And on it goes, … ;-)
Usual disclaimers.
---
„Live“ Part Three
by Greta
---
Two women were walking down one of the grand
corridors of the
“Does the Queen know that we’ve
already come?”
“I hate to say it, but I’m not so
sure,” the shorter woman replied, her silken, turquoise, hair swaying slightly
with her steps. She was dressed exquisitely in silken robes, a splendid
necklace gracing her milky-white neck. Her companion on the other side seemed
wanting to leave all womanly charm to her companion, who was locking her arms
with hers.
Tousling her short dirty-blonde
hair, Haruka sighed. She hated this. Leaving her
post, the post the Queen had assigned to her, without notice. She knew that she
had no other choice, but her sense of duty still made her feel squeamish.
Both sighing, they stopped in front
of craft fully carved gull-wing doors guarded by two heavily armoured Lunarian Guardians. Upon recognizing the two Princesses they
bowed, before opening the doors slowly while announcing their arrival.
“The Princess of Neptune and the
Princess of Uranus have arrived, Queen Serenity.”
The Queen looked up in surprise upon
hearing the doors to her vast Office of Affairs opening. She had not been
expecting visitors. Standing up to greet the Guardians of the Outer Planets,
she smiled.
“What a pleasant surprise, my
dears,” she said warmly.
Uranus and Neptune exchanged guilty
looks, as it was not to be the most pleasant of surprises.
“Oh, don’t look like that, you two.
I can guess that your news is not bound to be the best. But, it is a nice
coincidence; I have needed to speak to you two on important matters anyway,”
the Queen said seriously, motioning for them to sit down. “So, please tell me,
what has brought you so far.”
Michiru
sighed, twisting her hands in her lap. “Two strange things have happened in the
past few days. The more serious being, that an unidentified source has crossed
the border of the galaxy.” Lowering her deep blue eyes to her lap, the Princess
of Neptune felt the disappointment she had felt in herself ever since she had
found out about this intruder rise once more. Oh, how she hated this! She and
Uranus were the Guardians of the Outer Planets, and with that the Guardians of
the borders to the Sol System. For this task, they had received powers the
Inner Senshi had not – and still! They had not been
able to do a single thing to stop happening what had happened.
She felt unworthy, why, even dirty.
She had not done what she felt was her duty to do with all her heart. Therefore
it surprised her tremendously, when the Queen did not seem to be shocked, or
even surprised in the slightest.
“I’m sad to disappoint you, but that
news is not new to anymore,” the Queen mumbled, resting her chin upon her
folded hands. “Pluto has already informed me.”
Uranus sat up abruptly. “What?
Pluto? What has happened?”
“The intruder attacked Pluto on the
Grounds of Time.”
“But, but they couldn’t have …” Michiru mumbled under her breath, the shock of this news making
her close her eyes. Her fingers closed around the pendant on her neck, the
runes carved on the jewel’s setting under her fingers giving her reassurance. “The
Gate and Grounds are so heavily protected by ancient Lunarian
magic.” And indeed they were. There was barely another place in the whole
galaxy, which was under heavier protection. Countless invisible borders, made
the Grounds for all non-magical and uninvited people inaccessible; they would
not be able to feel the mere presence of the Gates if they stood meters in
front of it. Ancient Lunarian magic, from back when
time had only begun, had sealed it, not only to protect anyone who came to
close to it, but also to protect people from the way time might react to an
intruder.
And most of all, there was the
Guardian of Time herself.
“I know … I know. If this goes any
farther, I might have to take up drastic measures.”
“Drastic measures?” the fair-haired senshi asked carefully. Whatever drastic measures meant, it
definitely did not sound good at all.
“Until the day comes, I will not
talk of it,” the Queen replied with force, leaving no room for questions. She
did not like thinking of it at all, but she knew if the time came, she had to
do what must be done.
“Yes, my Queen,” they mumbled in
unison. They knew when it was the time to not ask any further.
“Now,” the Queen began speaking
softly again. Folding her hands beneath her chin once more, the Queen
thoughtfully chose her words. “We do not have time to spare in times like
these. I want you to return to your posts immediately, and report anything out
of the ordinary, anything at all, just as fast.” The addressed women nodded.
“But, what might even be more important now is,
that I need you to guard Saturn.” The two young women gasped.
“Saturn? But there hasn’t been any
commotion on Saturn in years and years, my Queen …”
“It’s not the public rebels I’m
talking about. It’s Saturn herself,” the Queen had lowered her voice to barely
above a whisper. The wind outside the tall windows was whipping trees harshly
about, adding to the anxious atmosphere growing in the room between the three
people in it.
“But … but Queen,” Haruka said, while grasping Michiru’s
hand. “Saturn’s star seed is sealed in the tomb of her Ancestors and it is under
the heaviest protection magic can bring.”
“And yet, I am not taking any risks
whatsoever! If she awakes … Oh I cannot bear to think of it! I will not allow
her to awake, I just will not!” The Queen’s voice had risen, becoming more and
more animated. Taking a deep breath, the Queen tried to relax. “I just cannot
…”
Lowering her eyes to her hands
resting on her imposing desk, she felt the shame rising in her body over losing
the control over herself so easily. Twisting her arms,
she studied her hands and fingers. They were becoming older, she thought. She
was becoming older. Finest streaks of grey had started lacing her fair hair,
and the lines in her face were becoming deeper. She could care less about her
appearance, but during the last few days, she had felt old. And she had
realized that feeling old, was a thousand times worse than looking it. Oh,
where had the days of happily ruling her kingdom gone? Now, she dreaded
entering her office, dreaded reading the news each new day brought.
She did not know how much longer she
could keep the bad news from seeking into her kingdom at broad, how much longer
she could hoard it all and keep it to herself. Oh, how she hated this
situation.
Lifting her eyes at the two
beautiful women seated across her, she let out a little sigh, silently
apologizing for her rise of temper. “So, now your mission is not only to
oversee that the borders are being guarded to their fullest extent, but also to
keep Saturn from awakening.”
Haruka was
still clasping Michiru’s hand tightly, the feeling of
the other girls’ pulse beneath her fingers soothing her. She could feel the
Queen’s tiredness, anxiousness and the strain underneath it all. “Of course we
will, my Queen. We will do all that we can, stopping at nothing to do as you
command.” Her voice was serious, her head held proudly, making the Queen think
of an ancient statue of the Goddess of War. For indeed Uranus would stop at
nothing.
“Not even at our lives,” Michiru added calmly, but with dead earnest.
Hearing those calm words made
sadness overcome the Queen. So, these women would give their lives, not once
complaining about what they were leaving behind for that sacrifice? “I am so
sorry, so sorry, to put this weight upon your shoulders, Michiru,
Haruka. So sorry …” the Queen whispered hopelessly.
The two Outer Senshi smiled slightly at the Queen. They knew their
duty. They were senshi with all their heart, and
loved their kingdom and Queen. And they most definitely would do anything,
anything at all, to protect it until the bitter end.
“My Queen,” Haruka
stated softly, “we have one more thing to tell you.”
The Queen sighed. “Oh, yes, you said
so at the beginning,” the Queen said, remembering. “Please, do go ahead.” Well,
she knew that the news could not get much worse.
The Princess of Uranus sighed,
tousling her short hair with one hand once more. “Two people who were not of
age were in the Room of Transportation yesterday,” she began slowly. “And,
well, used it, to travel to Earth.” The Queen shook her head at the thought of
the irresponsible youths.
But Haruka was not
done yet. “As – as we traced Lunarian magic, we have
reason to believe that it was the young Princess.” Haruka
did not like telling on her Princess like this. No, not at all as she felt guiltier
than ever. But she knew that it was her duty to do so.
But the guilt remained, especially
when she saw the Queen’s shocked and angry eyes.
---
“Sere, you are a lazy toad!” Rei yelled at her friend, before firing a pencil in her
direction. The Princess easily ducked the flying object, and stuck out her
tongue,
“Am not!” she whined.
“And a small child
in the bargain!”
“Rei …
Stop it!”
“Will you two stop arguing?” Ami
sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose while turning a page in the book in
front of her. “You are both small children – yes you and you –“ she continued, pointing at the
respective person, “ and – even though I won’t go as far as calling you two toads
– you’re both lazy as well. So stop
it. We’re here to learn!”
Rei and
Serenity both looked at Ami in surprise, but the blue haired Princess had
already turned back to her book, now ignoring them both.
“Well, Ami has spoken, my dears, and
I don’t see the need of adding any more to what she said.” Their teacher of the
day smiled at the two girls, who were now also turning back to their books,
after their small argument, as the Princess Serenity had been late for their
lessons.
But as soon as the teacher had
wanted to pick up their subject of the day once more, a knock could be heard on
the door, before Luna appeared in the doorway, smiling.
“I’m very sorry to disturb you all,
but the Queen has asked me to go fetch the Princess Serenity, and wants her to
come immediately.”
“Of course, of
course. Princess, I await of you that you go over all that you have
missed and will miss in today’s lesson in the evening. Have a good day,” the
male teacher dismissed her, his typically silver Lunarian
hair swinging around his face as he turned back to the other Princesses.
---
Arriving in the Queen’s private
corridors, she waited for her mother’s guardians to open the doors and announce
her, before entering her mother’s chambers.
Usually comfortably lit, the rooms
were very dim today, the rainstorm which now raged outside the palace only
adding to the darkness. She cautiously walked through the waiting room,
carefully evaded the silken sofas and large armchairs in the sitting room and,
passing the library, crammed with books of ancient languages and stories long
forgotten to the last corner, went on to her mother’s smaller office, in which
she often sat late into the dark hours of the night.
As suspected, her mother sat behind
her desk, but today, she was not bent over a book or a letter of some sort. No,
she was leaning back in her chair, watching Serenity as she entered her room
expectantly. The chair was very large and high, and the Princess often joked,
that it made her mother look tiny. But she had never known this chair to emit
such power, as it did today. The air seemed to crackle around her mother, and the
elaborate chair seemed to emanate more power than the Queen’s throne.
And suddenly, she felt intimidated.
Something she hadn’t felt because of her mother in many years now. She gulped.
“You, you called for me, Mother?”
“Yes, Princess, I did indeed. Sit
down.”
The Princess sat.
“Do you have any idea, why I have
called you today, Serenity?”
Serenity shook her head.
“Well I’ll tell you. It seems that you were
bored last night.”
Serenity’s eyes widened in horror. Oh God, oh God. She knew that she
had absolutely no way of excusing herself now.
“Mama, I, I’m so sorry, but, but you see-“
“I do not want to hear it Serenity. I really do
not! How by the Nine Ancient Ones could you do this? There is absolutely no
excuse for your action! Do you know this?” the Queen was angrily accusing her
daughter, obviously furious.
Serenity reconciled, trying to shrink into the
chair she was sitting in as far as she could. Oh no. She was so stupid. And she
deserved this scolding, she knew it. Oh, why had she thought that her biggest
problem had been to go to the damned room unnoticed? Oh, she was so stupid.
Her mother had now pushed herself out of her
chair, hands placed firmly on her desk. The tilted window behind her desk let a
cool breeze enter the room, playing with their long hair. Sadly, it did nothing
to cool the Queen’s temper. “Oh, Serenity, I cannot tell you how disappointed I
am, I honestly cannot put it into words! How could you use the Room of
Transportation? It starts with you not even being of age yet! Don’t you realize
that what you did was dangerous? That you could have hurt yourself, and could
have ended up absolutely anywhere? From next door to
Serenity had honestly never seen her mother
quite as enraged as she was in that very moment.
“Serenity, how many things have I forbidden you
in your life? You could count them on one hand! And each and every one of these
things was for your very own good, nothing more and nothing, nothing less! You
have such a privileged life … I never thought you would disobey me like this.”
Serenity took a deep breath. Her mother’s
calmer voice almost scared her more than her enraged voice had moments ago. And
what was worst of all, her disappointment hurt like nothing else. The Queen had
now stopped talking to her daughter, instead only shaking her head, her
disappointment obvious. Dark shadows fell on her pale face in the dim room,
giving her a strange and ghastly appearance.
Queen and Princess, mother and daughter, looked
at each other in silence. Only now did the young Serenity notice that the
howling of the wind echoed the feelings deep in her chest exactly. Lowering her
eyes to the clasped hands in her lap, she felt the shame rise in her rapidly.
“I am very sorry, Mother,” she said quietly,
meaning it with every syllable.
The Queen sighed, lowering herself slowly back
into her chair. Oh, why did she feel old again right now? So
old. Maybe because in that moment, she had realized that her baby was
one no longer. That soon she would be of age, and that she could not protect
her daughter from harm forever. The world awaited the Princess. Soon the young
girl would be in its grasp, experiencing things her mother would and could have
no influence on anymore. And most of all, she felt sadness for her child.
Thinking back to the days when she was just as young, the Queen sighed once
more that night. It had been such a carefree time, wonderful in all its glory.
Especially, when she had met – But the Queen closed her eyes to the memory, it
never ceasing to be painful, even after so many years.
“I know, dear, I know.” Looking up at her
daughter slowly, her eyes filled with motherly love, at the sight of her baby
looking small and scared across of her. “But you have to promise me something,
Serenity.”
The Princess raised her face to look at her
mother, nodding.
“You will not leave the guarded grounds of the
The Princess looked at her mother, slightly
startled. But she knew that she had to take this punishment the way it was. It
was her very own fault after all. Oh, and she might be
having a word with a certain raven-haired female later on. “So, that means I’m
allowed in the palace and on the grounds outside?” she asked feebly.
“Exactly. You are not allowed beyond the
gates. “
“Yes, mother,” Serenity answered obediently,
sighing.
“And now, baby, come here.” The Queen had stood
up and walked to her daughters’ side, and had pulled her into a tight hug.
Breathing in and out deeply, she stroked her daughters back. “Don’t do this
again. I cannot tell you how worried this left me. What if something had
happened? What if I’d never seen you again?”
Serenity savoured the warm feeling the hug gave
her. It had been a long time since she had been so close to her mother. And it
hadn’t been until now that she realized that she had missed it. The feeling of
warmth, comfort and safety her mother gave her.
“Mama, I’m sorry that I worried you so,” she
whispered. “I didn’t think of all the consequences that could happen.” Truth be
said, Serenity felt like she hadn’t known of all the things that could have
happened, but she thought that that was just another case of her not listening
intently enough to what her mother had to say to her.
But, even though that that was just as true,
the Queen had not been able to tell her daughter, that great evil could lurk in
any corner of their beloved Solar System now. And that she probably wasn’t very
safe anywhere outside guarded grounds, wherever that may be. But she knew she
couldn’t dwell on sad thoughts all day long.
“Come on now, darling. Won’t you
stay with me tonight? We’ll dine together, read some, and then go to bed,
alright?” the Queen smiled, while suggesting something the two hadn’t done in
years, wanting to savour the feeling as if nothing was wrong at all once more.
They could have one last, carefree night together after all.
A smile spreading on her face,
Serenity nodded.
---
Sighing softly, Rei
leant back on her chaise-longue, hugging a pillow to
her side. Her eyes were focused on the raging storm going on outside the safety
of her room, watching it intently through the large double-wing windows at the
end of her large chambers. It was one of the worst storms that had been on the
moon in quite some time now. Most of the year, the weather on the Moon was not
the most exciting, sunshine the whole day long and only mild rain from time to
time. Placid, as she liked to call it.
Maybe that was one of reason why she
liked Earth. The weather there could surprise you within hours, why even
minutes. She savoured the feeling of the powerful and unpredictable wind, tossing
her around at its will, the deep grumbling sound of thunder, and most of all,
the wonderful smell of rain dampening the earth and woods, making everything
fresh and clean. But on the small, white orb circling the blue planet, the
weather only raged in the early months of the year. During that time of the
year, the days were far shorter than normally, and left the Moon cool and dark.
Oh, so she came from the planet of
fire? Even though she loved the searing hot and blinding light fire brought
with it, its power overwhelming and beautiful, the rain held some strange power
over her, fascinating her.
Sighing, Rei
turned her eyes from the tilted windows, and snuggled closer to her pillow. She
couldn’t get to sleep, no. She had been trying for hours now. And she knew she
needed her sleep, as tomorrow held exhausting senshi
training for her. But her mind wouldn’t let her relax, wouldn’t allow her to
lose herself in dreams.
She was once again left do dwell and
ponder silently. On the feeling in the pit of her stomach that left her broken
in two. On being ripped in two by the mere thought, of what she was missing and
what was her duty. Oh, she hated herself for thinking it, but she couldn’t help
herself. At times like these she just wanted to run away as far as she could,
leave every one of her goddamn duties behind. Do what she felt was right, and not what others told her was.
She sniffed. Oh, how she wished to
go back, so far away, to a happier time. Back to a time where
she had still felt carefree. Where she had been able to enjoy every day
just the way it was.
She fingered the necklace that
graced her smooth throat. The necklace every Princess owned. Made out of the
most exquisite gold, it held a crystal from their respectable planet, carved to
look like a teardrop. She always found the teardrop rather fitting.
She had shed enough tears over her
destiny. But, as she felt the salty drops make their way down her face, she
thought, there were always more. And so she wept. For all that was lost, and
for all the she had.
---
“Oh, this is just ridiculous. Really
…” A male’s voice rang out through the high corridors of the palace, echoing
loudly.
“Will
you shut up?”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“You are such a baby!”
“Of, go and fu-“
“Stop it! Both of
you.” The tallest of the three stared sternly at the two arguing young
men sternly, trying to keep his voice as low as possible while still sounding
imposing. “I have absolutely no clue what time it is right now. It could be in
the middle of the night. And we will not –“
“Well, it is dark here,” the silver-haired
young men interrupted him, rolling his eyes.
“We’re in downstairs corridors right now,
stupid.”
“Don’t call me stupid, stupid” he hissed back
at the man he’d already been fighting with before.
Sighing, the brown-haired youth rubbed his
temples. “Please, do tell me what exactly I have done to deserve this,” he
muttered under his breath, as a fight broke out anew. Clearing his throat
loudly, he stepped between them, continuing where he had left off before being
interrupted. “And, as I said before, I’d really like to not make our first appearance as sleep-disturbing, loud and
unfriendly bastards. Understood?” he hissed at them, trying to shut them both
up.
“Oh, come on, Taiki.
Who’s unfriendly here? I don’t see anyone around here waiting for us or
welcoming us,” the shortest of the three sighed, flipping his silvery hair,
which was being held back in a ponytail, over his shoulder.
“Maybe because it
is the middle of the night?”
“Hm, and
now, do let me think for a moment,” the third one of the group, a handsome,
black-haired young man pondered mockingly, “wasn’t it actually you, Yaten, who messed up our whole time-table, by getting your
ass ready I-don’t-know-how-many-hours-late?” Seiya
hissed. “No wonder no one wants to welcome a pompous ass like you.”
“Oh, shut the fuck up, Seiya. Don’t act all so mighty, okay? I recall remembering
it was you, who totally messed up our destination! I mean, where are we?” The
two young men glowered at each other, obviously ready to tear each other apart,
both fingering the sheaths of their swords longingly.
“Well, in the
Seiya
rolled his blue eyes at his companion. “Oh, come on, Taiki, get off that high
horse of yours.” Sighing, he unbuttoned the upper button of his black shirt.
Looking around, he marvelled at the extremely high ceiling, and the doors which
reached far above their heads. “Well, I guess the girls made it sound and
safely to their target destination,” he said, ignoring Yaten’s
mumbling of “Well, ours as well” smoothly.
“What makes you say so, Seiya?”
“If they hadn’t, we would’ve felt
it,” he answered simply. The three smiled softly for a moment. They knew their
special bond to their beloved princess was still intact.
“Well, now to us. We’re not in the
Room of Transportation, that much is clear,” Taiki
summed up. The other two nodded their heads, sighing. “That means,” he said
carefully, “we could be practically anywhere in the
“Well, that’s not bad or anything,” Yaten mumbled, crossing his arms across his chest, leaning
against the cool stone wall behind him.
Taiki
narrowed his eyes. “Well …” he began. “What does worry me a bit is the fact,
that the
The three sweat
dropped.
---
Yeah! Our trio makes an entrance!
Aren’t you glad?
Oh, and before I forget, the three
are 100 percent male. Why? There’s a reason behind it. What reason, you may
ask? Read on, to find out. ;-)
Cheers, Greta