Stop the Pain
by Sereko
sereko13@yahoo.com
---------
"Oh, excuse me...I wasn't paying attention." A large hand appeared in
the vision of the fallen slave. She held onto it lightly as she was
helped up. Once on her feet, with a little bit of dignity left, she
looked at the unfortunate soul that had bumped into her. She gasped,
her eyes immediately studying the contours of the floor. "Yo-Your
highness. Please forgive my insolence. I didn't notice that it was
you." She was soon found on the ground once more. This time, however,
she was kneeling deeply not sitting on her behind.
Another startled gasp echoed through the empty hall as the prince used
his soft fingers to lift the servant girl's bowed head and to raise
her from her kneel. She averted her crystal blue eyes to that familiar
spot on the ground. There was no way that she could raise her status
to stare at the prince! It was immoral and unheard of! A servant?
Slave?! Disrespecting the prince like that? Never!
"Please...look at me.." His voice was so calm and sweet in her ears.
She shook her head from side to side.
"Gomen..it's against the rules..." He chuckled a little and rubbed her
jaw line with his thumb.
"Do you think the rules still apply when I'm the one asking it of you?"
The tension in her face eased a bit and a small smile graced her lips.
He smiled with her. "Come now." Well, who in god's name could refuse
that? She slowly but surely brought her eyes from the infamous tile to
a pair of the most gorgeous azure eyes that one had ever seen.
The ocean wide depths seemed to sparkle under her gaze. "What is your
name, miss?"
She was so caught up in her reverie that she couldn't stop herself when
she said, "...beautiful...". He laughed a bit.
"Yes, m'lady, you are beautiful. I doubt, however, that that is your
name." She snapped back into reality. Her eyes frantically looking
about for other people.
"Oh-oh..gomen, my name is Tsuki."
"Tsuki? I'm not that great with names, but I'm pretty sure that that
is your last name. Is there a first name to accompany Tsuki?"
She was still a little off balance with the whole fact that the prince
was allowing her to look him in the eyes, talk with him, and...and,
well...he'd had his hand resting under her chin for the entirety of
the conversation. That was enough to ruin any girl's common manners.
"Um..gomen.."
He immediately moved his hand to touch her lips, silencing her. "No,
no...please, stop apologizing. You have done nothing wrong."
'Tsuki' looked up into his eyes once more. They were so caring and
enveloping. "Gome-uh...heh..anyway, servants are not referred to with
their first names."
"That does not matter right now."
"Bu-But I haven't been called Usagi since I was five!--oops"
Her face heated with a blush when she realized that she had just
inadvertently mentioned her name. He smiled again, "See? That wasn't
so hard." She blushed again at his caring manner. 'What does he think
he's doing? I'm just another wimpy servant. He should be courting
princesses and talking with nobles...not measly old me.' Her blue seas
fell to the ground for the third time in five minutes. The prince
barely caught a glimpse of sorrow within her soul before she brought
up the barrier between them again.
"Gomen nasai, highness. I have taken up too much of your time already.
I must be off and if I'm not mistaken, that's your mother calling in
the distance. Thank you for being so kind with my clumsiness." With
that emotionless, well..maybe sorrowful good-bye, Usagi quickly made
an exit through the kitchen doors that had started it all.
"But wait! Please!" He reached after her, but missed her back by
inches. After he saw the door shut, he went for the handle. He jiggled
it, but nothing happened. "That little minx locked it!" Frustrated
that he couldn't talk to the charming beauty anymore and confused as
to why she suddenly just left, he walked towards his mother's demanding
voice.
-----
"Tsuki? Tsuki!?! Damn it! Where did that girl go!!" A large man, around
the age of forty, stalked through the halls looking for his lost
servant. He soon found her pressed up against the wall in the corner
of the kitchen. "TSUKI! What are you doing?!?! The h'ourdourves were
supposed to be in the ball room ten minutes ago!! The queen is getting
VERY angry!"
Usagi twitched at the shrill voice of her 'master'. In truth, he was
but another servant to the royal family. Unfortunately, Yokura Chota
was deemed as 'captain' of the servants in the royal family department.
The royal family was too busy to order around *all* of the servants, so
Yokura and some others became 'captains' of certain sections of
servants (therefore, the royals only had to tell one person all that
they wanted done). In the royal family section, there were about twenty
total servants. That may not seem like a lot, but that didn't include
the personal servants to each royal member and such. Anyway, Yokura
was a ruthless leader and the queen (who appointed all of the servants)
had yet to notice his antics.
Usagi hung her head, "Gomen nasai, Chota-san. I'll get them there right
away." She began to walk away when she felt a slimy hand on her wrist.
Turning, she noticed it was Yokura. "Nani? I have to walk to be able
to deliver the food."
His eyes burned deeply into her skin. "How dare you! Y-You wench! First
you fail in your duties and then..then you have the nerve to call me
by my first name!?!" Usagi recoiled. Had she? Had she accidentally
called him Chota-san instead of Yokura-san? The conversation with the
prince was definitely getting to her head. "You shall be punished for
this!!! Deliver the food to the ball, then I want you back in my room
immediately!!!!" Usagi paled. She had often clutzed out and minutely
failed in her jobs, but he had never asked her to come to his room for
punishment. She almost cried at what he could possibly mean by it. What
would he do to her? "Well?? Get moving!!!" She numbly nodded and ran
away swiftly.
-----
'It looks like the ball is going well. Maybe I can sneak away through
one of the other doors. Then I won't have to worry about what
Yokura-san has planned for me. Hmmm.." The thought vanished from her
head as she saw good ol' Yokura talking to the queen and glaring at
Usagi. *gulp* She set her trays down on the buffet table and ran out
of the room.
As she ran down the halls, she glanced around for any other side
routes that she could take. Not only might she find a way to get away
from Yokura, but the longer it was until she had to meet him, the
better. Damn, no routes in site. She cursed the gods for leaving her
this fate. 'Sure! Give me clumsiness *and* a horrible punishment!' It
was almost a comedic event. That is, until that slimy hand was felt
again upon her wrist.
"And where might you be off to so fast? I do believe that you just
passed my room." Usagi gulped again. This was not a good night, not a
good night at all. She was about to start kicking and screaming when a
loud 'crack' was heard. She fell to the floor limply. Her last
conscious thought before she connected with the floor was, 'That jerk
just punched me!!'
-----
"AHHHHHHH!!!" Eight more cracks and Usagi was nothing. Yokura had just
spent the last half an hour whipping Usagi until all she seemed to be
was an empty shell. He had taken her dignity and her strength. Usagi
was left as a crying heap on the man's filthy bed.
"I don't want to see your disgusting face anymore! LEAVE!" She didn't
want to disobey him again. The thought of his next punishment was too
much for her. She slowly propped herself up and off of the bed, exiting
the room with her back hunched.
-----
"Oh man! What a bore!!!" A lean man with long light brown hair tied up
into a pony-tail stretched his arms above his head. "How many of these
balls must we attend a month?" Four other men chuckled.
"Who knows...I think this is our fifth." This time, a man with wavy
brown hair had spoken up.
"Ahhh yes, but it is always refreshing to have women flocking to you
every where you walk.." Everyone groaned at the short blonde.
"You have got to be kidding me, Jed! Don't they annoy you in the
slightest???"
"Nope, Kunz. Not at all." The last one, with slick black hair laughed
heartily.
"That's our Jedaite. A womanizer for life." The other men smiled and
laughed as well.
"Ugh! Ah! I'm sorry!" Jedaite looked down at the humble servant that
he had just walked over. The poor girl seemed so small and helpless.
"Forgive me, miss. I didn't see you there."
She barely looked up. "My fault, sire. No worries, sorry for disturbing
you. Ja ne." Then she walked away.
"Hey, Jed! Who was that?"
The blonde shook his head. "I don't know, one of the servants. She
seemed...out of it, though..." The men glanced behind them at the
girl's retreating figure.
"Hey! Is-Is that blood on her back???" Zoicite's observation did not
go unnoticed by the others. They immediately started to walk in the
direction of the girl. None of them really knew why...they just followed
something that told them to watch out for her safety. "Miss! Hey, wait
up!!" The girl didn't stop limping along. Endymion took a glance at
the ground, noticing something shiny. Upon closer inspection, he
realized that the spot was a teardrop. He raised his head to the girl
again. A spark went off in the back of his mind. 'Something about her...'
A few more seconds and it hit him. It was the same girl that he had
talked to earlier. The one that had managed to tangle up his insides
with nothing more than her mere presence. What had happened to the
poor dear? "W-Wait! Tsuki! Hold up!" The other generals turned to
Endymion. He knew her name? They all stopped walking as he approached
the getaway child. "Tsuki!" She didn't turn, flinched a little, yes...
but she didn't do anything else to indicate that she had heard her
name. "Please, Usagi!"
That made her stop instantly. Her back went straight up and her eyes
bulged out. 'No..nonononono...the prince can't see me like this...
nononono...' She shook her head and kept walking. "Gomen...I have to
get back to work."
"Usagi! Please...hold up!" She didn't obey, so he grabbed her wrist.
She flinched under the touch. Her wrists were still red and worn out
from being tied up in Yokura's room. Endymion slowly turned her to
face him. He drew back at what he saw. Not only was her back whipped
and bleeding, but her face had some cuts and bruises as well. "What
happened?"
Usagi lowered her head while trying to hold back tears of both pain and
shame. "You needn't worry yourself over my welfare, highness. It will
heal soon."
He raised her chin up again. Staring deep into her eyes, into her soul.
He could see all of the suffering that she had endured that night. He
brought a hand up to her cheek, analyzing all of her facial injuries.
He then focused back on her eyes. She was looking helplessly back at
him. Those crystal blues gathering fresh tears that she had been
holding back for quite some time. He softened immediately, motioning
for his generals to come over to the two.
"Prince?" Kunzite was the first to ask about the problem at hand.
Endymion nodded his head as if confirming his plan mentally. "Hai." He
looked directly at Zoicite. The wavy blonde looked puzzled, but knew
that his prince had an idea to help the girl before him. "Zoicite.
Could you heal her back for me, please?" Zoicite was baffled at first
but nodded his head quickly. Endymion returned his attention back to
Usagi. "Usagi...this will only hurt a little, ok?" She raised her head
affirmatively. That's when the 'little bit of pain' kicked in.
Zoicite had already positioned his hands over her back as she stood and
was starting the process. Without thinking about it, Usagi instinctively
grabbed both of Endymion's upper arms and squeezed. Her face scrunched
in agony as the multiple cuts mended themselves.
Endymion slowly brought her to the ground, until both were kneeling in
front of each other. Soon thereafter, Zoicite had finished. He and
Usagi let out simultaneous sighs and slumped forward a little. Kunzite
and Nephrite were quick to catch the healer, as Endymion steadied Usagi.
He looked at her again. "Is that any better?"
Usagi glanced up at him. She nodded, turned her head a little to face
Zoicite and spoke, "Domo arigato, sire. I don't know how to repay you."
Zoicite, now balanced on his feet, just smiled.
"It's was nothing, really. I do it all the time. These idiots can't
seem to stop getting hurt." He tossed a thumb in the direction of the
generals and the mood lifted. Usagi just smiled happily up at him.
"Usagi...who did this to you?" The girl's face fell at the prince's
question. She shakily stood up, a drop of blood from her face falling
to the tile with a tear.
"I must be going." She started to run down the hall, but was stopped.
Endymion was standing in front of her, blocking her path, while the
other four men were behind her. She looked around her, noticing no
escape. Someone grabbed her hand. She was turned quickly to face none
other than the prince. His eyes beat into hers. "N-NO!! I can't!!" She
ripped her hand out of his grip and pushed past him. The men didn't
follow this time.
"The trauma of her incident has backfired." The men looked at Nephryte,
the one who spoke. "Give her a little time, she'll come around." They
all nodded solemnly and returned to the ball, though none were in the
mood to rejoice anymore.
-----
Usagi carelessly walked through the halls to deliver breakfast to the
royal dining room. She opened the tall oak doors and meekly walked to
one end of the large table. The queen gasped when she glanced up at
the servant before her. "Good heavens, child, what happened to your
face?" The rest of the table glanced up.
Usagi blushed in embarrassment from the attention. "It's nothing, your
majesty. I just tripped. That's all." Without waiting for a proper
dismissal, Usagi turned and walked quickly out of the room. She could
feel five pairs of eyes on her back, but made no movement to
acknowledge the men.
The queen blinked a few times. Then, brushing the encounter off, she
turned to her meal. "So, Endymion, what are you up to today?" The
prince turned his attention from the closed door to his father.
"I have a trip to the market planned. It has been quite a while since
I have mingled with the people there." The king and queen smiled. Their
son always was one to treat everyone as an equal and a friend.
Breakfast was quiet from there on out. The royal leaders of Earth were
whispering among themselves about the attitudes of their finest
warriors, but there was no other talking. The generals were in no mood
to say anything, they were thinking too hard about the cruelty they
had witnessed. Even the prince, himself, was just staring blankly at
the food on his plate.
-----
"Tsuki-san? Geez...have you run off again? Where are you??" An angry
Yokura marched through the halls of the servants quarters while looking
for his missing worker.
"I'm here, Yokura-san." He turned behind him. Usagi had just walked
out of the kitchen door upon hearing him. Her head was bowed and her
hair brushed up against the cold marble floor. Yokura snarled.
"For heaven's sake, girl! Are you purposefully moving so slowly? You
were needed to help Eunich ten minutes ago!" Usagi sighed heavily. She
had completely forgotten that Eunich, the main palace maid, had asked
for her to help her today. The usual helper had come down with the flu.
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