pain, white-hot fire consuming his body. The Mauan had to stop his writhing as lights began to dance in front of his eyes. He surrendered and hung limply from the general's hand, but glared up at him openly, no longer caring if the Earth man saw the intelligence behind his feline eyes. Clearly he had underestimated the cruelty Kunzite was capable of. The general marched through the palace gardens at a brisk pace, his long hair and cloak flowing out behind him. He held the cat at arm's length so Artemis' claws could not reach his flesh, and his eyes never left his captive. The Mauan began to feel the first tendrils of fear creeping into his heart. This man was far too sharp for Artemis' peace of mind. In a world gone mad, Kunzite had matters well in hand. A man like this could spell disaster in the developing crisis if he ended up on the wrong side. At first, Artemis feared the gray-suited general was taking him directly to the rulers of the Earth, but after entering the palace, Kunzite turned aside from the main corridors and headed down a staircase. As they turned corners and descended past two levels, the white cat found an entirely new reason to fear. A sound was growing louder, a din that struck terror into his heart at a purely instinctive level. The barking of dogs. Kunzite pushed open a door and carried Artemis down a long row of cages. Within each one, a sleek hunting dog growled and lunged against the bars. Several servants who had been feeding the dogs looked up, startled by the sudden appearance of the Golden Kingdom's highest-ranking officer. The Mauan went stiff as a board, too terrified to move. He stared up at Kunzite with wide eyes filled with dread. Was the man so cruel he would throw Artemis to these vicious dogs? The cat struggled briefly in panic as Kunzite stopped and bent down, but the man merely picked up an empty cage and straightened up again. The general immediately turned around and strolled back to the door, but Artemis did not relax again until the barking animals had been left far behind. Kunzite smirked down at his captive when the room and the servants inside it were out of earshot. "We are not as savage as that." After such a scare, Artemis hung obediently from the white-haired man's fingers as he was carried down a long corridor. Nothing Kunzite might do to him could possibly be worse than what Artemis had imagined in that room. They passed stables and training equipment, and room after room of men and women exercising and sparring. Clearly this was the section of the palace where the word of the Four Generals was law. Every servant that noticed Kunzite bowed his head to him, and every soldier stood tall and saluted. For the most part, they passed through the hallways undisturbed, as there were relatively few people here. The ground on this side of the palace was lower, and through the thin windows lining the walls, Artemis caught glimpses of military exercises being carried out on the fields outside. "Nephrite!" The white cat craned his neck to look ahead of them. The chestnut-haired general was at the far end of the hall, frozen in the act of reaching for a doorknob. He let his hand fall and stood aside as his fellow commander approached. "Kunzite. I was just looking for you." "Well, that's one of us found, at least," the older man muttered grimly. He strolled past Nephrite and pushed open the door, carrying Artemis inside. A desk covered in neat piles of documents and scrolls sat in the center of the room, surrounded by filled, but organized, shelves. Evidently, this was Kunzite's office. "What's with the cat?" Nephrite inquired, following the Middle-Eastern commander into the room. "It's a spy for the Moon Kingdom." Artemis was saved from trying to prevent an uncatlike reaction as Kunzite set the empty cage down on his desk, opened it, and shoved the Mauan inside. Artemis leapt to his feet and lunged, but it was too late. The latch of the cage door clicked, and he was trapped. Well, his secret was out, but even if he gave up and transformed now he would never escape this room. Artemis was no Sailor Soldier. He could not overpower two of the Golden Kingdom's strongest mages. Besides, even if Kunzite knew the truth, he had no evidence, and the Mauan was not about to provide any by changing shape in front of a witness. The look on Nephrite's face proved he was not about to take such a wild tale on Kunzite's word alone. "It's a cat," he said flatly. "It has the mark of the Moon Kingdom on its forehead," Kunzite replied as he turned several of the documents on his desk face-down so Artemis could not read them. Nephrite approached the cage and crouched down to peer inside. The Mauan meowed plaintively and pawed at the door of the cage, trying his best to look like an innocent animal. The indignity of it made Artemis cringe with shame, but he had to keep the damage to his cover at a minimum. "It's just a bald spot," Nephrite insisted, straightening up. "Look, you know I'm worried about spies too, but a cat?" "It's not just a cat!" Kunzite burst out in frustration, slamming his fists against the surface of his desk. "Earth has not been separated from the rest of the worlds for so long that all has been forgotten! It is a well-known fact that there are people in this galaxy with the ability to change shape." "That is true." Nephrite looked down at the white cat again, brow furrowed in concentration. Artemis casually turned away and began washing himself. He had finished his entire right foreleg by the time the man spoke again. "Well, spy or not, we have more important concerns at present," the chestnut-haired general said, returning his attention to Kunzite. "Has there been any sign of Jadeite?" The Middle-Eastern commander made a harsh noise in his throat and jerked his head warningly toward the cage. Artemis' ears pricked up, but he remained intent on grooming his other foreleg. Jadeite was missing? Perhaps that was what was distracting the generals from the unrest in the Golden City. "Oh, come now, Kunzite! Are we to have no safe haven, for fear of ears in the walls? It is safer to speak here than out in the corridor. If the cat's a spy, unless its other form is a giant monster, it's not going anywhere." The white-haired general was silent for a moment, considering, but at last he nodded. "All right. No, there's been no word," he informed Nephrite. "I have Zoisite out searching for him." "Are you sure that's wise?" the younger man asked, looking concerned. "You know Zoisite has been as displeased with the situation as Jadeite..." "We all are," Kunzite admitted, "but you can't truly think... We are the Four Generals! We are loyalty over personal opinion, always! We do as our rulers bid us." "But are we not lacking in our duties if we do not protect our rulers from themselves?" Nephrite asked quietly. "What if the decision they have charged us to uphold is the wrong one? The stars have told me the marriage of Prince Endymion to the Moon Princess should not go forward." "You know I've never put much stock in the sayings of the stars, Nephrite," Kunzite muttered, collapsing heavily in the high-backed chair behind his desk. "I need evidence." In the cage, Artemis had moved on to grooming his hind legs, but his mind was working furiously. What was he hearing? Were even the Four Generals losing faith in the Golden Kingdom's King and Queen? Had Jadeite actually defected? "But you are suspicious," the North American commander challenged. "You believe there are spies among us; how trustworthy can the Moon be if that turns out to be true? You must suspect there are things the Moon Kingdom is not telling us. You would not have lavished so much attention on that Sailor Soldier otherwise." Now Artemis stiffened and bristled from head to toe, but the Earth men were too absorbed in their conversation to notice. Sailor Venus had clearly been off her game whenever Kunzite was present, and the last thing her Mauan partner wanted to hear was that the Earth general had been using her. What if Kunzite's treatment of Venus has contributed to her betrayal? The white-haired general was the last person Sailor Venus had interacted with before taking the Princess' place. If Kunzite had had a hand in the soldier's self-destruction, Artemis would never forgive him. "Nothing justifies betrayal," Kunzite insisted, but his eyes were troubled. One gloved hand clenched into a fist, and he struck the surface of his desk in sudden frustration. "Curse that Jadeite! Why now, of all times? The Queen ill, the Moon breathing down our necks, the monoliths and the darkness frightening the entire population half to madness... This is no time for us to be spending time searching for one of our own!" "In such times, perhaps all we can count on is each other," Nephrite responded evenly. Silence fell as the two men stared at one another, and Artemis, captivated by the moment, forgot to feign a catlike disinterest. Finally, Kunzite heaved a deep sigh and got to his feet. "I need to make my rounds before my conference with the Prince," he announced. "Stay and keep an eye on the cat, will you? When I get back, we'll decide what's to be done with it." Nephrite nodded and stood aside as Kunzite headed for the door, twitching his cape into position behind him. "Don't tell him," Nephrite said suddenly. The older man paused, his hand on the door handle. "I don't plan to," Kunzite replied after a moment, "but you know he'll ask." The chestnut-haired general's only response was to look away in resignation. His fellow commander opened the door and left the room without another word, leaving Artemis to puzzle at the meaning of the cryptic exchange. When Kunzite was gone, Nephrite pulled over a chair and sat down facing the cage on the desk. He focused on the cat crouching inside, his eyes searching, curious, but still skeptical. "So...read any good books lately?" On the Moon, it was once again late evening. A warm wind was blowing, promising a pleasant night ahead. Much of the population of the capital city was out enjoying the comfortable weather, many of the kingdom's people seeking to distract themselves from the unrest that was growing in the Silver Alliance. Words had a way of seeping through unseen cracks. Although communication between the Earth and the Moon was still very limited, somehow everyone knew the proposed alliance was not progressing as planned. Despite the unsettling rumors, the citizens of the Moon did their best to set their concerns aside, trusting in Queen Serenity's ability to handle any crisis. Of all the people on the blessed satellite, it was the pair on whom all hopes were hanging who were most ill at ease. Princess Serenity was once again maintaining her vigil, staring up at the blue-green globe in the sky with empty eyes and a heavy heart. Within the castle, her Earth-born fiance was not much better off. He, too, knew the anguish of being separated from the one he loved. It was a perfect evening, but the balcony doors of Prince Endymion's chambers were firmly shut. He had no interest in the artificial environment that passed for nature on the Moon. The Earth Prince had dismissed his servants for the night, but he had not yet dressed for bed. Even had he not had a scheduled conference with Kunzite, he was far too restless to sleep. The auburn-haired man paced from one room of his luxurious suite to another, his eyes passing over the plush furniture and elegant hangings as if they were nothing but bare walls. Nothing on the Moon held any beauty in the eyes of the Earth Prince. He sat down, then immediately stood up again and resumed his pacing. He took a drink from the goblet he was carrying in one hand, but his favorite wine was like water, tasteless. The world was an empty void. He could think of nothing but Beryl. When he closed his eyes, she was there, her dark hair and cherry-red lips so real that his heart ached more than he could bear. When he opened them, she was still there, a phantom in black and white that overwrote reality and a ghostly voice that whispered in his ear. Now that he had lost her, every waking moment and every vivid dream was filled with her, constantly reminding him of the sacrifice he had made. Prince Endymion dwelled on the question until he could scarcely think of anything else. Had he been a fool to set Beryl aside? Since the day his parents informed him that he had been promised to the Princess of the Moon, the Prince had known this outcome was inevitable. Even so, clinging to his doomed relationship with Beryl had preserved some of the light in his life when everything else he cared about was taken from him. He was alone on the Moon, utterly alone, and knowing Beryl was waiting for him on Earth had saved Prince Endymion from feeling completely isolated. Now she was gone, and he was a man abandoned on a world of gods. The Earth Prince had always done as he was told. He had always trusted in the judgment of his parents, bravely accepting his responsibility to make personal sacrifices for the good of his kingdom. Now he was alone on a strange world, separated from the people he was supposed to be serving, and he had hurt one of them - the person he loved most - in the name of a goal he did not fully understand. He had given up everything, and he had gained nothing. For the first time in his life, Prince Endymion found himself doubting the wisdom of his parents' orders. A soft chime sounded from the suite's small office. Endymion hurried into the room, eager for the distraction from his troubling thoughts. He set his goblet on the desk and sat down facing the slim communication screen hanging on the wall above it. The device, a thin panel of transparent crystal, had been given to the Prince by Queen Serenity for his private use. At least the Moon Queen understood his need to keep in touch with the Golden Kingdom. A panel set into the desktop was flashing gold. Prince Endymion reached out and touched it, and the communication screen sparked into life. The light blotted out the wall behind the flat crystal and resolved itself into an image of Kunzite, the Earth's Middle-Eastern commander. The white-haired man's face was slightly to the right of center; he had not yet mastered the use of the screen that had been installed on the planet. Despite Kunzite's well-practiced self-restraint, the Prince knew him well, and the technology was perfect enough for him to recognize the tightness of the General's expression. Things were no better, then. "There's still no sign of him?" Prince Endymion asked before the man could even greet him. Kunzite sighed heavily. "None," he confessed. "None of Jadeite's senior officers have heard a word, either." "Where could he have gone?" the Earth Prince wondered aloud, turning away from the screen for a moment. He searched his memories of Jadeite for any clues to the man's disappearance, but he could recall nothing suspicious, no hints that the Far-Eastern commander might be considering abandoning his duties. Surely none of the Four Generals could be taken from the Golden City against their will. Prince Endymion slammed his fists against the arms of his chair in frustration. He had been separated from his guardians for far too long. Had he remained on Earth where he belonged, Jadeite would surely have confided in him. "I sent Zoisite out to search all his usual haunts," Kunzite informed his Prince, "but I fear the situation is worse than we anticipated. Zoisite has not checked in this evening." The auburn-haired man froze. His eyes rolled to stare at the Middle-Eastern commander, wide with horror and dread. Was it possible there was someone capable of overpowering the Golden Kingdom's strongest warriors? Were the Four Generals being abducted? "Be careful, Kunzite," Prince Endymion said earnestly, the thought of losing all four of his best friends making him sick to his stomach. "You and Nephrite, watch out for yourselves. Watch out for each other. I want to hear from you twice a day, understand?" "As you wish, Prince," the white-haired man replied with a nod. "Keep an eye on my parents as well," the Earth Prince continued as his fear expanded. "My mother, how is she?" Now Kunzite looked clearly unnerved. His silver eyes became openly troubled, and it was his turn to look away. "No one really knows," he said heavily. "The King still won't permit anyone to see her. She's been locked away since your last visit, Endymion." The Prince's heart was pounding. His mind was racing, and although he clenched his fists on his knees, he could not stop them from trembling. Agitated, he leapt to his feet and began pacing the length of his office, running his hands through his short hair in overwhelmed frustration. Before all this business with the Moon began, the Golden Kingdom had been in decline, but at least its power structure had been firmly in place. Now, instead of improving, the situation seemed to be spiraling into chaos. "What is going on down there?" the Earth Prince finally burst out, whirling around to face Kunzite's image. "Is the kingdom itself coming apart?" "Could very well be," Kunzite muttered. Prince Endymion stopped dead in his tracks at these words. "I won't lie to you, Prince," the general continued. "These are dark times. Your engagement to the Moon Princess was not the saving grace we hoped it would be." "Would it be better if I returned?" the auburn-haired man asked quietly. One hand rose to toy with the moonstone pendant hanging around his neck. His parents wanted this marriage, but surely, if it were best for the Golden Kingdom... "I fear we would fare no better," the general replied. "What you are considering would only confirm the rumors that the Moon Kingdom cannot be trusted. It could lead to war. We should not speak of such things over this channel, Prince. We don't know who might be listening." "Spies?" Endymion's blue eyes narrowed, and he looked around suspiciously, searching all corners of the room. "There may be truth to some of the rumors." Kunzite's expression had become even more serious than usual. "I believe I may have caught one snooping around the palace grounds. I beg you to watch out for yourself as well, Endymion." The Earth Prince returned to the desk and sat down again, leaning on its edge. "Things seem stable here," he said. "Do you really think there is cause for concern?" "If they are investigating us secretly, there is," the general answered. "We don't fully know the Moon Kingdom's motives, Endymion. We can't rule out the possibility that the Lunarians have something to do with the current situation on Earth. A lot of strange things began happening after we restored contact with them." "I thought much of that had been attributed to the comet from the sun," Prince Endymion commented. "It has, but we cannot be certain the Lunarians are not somehow involved with that as well," Kunzite argued. "Queen Serenity has power beyond mortal imagining. We have no way of knowing what she might be capable of. The monoliths, the darkness, the disappearances... It could all be a tactic meant to scare us into submitting to the Moon Kingdom's control." The Earth Prince leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the desk. Kunzite's words were troubling. Prince Endymion had no love for the Moon, but with the exception of Princess Serenity's recent behavior, he had been treated with nothing but kindness and respect by the Lunarians. Although it was understandable that common citizens might suspect such things, Endymion found it difficult to believe the people of the Moon might wish the Golden Kingdom harm. In any case, this was definitely something they should not discuss if there was any possibility their words might be overheard. It was something to consider, but for now it was best to stick to topics that were common knowledge. "Let's not jump to any conclusions," he finally said. "Have we received any report yet on the Dark Kingdom's investigation of the comet?" There was a telling pause. "What is it?" Prince Endymion demanded, sitting bolt upright in his chair. There was a strange expression on Kunzite's face now, one that the Earth Prince had never before seen on the normally calm and collected general. It was the face of a man who was reluctant to deliver difficult news. "There has been no communication at all from any of the northern kingdoms in several days," the general admitted at last. "The darkness there is growing deeper and spreading, and no one who goes there returns." "Beryl," the Prince croaked out hoarsely, his throat suddenly full of sand and his lungs refusing to take in air. "What of Beryl?" The face on the crystal screen looked away, silent. "Kunzite!" "No word since her caravan crossed the border," the white-haired man said quietly. "I am sorry, Endymion." "A search party!" the Earth Prince burst out. "An investigation! Doesn't Father care what's going on up there?" This could not be happening. Beryl was a powerful mage. She had to be all right. She could not be lost forever. "Several teams have already vanished," Kunzite informed him. "King Arton has declared the Dark Kingdom off-limits. Several mages are attempting a distance investigation-" "That's not good enough!" Prince Endymion shouted, jumping out of his chair and glaring at the screen in front of him. "She - they could be in trouble! You have to help h - them!" "We are doing all we can," the general said firmly. His silver eyes were sympathetic, but his face was taking on the hard-set expression Kunzite always adopted when he thought the Prince was behaving improperly. "You must be patient, Prince. There is more at stake here than one woman." "Find her," Endymion insisted, burying his fingers in his hair. "Just find her!" He should never have let Beryl go. Now she was lost in a cloud of nothingness, and no one was helping her, and he was marooned on another world. The last thing the Earth Prince wanted was to hear condescending words of reason. One hand darted out and jabbed at the control panel. Kunzite's face flickered and disappeared. The communication screen became once again a benign rectangle of transparent crystal. Prince Endymion dropped heavily into the desk chair and buried his face in his hands. All he could think about was what might be happening to Beryl, what horrors she might be enduring. What was out there, lurking in the Dark Kingdom? What if Beryl's magic was not strong enough to combat it? What if she was caught in a struggle for her life, in desperate need of help, and none was forthcoming? How could the Earth Prince sit quietly in a peaceful kingdom when such an unspeakable evil was loose on his planet and his beloved was caught in the middle of it? He had to do something. Late that night, a lone figure in white wandered the deserted corridors of the Moon Castle. It was that rare hour when the latest night owls had retired and the earliest early birds had not yet risen, when not a soul was stirring. Princess Serenity drifted silently through the eerie emptiness of the dead hour, heedless of the light crystals that flashed one and off to illuminate her path. For the first time since her flight through the gardens on Earth, she was alone. The Moon Princess had risen after a few hours of empty unconsciousness to find Sailor Mercury asleep in a chair. The Sailor Soldier had been putting in long hours during the day analyzing data for the Queen and attending meetings, and the quiet solitude of monitoring the Princess during one of her rare sleep periods had proven to be too much for Mercury. Serenity had been able to escape her rooms alone with little difficulty. It was not as if the constant surveillance was necessary. Princess Serenity no longer had anywhere to go. Her beloved Endymion was on another planet and he no longer wanted her. All the reasons for her rebellion were gone. She went through the motions of life with empty eyes and an empty heart. Perhaps someday Endymion would contact her again. Perhaps someday he would love her again. That hope was all the Moon Princess had to cling to. The Earth was not shining tonight, so there was no reason to make the climb to the observatory, but wandering aimlessly through the castle was preferable to staying in her rooms. If Serenity stayed awake in her sitting room, Sailor Mercury would try to talk to her, and if she remained in her bedroom, she would fall asleep. Sleep was the last thing the Moon Princess wanted. When she slept, she dreamed. Waking from another dream so real that she could feel the soft warmth of Endymion's lips on hers was the only thing that could still make Princess Serenity cry. She could not bear another such fantasy. By remaining always on the edge of complete exhaustion, the few hours of slumber Serenity allowed herself would be too deep for dreams. The anguished Lunarian drifted from one wing of the Moon Castle to the other, numbly wasting what time remained before dawn. After a while, she found herself beside the door to the teleportation chamber, the room that stood as both gateway and barrier. If she could not gaze upon the world her beloved Endymion now inhabited, at least she could stand where only technology and light separated her from him. She opened the door and slipped inside. The chamber was not empty. Surprise cut through the fog of despair surrounding Princess Serenity's mind as Prince Endymion froze in his tracks and stared back at her. The teleportation platform was alight with gold, the link between it and the palace on Earth activated. The auburn-haired Prince was caught halfway between the control panel and the glowing platform, and as Serenity watched, his expression slowly shifted from shock and guilt to hardened resolve. "Well?" Prince Endymion demanded when the Moon Princess did not speak. "Are you going to stop me?" "You're going to Earth..." The code had been changed, but of course it would have been given to the Earth Prince. He was not a prisoner like Serenity was. A strange tempest of emotion bubbled up within the Princess. Leaving in the dead of the night, alone... There could only be one explanation. Prince Endymion was leaving for good, forsaking the alliance that was to be forged by their betrothal. After all Serenity had suffered, after all she had sacrificed for this marriage, it was being broken by the very man who had been most insistent it succeed! For what, then, had all her tears been shed? For what, then, had so much pain been endured? Although it was somewhat of a relief that she would not have to spend the rest of her life bonded to this man, Princess Serenity could not help glaring at him in unbridled outrage. After all this, how could he? "I am sorry." Prince Endymion backed toward the teleportation platform, a touch of fear creeping into his expression in the face of Serenity's wrath. "This isn't easy for me, but I have to do this. I... They..." The man sagged slightly, resigning to the truth. "She needs my help." "Your mother?" "No." The betrothed heirs stared at each other for a long moment. Now Princess Serenity took in his haggard look, the circles under his eyes, the marks of long hours spent in agonizing internal debate. This had indeed not been an easy decision for him. What attachment could be strong enough to turn such an obedient Prince away from his sworn oath? If not his mother, then... "You have a lover?" "Yes." Prince Endymion's face became filled with a pain unlike any Serenity had ever seen, save in her own mirror. On a man she had only known to be as emotionless as a stone, it was striking and deeply unsettling. Before her eyes, the Earth Prince became an entirely different person, at once a complete stranger and more familiar than anyone else the Princess had ever known. "I am sorry," the blue-eyed Endymion repeated in a mournful voice. "I meant no deception. I thought... I thought..." "You thought if you just stuck to your duty, it would go away," the Moon Princess said softly, her expression becoming gentle as all the fury drained out of her in a rush. "You thought, for the good of your kingdom, you could live without love." Suddenly the world made a great deal more sense. Prince Endymion's warning that he could never love his fiance, his cold behavior toward Serenity, his reluctance to bring her to Earth... It all came together in this revelation, and the foggy landscape of their relationship was suddenly crystal clear. "You understand," the Earth Prince breathed in surprise. "Then you...do you also..." "Yes." Princess Serenity smiled as tears welled up in her eyes for the first time in days. "He is on Earth," the auburn-haired Prince guessed after a moment of thought. Serenity nodded. "Banished there after my mother found out," she said. A dry, hollow laugh overpowered the urge to sob. "Ours is a difficult lot, is it not?" Prince Endymion glanced over at the column of shimmering golden light sparkling behind him. He bit his lip, his hands twitching at his sides as he considered. Finally, he turned back to his Lunarian fiance. "You could come with me." Serenity's heart leapt, and it took all her self-control to prevent herself from bursting into overwhelmed tears. No one was here to prevent her. She could go to Earth. She could leave all the constraints and pressures of her role behind forever. She could find her beloved, and never leave him again. I never want to see you again. Endymion's last words sounded like thunder in Serenity's memory, assaulting her with the cold truth. The Earth man had been serious when he said those words, more serious than he had ever been. No matter how much the Princess wanted to believe otherwise, her heart told her that was the case. Endymion had made the decision to put their love aside. If their relationship was to be restored, it had to be his decision. Besides, if the Moon Princess left like this, it might be believed that Prince Endymion had abducted her. Queen Serenity would seek her with all the power of the Silver Alliance. The Princess would never be safe, and the lives of the Earth Prince and his lover would likely be destroyed as well. There would be war, with no guarantee that Princess Serenity would be rewarded with the lasting reunion she desired. There was also Sailor Mercury to consider, whose moment of weakness had provided the Princess with this opportunity. Could Serenity condemn her only remaining friend to a traitor's fate, as she had Venus? It was time for her to accept the reality of what could and could not be, and to respect the decisions of the man she loved. "Thank you, Prince," Serenity said at last, "but I must remain here." How ironic that it would be the Earth-child who broke their betrothal vows, and the lovesick Lunarian who voluntarily remained in her cage! The auburn-haired man nodded solemnly. "We belong on our own worlds." The Earth Prince reached up and took off the moonstone engagement pendant, solemnly removing the symbol of their intended union. Serenity's decision could not have had less to do with an attachment to the Moon, but it would be easiest if Prince Endymion believed his own explanation. She lifted the sapphire pendant off her own neck, and handed it to the Earth-child as he set its moonstone twin in her palm. "Farewell, Prince, and good luck." Before she could hesitate, Princess Serenity leaned forward and kissed Endymion lightly on the cheek. When she pulled away, the man was smiling the first genuine smile she had ever seen grace his face. "I am glad to have met you, Princess." The Earth Prince's blue eyes glowed with sincerity and a warmth Serenity had never expected to see in him, and she could not help but smile. At least one of them would be happy. Prince Endymion turned around and crossed the room to the waiting teleportation platform. He climbed the few steps, an unhidden eagerness adding a slight bounce to his stride. For a moment, he stood on the stone slab, his skin tinted caramel by the golden light that was the color of his house. Then his body shimmered, wavered, and was gone. Princess Serenity stood alone in the empty chamber, watching the column of light sparkle as it flowed from platform to ceiling. With the silver-edged moonstone pendant dangling from her fingers, she slowly walked to the control panel and pressed a button. The golden shine winked out, irrecoverable. Serenity felt as if her heart would stop as well, but it stubbornly kept on beating. |
