Sailor Moon 1. Prelude to an End

Silver Millennium Part 1: The Dominion of Knights

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Sailor Moon or its characters, but I do own all of the planetary monarchs except for Serenity and her senshi of course, and I own all of the knights and cultures represented here.

**Part three of five Silver Millennium Fanfics (in chronological order):**

1. Silver Millennium: the Prologue

2. Interlude: A Silver Millennium Snippet

3. Silver Millennium Part One: The Dominion of Knights

4. Silver Millennium Part two: Years of Silver Light

5. Silver Millennium Part Three: The End of All Things

"**Time has a unique balance in which history is written by events coming into motion according to fate. According to the laws of destiny, everything that happens comes and goes in cycles, one group must flourish and then fail before another may do the same in its stead. This in itself is disturbing to us, but practical and necessary for all beings to coexist in harmony. No matter how hard it may be for people to accept; this has proven forever true with the testimony of time as its witness and history as its record."**

_**-Bruteaous-**_

**Chapter 1: Prelude to an End **

**_Second Millennia of Queen Seda Selene Serenity II's Reign year 1339_**

_**Naith, the Last Moon of Pluto**_

_**The Battlefield of Menasich**_

The wind soared over the planted fields. From the clouded night sky a soft rain began to fall, its drops wetting the armor of the troops below. The shining armor of the knights of the Moon kingdom glistened brightly from the dim light of the stars shinning through the smoky clouds. Twenty thousand of them stood on this field.

Many of them were intermediates, who were almost finished with their training. For many of them, their training would end on that fateful day. Their coming to fight on this battlefield and answering to their queen's summons was a test of loyalty to Serenity herself.

The guardians sat a top horses stating their status as the commanders on this field, the strongest and most loyal of Queen Serenity's noble warriors. Among these elite knights sat such legendary names as Tudor, a Lunarian born knight whom fought against the Duke of the Roses for his title and crown or Lantar, the Jupiterean bowman and prince who fought the esteemed Prince Ducon, the only surviving son of Chaos and defeated him in combat. Or even Daro, the shadily handsome dark armored knight of Saturn, who had been the artisan employed to seal the Millennium crystal into the coat of arms of the Serenity bloodline.

But of all of the legendary names gathered to once more prove their worth in battle, there were only two most revered and respected above all: Regelle & Entarais. Noble Regelle of Uranus and Charming Entarais of Neptune sat upon their steeds watching the dark forces gather at the base of a far away hill. They had, but one distinction from their fellow knights: they were the most well known and strongest knights in the Moon Kingdom. The two were friends and allies, set in friendship by bonds forged one thousand years ago. The two legends would have died long ago, under ordinary circumstances, but Serenity had made them into her guardians therefore giving them ageless long life.

Entarais had short brown hair, as short as any knights and good looking, yet sharp features to match. But the Neptunian's true distinction was in her eyes, for she possessed deep cerulean eyes, described by some as being as deep as the many seas of Neptune themselves. It was true this knight was seen as skilled in the arts of both combat and in all of the arts as a whole themselves. She was known on her planet as the first of Neptune's five muses for her teachings on self-government

and equality throughout the planets.

Regelle had hair as short as Entarais's, only sandy blonde in color and her eyes too were distinct; a beautiful shade of teal only seen in the Uranian royalty. She seemed intensely focused and concentrated on a message she was reading on a small scroll of parchment which she was shielding from the offending rain. The teal depths of the Uranian's eyes were phantom less as they seemed to be scanning the aging parchment, rereading the short message over and over again. Then she rolled up the scroll and tied it to her belt, in enough time to turn and hear her companion's voice.

"It is time." Entarais said as she steered her dapple gray horse over more to the left side of the group. From their vantage point, one could clearly see the droves of blood thirsty creatures gathering at the hill's base, gaining their strength for the coming charge.

Entarais looked the enemy over carefully. The dark armored soldiers definitely out numbered them, but she knew that their soldiers had a better chance of winning if they doubled up and avoided the enemy valley, making the enemy climb up the slopes to come to them, but the leading knights would charge down the hill into the open valley diving head first on into the fray, willing to die nobly for Serenity in battle as they felt their time had come to an end. Then the Neptunian knight turned to her troops who were studying her expectantly.

"For coming to Serenity's aide on this theatre of war, I sincerely thank you." Entarais spoke to her troops walking her gray stallion alongside the wall of armored knights looking up at her, "Never will our kingdom observe a greater sacrifice than the one which you have all agreed to make on this field today."

"None of us came here to fight for the well being of our rivals." A Marian knight piped up gesturing towards the legions of Venus carrying their golden banners upon long wooden pikes. "We only came here to have reap the rewards of pillage and spoils."

All of the ranks broke out into budding protests as different knights whom were allies in arms argued among themselves with their planetary and racial boundaries clearly coming into prominence over their surroundings and senses of responsibility. Entarais reared her horse and then started galloping up and down the lines, getting her soldier's attention as the buzzing of angry voices died down.

"We must go home, the enemy out numbers us greatly." a young Paladin of Jupiter shouted towards Entarais, whom briefly gazed over her shoulder to see what she already confirmed about their enemy's , before turning back to her knights.

"Knights of the Moon kingdom, you have come here to fight to preserve your independence, and righteous and just this cause is." Entarais shouted to her troops, "What would you do if the Dark Kingdom took away that gift of free choice and enslaved our family's and our peoples? Would you retaliate?"

"No!" Yelled the same young knight from before, "We would flee, to preserve our lives while there is still time left."

Entarais eyes held in them an emotion no one beheld in them often. An indiscernible yearning which had existed in them since her childhood and which had taken over dominance every since she had become a knight: a yearning for something better for the moon kingdom, but which was even beyond the reach of a legendary warrior like herself. It was the fact that she could not have what she so desperately wished for which was the reason why she fought. She wished for the realization of unity among her soldiers, among the people of the moon kingdom, merged as one solid identity; but it was not to be so.

"So what would you do then?" She swallowed hard and cleared her throat loudly, her voice strong and her resolve stronger while the indescribable yearning remained still present in her cerulean eyes, "Leave for home? Of course return to your families and peaceable homes…while they still stand. Run from this field today and you will live another day…until our defenses fall and the enemy comes for you in your beds or in your fields. Would you not just give all that you are for this one lone opportunity, to tell your enemies that although they may end your lives they will never destroy the noble fighting spirit of the hearts which beat within you now. Would you not give anything in the universe to let your foes know that although you may die, your people and their families will prosper because of your sacrifice? To know that although you have sacrificed your life, that your sacrifice was not in vain as long as our kingdom still stands? Let them know that even if they destroy your body they will never be able to destroy all that you have fought for, knowing that someday someone stronger will come and take your place. Let it be known unto them that as long as breath resides in our lungs, our families and loved ones will remain safe because of what will happed here today! Courage, do not falter, be brave and die with honor!"

Entarais turned her steed and galloped along the ranks as loud cheers erupted from the knights within them. She rode her horse back towards her companions who were surveying the hill mobbed by black bodies resting at its base. Lantar shook his head wearily. The Jupiterean prince did not feel a strong urge that they would somehow turn this battle in their favor.

"Their numbers are great." Tudor spoke first grimly, his hazel eyes showing just a bit of green in their depths, illuminated by the starlight as he spoke; the tow colored hair upon his head being shaded by the night and dampened to his straight forehead by the rain. "But our sacrifice will be greater than their numbers and not in vain. If all goes to plan and we keep our advantage at the top of the hill, allowing the Jupiterean bowmen to shoot them down, then our numbers will be evened out and the battle will close at a stalemate. If our loss is great we will be avenged by an even higher power, soldiers appointed by Serenity herself to guard the universe with the use of their planet's power."

"Do not be so confident." Lantar warned, short auburn hair and emerald eyes coming into view from the starlight above, his long bow held steady in his left hand as he unsheathed his one handed sword with the other hand, still holding his horse's reins in his occupied bow hand. "This may be dire for us, and I fear that this battle in itself, will be the beginning of the end for us…the end of all things will soon be upon us."

"Every prediction is dire according to you, Lantar." Daro replied his handsome features, amethyst eyes and ebony hair coming into full view as a bolt of lightening shot across the green stormy sky. "The way I see it, between the five of us, we can easily massacre thirty to sixty dark soldiers each. That at least gives us some hope, if hope is possible."

"Maybe I would like to be warned of my impending doom before it happens, you see, unlike some I am not very accustomed to death and destruction and I do not kill for the thrill of seeing another die." Lantar retorted still starring down at the recruiting army as a bolt of lightening illuminated his features and shed some light upon the jagged scar across the length of his face and part of his neck.

"You should try it, really, relishing in the hunt that leads to your kill on the battlefield. It is actually quite satisfactory. There is no greater thrill than to hunt another human being who has the will to reason in the same way as the hunters themselves do." Continued Daro smirking in his arrogant way as he finished, his ebony eyebrows straightening while matching the ill humor of his expression. "What is your insight on the battle to be, Entarais? Regelle?"

"I am ready." Entarais replied truthfully. "I have no greater purpose in this world than to protect this kingdom and if fate commands it, die for it. This is the Kingdom of Serenity. The place of civilization and life. Ordered, sophisticated, advanced, a place of light and beauty. Where would my duty lay if not here? This is a place of peace, a peace which is so fragile that suggesting it in any tone louder than a mere whisper would cause it to evaporate with the wind and yet peace is the most important of all things. I would gladly give my life to preserve it."

"Oh? And what of your lover and your family members, are they ready to lose you, too?" Daro asked with some amusement to Entarais' willingness to fight, enjoying bothering his stoic companion. "I am surprised your young love let you leave, or did you simply ride off to the front line sieges in the middle of the night while not informing your lover of your absence?"

The Neptunian knight raised her head up towards the clouds as she allowed the cold drops of rain to caress her face and cool warm skin.

"They will understand when the news comes to them." Entarais answered the focus in her cerulean gaze becoming far away and distant as she thought of her loved ones and one close companion in particular. "It is better in life to forsake the happiness of a few for the promise of a much greater good to fulfill the hopes of many. This universe is not a peaceful place, but perhaps our sacrifice will aid in making our Kingdom so, that we may be one step closer to peace than we were before."

"Nah, Peace, who needs it. Certainly not I. Peace is for the weak, for the women and helpless children. What would I do to entertain myself in a peaceful world with no battles being fought for my amusement?" Daro spat with a smirk, before turning his attention to Regelle. "What about you, Regelle?" Daro asked pushing his good fortune to tease the short tempered Uranian, "Are you going to reply to your family's message before you die? You know your cousin, King Aegelle, worries for you. Why not send him one final message before you die? Or at least write a short reply to the one he sent you. "

"Do you not take into account what an affect your disrespectful and uncaring words have on others?" Tudor asked casting a disdainful look towards the Saturnarian prince.

"I take note of the despising reactions and piercing looks with the utmost feeling of pride. Nothing gives me more pleasure than to insult or pester another human being." Daro replied, then turned back to Regelle. "Are you going to reply to your king?"

"There is nothing to reply to. It was made painfully obvious to me today that although I may want to, I cannot return to Uranus ever again, fate forbids it as my death calls to me here and now." Regelle spoke in a forlorn tone as the prideful, merciless look returned to her royal features. She unsheathed her sword and brought the bronze blade to rest upon her forehead, the sold metal giving her some reassurance before the enemy drums started rumbling. "Besides, in the end, when the fates take us and death engulfs us; all that really matters is what we have accomplished in this life. All that we have done, that is all destiny judges."

Daro removed his attention from the Uranian warrior and motioned his black steed forward a bit to look over the edge of the hill. The enemy was forming lines, preparing for their charge up the hill. The dark standard bearers held up their black banners high, soaked and clinging to their poles from the falling rain. One of the generals barked an order in their dark language and a man in a gray colored uniform, who stood out plainly in the lines of black uniformed soldiers, blew a horn.

he dark sound echoed in the distance and the drummers of the army began beating their drums to match the rhythm of their normal marching pattern, the deep sound of the drums resonating up the hill with the finality that the battle was about to begin. No withdrawing could be done now. This was the final fight that would decide whether the Moon kingdom would remain peaceful or be engulfed by an encroaching darkness, not experienced before since the time of Chaos and the immortals.

Daro pulled a silver pendant from underneath his amethyst cloak and kissed the claret

surface. The small jewel was frigid and moist from the rain drops that still misted the air, but it was still a small comfort to him. He died here for his own satisfaction, knowing that he lived his life the way he wanted it, not taking orders from anyone else. That life would end here, now, on this battlefield. He was not worried though, for he knew that his name would live on in the history of this kingdom, no matter what he fate might be. _In the end, when the fates take us and death engulfs us; all that really matters is what we have accomplished in this life. All that we have done, that is all destiny judges._

"We need to ready our soldiers. Tell the bowmen to advance to the front, tell them to spread out." Lantar ordered a Jupiterean horseman near him who rode off to execute his king's orders.

"Rally the troops it is time." Tudor said kicking his horse and galloping up to the lines of knights with Lantar not far behind him.

The Dark kingdom soldiers at the foot of the hill were also rallying to fight. One of their generals raised his sword for silence amongst his troops, his black armored steed stamping his hooves in the mud impatiently.

"Silence all of you!" General Dracul yelled to his men, never dropping his sword from where he held it high in the air. "When we charge up this hill, not one of you will flee. If anyone of you dares to do you, I will hunt you down personally and kill you myself."

He lowered his sword arm carefully and swiftly dismounted his horse, slapping it on the rear, causing the skittish animal to ride away quickly from the battlefield.

"Today is the day that we feed Serenity's legends to our hounds. The land will cry out at the sudden flood of blood as corpses of the Moon kingdom's faithful will litter the ground and choke the rivers. Today is our day! This day will go down in history. Years from now, our descendants will ask us about the events of this day. They will ask about the day that the dark armies of Metallia changed this world and made it the paradise of all evil. They will ask about this day and when they do, let them know that our victory was built upon the blood drained bodies of Serenity's guardians!"

Suddenly, as the lead general was preparing to charge up the hill, a hail of sharp pointed and green fletched arrows rained down upon the Dark Kingdom soldiers. Echoes of pain rang out from their ranks as many a evil creature fell, struck through their black hearts by the sure arrows of the Jupiterean bowmen. The Dark generals were barking orders for their soldiers to hold their lines and not to fold, but the task seemed daunting as soldier after soldier were cut down by arrows.

So many arrows were there that it was later reordered that they blocked out the little light of the sky, falling as smoothly as the raindrops from the clouds. Many dark soldiers broke their lines against orders and hide themselves behind rocks and trees from the surrounding forests.

But a few moments later a force of Venian and Marian knights raced toward their enemy down the hill lead by the five mounted legendary knights at their front, drawing the dark soldiers from their hiding places. The mounted knights were knocked off of their horses by dark arrows or by a blow from the spear of a Dark kingdom pike man. The enemy, encouraged by the breath of victory they had captured over the kingdom's strongest knights, raced up the hill towards the waiting planetary knights.

The Knights whom had been knocked from their horses had regained their footing quickly, lashing out with all of their strength at the enemies who tried to charge past them up the hill.

Lantar stood, but with great difficulty as a poisoned arrow had lodged into his leg, but he would not rest with his ability to wield a sword and a bow still in tact. He gazed up at the battle upon the hill. The Dark Kingdom soldiers were pushing against the wall of shields each separate battalion had created and hacked at any arms or limbs which were not entirely protected by the wall.

He watched as a Dark Kingdom general wearing a black cloak already drenched ruby in the blood of his foes, slashed the bow arm off from of a Jupiterean bowman, making the young man sink to his knees in agony. Ensuring that his suffering would not be prolonged, the Dark General smiled and laughed before raising his sword and in one swift stroke, beheading the young archer.

Lantar gritted his teeth and raised his bow, skillfully knocking a green fletched arrow into place. He aimed carefully and then let the arrow fly swiftly through the air to land smartly in the evil General's back. The Dark General fell over on to the ground while holding his back and yelling out in pain.

"A favor to repay the one you offered to my bowmen." Lantar whispered before he heard rushing footsteps behind him, ducking to avoid his adversary's sword before slicing the unfortunate man in the stomach.

As Lantar made short work of the foot soldiers foolish enough to retaliate against his blade head on, a strong arm came up from behind him and smashed a sword handle into the back of his head. The Jupiterean knight fell to his knees, a look of confusion expressed on his features.

His head felt numb and yet he was very aware of a cooling sensation on the back of his neck. Lantar reached a weary hand back to touch the broken back of his head and brought his fingers back drenched in his own crimson blood. His vision began to blur as his hand dropped to the ground and he gazed at the dim masses of the freshly slain corpses of both his countrymen and his enemies strewn out before his line of vision.

Lantar shook his head to try and rid his eyes of their dizziness, but to no avail. As the Jupiterean prince was doing so, his earlier attacker slammed again the hilt of his dark blade into the noble knight's head. This time Lantar faltered, his balance waning, the Jupiterean prince fell face first into the bloody mud, his focus less emerald eyes still retaining a tiny spark of life in their depths.

It was apparent from the lost gaze of Lantar's eyes that he could no longer comprehend the world around him through his vision, and that what ever life he had remaining in him, was fading quickly.

Lantar's attacker stood proudly in front of the fallen prince smiling broadly as the prince's prone form twitched and writhed upon the ground in subconscious agony. The general placed one of his hands on his back where a small wound remained from the true flight of Lantar's green fletched arrow which had been roughly pulled from his wound as the dark general had come down to seek revenge upon his aggressor.

"You see, my friend." the dark general said with a pronounced unfamiliar accent, "What death you had intended for me I now deal to you. Your resistance was futile really, because when we win on this battlefield I shall make sure to travel on a personal note to Jupiter. No, you will not be alone in your death, oh no, rest assure that the last of your blood will join you in the afterlife. Now, here you die!"

The dark general lifted his blade above his head and with great finality, plunged it through the left shoulder blade of Lantar's back and through his heart. The Jupiterean prince's emerald eyes, once so full of strength and vigor, drained of all life as his cooling ruby blood enriched the already muddy soil around him.

The dark general grinned and watched as an entertained spectator as Lantar's body stopped its twitching and blood filled the space entirely around the corpse. But before the dark general could celebrate his victory any longer, a knock from a metal shield hit him firmly in the back making him vault forward, his balance unsteady. He turned sharply to see Tudor, the young fair haired knight raising his sword and leveling it over his shield in challenge.

"You shall pay for what you have done to my friends and countrymen." Tudor yelled circling his enemy without turning his back to him, "Lantar had an infant son he had not yet beheld yet. He wished to survive this so that he could return to Jupiter and hold him. You ended his life before his time and for that you will pay dearly."

The dark kingdom knight smiled and chuckled harshly.

"If he did not wish to die than the ignorant Jovian prince should have known better than to show himself on this battlefield. You know, the Jupiterean thought to make me pay in the same manner and as you can see, he failed. His failure cost him his life just as your arrogance is about to claim yours."

"We shall see." Tudor replied.

No sooner had he said so, then the dark general's blade came fiercely down upon his shield. With all of his might, Tudor pushed back the dark general and parried towards his opponents stomach, but he was not fast enough and the repulsive soldier whisked the top part of his blade across Tudor's cheek throwing the Lunarian knight back with his free arm in the process.

Tudor reached up and touched his cheek, where his warm vermilion blood was flowing freely from the gash down his drawn face and slender neck. The dark general nodded in approval while grinning luminously, a gesture clearly showing that he was only toying with Tudor, enjoying the competition of a potential plaything before he could simply kill him.

"Is this all a legendary knight of Serenity's court has to offer me?" the dark general laughed coldly, sending offending chills up Tudor's spine. "And I had so much hope in your fighting abilities, which I must say after meeting you in combat have clearly been embellished by your reputation."

Tudor's face flushed in fury as all decent thought left his mind and he flew forward with his sword aimed for the dark general's head. Smiling in triumph not yet assured, the dark general leapt to the side and in the space vacated, slammed his armored shoulder into his opponent whom roughly fell to the ground with a clatter of metal.

"What a strong fighting spirit you still retain. I am certain only excess of torture will drain that out of you. Captain!" the dark general turned from his deeply winded opponent and called his personal guard captain whom had been standing idle as a last resort.

The captain ran over to his superior. "Yes, sir?"

"Take this man into custody, when we leave this planet he is going with us, as a gift of gratification to our queen." the dark general said.

The captain smiled broadly, "Yes, sir." Before he bent down and slammed his fist into the back of Tudor's neck.

Tudor immediately lost consciousness and lay prone before their eyes as the dark captain bent down and picked up the fallen knight, tying his hands behind his back before carrying him back to his waiting comrades and throwing him at their feet.

"Return him to the transport." the captain ordered his men while grinning down at the motionless body of Tudor, the tow color of his fair hair being stained with the vermilion blood seeping down over his head from a cut on the back of his neck, "We shall see how his disobedient spirit fares when we march him before our queen in chains.

Thrilled by the new challenges, the dark general turned his attentions to searching the battlements for the remaining legendary knights he could fight. He gazed across the fleeting battlements in search of his prey, before he saw his target.

Entarais was battling with a group of dark soldiers were circling her, waiting for her to misstep for as soon as she did, the circle of enemies would enclose on her and hack her down, still fighting. One dark pike man from the northern end of the circle thrust his spear at Entarais whom caught it with her shield and as the spear head was embedded in the wood of Entarais Neptunian shield he could not pull it back quickly enough to attack her.

To prevent the pike man from retracting his spear at all, Entarais sliced through the carved black wood of the spear, severing the main body of the spear before pulling the spear head roughly from her shield and discarding it.

A long swordsman from the eastern end of the circle lifted his two handed sword above his head and with a distinct cry of determination slammed the blade upon Entarais hand and a half sword. Entarais' sword, being of Neptunian make, was of fine craftsman ship, but it was only a hand and a half sword and as she was also handling her shield in her other arm, parrying her opponent's blow would prove difficult.

As Entarais struggled with the weight of the long sword being imposed upon her sword arm, she thrust her shield forward with the other arm and into the open area of the dark soldiers chest left vulnerable by his attack. The dark soldier was thrown back by the intensity of Entarais' blow and dropped his guard while grasping his chest in an attempt to breathe.

Entarais took the opening presented to her and plunged her sword through the middle of her enemy's middle, withdrawing her weapon as the dark soldier fell to the ground. The rest of the dark soldiers in the circle began to close in on Entarais. Entarais smirked at the bitter reality that she may fall on this battlefield, but would be reborn in another form some time along the course of time.

Readying her stance for defense of last resort, Entarais bared down. As the group closed in, a flash of lightening darkened the sky and left only the silhouettes of the dark soldiers to be seen. When the lightening subsided and normal lighting resumed, each dark soldier in the circle fell to the ground dead in a spurt of emerald blood.

Entarais gazed bewildered at her fallen opponents, but just then she noticed a man standing behind the dead bodies the insignia on his dark cloak clasp stated his rank as a Dark Kingdom general and his sword and garb was covered in both the red blood of Serenity's knights and the darkened green blood of his own soldiers.

"You will fight with me now!" the general yelled pointing his bony thumb at his chest.

"What kind of commander sacrifices his own men just for a duel?" Entarais whispered to herself gazing upon her blood soaked opponent in disgust.

"A practical one." The general answered with a smile as his red eyes narrowed in anticipation of the battle to come, "I have heard great praise of your fighting skills, you might even say that I am one of your greatest admirers. I ,in fact, came to this battlefield with the intention of meeting you face to face in battle."

"For all of your trouble I promise, you shall not be disappointed." Entarais spoke wiping the blood off from her sword with her blue cloak.

"Indeed not." The dark general's smile widened as he leaned on his sword, the point lodged loosely in the dirt, "I like to seek out and battle the greatest challenges that I can find and I know that you are a knight who understands such a search. But enough of this conversation, let us speak no more of this, we will only battle for now."

The dark general and Entarais circled one another. Then the dark general lunged forward and he and Entarais became locked in a stalemate of blades. In order to break the stalemate, Entarais summoned all of her remaining strength and pushed the Dark general backwards where he was forced to jump still back farther to prevent his opponent's blade from coming down on his exposed forward knee.

"Well, well, you certainly fight better than the Lunarian knight, but I suppose his youth simply went to his head." the dark general said with a smirk.

Entarais' cerulean eyes widened in terrible realization and her face set in determined anger.

"It was you, you were the danger Regelle alerted me to, the man who felled Tudor. Hear me now, it ends here. All of the evil deeds you have committed in your lifetime, they are accounted for here." Entarais said raising her sword and holding the blade point so near to the dark general's face that he had to take a step backwards.

"Did you come here to kill me for retribution or to lecture me?" the dark general asked.

"I came her so that you could meet your end and mind you, when you meet it, my face will be the last thing you will recall of this life." Entarais said not lowering her blade, but moving it forward menacingly a few inches.

The dark general did not cower in fear, but grinned widely, "Finally, I have found one of Serenity's knights worth putting to death."

Entarais pulled back her blade and the two circled one another, once more, searching the other for any sign of weakness. Satisfied with his analysis, the Dark General leapt forward and scored a powerful blow on Entarais' shield causing her to lift it above her eyes and push her back a couple of steps. When Entarais lowered the shield in the next instant she could see nothing of the Dark General for he was no longer before her, but behind her.

Without giving Entarais a chance to turn to him, the Dark General slammed the hilt of his sword into the base of Entarais' neck. The Neptunian knight clamored to the ground ungracefully, head bleeding profusely and limply laying in the vermilion stained mud.

Meanwhile the tide of battle was turning in Serenity's favor. Although, her causalities far out weighed that of her enemy, the soldiers of the Dark kingdom were being backed up against the hill side and the forest trees and slaughtered in the small spaces; causing their morale to drop considerably. Dark soldiers were deserting their squadrons in large numbers.

Coming to the realization that the battle could not be won, the Dark General rallied his remaining troops and left the battlefield taking the limp forms of both Tudor and Entarais with them.

The battle commenced and ended with Serenity's Planetary knights having been slaughtered in droves. Although the Dark kingdom lost the battle it was not the dark forces who had come out worse. Only five thousand knights survived the fray out of the original twenty thousand. The only survivors were walking among the carnage surveying their losses, some kneeling and weeping at the sight of the loss of a relative or close friend, some remaining silent and bearing up against the pain and rage.

The death of the knights of legend was the sign of the end of an age. They were pillars which represented the old ways, heroes of a by gone time which would forever resonate in history as a turning point in the Silver Millennium: the end of peace from threats venturing from outside the kingdom. War was upon them and the torch was now passed on to new heroes to protect the people.

A band of riders reigned up at the wooded edge of the battlefield. One of them was a young man dressed in the black armor and garb of a Saturnarian knight cloaked in garnet riding upon a dark horse. His blue eyes scanned the horizon and his features grimaced as he surveyed their losses.

"Daro.." The young man whispered, stepping down from his horse searching the battlements for his elder cousin and fellow Planetary knight. He turned sternly to his men, "Search the field for Prince Daro. Leave not a stone unturned nor brush unearthed."

"Yes, my prince." The captain of the guard acknowledged the order while stepping down from his horse, as he was doing so his amethyst cloak swirled around his dark armor. He turned and called to his men whom were also dismounting from their steeds, "Search the field and find Prince Daro."

The knights did as they were told and quickly began running to and fro over the field glancing and checking the battered bodies for any recognition of their prince. They overturned mangled corpses starring up towards the stars with haunting lifeless eyes, none of which belonged to their prince.

The young man, the Saturnarian prince whom had come to this battlefield searching for his cousin, began walking half heartedly around the battlements, without purpose. Then he came upon a familiar figure and cringed at the sight.

The Uranian knight Regelle was lying upon the ground a steel tipped spear lodged through the bronze armor on her back and a section of the back of her neck was cut away and bleeding. The Uranian's face was pale, and the pulse weak, yet the young Saturnarian prince still attempted to wake her.

"Regelle, you must find the strength to wake." the young prince spoke gently as he removed the spear from her armored back, receiving a pain filled groan from the bleeding lips of the broken Uranian while he laid her upon her back.

"They…Th…" Regelle tried to speak, but coughed up blood in mid sentence. The Saturnarian prince reverently removed the offending blood from the wounded knight's cheek with the edge of his cloak and cradled her head in his hands before she smiled ruefully and continued, "They took Entarais…a…and…capt…ured…Tudor, but they did not…h…have the strength afterwards to…tak…take Daro, or I."

The blood coming from the wound on the back of Regelle's neck pooled upon the ground and stained the young prince's hands as he cradled his friend's blonde head gently. Tired teal eyes opened slightly and looked up at the Saturnarian prince pleadingly for a moment.

"I need you…t…do something for me." Regelle pleaded as she was interrupted by more blood choking coughs.

"Of course anything, just name it." the young Saturnarian prince spoke, his voice honest and true in its meaning.

"Tell…my family what happened…t-that…I love…'em" Regelle sputtered as fresh blood came up from her throat and ran down her chin, "Tell…sorry."

Before the Uranian knight finished her sentence, her eyes closed and her body fell limp as all life left her. The Saturnarian prince gently lowered Regelle's head down to the ground and stood up starring around at all of the bodies of the dead knights and bowmen surrounding him.

"The Dark Kingdom will pay the price for what they have done on this day." the young prince whispered angrily gazing down upon the dead body of Lantar not half a league away, the Jupiterean knight whom was sprawled, face first into the mud mingled with blood on the ground.

"It was very amusing, young prince, you should have been there." A laughing voice spoke up from behind the Saturnarian knight.

"You're right I should have been there." The Saturnarian prince did not turn around, but drew his sword at the ready.

"Do you honestly think you could have made a difference when Entarais and Regelle could not? Seriously?" the laughing voice mocked.

The young prince turned to see a wounded Dark kingdom general mocking him from where he lay beaten and broken on the ground, his poisonous dark green blood flowing freely in to the soil.

"You just wait…this shall be the end of you knights…you watc-" but the Dark Kingdom soldier couldn't finish his sentence before the Saturnarian prince's sword slashed through his throat and abruptly ended his life.

"My prince! Over here!" one of the young knight's soldiers called to him from afar.

The Saturnarian prince ran to the soldier who had called to him and saw the gruesome burden he held in his arms. It was Daro. He was alive, but barely so, with a great excess of blood pouring from the gashes in the breast plate of his ebony armor.

"Daro.." The Nathaniel whispered as he took his cousin in his arms and turned to where they had left their horses, calling over his shoulder to his knights, "We have to get him to safety!"

The knights followed suit and mounted their steeds as the prince mounted his horse with Daro cradled in front of him. They rode off, galloping at a great speed, finally coming to Chirion castle of the Plutonian royal family on that moon.

The Saturnarian prince did not even send a messenger ahead for permission to enter the Plutonian palace, he instead ran into the castle and ordered servants to fetch healers, as many as they could and send them to him. The rest of the day was long as the healers toiled over the injured Daro.

Nathaniel had sent word to Queen Serenity for her immediate arrival, and had sent word to Regelle's family of her death and a message to the Neptunian royal family explaining the nature of Entarais' capture.

"Stop pacing or you will wear a hole in my floor, Nathaniel." Jade, the eldest Prince of Pluto teased his young friend as the Saturnarian prince paced back and fourth on the red marble of the castle Chirion.

"I do not care! I cannot bear to sit this one out, I will go stir crazy if I do!" the young prince replied back, very much on edge from all of the adrenaline rushing through his system.

"Patience." Jade assured his younger companion, "Courage, Nathaniel, to battle your demons."

"You should not speak, Jade." Nathaniel spoke up trying to lighten the moment, "As I recall it is you who has trouble fighting your demons when you are separated from the Neptunian princess Neptunia."

Jade only smiled slightly at the memory of his princess. She was a beautiful, charismatic girl around his sister's age and the scourge of his heart. _It is forbidden for an immortal, my son, forbidden._ Those had been his father's words. She was still young yet, but the Neptunian princess was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, both inside and out. He could never bring himself to stop loving her, but he would simply love her from afar, causing no shame to either of their two families.

"She plagues your mind." Nathaniel's sympathetic voice broke him from his thoughts. "Try to put her from your thoughts, at least for the moment."

Jade smiled bitterly, "That is an action easier spoken of than accomplished."

The Saturnarian prince became apologetic, "I apologize. My anxiousness is not helping, but I simply cannot fathom what is taking the physicians so long."

"Have faith." Jade encouraged, "Many of my physicians are over one thousand years old. They have survived the dark years when our planets were caught up in the civil wars and have seen many war related injuries. Be at ease, my friend, whatever Daro has my physicians have most likely seen it before."

The doors to the chamber the two young friends were waiting in suddenly opened, and in walked Queen Selene Serenity in all of her grace. The queen was dressed in an elegant white gown, her long silver hair flowing down from two pigtails atop her head, cascading down her back like the currents of a river. Her cobalt eyes were filled with worry, but years of ruling her kingdom had taught her to keep her expression demur.

"What news of the Daro, Nathaniel?" the Queen asked in a voice made calm by years of practice, although her eyes showed the true worry and conflict within herself.

"None, your majesty." the Saturnarian prince answered rubbing the back of his neck nervously and looking down at the floor where his dark ebony hair was highly reflected in the surface of the ruby marble.

Queen Serenity sensed the young man's distress and gently placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The small touch chased all of his worries away, allowing him to breath a little easier.

"We will do everything in our power, to try and save him." the queen said smiling reassuring and speaking in a comforting voice as if she were speaking with a grieving child.

"We have my planet's best healers in there treating him as we speak." Jade spoke reassuringly to his friend.

Just as they spoke the sobbing Saturnarian queen whom had arrived quite a while ago, came walking down the hall from Daro's chambers, clad in the black of mourning. All of the present company were watching her with interest, fearing the worst; but still hoping for the best.

She stepped in front of Nathaniel, her only son, looking upon him with a look of disgust and before he knew what had happened, she had slapped him hard across the face, leaving a red mark on his right cheek.

"Why did you not go into battle with him?!" Queen Neia of Saturn yelled at her only child as he regained his composure and straightened up to face her, "My beloved nephew is dead because of you!! If you had gone in his stead maybe I would be celebrating the honorable death of my bastard son instead of mourning my beloved nephew! It is all your fault, Daro is dead because of you!! You have caused the death of your own cousin, of the very boy whom should have been the son I should of had you instead of the great disappointment I now must live with. Go, leave my sight and do not ever return!"

Jade visibly flinched as he watched the queen of Saturn harass her son. Everyone on this side of the universe knew exactly why Queen Neia hated her only child. He was an illegitimate heir, born from a languid affair between the queen and one of her Galapagos Knights. The king and queen of Saturn themselves had long been trying to conceive a child, and as the queen was not an ignorant woman, she wisely told the king that she was with _his_ child when the time came instead of informing him of her infidelity. The king embraced the prince as his son and trained him in all royal aspects. Because of this the king did not have the time to spend enough time with his wife, not enough at least for him to stay in one place while she pitted numerous assassins against him.

The young prince had even once, diverted an assassination attempt away from his father, taking an arrow to the chest. The queen had hoped that the young prince would die of his injury, but he recovered and instead made himself more of his father's favorite from then on. That is why Queen Neia had always despised her son: he had single handedly and quite accidentally diminished her stance as Saturn's most powerful ruler.

Nathaniel, the young prince of Saturn rubbed the small place of his cheek where a bruise was already forming and walked silently away from his hysterically weeping mother towards his cousin's chambers to pay his last respects to his childhood friend and mentor.

"Something must be done." Serenity whispered sadly, "Too many knights have died in the name of sacrifice for the sake of our kingdom. Something must be done, but what can be done?" the queen pondered silently for a moment, but as an idea struck her she turned to the eldest prince of Pluto who had been watching her in thought for a moment and commanded, "Jade, I need you to send word to every planetary monarch, and arrange a meeting. Tell the ruling royals that all of them must attend no excuses."

Jade nodded his head in wordless agreement and left the chamber silently, his garnet cloak swirling out around his back as he did so.

"It is time to bring order back into balance." Spoke the queen softly to herself in the echoing silence of the chamber. "The time for action is now. We must save our present or we will not survive to see our future."

**Author's Note:** This is a story which I hope others will enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed dreaming it up. So please, read and review. Oh, and if anyone finds any continuity errors please do not hesitate to tell me. It is always good to be sure you have not missed anything. Thanks!


	2. Security Council

**Chapter 2: Security Council**

**_Second Millennia of Queen Seda Selene Serenity II's Reign year 1339_**

_**Galapagos, the first moon of Saturn**_

_**Castle Neia**_

_**Planetary Security Council**_

A lone purple moon stood vigil on the dark side of Saturn. Upon its surface rested a large crystal castle surrounded by stone walls twenty feet high and ten feet wide. Within this wall or there in lies a gate, ten feet high, sporting five feet deep iron doors to offer either entrance or eviction. From the gate sprang a cobble stone road with pairs of armored Galapagos knights patrolling up and down its path. The road led to a great crystal castle which was named Neia, after Saturn's first queen, and all the queens whom have followed in her namesake.

Within the castle their sat gathered at a great round table, a host of nobles from every planet in this solar system. Queen Serenity sat in a large throne like chair at the front of the table flanked by King Ares of Mars and King Lucious of Mercury. On the Luniarian queen's other side sat the following: King Marsalla of Jupiter, Queen Aphrodite of Venus, King Aegelle of Uranus, Emperor Mariner of Neptune, Queen Neia IV of Saturn and last but not least: King Cronous of Pluto.

All of these noble leaders had been called to Saturn's remote moon for one sole purpose: to establish peace throughout the Moon kingdom. For several years now the planets have been bickering and warring amongst themselves. This was tolerated by even the most pacifistic of governments until the knights of Queen Serenity found an evil greater than any one planet of the Moon Kingdom could hope to defeat on their own. For this reason, it was essential that the inner and outer planets settle their differences for the power to conquer this evil.

"This is insane!" King Marsalla of Jupiter argued as he slammed his fists down on the crystal table, cracking it internally. "We have not had a full scale declaration of war within our own borders since the formation of our Kingdom as a unified body. Think rulers, this will mean more than just sacrifices will have to be made. Ask yourselves is this in the best interests of all of our planets? Of our peoples even? "

"Think of it Marsalla as a chance to prove to the rest of the universe that your people are not as backed up or uncivilized as they have proven to be here, under your arrogant leadership." King Lucious of Mercury spoke up coolly while calmly resting his chin upon his hands which were held up by his elbows on the table. The ice king had long since been at odds with the stormy monarch of Jupiter and was eager to trouble his adversary and watch him squirm. "Honestly Marsalla, do not be rash think of this…think of this as a course of better action, not for your planet alone, but for the entire kingdom as a whole."

The enraged king of Jupiter stood up, his emerald cloak clashing with the lightening of emotions in his narrowing eyes of the same color. "Do not preach to me Lucious, for I am not a pawn to be played!"

"Be that or be it not, the board is ready and the pieces have being set into place." King Lucious countered rubbing his chin thoughtfully with the back of his hand, "Whether they are moved against their will or not the pieces are still set to play, so lets not disappoint them. Shall we speak of terms then?"

"Splendid Ideal, Lucious." Queen Aphrodite of Venus agreed batting her lashes and smiling slyly at the ice king before addressing the entire table. "We have long been supporters of peace on my planet, I do not see why the other planets may not see things the same way…"

"That is because you and your people are weak." Interrupted the impatient King Ares of Mars, his ebony eyes flashing dangerous warnings to the queen of Venus not to continue any further in this discussion. Ares sat straight up in his ebony armor and tensed slightly in his seat, very much ready for the proceedings to be over with. "Your planet has surrendered in every war they've ever fought in."

"That is because we are lovers not raging brutes who marry a good deal more than their fair share, and for lust alone no less." Aphrodite retorted in disgust of the Marian culture, the golden blonde of her hair showing in the dim light of Saturn's second moon. "I see you are jealous, no?"

"No." Ares stated as calmly as his bristling temper would allow, but still with added warning in his voice. The Marian king was loosing his temper, and he did not know how long he could put up with the antics of the Venian queen and her pacifist court. The short dark hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his warrior blood began to boil as complete silence reigned between him and his life long enemy, "You try my patience, woman."

"Good." Aphrodite replied with a smirk of defiance to her old adversary, "Someone has to knock the mighty Ares off from his high horse."

That broke that last little red thread which had reined in Ares temper and he stood up sending his fist down upon the table with great force, his great scarlet cloak flying out from under him as he vacated his seat.

"If you are looking for a war between races then by all means continue on your path, but I will be damned if I will listen to your infernal complaints and insistent speeches without putting you in your rightful place!!" Ares roared across the table as Aphrodite remained indifferent to his outburst.

"And where is my place exactly, oh great Ares, mightiest of all the Marians?" Aphrodite asked sarcastically, crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest.

"At the end of a chain, of course! At the mercy of my beating like any slave!" Ares roared fiercely, his ebony eyes blazing with untamed flames of rage for the woman ahead of him.

"Silence! Calm down all of you!" Queen Serenity beckoned by slamming a book down on the table causing hairline fractures in the crystal of its surface, silencing the bickering monarchs. "Kings Marsalla and Ares sit in your designated seats, please. As for the rest of you, we are here for talks of peace between the planets and of how to fight this new enemy not to start more wars between ourselves. What was the purpose of our forming this kingdom, if not for hope. Let us not forget that it was out of faith of something righteous that we have come to where we are today. Out of this union for hundreds of years we had fashioned peace and now our peace is being threatened by beings whom my knights have informed me, wear no proud insignia and kill in darkness. They are more terrible and more powerful than any threat we have ever faced and they will destroy us all if we do not unite against them."

"Who are they, my Queen?" King Aegelle of Uranus asked, always perceptive, his sandy blonde hair glowing faintly in the pale moonlight.

"They call themselves the Dark Kingdom and they are led by a Queen known as Metallia, whom is the most cold and ruthless of them all. She will stop at nothing to defeat us." Queen Serenity answered her friend's inquiry gravely.

King Cronous of Pluto starred at the table ahead of him pondering what could be done to thwart the plans of this new enemy. The Plutonian king often had visions of the future and so he knew that this time was coming, but the question was what to do. His garnet eyes showed with fierce determination to purge this universe of the suffering it would most likely face. "What of your knights Serenity? Can they not hold out under the onslaught until all of the final preparations have been made?"

"No." the Queen said sadly, her cobalt eyes shinning with unshed and hidden tears, "My Paladins first encountered troops of the self proclaimed Dark Kingdom on the moon Naith and thus failed miserably loosing almost half of their numbers to those merciless creatures. Since then, they have lamented for they are not strong enough."

Some of Serenity's knights stationed dormant near the great doors of the room hung their heads in shame, for they had failed their queen. One knight in particular wearing a garnet cloak hung his head in shame, because of the eyes of the queen of Saturn boring into him vehemently .

"What of your planet's knights Neia ?" Emperor Mariner of Neptune asked the queen of Saturn calmly, quickly gaining her full attention. "Are they not very strong, equivalent in strength and if not more so than those of the moon?"

"No. They are powerful, but after they are unleashed, their hatred for the enemy will be so great that it will reflect upon us all and we will cease to exist while our worlds will become nothing more than a distant memory." Neia, queen of Saturn spoke up sadly, true fear in amethyst eyes, "If they are unleashed then they will destroy every inch of life in this universe, without my control. I am afraid Serenity speaks the truth."

A torrent of dissatisfied and fearful mumbles erupted throughout the chamber.

"At the end of this dark tunnel there is but one light." Queen Serenity stated calmly wiping the tears away from her eyes where they were threatening to fall, "My seers tell me that the final battle which will decide our fates will not come to us for two more millennia, but we must be cautious for although the battle is waylaid, the war is still coming. Now back to peace negotiations, how may we settle this matter so that we shall be able to keep the apparent threat sedated? Suggestions?"

-----

A knight left through the castle's wooden doors, glad to be clear of that stuffy meeting. He donned his woolen cloak and put the hood up to keep his head dry of the lightly falling shower. His eyes shown the brightest shade of cobalt as the lightening struck down on the ground and illuminated their depths. His short ebony hair was hidden under the hood of his cloak and matched his ebony colored armor. He pulled the garnet curtain of his cloak around him in an attempt to keep the rain water from dripping down his armor.

The knight had been dumbfounded by the arguments which had occurred during the meeting. He had always been taught that ruling royalty must always have control over their emotions because it was to be expected that the royalty would be able to act rationally in a situation when most others would not. Apparently this distinction could not always be proved to be true.

The knight then heard a noise, it sounded like a sneeze coming from close by.

The young knight tensed and stood from where he had been leaning against the castle walls. There it was again. The sound was most definitely a sneeze. The young knight walked towards the sound and was led around the corner of a palace wall. It was then that the young noble man first beheld her.

A young girl in her early teens late adolescence maybe wearing a garnet gown matching her eyes. Possessing long dark green hair, surely as soft as silk and beautiful garnet eyes as deep and vast as any ocean could ever be. Her skin was lightly coffee colored and had a soft sheen to it that the young knight longed to be able touch. The young knight walked unnoticed up behind her and was content to just watch her.

Then the source of the noise he had heard earlier was confirmed as the young girl sneezed again into a handkerchief.

"Bless you, princess." the young knight said before he could stop the words from leaving his mouth.

Then the thought crossed his mind, he had called her princess, he did not even know for sure whether she was royalty or not, although the rich color and fabric of her gown almost completely assured it.

The young girl jumped at the unexpected voice from behind her and instinctively tensed as she backed slowly away from the young knight whom was stuttering apologies.

"Who in the name of the stars are you?" the girl asked frightened and yet curious about the furiously blushing and stammering creature standing before her.

"I…I…I am Nathaniel of the royal house of Saturn and a Campaigning knight of Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom." the young knight stammered finally finding his voice. He felt the heat on his face and sincerely hoped that the redness of his embarrassment did not show on his cheeks.

The girl studied him for a minute and cocked her head to one side to see under his hood better, "Please, will you be so kind as to remove your hood so that I may see the rest of your face."

"Certainly, my lady." Nathaniel replied without hesitation removing the hood of his outer cloak to reveal all of his still reddened face and his short tousled ebony hair. "If I may be so bold to ask, what is your name, my lady?"

After several minutes of studying the young knight's demeanor and physical features, the girl decided to confide in him. With a slight smile she indulged his question.

"I am Meioh Setsuna, daughter of King Cronous of Pluto." the girl answered softly. Then she sneezed again and Nathaniel noticed for the first time that she was dripping wet from the rain.

"Here." Nathaniel stepped over towards Setsuna and undid the silver fastenings of his cloak and was about to put it around her shoulders when the young girl backed away from him. The thought occurred to him that this girl did not trust him yet and might still fear him due to their recent meeting, "It's alright, truly there is nothing to be frightened of."

Setsuna met his cobalt gaze with her own garnet one and decided that he was trust worthy enough. "Thank you, but won't you be cold? Your armor might get wet." Setsuna asked worriedly.

"Its fine. Wet armor or a cold knight is better than a sniffling princess." Nathaniel answered with a dashing smile, touched by the concern that the young princess already had for him. He slipped the cloak on to her shoulders and allowed her to fasten the silver fastens on the front to hold it on her slim form.

"What are you doing here on Galapagos?" Setsuna asked curious to the young knight's travel plans.

"I am here for talks of peace with my queen." Nathaniel replied facing Setsuna.

"For how long?" Setsuna asked curiously.

"For about two weeks." Came Nathaniel's answer. He was trying to muster up all of his courage to ask the princess for one thing that would dearly please his heart, "My princess, I was-"

"Setsuna." Setsuna interrupted and corrected Nathaniel's formal way of addressing her.

"What?" Nathaniel asked somewhat confused by the interruption.

Setsuna smiled and laughed warmly, admiring the cute expression of confusion on Nathaniel's face which was only escalated by the amused joy in his cobalt eyes.

"You may please call me Setsuna, there is to be no formalities between us." Setsuna said smiling up at the knight whom she found cutely confused.

"Alright,…Setsuna would you like to accompany me on a walk through the castle gardens? I have heard that they are particularly beautiful this time of the year." Nathaniel asked sheepishly rubbing the back of his head nervously with his hand. Nathaniel starred down at his feet thinking how corny that must have just sounded. Here he was asking the most beautiful girl he had ever set eyes on to go for a walk with him on the first day that he had met her.

"I would love to." Setsuna's smooth voice jarred Nathaniel out of his revere.

He starred at her with his jaw slightly a slack, disbelieving what he had just heard come out from her lips.

"You would?" Nathaniel asked still looking at her disbelievingly.

Setsuna covered her mouth to silence her giggles. Then she brought one of her fingers up to his lips to silence any potential further questions.

"Yes, I would love to go on a walk with you, Nathaniel." Setsuna replied with a enchanting smile.

Nathaniel returned the smile she was giving him and offered her his arm, leading her to the rare and beautiful gardens of Galapagos.

"The Dark Kingdom claims that they have stumbled upon a power which has the ability to destroy all life, human or otherwise at will." Queen Serenity said assessing the potential power of her enemies to her fellow rulers. "We must prevent this power's coming at all costs. That concludes the analysis of the enemy and its whereabouts, now are there any questions? "

"Would it be possible to learn how to master such a power?" King Marsalla of Jupiter asked subconsciously out loud leaning back in his seat, his suddenly void emerald eyes never leaving the cracks upon the crystal of the table where his powerful fists had damaged the delicate material. The light crystal cracks seemed to change substance from clear crystal to obsidian glass as dark as the dirt of the ground right in front of the King of Jupiter's eyes as he starred down into them. He bent his head low in thought at this sight, his blazing emerald eyes never leaving the darkening cracks of the table, as the golden crown upon his brown haired head sparkled in the light of the chandlers above the royals' heads. "It would be dangerous and consuming ,yes, and yet is there not a royal here at this table who does not yearn for such a power?"

The other royals starred at him silent and aghast. Had he really meant what he had just said? Did he really intend to master this dark power which had the ability to destroy them all? Or was it simply some dastardly theory which he had mistakenly stated out loud?

"What did you mean by that?" Queen Neia of Saturn asked, quite frightened by the prospect of a rash man as Marsalla mastering such a deadly power.

The King of Jupiter looked up from his musings, not entirely surprised that his fellow monarchs had heard him at all. Instead his face remained grave until he forced a small cynical smile in Queen Serenity's direction. "I was simply theorizing, if one of our own warriors were to convert to this heresy of power, what then would happen? For example, if a powerful knight were to convert…what a shame would that be…to know absolute power in another form…what a shame would that be. It is a perfectly logical thought, friends, is it not?"

Everyone was silent for a moment, no one wanting to be the first to confront the possibility that one of there own would wonder such things. Queen Serenity was the first to break the silence, ignoring King Marsalla's disturbing statement.

"Now that the information on our enemy has been sorted out, let's move on to military provisions shall we?"

-----

"For you." Nathaniel said as he handed Setsuna a beautiful dark purple rose. "A Saturnarian rose."

Setsuna accepted the rose gracefully. She loved these roses, even more so than the ones native to her own planet. It was a devastatingly beautiful flower which bloomed in a rare and lovely color, with an enticing yet subtle fragrance. Such a flower just went to prove that great things may be subtle, but worth enjoying.

"Thank You." Setsuna said sweetly and Nathaniel averted his gaze away from her as his cheeks turned a dark shade of pink once again. "It was so thoughtful of you. I have a question though, how did you know that the Saturnarian rose was my favorite flower?"

"I Read you heart." Nathaniel answered gazing at Setsuna softly smiling a charming smile.

"You do know that most people would consider that an invasion of their privacy, but I think it was sweet of you this time." Setsuna said with a smile as she inhaled the soft fragrance of the Rose.

Nathaniel studied this princess for a moment in wonder. How could it be that she was in every way perfect and he had never noticed her presence before now. Surely, she had attended meeting of the royal court at which he would have be brought along to protect the queen and her daughter. It was a few moments before he sensed the princess's eyes on him and he realized that he had been starring at her throughout his thought process.

"Do you know the story?" Nathaniel asked.

"Of the Saturnarian Rose?" Setsuna asked, a bit confused by the sudden question. Nathaniel only nodded his head in answer, "Yes, my father used to tell it to me every night before he laid me in my bed to lull me to sleep."

"Did it help?" Nathaniel asked, surprised that she knew the story at such a young age.

"No, but it was still nice to hear it being read to me." Setsuna replied with a soft smile at the distant memories. "Were you going to retell it to me?"

"Yes." Nathaniel said nervously rubbing the back of his head with his hand, embarrassed that his proud knowledge in the matter had been rendered useless.

"How gallant of you. Now, why haven't you started regaling the tale?" Setsuna asked softly.

Nathaniel looked at her with obvious surprise over his features until a wave of relief washed over him. He then lead them to a nearby marble bench, seating Setsuna before he himself sat down. Then he cleared his throat as he prepared to tell the legendary story.

"There was once a princess of Saturn. Her name was Neia. She was the second and youngest child of a tenant farmer on Charon, Saturn's second moon. At that time there was no true order to this part of the universe. The was just coming into its own while the outer and inner planets still practiced their old traditions with mirth. On Saturn much was still the same, as on other planets. The tenant farmer on Charon, Chirion was his name, was a farmer of flowers. He cultivated and bred certain flowers for the money they would bring him at market. One day Chirion and his son, Electu, went out to plant in the fields leaving the young Neia alone in their home, as they always did.

"Neia's mother, her only real companion, had died when she was small of a fever and so left her to live with her father and brother. It was not long before young Neia began to grow tired of the low menial tasks that her father would leave for her to do every day and so she began to breed certain types of compatible flowers together every day after her chores had been finished. It was on that very day when a unknown traveler came to visit Neia in her tiny hut.

"This traveler was foreign, hooded and cloaked, and masked in the garb of a mercenary for hire. He came to Neia requesting for her to breed him a special type of rose. She asked how he knew that she had been breeding flowers, for she hid her new hobby well, even from her father's piercing gaze. The strange traveler answered only in riddles, suggesting more than saying, that he had been observing her for quite some time without her permission. The traveler's features were hidden under the hood of his olive green cloak, while the only feature of his which remained truly unguarded were his emerald eyes gazing out from underneath the shadows of the hood of his cloak.

"Neia asked why he would do such a thing, as to watch her in secret, the traveler answered that he needed to find out if she truly was worthy of taking on a momentous task which he had been searching for a person to perform for him for years. Curious beyond reason, Neia questioned the traveler as to this mysterious task, the cloaked stranger simply replied that he needed a special type of rose breed for him. Roses were Neia's favorite flower and she begged the cloaked man to allow her to attempt to breed this rare rose for him.

"The traveler hastily agreed and walked over to his horse and from a dragon crested saddle bag he pulled out a black rose, of the like of which Neia had never seen before. The stoic traveler marched over to Neia and deposited the rare flower into her hand, warning her that if she failed in this venture that he then would be forced to take her life, for this flower was very precious to him.

"If she succeeded then the traveler would give her great wealth and power, none of which Neia requested for payment. Instead, Neia asked for her father's and brother's release from their toil in the fields and for their chance for a better life style in payment. The traveler agreed and mounted his horse before stating calmly, 'I shall give you three months, girl. Three months in which to bred the rose and to secure a rare color in its blossoms.' And with that the traveler rode off. Neia immediately and with great enthusiasm set to work breeding the black rose to all of the others in her garden.

"She found that with crossbreeding, the offspring of the old roses were always some type of rare color, but just not the one she felt was appropriate for her planet. Neia had wished to develop a rose which would represent Saturn and all of her people in their glory.

"To this challenge she rose, and within a fortnight of the third month, she had bred the perfect flower. It was a beautifully sculpted dark purple rose, arrayed with a fragrance which mirrored some of the most gratifying spring days on Saturn's second moon. On sunset of the last day of the third month, the unknown traveler returned at which time,

"Neia reverently handed him the rose of her labors. He studied the blossom with a critical eye before bending his hooded head to smell the fragrance. Finally after several nerve curdling minutes, the traveler approached Neia and said, 'Fine work my busy little bee, now you may have your payment,' Then the traveler took hold of her arm and dragged her to his brown steed.

"She asked where he was taking her and pleaded with him and tried to struggle free of his grasp, but he was unyielding saying sternly, 'You wished for your family to live a better life and I will give them that, but only if you come to my court to present to my superiors the magnificent work you have done.' Neia was frightened beyond words, but she reluctantly agreed. They then arrived at a temporary camp where there had been erected a great tent, this, Neia assumed was the stranger's court on Saturn.

"Then they dismounted and she was lead by this stranger into the large tent. Within the tent, concealed in shadows, was a high throne upon a mountain of steps; there sat a figure. The hooded stranger approached with her at his side and bowed to the seated figure while saying, 'Your Majesty, I have brought you the flower you seek.' then the stranger took the beautiful flower from his pocket and with his head still bowed in reverence, approached the shadowed figure and handed his Queen the rose.

"'Well done, girl' the shaded queen said before turning to the still bowing stranger, 'Take her out to that field and kill her, now. That is your reward for your service to our newfound empire.' the hooded stranger stood and starred silently at his queen, 'But she is nothing more than a young one.' the stranger protested.

"This angered his dark queen and she reigned black lightening down at his feet leaving burned holes in the soil, 'Do not question my orders, unless you wish to share your predecessor's fate?' the queen bellowed and the stranger obeyed taking the young girl by the arm and leading her to the fields. Once there Neia said a prayer to the Gods for her family before bending low to the ground and lifting her dark hair off from her neck as so the stranger would have a clean stroke with his sword.

"The stranger looked upon her with sympathetic emerald eyes and spoke, 'Do you honestly think that I would kill you, obedient child.' Then he bent down and unattached his dark cloak from his shoulders before clasping it gently around her's. 'The rose was to be for my queen's plans, but you have earned the right to keep it; along with your freedom,' with that the stranger took hold of her hand lightly and lead her to a nearby stable where he saddled a horse for her and gave her the time she needed to escape the camp.

"She rode as fast as she could before finally reaching her town and then her home. The sight which befell her eyes caused them to shine with unshed silver tears, in a day's absence the dark queen's army had come through the small town and slaughtered every resident of that area. Outraged she teleported to the planet of Saturn itself and raced into the temple of the Gods in the Imperial city. There she prayed to the Gods to help her through her tears and to take care of all of the poor souls whom had died in her home town.

"Then a miraculous white light appeared and within its formed a long weapon, a glaive which she felt radiated with forbidden and yet redeeming strength. Neia reached out her hand to grasp the object and it came to her summons. Then as if it had come from someone else inside herself, young Neia yelled 'Silence Defining!' and the dark evils residing on the planet were defeated and purged into the deepest darkest recesses of the universe.

"Not long afterward, Neia was crowned queen of Saturn for her unrelenting courage and bravery on her planet's behalf. It is from her which my line descends, and we are very proud to have her for an ancestor." Nathaniel finished facing Setsuna with a certain pride in his eyes which was not there before, but his smile was sad, "It is a sorrowful tale, is it not?"

"Yes it is, but it is one which is not without meaning. One which engulfs the listener in the telling." Setsuna replied with a small smile of gratitude playing on her lips, "That is why it is one of my favorite stories to have told to me. It represents for me the courage of an individual fighting against over whelming odds and succeeding despite them all. And Neia is a beautiful heroine of timeless eons-"

"As you are." Setsuna was interrupted by Nathaniel's soft words. She looked surprised up at him. Did he really think that she was a hero of any sort, when he had only just met her? Her questions were soon answered as the young knight seemed to have been reading her mind, "You have a great strength which has not been awakened yet, and someday you will prove to the dark kingdom what you are made of…when you come into your own position of power. Do you believe that? The proposition that you could be something great and timeless someday?"

Setsuna thought in silence for a moment. She had never really seen herself as anything of importance outside of being a loyal member of her queen's nobility, but this new proposition held no wonder for her and seemed futile in its entirety.

"No." Setsuna replied shaking her head, much to the young knight's dismay, "No, I do not."

**Author's Note: **Hello, I hope that all whom read this chapter enjoyed it. It took me a while to write. I am a student of history and cultures so I tried to, for the first chapter at least, give a good basis for the foundation for both. Please read and review, I need to know whether to continue with this story or not (No flamers please!).


	3. Old Loves

**Chapter 3: Old Loves**

The humid room was becoming more uncomfortable with every moment as the ruling royals shifted in their seats, ready for the day's end. The two heated outbursts of the Marian and Jovian kings adding to the tense atmosphere of the stone chamber. Queen Serenity fought through her fatigue to maintain her regeal composure.

"Now then, this first secession of the Planetary security council is ended." Queen Serenity called out tiredly and many of the reigning royals around the table let out sighs of exhausted relief. "I will expect all of you to attend the continuing negotiations tomorrow morning. Now go about your business."

As all of the nobles rose they began to converse among themselves about their lives and of their families. For most nobles, whether they were friends or not, did not often travel beyond the boundaries of their own borders to converse with one another.

"So, how fares your wife?" Queen Aphrodite of Venus asked nervously, yet with interest while walking up beside the intellectual King Lucious of Mercury.

"She is still with the palace healers as of late, the stress of our daughter's premature birth still new to her body." King Lucious answered rubbing the black goatee upon his chin with the back of his hand in thought. "But other than the obvious readjustment, both wife and child are well."

"You had a daughter…what…what did you name her?" Aphrodite asked her cheeks turning a rare shade of pink as she drank in the unexpected news.

"Keia." Lucious answered gauging Aphrodite's reaction carefully as she turned her face away from his curious gaze, sensing some jealously and the foolishness it created in himself at his next words, "And I hear that you have a young son."

"Yes." Aphrodite turned her face back and answered with an earnest smile at the thought of her only child, "Atreus, he will soon be nearly two years old."

"My son will also be two years of age within the coming new year." King Lucious replied with pride of his elder child before relenting to his distant feelings, watching the floor sheepishly as they walked the marble corridors while running a hand through his short dark blue hair. "I regretted hearing of your husband's passing, I mourned for your loss."

Aphrodite looked up quickly into the deep blue eyes of the King of Mercury whom she valued so much and smiled sadly, "Thank you."

"I am only sorry that the healers whom I sent to you were not gifted enough to save him." Lucious replied not meeting the Venian beauty's eyes, feeling that he could not bare the weight of her sorrow on his soul now. "I am sorry that I could not save him-"

Aphrodite laid one of her delicate fingers against the King of Mercury's lips to silence his words and drew his attention towards her. Then without warning she laid one of her small hands on the base of his neck and pulled him down for a long kiss.

The king of mercury was startled by this action, but he did not pull away; he instead wrapped his arms around the Venian beauty's small waist and deepened the kiss. When they finally pulled apart to breathe, the king of Mercury held such fear in his blue gaze that he sent a chill of fear down the Venian queen's spine also.

"We cannot do this." Lucious finally spoke caressing Aphrodite's cheek softly, almost longingly with one of his hands. "We were in love long ago, but that time must come to pass now. I am married, I did not choose to marry Hecuba, this is true to my word…nor did I ever vow to stop loving you, but this is an impossible situation to remedy ."

Aphrodite brought her hand up to hold the one caressing her cheek and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "Love is impossible, but it is not unfair nor unkind. If you only heed its call, it will nurture your interests and take you to the gates of the Gods and back again with the one you love. Do not give up so easily, beloved. I have loved you my entire life, but I was foolish and when it came time for me to marry I refused your proposal, frightened of my family's reaction to my possible marriage to an heir of Mercury and I allowed my father to arrange my marriage to Elector; the arrogant knight and prince of Mars. Nothing gratifying or joyous ever emerged from our union other than the birth of my only son and heir, Atreus. "

"I feared that you had fallen in love with him, after you refused my proposal." Lucious said a little relieved as he enveloped Aphrodite in a warm, reassuring hug while resting his head in the crook of her neck. "He was, after all, considered by all of the women of his father's court; to be quite passionate in the throes of love, although caring and understanding he was not."

Aphrodite held Lucious close comfortingly and leaned her head on his chest as he relaxed into the hug. "No, I could never learn to love a monster, a murderer of men. I love small actions, like a small act of kindness, a reassuring hug, a unrequited gift, or a loving kiss. Elector could never hold a torch to those requirements because he could never be anything like the one whom I held in my heart and measured everyone else against."

Lucious pulled back from Aphrodite in surprise as she smiled sweetly upon him, finding his confused expression amusing and adorable. Aphrodite wrapped her arms around the tall king's neck and met his dark blue gaze with her soft cobalt one, before speaking softly, "Spoken carefully, he could never be you."

Before Aphrodite knew what was happening, the king of Mercury had scooped her up in his strong arms and joyously twirled her around off from the ground. She laughed lightly as he twirled her around in the air effortlessly. Then he set her back down on her feet gently, the most pleased of smiles on Lucious' face, while light danced in his dark blue eyes. "I love you, Aphrodite. If we are forever cursed to live out the lives which have been chosen for us, then so be it, but for these weeks let it be our time."

Aphrodite smiled at the words she had longed to hear uttered from her reclusive love's lips and threw her arms around his neck. Then Lucious brought Aphrodite's head over to meet his own and their lips met in a cascade of love. When they parted, Lucious then effortlessly lifted a lovingly smiling Aphrodite off from the ground and carried her to his guest chambers in the castle.

"Just look at that." Ares commented in disgust watching the queen of Venus and the king of Mercury from his post behind a marble pillar, "I knew it. If only my brother could see this, he would turn over in his grave. I cannot stomach this, have you ever seen such utter rot!"

Ares turned to his companion, the stoic king of Pluto who remained standing silently against the corridor's wall, his garnet eyes perceptive and weary; glowing in the shadows.

"Yes, actually." King Cronous said with an uncharacteristic smile, "It is something that is unhallowed in the culture of you Marians. It is called, falling in love. After all Aphrodite's husband has died, your brother's demise was a sad death, true not quite worthy of a Marian knight; but not her fault in the least and she has been in love with Lucious since she was a small child every since the day he traveled with his father on trade negotiations to Venus. True love cannot be bottled up so cruelly for such a long amount of years without being expressed somehow in some way. True love is after all, profound."

Ares turned on his taller companion and roughly grabbed the elder king's garnet cloak, "My elder brother's body still erodes in his grave and yet you bring dishonor to his name? And that ungrateful witch, had this treachery come to pass on my planet instead of her own, she would have burned for treason in advance; before her marriage could commence."

"T'is no act of treason to fall in love nor to acknowledge love for another when all is free to do so." King Cronous said sagely, his earlier smile fading into a frown as he forcefully tore the young Marian king's hand from his cloak which earned him a death glare from Ares.

Ares ignored the prying garnet eyes piercing through him as he leaned casually against the back of the marble pillar. Ares' ebony eyes were boring holes into the king of Pluto trying to deter him from further argument. Finally deciding, that he could not kill the Plutonian royal here for their were servants to witness the act, Ares decided to frame a more unfeeling state of mind.

"Upon Mars it is…a crime to fall in love. You see my culture has found a way to dodge petty human emotions. We avoid falling in love and rather arrange marriages based upon political alliances, as many royals of other planets do; only we arrange that same action with every common person. Anything one wishes for, one can find in their spouse, even by force; including the production of heirs." Ares stated as he leaned nonchalantly against a pillar of marble, "I have eight wives, none of which love me, nor do I have any affection whatsoever for them, and from my arranged union with them I have five sons and three daughters. My friend, do you not understand? Practicality is the only law which keeps a war machine in motion. Emotions are expendable and can be pushed aside as easily as wind can blow away the sand, but raw human power is only achieved through brute force and reckoning. Those are the spoils of war. "

King Cronous, ever the wise man, did not retaliate; but instead shook his head numbly. Marians were a sturbborn breed and Ares was the most dominate and ruthless of them all. Those who dared to cross him would have their planets swarmed mercilessly with the legions of Mars. No, mercy, that was his belief and he often stopped at nothing to enforce it.

King Marsalla walked the marble corridors alone, for after the spectacle he had made at the meeting, no royal would dare residing in his company. He walked slowly studying the scenes depicted upon the tapestries hanging on the walls, settled in between the amethyst and gold marble pillars, his emerald cloak sweeping the floor as he walked.

They depicted the stories in the Saturnarian fashion of story telling, with the tales being told in order of events from top to bottom instead of from bottom to top on the wall hangings, as was the Lunarian fashion.

He walked over one of the tapestries, richly outlined in red and gold material and stopped before it. At the wall hanging's top was a intricate amethyst rose and leading down from the image were a series of smaller more detailed ones. One was of a girl speaking to a hooded stranger upon a horse, a great serpent embroidered upon his cloak. Another depicted the dame girl weeping in a ruined town, the place he suspected had once been her home. In the last scene embroidered upon the tapestry, the girl was sitting upon a throne beneath the stars with the jeweled crown of Saturn upon her forehead.

"Have you ever been taught the story of Neia I and the Saturnarian Rose?" a man with white hair in a neat ponytail and wearing the gold and white garb of a Lunarian servant approached the Jovian king. "It is a rather inspiring tale, my lord. Allow me to regale it to you."

The Jovian king gazed both inquiringly and threateningly at the servant who had just approached him. "No I shall not be bothered by a servant. What is your name? For further reference so that I may have you whipped for your impudence."

"My name is Malice, high king." the servant said bowing low to the Jovian royal, his voice proud and unwavering, "And I apologize for intruding upon a person of such high station such as your eminence, but I noticed your interest in the tapestry and thought that you might like to have the story regaled to you by a prominent tale teller."

The Jovian king studied the servant wearily. He was bowing, but his stature and proud tone of voice suggested no respect for the royal before him. As the servant straightened up to his full height, Marsalla caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were a dark shade a blue, so dark that they were almost purple and at their depths the Jovian royal could have sworn that he recognized a slight shade of red surrounding the border's of the servant's pupil.

"A gifted tale teller are you?" Marsalla asked still regarding the Lunarian servant wearily.

"Yes." Malice replied his voice taking on a manipulating tone in mid speech with such a smooth transition that the Jovian king did not notice the change. "Would the crown wish to hear tell of the tale?"

The servant gazed up at the king and the Jovian king noticed that in those blue eyes there was swimming a sea of red surrounding the pupil, appearing able to burn like lava. There was also a strange feeling there, which made the Jovian royal who was known for his unmerciful ways, feel at the mercy of the servant himself.

"Tell me the tale servant." the king commanded tearing his eyes away from those of the Lunarian servant to fix them upon the tapestry before him.

The servant walked up behind the king and began to speak in the same tone as before, but with more vigor, "Long ago in the time of the battles between Chaos and the immortals our little known empire was warring between the devouring light and the battling darkness. At that time Saturn had not a reigning royal. The queen Metallia of the righteous dark had begun establishing her empire using the discord chaos was creating among the people. Although the queen was evil and malicious, she longed for great beauty. Now you may ask why if a person was truly evil would they lust after a gift so pure, the answer is this: evil must be born from good and so the two are one in the same and so one cannot be complete without the other. This is the delicate balance which upholds this universe.

"The queen longed for this beauty, not in her appearance, but for her gardens finding the black roses of her flowerbeds to be most unappealing and wanted a rose the color of the darkest of purples to announce her royal status with a dark color. She sent one of her greatest champions, Raizo, to seek a flower breeder for her rose. On one of Saturn's moons he encountered a young girl whom he had observed planting and breeding flowers and entrusted her with one of the queen's black roses to do the job. He left to inform the queen of his action while monitoring the young girl's progress daily in secret.

"Then when the time was right he emerged once more taking the rose and abducting the girl with him to his queen's encampment. He presented the flower and the girl to his queen with great pride. The queen ordered the girl's execution as she deemed that the child had out lived her usefulness, but when it came time to behead the girl, Raizo, had not the bravery to kill the child and so he gave to her his steed and allowed her leave to return home.

"A white haired captain of the queen witnessed this act of treachery to her crown and ran to her, telling her of her champion's betrayal. This saddened the queen as in addition to being her greatest champion, Raizo was also her lover, but justice had to be done and so the queen had her lover arrested and beheaded. The white haired servant then became the queen's most trusted confidant and lover, taking the place of Raizo.

"In addition, the Queen dispatched a battalion of her finest troops to pillage and destroy all of the outlining villages upon the Saturnarian moon. When the rose breeder returned home, she found her home destroyed. Not long after this set back Neia organized a coup d'etat and gained her place as Saturn's first queen, driving the forces of Queen Metallia from Saturn completely." Malice finished, his voice trailing softly away.

"A gain of power through taking power from another?" the Jovian king questioned himself.

"Yes." Malice continued his voice becoming the epitome of exploitation, "What is power if not taken from another? What are we if not powerful? A person in a position of power is a waste if they do not use their power to dominate others. That is why I appreciate your example of ruling, eminence. You are not weak as many of your fellow rulers. You do not imprison those who have no tolerance for you. You take the justified route and torture your enemies until they are captive to your rule or until death takes them. You are powerful, but do you not wish for more power, power you rightfully deserve, your eminence?"

The Jovian king was having difficulties focusing his thoughts as words and ideas swam around confusingly in his head. Malice began circling the Jovian king as the unfortunate royal gripped his head and rubbed his temples for relief from the trap that was his mind while Malice continued.

"Who truly knows what you have wished for in secret all of these long years? What you have whispered to the gods in times of distress, of rage? You wish and yet you do not command. You could be great, eminence, the epitome of power; real power in this universe. Even above Queen Serenity. " Malice spoke seductively, still slowly circling the king of Jupiter.

_Simply a few more moments until the Jovian succumbs, I can certainly manage that _Malice ,smiled as the king kneeled still cradling his head, _Before I was the servant bowing to a king and not the king kneels at my feet. Yes, Jovian, your love of dominance over others shall prove your undoing._

Voices whispered in Marsalla's head as it throbbed painfully at his temples. The unfamiliar voices echoed loudly:

"_To the best goes the greatest power."_

"_The Gods favor the strong, condemning the weak."_

"_Power is for the deserving."_

"_Greatness shall be yours."_

"_The ways we know shall not change, it will simply endure with your succession."_

Malice knelt down on one knee so that he could whisper into the king's ear, "The greatest threat to your ascendance is Lucious, King of mercury. He challenges your authority. He believes that he has a greater intellect than you, more intelligence. You must show him that the warrior has power to dominate the healer. He is seizing all of your virtues, opposing them. Telling the other royals that he is a greater hero than you. Stomp his arrogance into the ground! This is the only way you may gain the power which you have long awaited."

Suddenly a memory from the meeting flashed before his mind's eye and his own words rang in his ears.

"_Not a pawn to be played."_

What was he here if not being a pawn to be moved by this servant who did not seem to know his place? This realization encouraged a flame of distaste to rise within him and grow into a fire of hatred which freed him from his mental torment and returned his free will under his control. Marsalla stood up quickly, knocking Malice forcefully to the ground as he did so.

"Would you make me into a slave?" King Marsalla yelled, his face contorting in rage as the whispering voices in the back of his mind vanished, "From king to beggar is that what you would make me, servant! And all for the conquest of your insane notions!"

Malice crawled backwards as the Jovian king came closer as his back hit a pillar and he could go no further.

"You would have my planet in ruins and my people in rags with me as the royal jester crawling on all fours for your amusement while my kingdom burned! You would encourage war with Mercury when only now has a peace treaty recently been signed and agreed upon!" Marsalla shouted advancing on the servant slowly.

"My only intention was to bring to life your wishes to be more powerful, eminence." Malice's voice shook with fear, his pride giving way to his own cowardice.

Wishing to strike the servant in all of his rage, Marsalla found that all of his strength had suddenly left his being and he could do naught but stand there, his labored breathing echoing in the corridor.

"Well, well, well." a voice sneered from down the corridor, "If it is not the Jovian king come down from his high ego to fraternize with the rest of us."

Marsalla turned his head sharply to see the king of Mars approaching him with a grin upon his face characteristic of a wolf out hunting a dear while the stoic king of Pluto kept his expression neutral walking alongside Ares as he studied the Jovian king carefully. Then the Plutonian king noticed the servant backed up against the pillar and his garnet eyes narrowed as he recognized the disheveled looking man to be Malice.

"What are you doing here?" the Plutonian king questioned Malice unmercifully, "This is no place for you, snake. Retreat back into your lair with the rest of your traitors. Do not worry, Malice, I know what your goal is here and I swear that you will not succeed. We will stop you, Serenity shall hear of this. Get out!"

Malice needed no further encouragement. He retreated, running down the vast corridor and disappearing into the darkness almost as fast as he had appeared.

Ares gazed over at his Jovian rival and gauged his disheveled appearance.

"Well now, do you not look regale? What were you doing to come to look like that?" Ares asked, bemused as he chuckled, the deep rumbling sound resonating down the corridor as he did so, "Or were you vexing the servant? No wonder he appeared so utterly horrified. Perhaps you were, you are sweating profusely."

"This is none of your concern, Ares!" Marsalla shouted, the anger in his being wracking his strong frame.

"You do not have to behave so vehemently." Ares mocked, the arrogant grin still marring his features, "It is of no consequence, I will not tell your wife of your exploits during our stay here."

"Ares!" Marsalla yelled, a fire of rage burning in his emerald eyes, a border of light red blaring momentarily around the rims of his pupils before receding back into the dark green depths of his eyes .

The Plutonian king narrowed his garnet eyes. What was that? Obviously Ares did not notice that as he continued to batter the Jovian king in a war of words he was certain of that, but where had the red come from? It had only existed for a moment, but it was a sign of the seed of deception being planted and it had been planted in the soul of the power hungry warrior king of Jupiter.

"I should have foreseen this." King Cronous whispered to himself as he held his chin with shaking fingers. "But it had by passed my eyes, our fate is in the hands of the Gods now."

Wearied in despair, the Plutonian king covered his face with his hand as Ares and Marsalla continued to argue futilely, not seeing the danger that lay ahead of them all in the impending future.

"Exactly, that is what I was taught also." Nathaniel replied sitting beside Setsuna on a stone bench in one of the Gazebos of the palace gardens. Then Nathaniel leaned against the railing of the Gazebo which their bench was situated against. He looked out across the patches of neatly arranged flowers of all assorted colors, his mind wandering to a far off place where only his memories were permitted to enter. "Death before dishonor at all costs." he chuckled suddenly, the hidden mirth rumbling in his chest, "What a concept."

The young Saturnarian prince sat alone on a bench just before the gates of their castle. He was maybe nine or ten summer's old. He was loosely holding a sword in his left arm and his right arm limply hung down to his side, blood flowing freely from a tear in his shoulder. The boy was not crying as most boys his age would for such a wound, for no tears came and he was not sobbing because his small frame was completely still; the young prince simply was.

Nathanel's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of horse hooves striking the cobblestone paths of the garden. Three riders clad in black came to the Gazebo's enterance and Nathaniel stood up to meet them. They were garbed in silver cloaks telling him that they were emissaries from the moon and their cloaks were clasped to their shoulders with golden rings symbolizing that they were from the Knightly court.

One of the riders swayed closer on his dapple gray stallion, the prized horses of the moon kingdom, and leaned down within an arm's length of Nathaniel.

"Are you the only son of the Saturnarian royal family?" the emissary asked kindly gazing upon the prince with solemn red eyes.

"Yes." Nathaniel answered standing up straighter as the prince he once was titled as.

The emissary reached in his pocket and pulled out a small scroll wrapped in golden thread and reverently handed it to Nathaniel. "Read over this message and then inform the queen of it's contents if she is not aware of it already. Good luck and safe tidings, Campaigning knight." Then the emissary gave his horse a kick and wheeled him around and out of the gates along with his two companions riding out behind him.

Nathaniel starred down at the message which had been given to him. Then he braced himself for the worst and untied the golden string surrounding the scroll revealing its message. As he read his expression turned from one of anger to sadness to everything in between.

As if sensing the turmoil growing inside of her companion, Setsuna came up behind Nathaniel and leaned up on the tips of her toes to lay her head gently on his shoulder as a comforting gesture and also as assurance that she would be able to get a glimpse of the message he held in his hands. Nathaniel paid little attention to Setsuna curious gaze peering over his shoulder, he instead focused on opening the double scrolls to reveal white parchment decorated on its edges with pink blossoms and intricate designs. Written in medium sized elegant script in the center of the scroll was the ominous message, the parchment read:

_ To the knight Nathaniel Diem, the only prince of Saturn._

_Circumstances being what they are, we of the Planetary knighthood here by order you to defend the outer rim. As you are not far from your destination, we will be expecting your arrival in two to three days. Inform the Queen that this is indeed a matter of some urgency, that an enemy known as the Dark Kingdom has breeched our outer defenses. _

_Report to the queen that our losses were severe and that the council regrets to inform her of the confirmed loss of the two Royal Stars of the outer court: Princess Entarais of Neptune & Princess Regelle of Uranus, if the message has not been conveyed already. The alliance has yet to send word of the two outer knight's demise to their planets and to their families, but that formality is being dealt with as we speak. _

_The enemy has become a level five threat to our galaxy and they are on their way to breeching the remaining defenses of Pluto as we speak. You are to travel to the outer moon, Chiron, of Pluto. Once their, you will encounter the Royal Star and inner knight, Yamacha Capri, whom will brief you in on your assignment. _

_I sincerely hope that we can muster the power to crush this uprising, if not then I fear that all hope is lost for our kingdom._

_Sincerely,_

_Dominion Catalus: Distinguished Campaigning Knight of the Outer Court_

Both Setsuna and Nathaniel studied the message written on the scroll, Nathaniel gazing upon it with worry and anger, Setsuna doing that same with disbelief written clearly on her features. The Royal Stars dead? No, it could not be. The Royal Stars were the strongest of Serenity's knights, four guardians placed at the four corners of our Galaxy. Two fought with the Outer court, defending the outer rim. Two fought with the Inner court, dedicated entirely to both peace and war between the planets and to the protection of the Lunarian royal family.

How could they have killed Entarais and Regelle? Setsuna knew them, both Outer princesses were sisters and had been close friends of her mother; the queen of Pluto with whom they visited often. They were always kind to Setsuna and her family.

On certain occasions they would bring with them unique gems or c rafted items from far away galaxies and Setsuna would study these strange objects of foreign architecture while the two Outer knights would tell the story of their distant battles and campaigns. But now, especially with the two knights dead, the once distant threat seemed so much more closer to the Moon Kingdom and much more frightening for its people.

"The death of the Royal Stars was a tragic occurrence. I already informed their family's of their passings, so it will come as no real surprise to them." Nathaniel broke the silence which had settled between the two of them like an iron curtain. "But not unbefitting of them. They would have rather died with honor than to let the Dark Kingdom use them as a crutch."

Setsuna remained silent, gazing at Nathaniel whom had angrily crumpled the message up and thrown it down on the ground. Nathaniel stood up and walked over to the far side of the Gazebo turning his back to Setsuna, leaning heavily on the railing there with his shoulders up and his head bent low in disturbed thought. It had started raining and the heavy drops ran off from the roof of the Gazebo in streams of the cold liquid.

"You should leave now. It would be imprudent to get further ensnared in these matters any further." He spoke in a voice reflecting deep melancholia, "I am sorry to have brought you into all of this, I know it is not what you deserve."

"Maybe so, but perhaps it is my destiny to help you through this hardship." Setsuna offered comfortingly.

"And perhaps it is my destiny to die on the rotten battlements of some far away place. How then would you help me?" Nathaniel asked a little more harshly than he had intended.

"Do not mourn for your fate Nathaniel, for it is still undecided." Setsuna said ignoring the harsh tone of his voice when he had spoken last.

"Oh yes, and how are you certain of this?" Nathaniel turned sharply on her.

"Nothing is certain, Nathaniel, and all is possible." Setsuna answered him.

Nathaniel relented, letting his eyes rest on the shinning marble of the Gazebo's floor. Then he felt a soft touch on his jaw as his gaze was adjusted slightly down to meet Setsuna's pleading eyes.

"Do not loose hope." Setsuna pleaded, "I have only known you for this day and yet you already represent a great deal to me. As a royal all I have known has been privileged, but that privilege is receding with every day I grow closer to marrying age. On my planet as in the customs of every other planet, marriage for love between royals is limited and prohibited. From the time your heart labors to fall in love to the time you sacrifice your love for duty to your crown, you are a pawn in a much greater game to be played. I need to know that there is hope to become more in this life than a pawn to be set and moved, for a chance to write my own destiny, and I cannot come to understand that if you die hopeless on the battlefield."

Nathaniel starred at Setsuna. What had she said? She needed him safe, to know that life meant something profound to her? What reasoning could she possibly have for that?

Setsuna stared out over the blooming flowerbeds as her face took on a blush of red, "You should not hold your own life in contempt. After all, I have heard that throughout the Outer court you are considered the most charming of young knights. From what I have gathered there is not one woman whom can deny anything to the Black knight of Saturn. That is quite a reputation to live for."

Nathaniel was surprised that the Plutonian princess had heard of his title. 'The Black knight', a title many had falsely thought Nathaniel had stolen from his elder cousin, Daro, but which instead came from the black sheen of his armor.

"I did not know you had heard of that name. If I had known then I would have punished all those who dare use it in your sight." Nathaniel replied.

"I came to hear it of my own accord as I spent a great deal of time in the guard's house, listening to the older knights tell tales of their wayward companions and far off adventures." Setsuna said, coming to face Nathaniel. "And you were almost always the center of their discussions. 'The Saturnarian Prince', is what they called you. I did not understand whom they were speaking of then or why he held such significance in their eyes, but now I do."

Then closing the distance between them she stood upon the tips of her toes and kissed Nathaniel on the cheek. Then she pulled back slowly and settled down flatly onto her feet, starring up at Nathaniel, studying his reaction to the sudden contact.

Nathaniel gazed into Setsuna's eyes uncertainly. "Setsuna you must understand by now that for royals there is much to surrender to duty. There lay great consequences to be braved in love."

Setsuna smiled knowingly as she reached up to lightly stroke the Saturnarian prince's cheek with her fingers, "I know that and I want to brave all of the obstacles with you. Please, do not lose hope, not when I offer you hope greater than all worlds."

Nathaniel's stunned silence faded away as he took the hand from his face and held it between both of his gently. "I will never loose so long as you remain with me."

"I will always be with you. If you need me I will be there." She smiled warmly at the sincerity of his words.

Nathaniel tried to steel himself and draw his eyes from that pure gaze, but he could not. Oh, how easily her beautiful eyes could captivate him to stillness. His heart pounded in his ears, a noisy reassurance that he was indeed still standing upright and breathing. What was it about her? Why, upon such a short meeting, did she captivate him so?

Suddenly a loud voice sounded through the garden and caused him to drop her smooth hand.

"Setsuna!" King Cronous' called as he stood on the walkway in the entrance archway of the garden. "We must go, now, bid farewell to your companion."

Setsuna seemed torn and then leaned forward quickly, placing a brief kiss on Nathaniel's cheek before racing down the path towards her father.

Nathaniel leaned heavily against the side of the Gazebo as he watched the Plutonian king and his daughter turn and leave his sight. He sighed. He truly hoped that he would be able to see her again, if only for a short moment. For she promised the greatest of all wishes to him with only her actions: the wish for happiness.

**Author's Note: **Hope everyone enjoyed this short piece. If not still let me know. Thanks! Please R & R!


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