Against All Odds

Author: tokyo_rabbit

Rated: PG13

Chapter 2

~*~

"No…! Let me go…! Monster…!" Serenity's shrieks echoed through the vast corridors of the golden palace.

"What in the--"

Four men and a woman rushed forward to meet the King and his 'guest', "Endymion--is this…her?"

Phaethon threw the girl down, panting, "Yes, this is, she."

"Ow…!" Serenity wailed, rubbing her bottom slightly -- pain, quickly replaced by fury as she turned on him, "You loathsome, foul, horrible- it's, it's you!"

Her kidnapper bowed mockingly, anger in his eyes, "Yes, Baron Phaethon of Charon or-" he removed the mask, "as most know me, King Endymion of Earth."

The woman rushed forward, "Serenity! Are you all right?"

"No! Of course I'm not all right! I have been kidnapped by an ambassador of my mother's court!" She raged, trying to push the woman away.

"Endymion…! Just look at her, what did you do--ah, stop struggling! I'm trying to help you up!"

The young king surveyed the girl as the woman set her on her feet. She did, in fact look like a mess -- her thin nightgown covered in dirt and damp from the night dew on the Moon's grassy plain. The material clung in interesting ways to her now grubby porcelain skin as her silver hair hung limply in tangles.

Endymion, however, figured he must look somewhat bedraggled himself, ebony hair matted and flying every which way, a dirt-covered face.

"I brought her to safety, just as Eris and Freya ordered," the king shot a dirty look at the four men with looks of bemusement upon their faces as they stood there and listened.

"Eris... Freya.... What? Why would they want this brute to kidnap me?" Serenity spat angrily.

"Now…now, kitten," Endymion smirked, his irritation and frustration turning into delight at seeing the princess' discomfort.

"Your Majesty, I'm a kitten, but did you really have to handle her so roughly?" The woman scolded.

"Handle her--!" He was at a loss for words. Was it not she who scratched, pinched, hit and kicked all the way from the Moon Palace to the palace of Elysian?

One of the men snorted while another jabbed him in the ribs. Straightening to his full height, Endymion privately reveled at the fear in Serenity's eyes. He gave her a look of pure annoyance while issuing his orders, "Luna, take her Majesty to her quarters while my temper is contained. I did the court a great, treasonous favor at great risk to my own kingdom. I hope you will not forget my kindness and return the favor: keep her out of my way." And with that, the king turned on his heel and stormed off to his chambers. One of the men burst out laughing while the other three seemed as if in conflict as to whether or not to laugh as well.

Serenity, however, wasn't paying attention to them, but turned her attention to the woman standing next to her. "Luna?"

~*~

Adrastea, proud Queen of Uranus and Head of the Outer Guard, strolled through the palace. It was night and the entire population of the Moon was asleep, but she remained restless in that dead hour. Something in her soul did not sit well with her retiring for the night just yet, for in her heart was a great sense of foreboding -- something was wrong. Not quite sure as to what foul plans were being implemented under her nose, she decided to patrol the castle.

Coming upon a smaller corridor, she noticed a slit of light coming from one of the rooms. Moving silently, she made her way to eavesdrop and discover if there was anything of importance said.

"Is the deed done?" A familiar female voice asked the only other possible companion in the room.

"Yes, Endymion has Serenity," the second woman replied calmly, "Make haste to replace the princess before Queen Selenity notices her daughter missing."

Then the first woman reached for something hidden within the folds of her dress, but was cut short when Adrastea burst into the room, looking horrified, "What treason is this?"

Within the room she found Princess Eris of Saturn and Princess Freya of Venus; Freya, with her hand still within a fold of her orange dress, wore a shocked expression on her face. Eris looked calmly at her leader with icy violet eyes that often held wise indifference. "It seems we have been found out," Eris stated nonchalantly.

"What in the name of Miranda is going on here?" Adrastea stepped forward, a dangerous edge in her voice.

"If you would, Uranus…please shut the door behind you as more attention is something we wish not to attract." Freya moved her hand from its concealment of silk to look her equal squarely in the eye.

"What is going on?" The queen repeated, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword hanging loosely upon the hip against her dress of navy blue satin.

"Eris, if you would." The princess of Silence moved past her superior in rank to close and latch the door -- the Head of the Inner Guard motioning for her counterpart of the Outer to sit with her opposite one another at the crude wooden table. Cool blue eyes narrowing, Adrastea accepted the silent offer to listen to her comrades.

~*~

Once within her designated quarters, Serenity looked unbelievingly at the woman before her. The king of Earth had said she was known as Luna, but how could it be? She looked only a couple of years older than Serenity, her hair the color of coal and fell in soft clouds, save for two buns on top of her hair. She had maroon eyes and a yellow crescent moon in the middle of her forehead mirroring her own. Everything would have seemed normal to the princess, all but the long black tail that swished with amusement, that is.

"Artemis and I are not from the Moon, but from a planet far from this galaxy known as Mau. This is my true form," Luna explained.

"But why...?" Serenity questioned as she sat on the vanity's stool.

"It is much easier to fit in as a cat," she answered smugly, "Artemis shares that opinion and we only take our natural forms when necessary."

"But if you come from another kingdom, then why are you part of the Silver Court?" This didn't make sense. For as long as she could remember, Luna had always been her guardian cat, whose hobby it was to nag persistently at her. Artemis also was her guardian, but stayed with Princess Freya to help with the Guard.

"We had heard of Queen Selenity, a wondrous and noble ruler whose kindness and goodness out shone her predecessors.' We were aware too of her pregnancy; it was foretold that her child would be the most powerful ambassador that ever lived. The child would grow to one-day rule the entire galaxy and later, the universe. Artemis and I came to the Moon to guide you to follow your mother and father's path of righteousness. Unfortunately, your father never had the opportunity to hold you, due to losing his life in the war against the Dark One."

"I-I don't understand.... You heard about me and decided to come and serve my mother?" Serenity's head felt light and the room about her began to dance. She knew of her destiny to rule the Silver Court, but the universe? Never in her wildest dreams had she perceived that.

"Yes, for example, the Duchesses, Phobos and Deimos come from Kronos, another planet belonging to a different galaxy. When Princess Minerva was born, the twins descended upon Mars to protect and guide the princess' special gifts of Sight."

Clutching onto her seat, the Moon Princess swallowed the lump in her throat, "I still don't understand...."

Luna looked her over, placing her hands on her hips, "Yes, well…it's not to be expected of you at this point in time. Come, let's get you clean and dressed for bed."

"Wait…!" Serenity put up her hand to halt her friend's efforts to help her, "What about King Endymion? Why did he drag me away from Serentatus?"

"Ah yes, the matter of the 'kidnapping….'"

~*~

"What? What do you mean 'King Endymion has kidnapped Serenity?'" Cerealia of Jupiter demanded, outraged, "What had caused him to commit such an act of treason?"

Adrastea gave a wry smile at her friend's reaction. It mirrored her own earlier before Freya and Eris explained to her why they had plotted against the Court with the king of Earth. Now it was the rest of the Guard's turn to wait and hear their plan.

"Calm yourself, Cerealia;" Eris ordered kindly, "She is safe."

"Safe? How can she be-" The brunette was cut off by Princess Talaria of Mercury.

"I am sure they have an explanation as to why this has happened, Jupiter. So please...."

The princess of Jupiter sat back down reluctantly, allowing Freya to continue, "Yes, Endymion had kidnapped Serenity at Eris' and my request."

This created another disturbance, silenced as Adrastea rose, "Please, listen… You know of the assassin sent to kill our princess?" There were a series of nods. "As Soldiers, our duty and sole purpose is to protect Serenity. And this being the case, we cannot risk taking the rumors lightly. While we beg and plead with our queen to take the necessary actions to protect her daughter, she scoffs at the possibility."

"Queen Selenity has been acting strange lately...." Talaria said thoughtfully.

"Then, we are not the only ones to have noticed it," Freya responded with quiet triumph, "With the threat to Serenity's life very real to us, her mother disbelieves. Eris voiced her concern to me and I agreed we must take action against her Majesty. Sending a message to the king of Earth, Eris met him in the Crystal Forrest of Elysian in secret to plot Serenity's removal from the Moon for her own protection. While the princess lies safely away from here, I would take on her appearance and act as she would. Our thought was that if I gave opportunity a chance, the assassin would then try to make their move."

The room fell quiet, as all were lost in their thoughts until Queen Lysithea of Neptune spoke up, "It is a plan we would gladly follow, so why tell us now?"

"If those of us who knew were to grow in number, so would our secretive attitudes. Queen Selenity would then suspect something, but we knew that Freya, posing as Serenity would not fool everyone. Our intentions were to enlighten you soon after the swap was made," Eris explained.

"But what if we are in need and must contact Serenity, or vice versa?" Princess Minerva of Mars asked.

"That is also something we will have to work hard to conceal," Artemis added as an after thought, "Luna had demanded she go to Earth with Serenity to provide a constant watch. As a Mauian, her natural form would attract less attention as those aware of our people are very few."

Persephone of Pluto remained silent for most of the clandestine meeting due to her struggle with her conscience because she allowed Endymion to go unannounced. Even though she agreed with the rest of the Guard that it was best for Serenity to be in Endymion's care, something within her turned bitter at the thought of the king in the company of her princess. Brushing the thought aside, she looked off into the distance, not really focusing on anything, "Dawn is approaching. Freya, if you mean to pose as Princess Serenity, we must move you to her room unnoticed and with haste."

The blonde nodded and removed a crescent shaped mirror from within the folds of her dress. Holding it aloft, she looked into it. She chanted, "Crescent disguise."

A soft golden light enveloped the princess of Venus. Shortly after, it faded to reveal Princess Serenity, who was tucking the mirror away once again.

"Now, everyone must retire at once while Artemis escorts me to Serenity's quarters," Freya explained.

Everyone got to their feet and left one by one. Cerealia caught up with Minerva, who was well on her way to her room, "Do you think this will work?"

The princess of Fire sighed, "What I believe is something I'm not sure I will understand at this point in time."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Brooding on the horizon of our future lurks something catastrophic and I know our fate rests with Princess Serenity. Soon Destiny will rise to test her far beyond what any of us have experienced."