On a Wing and a Prayer
Part five: Kowagaruno (Fear)
By Antigone 2000
Tension was rising steadily, seeping into every heart and dulling every
smile, even as the sun rose over the breathtaking moon palace.
Mercury walked with quick footsteps down one passageway, her shoes
making far too much noise for her comfort. ‘Relax,’ she told herself harshly,
brushing soft cobalt hair back from her stunning yet worried face, ‘there is no
reason to be jumpy.’
But someone as intelligent as the senshi of water could not deny that her
statement was not entirely true. The Earth’s alarming descent into darkness
was only gaining in momentum, yet it was not the speed at which the evil was
showing itself that had all to Queen Serenity secretly biting their nails, it
was the places it had manifested itself. Instead of turning the common people
into turmoil, it was the noble houses that were first falling into schemes and
plots, and it seemed all but Prince Endymion’s closest friends were after his
throne and his life. Most Lunarians were sure the nucleus of the darkness was
Beryl, but the senshi knew she wasn’t the center of it all, only the focus
point.
The truth could be far, far worse.
But it wasn’t just the Earth that had been troubling the people of the
Moon in these past few weeks, Mercury reflected, sadness filling her. But her
train of thought was quickly halted as she came to the familiar doors of the
communications room and braced herself as she pushed them open.
As usual the activity was deafening, and intense, and Mercury felt a
slight headache begin to pulse just beneath her eyes. Walking up to Venus, she
bowed and announced herself formally.
Giving her a quick, dry glance the blonde senshi just answered, “Save the
formalities, Mercury-chan, no one is even watching.”
It was true, all eyes were glued to certain monitors, most ears were
covered by thick headsets, and those that weren’t were so busy running errands
and delivering messages, that no head was even raised at Mercury’s entrance.
Sighing, the shorter girl shook her head. “Have you ever seen it this
bad?”
She wasn’t just talking about the pandemonium in the room, and Venus knew
it.
The leader of the senshi answered hoarsely, eyes still trained on the
monitors, “No.”
“Venus?” Mercury seemed unsure how to bring this up, but knew it had to
be asked.
“Hai?”
“Have you noticed anything... strange,” Mercury gestured toward the
largest screen, showing Endymion in a heated argument with Kunzite, “about the
Prince of Earth?”
Giving her a side-long glance, Venus debated for a moment before deciding
to answer. With a deep breath, the senshi leader turned and looked her friend
directly in the eye, “Yes. I have noticed what you have, as well. It’s more
than strange...” her eyes drifting back to Endymion, she shook her head, “and I
wish I could figure it out.”
“Perhaps Queen Serenity could-“
“I think,” Venus said quickly, pausing before finishing her sentence, as
if unsure of how to word her thoughts, “I think she knows. I’m—not sure we
should bring to her attention that we know. It might have an... adverse
effect on the way things are going.”
Paling, Mercury turned to Venus, shocked at what her friend was
insinuating. “Are you saying this is her doing?” she whispered, “But that is
forbidden!”
Venus just shook her head, “I’m not saying anything,” she said, “but I
think we should just wait until we know more.”
Nodding, Mercury crossed her arms against a sudden chill, “You can leave
now if you want, your shift is over.”
Shaking her head Venus lifted her eyes back to the monitor. “I’ll stay.”
In a small yet magnificent room, all white marble and ornate carvings, on
an elaborate dais, floated a small orb of light. The white light shimmered off
the wall, making the faces and flowers carved into the wall seem to be alive.
It also danced off the smooth cheekbones and silver eyes of Queen Serenity,
reflecting the look of the white marble onto her face, a sight both extremely
eerie and somehow hauntingly beautiful. Graceful hands clutched the sides of
the dais, eyes trained solely on the silver crystal. It turned slowly, almost
of its own vocation, seemed to have a life of its own. ‘Strange,’ the Queen
thought, eyebrows knitting slightly as one thin finger traced a side of the
crystal’s edge, ‘it’s reaction... could this mean...?’
Stepping back slightly, the tall figure of the Queen bowed slightly,
lacing her hands together in front of her. Her two streams of hair gleamed in
the silver light, falling to the floor, the crescent symbol on her forehead
danced with moonlight. For a moment she seemed unreal, ethereal, and nearly
transparent, glistening wings seemed to extend from her back.
The crystal still glowed as brightly, sending its light in circles around
the room, reflecting a spark of silver off the silent tears running down Queen
Serenity’s face. ‘Princess...’
~~
Mars groaned a little, struggling against the urge to bang her head
repeatedly into the lovely marble wall behind her. The communications room was
like hell on a warm day, and the senshi of fire was too agitated by the
horrible foreboding she felt for her princess’ future to concentrate too much
on the inner workings of the many links alive and buzzing.
Mercury had seemed extremely relieved that her shift was over, looking as
if all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Venus had stayed a while, discussing
with Mars what to do about the informing the Queen of what they had observed
about Endymion.
Lifting midnight hair from her back for a second to cool off, Mars
sighed. She had one opinion about that and one opinion only: The Queen must
know. Even if Venus’ suspicions were correct, then the Queen would tell the
senshi to disregard it, and they would. Mars could honestly not see the big
deal.
She could, however, see and feel the impending danger, and suddenly, even
in the heat of the communications room, Mars shuddered and drew her arms around
herself as she shivered.
~~
‘Pale. She is so pale...’, Jupiter shook her head harshly, banning such
thoughts from clouding her mind. The tiny girl next to her glanced up,
question and concern in her beautiful silver-blue eyes.
“Jupiter-chan,” she said softly, “daijoubu-ka?”
“Hai,” the older girl said, forcing a smile over the rush of
protectiveness and helplessness that welled up inside of her, “I’m fine,
Princess. Don’t worry about me.”
Serenity sighed, nodding defeatedly, eyes nearly slipping shut as she
struggled to regain her footing as she walked along side her friend. Everyone
had been so worried lately, so worried...why again? Serenity was having
trouble focusing on just one thought, her mind spun in strange, scary circles
and she felt like a little child lost in a horrid funhouse. Endymion’s people
were dying, she knew, dying and frightened. Evil and darkness festered through
her beloved beautiful blue planet, running rapid and unstopped, the crown
should have been the first to fall, yet Endymion was safe. He was safe...
minna... mother...
Jupiter forced her eyes away from the fading child-angel beside her,
forcing herself not to examine the horror and dread inside of herself. The
entire kingdom was afraid for young Serenity’s health, the poor child seemed to
be waning more and more everyday. She was still the cherished Princess the
entire empire at fallen in love with, yet the bubbly laughter and life that
spilled from her form once had been a long time absent. Pale, thin, withdrawn,
the brightest feature on her sweet face were her eyes, less silver now and a
blue bright as if with fever.
It was not something even the poorest farmer could hide from, the concern
for the princess weighed heavier than the fall of the Earth on the minds of all
the kingdom. All but Serenity herself, that is. The poor princess’ attention
was caught up almost constantly in Endymion’s struggle on Earth, and as much as
the senshi tried to distract her, it was as impossible as pulling the sun from
the sky. She loved him, they now knew it was not a simple crush or fancy. Her
life was his if he wanted it, even Queen Serenity seemed aware of this
horrifying turn of events. They all loved her too much to give her up.
“Jupiter-chan,” Serenity’s voice cut right through the senshi’s thoughts,
and the taller girl quickly reached out her arm to support her Princess, who
stumbled lightly on to Jupiter’s arm.
“Serenity?” Jupiter cried, concerned.
Tiny cold hands tightened on Jupiter’s large gloved ones, and forest
green met blue eyes wide with child-like fear. Stumbling, the young girl put a
hand to her forehead, eyes filled with tears, “I’m...”
But her soft voice faltered and her eyes fluttered closed before Jupiter
could even register what was happening.
In a voice so torn with fear and grief that Jupiter hardly recognized it
herself, the senshi screamed her princess’ name one last time as the slight
girl collapsed, white as death, into her guardian’s arms.
“SERENITY!!”
~~
Entering the Queen’s study, Venus bowed low, lifting her eyes to her
Queen slowly.
The older woman looked up from her book, giving Venus a smile that did
not quite reach her worried silver eyes. “Yes, Senshi Venus?”
Venus cleared her throat a little, and glanced at the queen, “If I may,
your majesty, I have something to tell you.”
Turning, the Queen raised an eyebrow to her senshi, “Go on.”
“It’s,” Venus took a deep breath and decided, “it’s about Endymion.”
“Ah yes,” the Queen said, “His apparent immunity to the darkness spell.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Venus relaxed a little and proceeded to voice
all her concern to the Queen, “I guess it’s a good thing in many ways,” the
senshi said, “by all logic he should have been one of the first to fall to the
evil, perhaps right after Beryl. Yet while observations show his people
falling to evil in alarming amounts, even his court and best friends!, he
remains completely untouched. It seems almost evil itself in its
unnaturalness. How can one human resist so much-“
“Ah,” the Queen’s voice was measured in volume and fluency, yet still
quickly cut off Venus’ rapidly escalating speech, “yes, it is impossible for
one human to resist that much pull to the evil within.” She stood, a rustle of
shimmering skirts the only sound as she moved to the large picture window and
watched the Earth rise slowly over the kingdom.
Confused Venus followed her Queen, pressing, “But then how can Endymion
possibl-“
“Because he isn’t.” The Queen’s answer was sure and quick, “He isn’t
resisting anything because there is nothing to resist.”
Venus was silent, letting the Queen’s words sink in. “The Evil isn’t
even trying to overtake him...” she murmured, “but why not?”
The Queen shook her head slowly, silently. “It is quite an enigma, is it
not?”
“He is the sole holder of the crown of Earth, rumored to be the one born
with the power of the planet deep within him. Beryl lusts after him, and the
generals are his friends. Whatever is doing this should be putting *all* its
energy into tainting him with dark power,” Venus mused, “it just doesn’t make
sense!”
“Unless they *are* putting all their energy into tainting him,” the Queen
said sagely, obviously having thought about this already.
“But you said he couldn’t resist it if they did!”
Again lifting her eyes to Earth the Queen whispered, “There is no other
explanation.”
“Outside help,” Venus finished the Queen’s thoughts, wonder in her face.
“Yes,” she answered, “but how?”
“They throw evil at him, and it doesn’t effect him at all... as if...
some how it was being taken from him before it could work,” Venus said, “but
what would be strong enough to do that?”
The Queen looked up slowly, realization and horror dawning on her face.
Slowly, she turned to Venus, whose eyes widened as well. For a moment they
stood like that, a single thought in both their minds. ‘The crystal.’
Suddenly a horrified scream echoed quietly from another part of the
palace.
For Venus, everything instantly fell into place, and she felt as if the
floor had been ripped from under her feet.
‘Oh my god. Serenity!’
~~
Endymion slammed the rolls of parchment onto his desk angrily, and
whirled to face his four generals, fire in his blue eyes.
“You expect me,” he said darkly, his voice dangerously quiet, “to
*believe* these theories and reports?”
Kunzite narrowed his eyes slightly, no respect or feeling in his stature
to his prince and friend. “They are the truth, your highness.”
“Says who?” he asked, his voice rising, “Beryl? Her ‘network’ of spies?!
We have our own informants, means to huge amounts of information and truth.
What of them? Why don’t we use that?”
“With all due respect,” Nephrite sneered, his words a sharp parody to his
tone of voice, “our sources aren’t nearly as adept at secrecy as Beryl’s are.
If we are truly being watched constantly from the Moon-“
“Will you listen to yourself, Nephrite?” Endymion said, “Spies from the
Moon, an impeding attack... if someone told you of this a year ago you would
have laughed!”
“Well I’m not laughing now!” Nephrite said, his voice angry. The three
other generals stood behind him, eyes trained on Endymion suspiciously. “For
so long you’ve been denying knowing anything of this civilization on the Moon,
and recently we find out you’ve known longer than we have!”
“They are not what you think,” he started but Nephrite cut him off.
“Perhaps *you* are not what we thought.”
“Silence!”
“You cannot order me anymore!”
“I am your prince!”
“A prince without a kingdom,” a sly, feminine voice slithered through the
doorway, where Beryl leaned against the frame. Her face was all large green
eyes and feigned innocence as her lips lifted in a slow smile of greeting to
Endymion, “with all due respect, of course, my liege,” she drawled, giving an
exaggerated bow.
“Beryl, leave my chambers. Immediately.”
She laughed, a horrid sound, and shook her head. A small amused smile
danced her around too-red lips. “Now, now my dear Prince. I would truly be
more careful about what I said and did if I were you.”
Walking closer to him, she tilted her head and bit back another smug and
knowing smile, “But I guess it is too late for *that*, now isn’t it?” She
winked.
Casually, she picked up a parchment off his desk and let it dangle from
her long-nailed hand, running her eyes down the information printed on it.
“Ah, yes, the Moon.” She looked toward the Generals, “I assume my network of
spies is up and running?”
They nodded.
“Beryl, how dare you go behind my back with this! Issuing spies in
peacetime without royal command is a criminal offense!” Endymion tried to
focus on Beryl’s face but found he couldn’t, a dizziness seeped into his mind
whenever he tried to look directly at her.
This time the generals joined her when she laughed, and she circled
Endymion, he turned to follow her with his eyes. “I hardly think this counts
as peace time, on the eve of an inevitable war.” Kunzite pointed out, and
Endymion glared at him.
“So, Endymion dear,” Beryl added, conversationally, “fraternize any more
with the enemy since we saw you last?”
“So Beryl,” he said, attempting her casual way of talking although his
voice was trembling with anger, “make any accusations without proof since we
saw *you* last?”
She smirked in a way that made Endymion shudder. “Touché, my prince.”
Endymion never knew how Beryl had gotten ahold of the information about
the Moon, but somehow not only had she found out, but convinced his people of
the Moon Kingdom’s existence, and that was evil and must be destroyed.
And they believed her.
He felt control slipping from his fingers, and concern for Serenity
seemed to cloud his judgment when he needed it most. He needed to warn her,
but he had not seen her since she slept in his arms weeks before. At night,
the dark-haired prince desperately tried to convince himself that his angel-
princess’ kingdom must know of Beryl’s plot from their surveillance. However,
he knew deep inside that Beryl had a power all her own, a power deep enough to
keep the people of the Moon from knowing the Earth even knew about them until
too late. The hidden enemy. How blind he was.
All Endymion knew was that he could not let his people be deceived,
although he had a sinking feeling it was far too late. His mind called forth
the image of his angel, light eyes smiling into his, soft arms drawing him into
a hug. For a moment his heart literally ached with need for her. To him,
knowing she was safe was the only thing that mattered, even if the damage to
his kingdom was already done.
“These people are not our enemies,” he said, desperately trying to pull
at least one of his former friends back to his side, “they have watched us for
thousands of years and never once made a move against us.”
Beryl raised her eyebrows. Endymion was really beginning to loathe that
smile of hers. “Perhaps they are just waiting for a weakness.” She grinned,
suddenly, “Yet I think turnabout is fair play, don’t you?” Beryl was asking
the generals, who seemed to agree with the sick humor in this statement.
She turned her eyes to Endymion, “I am not sure if you have been entirely
aware of all the things I have been doing for the power of this kingdom. You
see, while they have been thinking they have been watching us, we have actually
been filtering into through their system. And now the tables have turned,
greatly.”
Endymion felt ill. “Beryl-“
Her smile grew, “Oh, but Endymion, you haven’t heard the best part.”
Leaning against the doorway again, she spoke over his head, to the four men
behind him, “I think now is the perfect time to launch our attack, since their
kingdom is now in utter turmoil.”
Endymion forced himself to look directly at Beryl, eyes narrowing
slightly, “What?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Her voice dripped with counterfeit surprise.
Jadeite bit back a laugh as Beryl walked slowly to Endymion, looking at
him with barely contained insolence. “It’s sad, really, although it is just
the opportunity true victors always take advantage of.”
Endymion just silently regarded the loathsome creature before him,
forcing himself to take measured breaths.
“How ironic you would be the last to know.” She twirled a strand of deep
red hair around her finger, “And that I would be the one to tell you,” Beryl
shook her head, obviously taking deep delight in this situation.
“I don’t have time for-“
Endymion’s command was spoken over quickly by Zoisite’s smooth voice, “We
can’t expect the Moon to be ready for a war at this time, my prince.” They
seemed amused.
Leaning back to look at him, Beryl put a sarcastic hand to her heart, an
overdone pout on her lips, looking directly into his eyes.
“After all,” she said, her voice was resonant with false sympathy that
clashed greatly with the triumphant smirk barely under the surface, “their
princess is dying.”
~~
AN.
Um...
Thanks to Jay-chan (W.Bymeeh, read her stuff now, it's wonderful and puts me to shame)
and Loralei-chan for pre-reading for me!
(
geocities.com/element_sprite)