Part IV - Moon -------------- by Blue Satellite Moon: The Silver Millennium Palace, throne room... She watched as she saw the dark mass from her throne, looking out the grandiose window that framed the Earth as it rotated along on its axis. Her eyes narrowed and then widened. "Iie!" She muttered under her breath as she watch the shock waves that the darkness had espoused spread across the land. "Your majesty! What is it?" She looked over to the surprised face of a dark-blue haired woman. Tall and slender, the beautiful woman wore a silky, yellow dress with sheer-dark satin falling in petal like formation to her knees. A crescent medallion hung down to her waist and a crescent moon shone upon her forehead proclaiming her status as a royal counselor. She was the highest of the ranks, next only to the Queen and the Leader of the Senshi, her and her partner that is. A long, white-haired man frowned at the scene before him, his long, slim fingers tightened around the dark-haired woman's on impulse as his blue eyes flashed in worry. His own crescent moon mark was wrinkled from his frown and an identical moon medallion fleshed beneath the lights of the room as he shifted his weight uneasily. He was definitely not pleased with the present situation. "I fear Luna, that the dreaded Dark Wars are about to begin." He replied, his voice smooth even as his insides tightened at the thought of the coming violence. His fangs flashed dangerously in the light as he hissed softly at the idea. "Artemisu," the dark-haired woman gently laid her hands against his chest, trying to sooth his agitation. "Luna," he pulled his finger from her own and wrapped his arms around her. "My Queen, what shall we do?" The silver-haired Queen did not look at them, for she had turned back to the scene before her and sighed. "Let us try one more time with the three-way communication between the kingdoms, my daughter has much to learn and this meeting might save us all." "My Queen," the two counselors said in union, two pairs of worried blue-eyes looked to her in determination. "We will prepare for the immediate return of the Senshi." "Serenity-sama, what if this meeting fails?" The worried voice of Luna reached her ears and she looked to the couple that clung to each other. She was reminded of a happier time when she had her King beside her to help her through the tough times like these, but she has no one now except her daughter. She smiled sorrowfully at the two below her, "Then it is only a consummation of our doom." The woman gasped, the man tightened his arms around the trembling form of the former, the two looked frightened at the prospect of an end to the paradise they knew. "Let us pray." She finally said, the two below her nodded in turn before silently leaving the room; she was left to herself again to ponder the coming events. The door nudged open, a dark-colored cat peeked through with rouge colored eyes. "Your majesty?" "Hai?" "Would you like for me to stay, Artemisu said that he could pray alone for now and it would be selfish of him to keep me away from you." She smiled. "Hai Luna, I would enjoy your company." And so the cat bounded up the steps to the throne before turning to its human form again, and set on the steps beside the throne of the Queen as the two women looked upon the doomed planet, Earth. Luna and Artemis were of Mau origin. They came from a small planet called Kumong. Their planet at that moment was still fighting a war with Saturn which had already put a strain on the two counselors being that they could not leave to help their planet. Instead, their duties tied them to their Queen and they were trapped on the planet Moon. Mau was a creature that had the ability to shift between cat form and human form. They had higher hearing and wider range of sight, and were extremely skilled in hunting and tracking. They were usually quite tall, dominating a room with their seer size. Mau were usually slim and very fit. They tend not to be too bulky, instead their bodies were slender and graceful, at the same time, extremely agile and strong. They were deadly in handed to hand combat because of their long, deadly claws and extracting fangs that could rip and tear with ferocity in any big cat. They had an inclination with blood, which made them a little bit like vampires in nature, but they didn't need blood, so unless in the presence of it they felt no need for it. Their one weakness was in magik, for they distrusted it immensely. Even though they had it running through their own blood they never used it more than the usual necessities of changing forms and doing basic things. Complex spells were against their natures. They were born warriors, not mages. The people of Saturn though was totally opposite, they were physically weak. Usually small in stature, as well as slim. Their race was known for their power through magik and were greatly dependence of spells to protect themselves from forces much greater than theirs. Their powers were on the extremely destructive side. Sly and clever, the people of Saturn were a deadly force to cross. They also refused to sign any peace treaty with the moon, but trained their princess on her powers by themselves. The irony of their powers was that these people had also great powers to heal as they did for destruction, the Solar Wars were actually settling, but the Moon feared the worst, Saturn was readying itself for something, what, she didn't know but she knew it was of great evil. Pluto was silent on what is to come, expected. Uranus on the other hand had confessed that she had little contact with both kingdoms for a very long time, but had bluntly added that even if she did know she would keep her mouth shut if that is what her neighboring planets requested. The Moon Queen was frustrated, the planets promised peace, but did not promise to gossip all the information that were needed to keep it! And she couldn't count on Earth, it was still in a totally different world at this moment and it seemed the feared Dark Wars has begun already on its own soil. At an early age, the Queen picked her advisors from the race called Mau. Under the request and advice of her own mother, she choose a young Prince name Artemis and a young Princess name Luna, who were taken from their home planet Kumong. The two were already betrothed to be married on Luna's twenty-sixth birthday in Mau years and were soul- bounded by magik already during their mothers' pregnancies. After they had pledged their soul to her by choice, the Queen took them to her court on the Moon and cast the spell of loyalty upon them with her blood that engraved the crescent moon upon their foreheads. In such, she also gave them each a crescent pendant to establish their status in court, which served as a constant tag upon their physical forms. Any attempts of betrayal would allow the pendant to cause them physical and mental pain, for the Queen still could not allow herself to trust. The pendant also had another side affect, it absorbed its owner's energy and thus diminishing the person's powers to the level that whoever provided the artifact wished it to be. It was not physical, being that Mau's blood was highly magical and thus it was their magik that the pendant fed upon in their human forms confining them to only humans with slight magik powers, but not enough to do much harm to anyone in particular. Under great protest was this done being that the Mau race protested this lack of trust on the Moon's side and had indignantly pointed out that they had never used their magik to attack or undermine anyone or anything! It was, after all, in their blood to be warriors not mages, to use magik in combat or in deceit was a disgrace and a show of weakness in their strength. But the Moon insisted. Pointing out slyly that if it did not matter it should not become one that did. At last, reluctantly, the Mau rulers gave in, but it was a great splotch on their egos and the distrust bloomed from this. Their defensive powers were high though, being that their second tasks were to protect the royal family so that their combatant skills would not be put to waste. Though not strong in the offensive - and thus to many they were considered weaklings - nonetheless, their great walls and wards of magik grew as their offensive strength diminished to almost non- existence. They did not complain. Actually, it was a miracle that they even noticed, but they did. The pendant did not weaken them that much, and perhaps in this way it had failed its purpose, the counselors knows now that their monarch did not trust them and in itself, it was its own destruction. The face of a boy popped up and she stifled her gasp. This is the leader they've chosen? How unexpected and expected at the same time. They - the Earthlings - were known to do such foolish things as this. "Good evening Prince Endymion, the Princess Serenity of the Moon has been delayed and will not be able to communicate for another hour. Please wait a while longer, we will contact you in two hours earth time. Luna out." The screen blipped out to blackness, she had no time to wait for the boy's response, for she was only the messenger and not his counselor. "Luna, what is your assessment of this Prince Endymion?" The Queen asked, stepping from the shadows that had hid her from the screen. "Young, probably inexperienced, and this new threat on Earth that may complicate the System's Political and Peacetime strategies... I would say that he has a lot to learn and that this would be his first and worst crisis. I fear that perhaps I am biased to his race and thus deterred by his youth." Frowning, she relaxed only slightly when she leaned into the arms of the white-haired man. "Artemisu." She sighed and felt the other tightened his arms around her. "What Luna is trying to say is, is that he might not be ready for this type of responsibility." The white-haired man told the Queen who nodded in understanding. "Hai. You are correct in your assumption and your worry, for I too doubt his abilities. But there is the problem that no one else is able, he may be our only hope and even I have walked down that road of inexperience, with a vastness before me that in itself are chains, called power." Her eyes misted but there were no tears, not for the past, not for the long ago, unchangeable past. Her fist clutched as she fought back the tears, seeing her distress Luna quickly changed the subject. "The Princess, she should be arriving soon, ne?" The Queen smiled gratefully and nodded. "Artemis, prepare for their arrival. I need to welcome my daughter home." The two before her nodded and the Queen left the two counselors to themselves. "Artemisu, I fear this darkness on Earth. Is it absolutely necessary for this alliance between the Planets now? Can we not wait until Earth has resolved its own problems?" Her one slender hand tightened on his shirt as she clutched to it, a despairing desperate fear consume her being as she shook under the suppressed emotions. "Luna!" Her mate cried startled and he pulled her even closer to him, giving her an illusion of safety that she had always sought for in his arms. "You're shaking like a leaf! Please darling, don't stress yourself so!" "The Queen needs me, I cannot rest now. The days stretch on and Pluto's warnings have ringed true. Mars and Mercury has been silent and that worries me the most!" Her voice was almost hysterical now and one frustrated tear slipped down her soft cheek. "Luna love!" Now truly alarmed, for he knew that his mate hardly ever cried, she was always so strong! This was indeed a bad omen and he felt helpless that he could not comfort her. "There will come a time when time is all we have..." his hand reached her cheek and gently brushed her tear away. Their eyes met, his calming presence eased her unspoken fears for the time. "...and each other always." She finished, "I know Artemisu, ai shiteru." Their fingers laced and they knew that the only anchor in this world was each other, and the only truth they found was together. Closeness. They could smell the mixed scent that others had left on their bodies as the day had past, but beneath it all was themselves as one. With their eyes closed they found their heaven and their haven in each other's arms. Lips met in silent sighs that reached not even one corner of the room, falling only on their own ears. Ai shiteru their soul whispered. Forever. "I cannot believe we're late! Late! For an ambassador's meeting!" Makoto watched the blond pace the floor before her, brow wrinkled in a frown. "Daijobu Minako?" The dark-haired senshi asked, laying a gentle hand on the blond senshi's shoulder. "I would be in better shape if you guys were actually there to help me with those yuoma attacks!" She glared, "The Princess could've been hurt." It was Ami who looked hurt. Makoto looked away, feeling guilt creeping up her cheeks, but Rei was angry. She walked up to the Leader of the Senshi and swiftly dealt a blow to the blond woman's face. "Don't you dare say that to us Minako. You may be the leader but that gives you no right!" "Don't you think we wanted to be there?" The soft voice of Ami drifted to the blonde's ear. "But you weren't there now were you?" She retorted nastily. That earned her another blow this time harder, her cheek throbbed with pain. "How dare you?" she froze, couldn't move a muscle as she tried to glare feebly at the dark-haired senshi before her. Violet eyes glared back at her with the full force of power behind their shimmering colors of rouge and rage. "This ward should shut you up enough so that you will listen to reason." The dark-haired senshi told her through gritted teeth and she had a sinking feeling that the other would strangle her if she uttered another defiant phrase, so she did just that. It came out pathetic. Her lips refused to move so all the sound that came out of her throat were a broken string of grunts. The auburn-haired senshi looked startled, and emerald eyes flashed over to the dark-haired senshi, "Rei-chan?" "She won't listen to reason so I will make her!" That shut any other future protest up for the time being. "Listen Minako, we have all been tested alone, Mercury was so on one of the Moons of Jupiter, Jupiter had been on Uranus, I had been on Saturn, it was a test of our loyalties. We had to face our advisories alone and usually with the Princess near. We could not help you because this was the last test Minako. That was the reason why Michiru allowed us to stay on a deserted beach without complaint; it was an official request from the Moon Queen." She made no sound this time, she was shocked and hurt that the monarch did not trust them enough, even now, after years of services and sacrifices it had not been enough. The ward slipped off, her anger had dissipated. "So what you are saying is that it was all just another test? This delay was because the Queen could not trust us? That the Princess's life was not endanger nor our own?" She knew she sounded bewildered, shocked even. At this point she felt too saddened at this prospect to care. "Iie. The treat was eminent and real to us especially." Jupiter answered with a sigh of sorrow as she remembered the terrifying hours she had spend on Uranus's surface world. "You asked me where I got my scars from, and now you know." Mars replied evenly, Venus gasped. The lost days of Mars in the dark swamps of Saturn, she never thought of it. The nights when her friend and fellow senshi woke up screaming, the grim face of Jupiter, the distant looks of Mercury, she never knew. Or at least she didn't want to think of it that way. "Don't look so surprised Minako, why do you think that Ami had been so distant after the visit to one of my Moons? Why do you think I avoid talking about my visits to Uranus with the Princess last year? Don't you realize that this is part of our duty, to prove ourselves? Our scars, either within or without is proof of our loyalty to our duties, they teach us and allows us to grow." She had neither scars to bear, nor any within to hid. She realized that her test was the easiest one, why, she did not know. Or perhaps she did already know but did not wish to admit to herself the reason behind it. "Makoto means that you are not alone, and she asks you not to get angry at our sovereign for dealing us this blow." Mercury said softly with a sad smile. Until then Venus had not realized how much sadder the blue-haired senshi looked, how much light had seeped from her fellow senshi's eyes. "Minako?" She looked to Mars who stared at her now worriedly. "Gomen nasai, I was being selfish wasn't I?" They all laughed, the wounds were starting to heal and they had each other and that was enough. Her sky-blue eyes beamed as she hugged her dark-haired friend. "Rei-chan, you forgive me right?" Violet eyes met her own and smiled, gently returning the hug. "Hai Minako. Hai." "Serenity-sama?" She lifted her head, one of her guards looked to her with weary smiles. When did they become so detached? She wondered. When did we stop being friends and became like strangers that have to watch each other's backs, unsure if the other would betray? "Hai?" "We're approaching home Princess-sama, would you like to come on up to the main deck to greet the Queen there? Or would you prefer it if we transfer it to here, to your room?" She smiled, "Arigato Mercury, I'll be on deck in five-minutes." "Would you like me to wait for you in the hall Princess?" "Iie. I'll go up by myself." The other nodded and left. "Mercury-chan." She whispered sadly to herself after the blue- haired senshi had already closed the door, "Gomen nasai." "Serenity! How was your trip?" The silver-haired girl smiled. "Kaa-san, It was beautiful!" She replied with a bright smile, glad to see her mother's face after a month of being away. "The weather was beautiful and the gravitron really helped me from stumbling over myself." The other woman on the screen smiled and nodded. "Any difficulties?" She sensed the tension that suddenly sprung up in the air around her. She suppressed the frown and smiled softly, lowering her head. "Iie Mother, other than the few youma that attacked which Venus destroyed easily, we are fine." The Queen looked past her, and she had a feeling that she was evaluating Venus that moment and an approving smile appeared. "Hai, that is good that you had Venus with you." The Queen nodded and she knew with certainty that something had gone on, what she didn't know, but her guardians knew and they would speak nothing of it. "I will see you soon daughter. Serenity out." The screen went blank and silence fell upon them like a sea it drowned them with tension and nearly choked her. "What is going on guys?" She demanded. She knew she sounded spoiled at that moment and she had for the last few days for she had discovered that the Lord that she found herself falling for was betrothed to another. She had been licking her wounds in the corner like a dog with its tail between its legs and she knew she was exasperating everyone and driving her friends away but she couldn't help it. She didn't know who she was anymore and she felt so mixed up about everything! "Gomen nasai Princess, I don't know what you mean?" Mars replied calmly, she seemed to be the calmest of them all and she knew with certainty that she was the most unforgiving one of her latest behaviors. "Usagi you'll be a great Queen one day just you wait and see, we believe in you." Didn't she say that just a few years back? But in a way, Usagi had died and in a way Serenity had disappointed Mars and pushed her to an edge that she knew was dangerous as of now. "You know perfectly well what I am talking about! What is it that my Mother told you that she does not want me to know?" She demanded. "If she does not wish for you to know, it is not our place to tell." Venus said softly. Shadows hid the golden eyes from her and yet she knew with certainty that the other had been saddened by her attitude all the more. "Gomen nasai, I did not mean to sound snobbish." Mercury opened her mouth to protest but Jupiter got there first. "No my Princess, we are sorry we cannot tell you what you desire to know." Silence fell again. "You are wrong," they all gasped at what she had to say. "I am the one who is sorry, I acted like a spoiled brat for the last few months and I apologize. It's just that I found out that Lord..." she couldn't say it, it hurt too much and so she crumbled onto the ground and cried. They gathered around her and held onto her, their whispers became her strength, their warmth her haven. "Arigato min'na, for being here for me." They smiled at her lovingly. At that moment she knew that she did not need to hurt anymore for she already had the love and acceptance that she had always wished for. Their friendship was the greatest gift of all. She laughed and soon they realized what she realized and the onerous mood broke. One more crack was healed to face the catastrophic disaster to come. "Landing in sequence. One thousand feet at current location and descending at two hundred feet per minute." "Computer, slow descend to one hundred feet and dock at 0143." Mercury said softly. "Identification Mercury Senshi. Voice check correct. Slowing descent to one hundred feet per minute. Docking station 0143. Contact complete. Ten minutes to landing. Stand by Mercury." "We're almost home guys." The blue-haired senshi smiled happily. "Finally, after such a perilous journey. Hey Minako, you think we'd get a vacation from this? Visit our families and all?" Jupiter asked with a laugh. "After the Queen command us on our brave actions...of course!" Venus replied. "What brave actions oh-great-Venus-who-is-afraid-to-swim?" Mars retorted good-naturedly. "Well, on kicking your butt to your home planet during practice of course." Venus replied. "Good, at least the flight would be fast and free and Mother won't have to worry airfare." The Princess said with a giggle. Everyone laughed, and Mars stuck her tongue out at the rest of them but ended up joining in the end. "Won't Minako get tired though? Kicking all of us off the Moon?" Mars asked innocently. "Hai, and we all know how horrible an aim Minako's got!" Jupiter said. "You might end up on Mercury instead!" Everyone laughed some more. "Docking in process." The computer interrupted the carefree bantering and an image appeared of a man with short-brown hair. He wore wire-framed glass, blue eyes peered pass the translucent glass and smiled down at the women before him. "Welcome home Senshi. Princess Serenity, the Queen expects you in her presence immediately. They need to prepare you for the conference with the Earth Prince." Smooth voice rolled over to them. "Kawaii." Jupiter whispered to Ami who blushed. "We will await you outside. Ladies, good day. Ryo out." "He reminds me of my old sempai." "Mako-chan!" Ami blushed as the rest yelled at the starry-eyed senshi. Sea-blue eyes looked troubled but the Mercury senshi smiled and turned back to the screen. "Everyone reminds you of your old sempai." "You sure don't Rei, you're too ugly for that!" "Na ni? Do not! By this time your old sempai already have six different types of hair color, eye color and facial features. Not my fault if I can't compete with that!" "That's right!" "Hey, whose side are you on anyway?" "Mars has a point, anyone in the radius of a mile have a great potential of looking like your old sempai." "Na ni! You guys are so mean!" "You're beginning to sound like Usagi." "Hey! Watch it Mars!" "Urawa." She whispered softly to herself, no one noticed her own starry-eyed smile or the blush that stained her cheeks, by now they were too busy arguing amongst themselves. Her eyes clouded once more when she glanced to her laughing, tall and beautiful friend. A frown came forth that she didn't know she had and she worried about what is to come. "Daijobu Ami-chan?" She looked over to the dark-haired senshi and shook her head with a smile. "Iie. Nothing's wrong." The doubtful look did not escape her as they all turned to leave, but she was grateful the other asked no more. She hardened her heart, if Makoto wants him then she would silently step aside, her friend needs love from a man and Urawa was more than a gentleman. She sighed, but how she would miss his company. Urawa. "Ryo-san, is that your name?" He looked up startled at a pair of emerald eyes, inwardly he sighed in relief that it was not someone else, someone with blue-hair and sea-blue eyes that made his heart pound a little faster and his mind so muddled that... "Hai Jupiter-sama." The other blushed, for reasons he could not fathom. "What can I help you with?" She laughed nervously at this, her towering height did not go unnoticed by his scrutinizing gaze but he smiled pleasantly at her, patiently waiting for her to come up with an excuse. "I-I wanted to know if you'd like to have a picnic with me sometime today." She said with a blush. He was surprised at her boldness. The direct approach was something that he had not been prepared for. He should've known better though, Jovians were known for their straightforwardness and their Princess would be no exception. "Gomen nasai, I'm busy today." He did not give her any excuse to ask more questions. Instead, he turned back to fixing the component that he had been working on. Communication devices were so easy to break down that he had thought of devoting his extra time to inventing something more reliable. "Oh." She hanged around a little longer, trying to find something else to say but then seeing his distracted look she seemed to have changed her mind. "I better go then... Ja!" She turned and left, but before long someone's shadow blocked his light again. "I'm sorry but not today! I'm busy!" He looked up irately to meet sea-blue eyes and immediately his heart went into hyper-drive and his jaw dropped open. "Mer-Mercury...-sama." She blushed prettily and jumped aside, "Gomen nasai Ryo-san, the Queen asked me to come and request your assessment of the communication device for the conference before it begins in an hour Earth time." She blushed a little more when he didn't stop staring at her with his jaw hanging open. "I didn't mean to interrupt...you. I mean...if it's a bad time...I might be able to ask the Queen to go look for...someone else." Her eyes dropped and she studied her boots, shyly tucking her hands behind her back. "I better go..." "No!" He was surprised at the loudness of his voice. "I mean, no. I'll check on it, just give me a second." He quickly closed the machine's hard shell body plate and turned. Trying to ease the tension he grinned at her good naturedly, "Shall we?" She nodded with a smile and they left for the Conference room. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Special thanks to Chaos-sama and his comments on how to improve my writing, well...and for borrowing his Mau concept of Luna and Artemis. Arigato Chaos-chan! And the gravitron was actually somebody else's idea, I've spent the whole afternoon looking for his/her story, but I can't find it. But I'm eternally grateful to whoever you are since you brought up the subject on gravity, something I've never thought of, nor anyone else that I've read up on either. Arigato to all the wonderful author's out there who has inspired me to write! (Mark Latus, Ken Wolfe, Tim Nolan, Soumitra Choudhury, Enyalis Rei, etc, ect.) You're stories are wonderful! And finally, I'd like to thank the wonderful people who had wrote to me to tell me that people are actually reading my tales out there! I dedicate this story to you guys! Any questions, comments, ect. email me at: blue@icedream.f2s.com Thank you once again! Ja! Blue