A Darkness Three weeks earlier... Queen Serenity, ruler of the Moon Kindgom, sat behind a large white desk drumming her fingers thoughtfully along the hard surface. Her eyes were closed in concentration as she considered her choices in the matter at hand. Her daughter Usagi's birthday was little more than a month away and she had yet to make any plans. Procrastination was not something she was akin to, but in this matter it was hard. This was to be her 20th birthday celebration and it was supposed to be a special event for all. A knock at the door broke into her troubled thoughts. She looked up towards the door across the room from her desk. "Please come in." She tried to use a cheerful voice, but decided she inevitably sounded cheerfully tired. A small girl stepped in with a bright smile on her face and bowed lowly. 'Well, at least someone is happy today,' she thought. The girl stood straight and announced in the most official sounding voice she could muster, "Your Highness, Queen Pluto would like to request an audience with you." "Please bring Lady Setsuna in," she said, nodding to the retreating girl. 'I wonder what this is about. The Guardian of Time does not leave her post for reasons to be taken lightly.' She sighed in frustration. 'This is all I need now.' A few minutes later, the door opened once more. This time a tall brunette walked in. Her dark hair flowing behind her as she walked purposefully towards the other woman. She stopped in front of Serenity's desk and bowed before her. "Arise Lady Setsuna, for it has been so long since I have last seen you." Smiling, Serenity stood and rounded the desk. She embraced the tall woman before her in a tight hug. "It has not been that long. Only a few years." Setsuna replied, equally please with seeing her queen. "Oh, but the absence of a friend's company always seems so long. Whether it be a day or a hundred years," the queen said hastily. Setsuna smiled in her mysterious way. "It is the thought that I have such friends here that keeps me moving forward. If not for that, my duty would be an unbearably lonely one. To have companions is a great thing." While she was speaking her face became sad. "I have come here today to discuss something important with you Highness." Serenity offered the woman a seat, which she took gratefully. She waited forSetsuna to begin speaking. "It is in regards to one of your daughter's guardians. It is faint now, but I can sense a darkness. Right now it is so small, it is almost undetectable. With time, however, it will grow. This could become a very big problem for you." She paused and hesitantly went on. "It is discouraging that the court of the Moon might become so disunited if this happens. You must understand, though, that I can not tell you anymore than I already have. It is your duty to locate the guardian that harbors this darkness. Then it is you obligation to help them. You must come up with the solution on your own." Setsuna smiled at the confused and surprised looked that graced the Queen's beautiful features. "Do not worry, Milady, for I am certain that you can do this. You are our leader, and it is you whom we protect. We would not do so if we did not find you worthy of pledging our lives to." "Do nottalk in such a way Setsuna. I would never allow any of you to give up your lives. You all are my closest allies and friends. You know that." "Yes, Milady, I do know this. However, do the rest of your guardians know this? The outer guardians as well as the young inner guardians?" Setsuna stood gracefully. "I must go now Highness. What little time I have spent here is more than I had expected." Serenity stood as well. "You just arrived and you are leaving already? Tell me Setsuna, how am I supposed to know which one it is? I only know a few of the inner guardians. They mostly converse with my daughter, for they are her guardians after all. Is my daughter to share this burden? Should I tell her of what the future may hold?" Serenity's voice was desperate. Setsuna had reached the door by this point. Turning to look over her shoulder she addressed her Queen. "You do not have to tell her anything at all. Suspicion will only lead to misunderstandings. This guardian is not a criminal or enemy, they are merely confused. It is understandable why." She turned the handle on the door and opened it. "I am going to return now, to the gates. I will go about my duty happily because I know whom I protect and why. To not know, however, that is completely different. When I was younger, I wonder what path I would have taken if I was not loved as I am now. I would probably still be somewhere within the depths of the Castle of Pluto...or maybe worse. Goodbye for now Lady Serenity. Until we meet again." Shethen walkedout, closing the door behind her in the silent room. Serenity stood looking at the closed door through which the Guardian of Pluto had just left. 'What am I supposed to do now? I have to do something about a possible rogue guardian, and my daughter's birthday.' She sat in her chair, thinking. It was one of her daughter's guardians then. 'It could not be any of the Outer guardians...I speak with them every week by messenger.' She tried to remember all the times she had encountered any of her daughter's guardians. Most of them came to the Moon Kingdom when their parents were summoned for meetings of the royal court. Though she could remember seeing Princess Minako a bit more than the rest. Her daughter was very good friends with the princess of Venus. She smiled, thinking about all the times Minako and Usagi had gotten into trouble together. In fact, one particular trouble session had occurred not three months ago. Minako had discovered some sort of love dust that was a specialty of Venus, and only to be issued by the royal court. It had not turned out well when the two made a sweep of the Palace, matchmaking everywhere. It had the opposite effect on most, and the two were cooped up in their respective rooms for two days writing apology letters to their victims. She remembered being furious at the time, but now that she looked back on the event, she found it very amusing. Leaning forward on her desk, she began to recount the times she had met the others. The princess of Mars came regularly to report any visions she may have had. She would also visit with Usagi often, but this usually ended with her daughter running to her reporting that the Martian princess was picking on her again. Her daughter could be such a crybaby at times, but she loved her just the same. She didn't scold Rei for her treatment of her daughter either. Thinking that it would be healthy for Usagi could use some of the criticism, and she knew Rei would never do anything to hurt her. 'Let's see now, that leaves Ami and Makoto...Ami is always in her study reading, but she does pay visits to the palace. Even if it is just to spend time in the royal library. It is the largest in the universe after all,' she thought. She had come to the conclusion long ago that the young princess of Mercury loved knowledge and seemed to do most of her living in her head. The girl was the smallest of the guardians and was not as strong as the rest. Her power lay in her mind. 'The princess of Jupiter...' Serenity sat up straight as she remembered something. She felt so stupid for having forgot. Makoto's parents were dead. The last she had seen of the girl had been many years ago when she was but a child. Serenity had always tried to invite the girl to various events such as balls and parties, but the girl always declined. Respecting what Makoto had gone through, she decided to let her have her space. She even went so far as to let her send a representative to the royal court meetings. She remembered the young man now, he was Makoto's Captain...Shinozaki if she remembered right. He would report on the statistics of the population of Jupiter's satellites and various other idiosyncrasies. One thought had struck her as odd lately in their meetings. The Jovian princess's army had grown to twice its original size within the past year. That was a lot considering the population of Jupiter was the lowest among the 9 planets. Then she had disregarded it because the Jovian people were very rugged. They were more prone to become soldiers than say the people of Mercury or Venus. The same could be said for Mars and Uranus, however, and their armies were growing at an even rate. 'There is too much to consider. I need to get them all in one place, then I'll compare their distinctions and how they react with each other. I do not think I have ever seen them all together at once in fact. I also need to figure out something to do for Usagi.' A thought hit her like a bolt of lighting. 'A ball. They will all attend and I can oversee them there...as well as all the other guests.' She sighed. 'That will not work. I need more time than one night to observe them, and I can not devote all my time to five girls in a room of over three hundred.' She continued to think. Another knock at the door disturbed her thoughts. "Come in." She said dejectedly. "Hello mother!" Her daughter came flying through the door and threw her arms about her mother's shoulders. "Are you busy right now?" Serenity hugged her daughter back and noticed another figure slip through the door of her study. "Hello your Highness," said princess Minako, bowing. Serenity smiled in return. "Hello Minako. You two are staying out of trouble I assume." She gave them both a stern look as her daughter finally released her. "Of course mother." Usagi answered, looking innocent. "Anyway, we were wondering if Minako could stay for a couple of days. Pleeeease, we'll be good and won't get into any trouble. I'll even do some extra lesson to make up for it." Her daughter gave her a beseeching look that Minako mimicked behind her. The Queen was on the verge of laughing. Here she was worrying over Usagi's future and birthday, and her daughter's top priority was spending a couple days with her friend. 'I should be so considerate of my own friends,' she thought. "Yes, my daughter, she can stay the next few days here." Usagi began doing something akin to a victory dance while hanging from Serenity's shoulders once again. "This is great mother. Isn't it Minako?" "Yep. Though, it would be incredibly so if it was about a month long stay!" she replied jokingly. "Think of all the stuff we could do then." Usagi laughed in reply and started making her way toward the door. Queen Serenity sat still for a moment watching her daughter go to leave. Something about what Minako had just said struck her as a great idea. If she had all the guardians stay for a month, then she would have plenty of time to get to know them. 'Yes, this will work perfectly!' she thought triumphantly. "Usagi, wait a moment dear." Her daughter froze and turned around. She looked at if she expected her mother to changer her mind about letting Minako stay for a while. "You have not let me tell you what I have planned for your birthday celebration." She smiled as Usagi's face lit up. 'Yes, this will work very well...I hope.'
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