Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Unmei wa Utsukushiku ❯ Confused Princess ( Chapter 3 )

Before reading:

I do not claim own of Sailor Moon or any related indicia. Characters that I have created will be listed before each chapter if they appear in said chapter, and I do not mind you using my characters in your stories, if you ask.

Because I rarely receive feedback on my fan fictions, I would enjoy it very much if you would read and review this story. If you have an offensive review, please e-mail it to me instead of posting it in the reviews section, however if you are only criticizing, putting it in the review section is more than welcome. Thank you.

Extra:

People have asked me about Artemis and Luna. In my fan fiction, they will be human until I get near the end of my story.

Someone asked me why I made this story PG-13 before now. If you read, you will find reason one for my rating, and in the future you will find more. Some language may found inappropriate in future chapters.

My Characters in this Chapter:

Queen Gia

Prince Ceres

Kohaku

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The Moon Crystal is a flower admired by many, inside and outside of the Moon Kingdom. It's strength and beauty are known well amongst those in the Venus Kingdom, and it's defiance of any laws of nature make it a popular discussion piece in the Mercury Kingdom. Queen Gia admired this flower so much, she only allowed it to grow in certain patches around her home, and keeps it secret from all the humans on earth. The Moon Crystal is a pure sign of strength through anything.

Serenity ran through the cold marble hallways, warm tears streaming down her face. "How could she do this to me?" she screamed in her head as she rounded a corner and threw open her bed chamber door. "She didn't consider my feelings," a calm voice said in her head, "She didn't think of how I would react. This must be punishment for her disapproval of Ceres and my disobeying her wishes for me not to see him."

She spoke aloud the last sentence, her voice shaky as she threw herself on her bed. She choked back tears as she thought about Ceres. "He's coming to see me tonight!" she almost screamed as pulled herself up and wiped her tears away. "He can't see me like this!"

Serenity rushed to her wardrobe cabinet and franticly looked for the pale yellow dress she had always imagined herself wearing when Ceres asked her hand in marriage. As she ready to move to another wardrobe cabinet, she found the dress and ripped it off its hangar quickly and rushed over to a finely polished oak vanity.

Serenity was a beautiful girl, even at the age of eleven she could dazzle many. Her hair was a soft shade of blonde and was never cut. It ran down to the middle of her back and she kept it in a loose ponytail when her mother was not around. It was a tradition to wear your hair in an ondango style if you were in the royal family, but this was a tradition that Serenity had never liked.

As she sat down, she looked at herself in the mirror and tears began to swell in her eyes as she gazed at the woman staring back at her. She did not see her reflection in the mirror that night, but she saw her mother. Queen Selenity was staring back at the young, helpless girl with saddened eyes. Eyes that told a story of pain. Serenity quickly turned from the mirror and wiped away a stray tear. "I'm sorry mother." She whispered and slipped out of her day gown into the yellow dress.

With a shaky hand, Serenity grabbed her hair brush and began to smooth out her tangled hair, never looking at the mirror. Just then, Kohaku entered the room. Kohaku was a kind woman who worked in the palace, but was more like a dear friend to everyone. Having a daughter of her own, Kohaku could relate to Selenity in some ways, but more to Serenity's feelings. Kohaku smiled gentle and took the brush from Serenity and began to brush through her hair.

"I have heard about your betrothal." Serenity looked at her and sighed. "Don't worry dear, your mother is only doing what is right for you." Before Kohaku could even think of continuing the thought, Serenity cut in.

"How does she know what is good for me?" She pulled herself away from Kohaku and took the brush violently. "Ceres is good for me! He loves me and I love him!" Serenity roughly combed at her hair as she took a seat on the bed.

"Oh princess," sighed Kohaku. "You don't know, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Serenity asked as she discarded her brush on the bed and stood to face her. "What don't I know?"

Kohaku sighed again and reached up to put Serenity's little face in her hands. "You are so young. You are confused." Serenity began to speak but Kohaku hushed her and they both sat on the bed. "Princess, your mother knows what she is doing. Please, just hear me through." She added as she notice Serenity trying to interject. "Prince Ceres is nearly a man now, and you shouldn't be with him. What would people think of a man and an eleven year old marrying without a betrothal?

"Prince Ceres has other motives to marry you than love. Please just trust me when I say that Prince Endimion will make a much better husband to you." Serenity squeaked slightly as she remembered everything Ceres had said about Endimion. Kohaku beckoned the girl to speak her mind.

"Ceres does love me and that is his only motive!" Serenity believed this to be the only truth. "Endimion is nothing compared to Ceres. Ceres told me about Endimion's garden. He told me how he had once almost killed his best friend, Pegasus, just because he forgot to water a few roses. He said when Queen Gia was ill, Endimion wouldn't leave his garden to aid his own mother." Serenity felt appalled at the very thought of marrying someone would care more about his garden than his own mother.

Kohaku looked shocked and let out quick a strange laugh. Serenity was taken aback and gave the woman a curious look. "Queen Gia has not had a sickly day since her own childhood!" choked Kohaku as she wiped a few tears of laughter from her eyes. "It is true that Prince Endimion loves his rose garden," stated Kohaku, becoming serious again. "but he has never tried to kill anyone over those roses. If anything, Sir Pegasus would have threatened him! Prince Endimion cares for his mother and his brother, but he also loves his garden."

Serenity looked confused. `Ceres would never lie to me,' she thought as Kohaku spoke. `he loves me. I know he does! Why would he lie about his own brother? Kohaku must be wrong. I won't listen to her!' Serenity stood up, shaking slightly. "How dare you speak of Ceres as a liar! Leave my chamber and do not return until your mouth is not filled with lies!"

Kohaku stood and felt offended at the distrust the princess was showing her. "As you wish, Princess." She bowed slightly and left the room, even though she had a feeling she should have stayed. This was not her place to interfere, no matter how wrong Serenity was. Kohaku only wished that she could have made Serenity understand, but she could not tell her of Ceres true motives, for it was not her place to even know such information.

Serenity began to cry again and sank to the floor. `Kohaku was lying!' she screamed to herself. To Serenity, Ceres was the perfect person. He never lied to her, and he truly cared for her. That was all she could see, and everything else had to be lies. `He would never lie to me. Never.'

Serenity finally gathered herself up and put her hair into a bun using a hand mirror instead of the vanity mirror and grabbed her pale yellow purse. "I will go see Ceres tonight and he will tell me what to do." She spoke aloud and then hurried out of the castle.

Serenity scurried down the walk way and into the cold night air. Glancing around for signs of movement, she tried to remember where she was meeting Ceres. She jumped as she heard a sound in the bushes and was relieved to only see a black cat chasing a mouse across the lawn. Suddenly she remembered to go to the lake and began to run deep into the heart of the city.

Sitting on a white bench before her was Ceres. He was a silhouette against the giant earth in the sky. His golden blond hair waved slightly in the night breeze and Serenity felt her heart skip a beat as he turned to look a her, smiling sweetly. "You're late."

"I'm betrothed," she stated, as if it were as casual as a hello. Ceres sighed and hung his head, waving for her to join him on the bench. She did so, sitting close to him and resting her head on his shoulder. There was a moment of silence, but not awkward silence. Both of them were thinking about the marriage, no doubt. Ceres pushed a strand of golden hair from his face and hugged the princess to him.

"I'm sorry," she sighed, gazing up at Earth. "Endimion is sorry to, but for himself. When he heard news of the betrothal, he threw a watering can at the glass nursery protecting the Moon Crystals, shattering it. He was furious."

"I don't want to marry him. I want to be with you, to marry you!" She hadn't meant to say anything about her wishes to marry Ceres and quickly covered her mouth. Ceres looked down upon her with his green eyes shining brightly and chuckled softly.

"I know, and I, too, wanted to marry you. It seems that the fates are against us." As he gazed into her eyes, Serenity's mind raced as she dropped her hand. She wanted to kiss him so bad, to have her first kiss with man she felt she loved. Despite the fact that Serenity and Ceres had been seeing each other for over a year, he had never kissed her. He always said he wanted to wait until the right moment. Was this the right moment?

`This isn't right,' a voice rang in Serenity's head as he moved closer to her. `But I want him so badly,' she argued with herself, all the while Ceres came towards her. `What is Kohaku wasn't lying?' With that thought fresh in her mind, she turned form Ceres and stood up. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she walked to the edge of the lake.

A sigh came from behind her as Ceres came to her side. She gave him a look with such sadness that it made her seem much older and wiser than he. The wind sent a tiny wave crashing to the bank as Serenity threw herself into his arms and began to cry. He loosened the bun that she had her hair tied into and let her hair fall. He ran his fingers through the long blonde hair and they stayed in silence for a few minutes.

At last, Serenity looked up at him, her eyes red and puffy. "You lied to me. I loved you and you lied, about everything." She stepped back as she read the look in his eyes. She wanted him to deny it, to call her crazy. She wanted to be wrong, but he was telling her otherwise. It had all been lies, and she knew that now. She let a single tear roll down her cheek. "How could you? I had come here tonight to have you take me away, never to return. Now I don't even want to see you."

"You're young! You don't know what you want. Let me help you, guide you. We are going to run away together, get married on Earth. Then we'll come back, so them all that we were meant for each other." His eyes gleamed with a tainted look of greed as he stepped toward her, a wild smile on his face.

A shiver went down her spine as Selenity realized he wasn't going to give her an option. "No!" she screamed as she stepped backward and turned, running as fast as she could towards the palace. Ceres chased after her, determined to have her and the power that came with her marriage to him. She tried to through her small purse at him, but it made no difference, he tackled her, pushing her to the ground.

The grass was cold as he held her to the ground. Serenity struggled hard and fought to get up, but she was less powerful than the warrior trained prince holding her down. He grabbed her face as she tried to scream and he moved in, kissing her roughly. Her first kiss was stolen from her by a man she thought she had loved. She felt as if she would have rather had him kill her as she lay helpless. Suddenly, Ceres flew backward, slamming into a tree and sliding to the ground.

Frantically, Serenity looked for the person who did this. Standing before the withered Ceres was Artemis, standing tall, alert. "Are you okay, Princess?" Serenity muttered a yes and Artemis turned to the boy. She scanned the man before her. His white hair glistened in the light of the earth, his deep blue eyes glaring at Ceres. She felt the childhood crush wash over her as she watched her guardian protecting her. He pulled Ceres to his feet. "Leave."

"I will have her, and this kingdom will be mine. All of it will be mine." Artemis growled at these words and Ceres stammered off, terrified of the man. Serenity watched as he left and began to shake slightly as Artemis pulled her into his arms, calming her.

"I'm sorry that you were forced to find out this way," Artemis said softly, a tone plagued with sadness and meaning. "I have know this for a while, and I told your mother. I'm afraid that I am the reason your mother had you betrothed. I suggested the matter to her. I am sorry." He lowered his head and closed his eyes. Before she could say anything, Serenity felt a warm tear, Artemis' tear, fall to her head and she, too, wept. Only this time, she was not crying for her and Ceres, but for herself and her blindness.