I ran quickly down the corridor to my room. I could tell she was right behind me. I was not about to be beaten again. My heart was pounding so hard, I thought it would pump out of my chest. I tried to run faster, but I found myself, only slowing down from exhaustion. I knew she was going to catch me. But I had to try to get away. It was not right what she was doing. If only there was somebody there who could help me. But there was not. I was alone during this time of fear. The kind of pain my nanny inflicted on me was uncalled for. But then again, I should have been used to it by then. She did not seem to give any mind to the fact that she was beating an nine year old child, much less the Prince of Earth.
Mrs. Natalie Wildman was her name. My mother had hired her when I was only three. The tasks that come with being the Queen of the Earth, were a bit overwhelming. Mother had to deal with the Ambassadors from eight different worlds. She had to come up with solutions to the problems on Earth. Probably most trying of all was attending every social function there was on any world at any time. The Earth had to make an appearance and Father was too badly needed on Earth all the time to attend all but a few of the functions. It was considered an insult of the highest if a Queen or King from another planet invited the Earth royalty, but nobody from Earth showed up. Therefore, Mother had to rush off to every banquet, every birth, every Ambassador or Delegate's wedding, etc... With these kind of hours, it hardly left my Mother time to effectively raise a well-bred, well mannered son. So to fill in for her lack of time, she hired Nanny Wildman. Unfortunately, my Mother did not bother enough to get to know the Nanny well before she hired her. Do not misunderstand me. My mother loved me very much and only wanted the best for me. But unfortunately, like most abusers, they put on an innocent, sweet facade to the world, and are completely different to the person they abuse. In Nanny Wildman's case, my mother never saw a hint of the cruelty in her, and thought that I was just a mischievous little boy.
The first time Nanny Wildman's brutality was bared was when I was four. I spilled my dinner on the floor when my elbow bumped the plate. Some of the sauce splattered on her dress, as she was standing behind me, quizzing me on how to have a proper meal. I slowly raised my eyes to meet hers and when I did she looked at me for the first time so viciously that I hardly recognized her. She seized my arm and practically dragged me upstairs and scolded me in her room. "I have done nothing but care for you, and you repay me with this?". She pointed to the stain in disgust. She went on about how she would have to change now. She grabbed another dress from her closet and proceeded to change in the adjoining bathroom. She warned me that I better still be in the room when she got back. When she came out she was in a fresh gown and threw the one with the sauce in the laundry basket. Then she reached for the handles and spun around and glared at me, laundry basket in hand. "Now Darien, this is what happens to little boys who ruin girl's dresses!" With that, she lifted the basket high and slammed me in the head with it. The blow was enough to make my head throb and make me dizzy, however not enough to do permanent damage. I collapsed in the corner and began to sob, tucking my knees into my chest and burying my head. She sent me to my room and told me if I told anyone she would do something far worse. Then she picked me up and put me in my bed without finishing dinner.
This kind of punishment continued on. Finally, when I was six, she hit me so hard that I had noticeable markings. Before this incident, she had always been careful to hit me places that were covered by clothing. She was also careful not to do anything a month before doctors appointments. But this time I got a black eye. I went to my mother, even though I knew if she didn't believe me Nanny Wildman would beat me for it.
My Mother was in her chambers, preparing for a dinner party. The dinner wasn't for another two and a half hours, though. I found her sitting at her dresser, applying make-up. She was in her favorite burgundy dress. Her room was mostly deep red with huge drapes covering a large bay window. I walked over to my Mother nervously.
"Mommy, Nanny Wildman hits me. She's hit me since I was four. I just don't think I can stand it anymore. She said if I told you, she'd hurt me. She's scary and she doesn't love me the way she tells you she does. Please, could we get a new Nanny?"
My mother set down her brush and looked at me. "She hits you does she? I will look into this immediately." She turned to the door. "Shannon!" The servant entered the room. "Please send me Mrs. Wildman. I wish to speak with her."
"Yes, Your Majesty." she said, and proceeded down the hallway. My mother sent me to my room. I sat on my bed, holding my pillow and watching the clock until she came back An hour later she walked in and sat down on my bed next to me. She looked me in the eye and placed her hand on mine, and then spoke the words that would change my life forever. "Darien, sweetie, Mrs. Wildman told me you got the black eye when you were jumping on the bed. She claims she asked you to stop, but you didn't. You fell and hit your head on the bedpost. She was hysterical when she heard all the horrible things you said about her. She started crying, Darien. You really hurt her feelings. She loves you very much and would never hurt you. I think you owe her an apology. She has done nothing but care for you. She has helped me out tremendously. You simply can't go around lying like this about people. It hurts their reputation. Now, I want you to go to her quarters with me and apologize."
I had learned from past experiences that there was no arguing with my mother. Nanny Wildman's ability to cry on command had completely tricked my mother into thinking I was a liar. Needless to say I was beaten the next week, as to not rouse suspicion. That was the last time I ever tried to tell anyone about the abuse.
Now, I was racing to my room. She was still beating me, now more severely because I was older and able to endure more physical pain. She didn't do anything that would last longer than a week, most of the time. She was smart, I'll give her that.
I reached my door and almost slipped when I tried to stop. I managed to open the door and stumble in. I locked it from the inside just in time. I heard her screaming at me out side though. I was safe for now.
Not only were the beatings more brutal, but they were now over the silliest discrepancies. This time, I had snuck in a snack from the kitchen, to my room, and she found the wrapper in the trash. She called me on it in the dining room. I bolted before she had time to grab me.
I had successfully avoided a beating, but I would get it double the next time. It was then that I realized I had to get out of the palace. Leave my home. But where would I go? I was very smart and agile for my age. My teachers had already taught me algebra and simple biology. I was already an eloquent speaker and I had memorized much of earth's history. I was not a genius, I just liked to lose myself in books of old times and escape my present situation. I hated class, however. My experiences with Nanny Wildman had made me bitter against most adults. I did much better teaching myself. Alone. Secluded.
The one thing I had not been taught yet, was how to use my powers that I supposedly had since birth. Apparently, it was not common practice on Earth to start teaching me until I was ten. I most certainly didn't feel very powerful. If I did, I would have rid my life of those teachers and Nanny Wildman. I just wanted to be left alone with my parents on Earth.
There were a few people who I didn't mind, though. However, they were all on other planets, and all my own age. First, there was the Prince of Saturn, Micah, who was nine. He was my friend but could get really mean sometimes. I most enjoyed the company of my best friend, the Princess of Jupiter, Lita, who was six. Then there was Princess Mars, and Princess Pluto, Raye and Sharon who were always up to something. Princess Neptune and Uranus, Michelle and Alex pretty mush kept to themselves. Princess Venus, Mina, always hung around Lita. They fought sometimes, though. Princess Mercury pretty much got along with everyone, when her head wasn't stuck in a book. Her name was Amy and was by far the most intelligent of all of us. Then there was my crush. Princess Serena, of the Moon. I knew I was in love the moment I met her. Micah was making fun of me because I was new. I started crying, only being six. It was the first time I had met any of them. Then Serena came in the room. The prettiest two year old I had ever seen. She saw me crying and came over in a very two-year-old fashion and gave me a hug and a kiss. I yelled, "Eeeew! Cuties!" and ran away. But I liked it. She had tried to make me feel better and I had never had anyone else my age around. It meant a lot. I spent the rest of my childhood poking her and throwing dirt and things at her, to her annoyance but deep inside, I thought she was cute.
I soon realized if I ran away, I would never see any of my childhood friends again. But this abuse was too much to handle.
It was then that my mother knocked on my door. The noise startled me so badly, I jumped and shook. I had been deep in thought and at first, I thought it was Nanny Wildman trying to get in. "Darien, are you in there?" I climbed off the bed and raced across the room to open door. "What is it, mother?", I asked.
I gazed up into her eyes. I almost hoped that she saw the fear in my eyes and the tear streaks that I was sure were still on my cheeks. That way, I could tell her. Tell her everything. But I knew I could never try to tell her again. It would only backfire and I was well aware of what Nanny Wildman would do to me if she found out that I had tried to tell on her again. My Mother did not notice my expression, which was probably a good thing.
"Darien, I need you to accompany me downstairs. We are entertaining some guests from the Moon and we want to introduce you." How thrilling. More interplanetary delegates. From the Moon this time. I had to be introduced to every person who called on Earth royalty, as they would one day have to deal directly with me, when I reached the age of seventeen. That was when I was scheduled to take over my Mother's responsibility dealing with the delegates and ambassadors that came calling. She took my hand in hers and we began to walk down to where Father was. I took a deep breath in. I always loved the way Mother smelled. She always smelled like cinnamon. I never knew why but I enjoyed the smell as we walked down the stairs.
When we reached the parlor I caught the end of the conversation that the delegates were having with my Father. "Then you will be attending Queen Serenity's banquet, Sire?", one of them asked.
I knew which banquet they were talking about. It was the banquet that Queen Serenity threw every year for all the Royalty, Ambassadors and Delegates of the Moon Kingdom. She did this so that everyone would get better aquatinted, although nobody ever did. All the adults did was lie and make small talk. They were formal, polite, but incredibly insincere. If one said, "I love your gown. Who designed it?" it translated to, "I want to know who had the insanity to make that wretched thing, so I can avoid them." I always found this quite amusing. My Mother would say something there and then tell the truth when we got back. I liked these functions though. It was another chance to see Lita... and of course Serena. Ah, my puppy love!
"Yes, yes. Of course. But shall Darien's Nanny be accompanying the Queen and I?" The delegates looked at each other and then back at my Father.
"Ah, Sire, we would think it best to bring the Prince Darien, um however, his Nanny is not of Noble blood. We would suggest leaving her here, Your Highness."
"Very well then." It was then that my Father turned and saw my mother and I standing in the doorway. My father signaled to us and we entered. He introduced everyone and started on about something, but my mind suddenly kicked into high gear. If these delegates were from the Moon, that means they came on a ship, since only royalty had the ability to transport. If I could make it to the launch site and get on the ship I could..."Isn't that right, Darien?", my father asked, seemingly out of nowhere. I glanced up at him and the others. All eyes were on me. It was quite unnerving. "Yes, Father.", I answered, hoping it was the right response. My mother let go of my hand and sat down by my Father on the sofa. With my Mother there now, they began discussing the details of the afore mentioned banquet. It was then that I managed to slip out, unnoticed.
These type of occasions were especially important to the Earth. We had not always been a part of the Moon Kingdom. It was but ten years ago that Queen Serenity had revealed herself and the rest of the Court to my parents. My Mother had just become pregnant with me at the time. It came as a great shock to Earth that there was in fact life on other planets. We had a lot of catching up to do. They did not take me with them when they visited other planets until I was six. That of course being when I met Serena. I suppose my parents were afraid of the Moon Kingdom and wanted to make sure I would be safe there.
If there was one good thing that came out of this abuse, it was that it had forced me to learn to be quick, quiet, and agile for sneaking around. I felt my heart start to pound as I crept down the first hallway toward the staircase.
I often forgot how large the palace was. Normally, Nanny Wildman restricted me to only using my room, the dining hall, and my Mother's room. It was a rare occasion that I was permitted to visit the outdoors. I could only gaze at the yards through the large window in my room. It overlooked a garden. Sometimes, I would curl up on the sill and just sit there gazing for hours.
There were a few times that I had been permitted outside, though. Most of the time it was when Lita came to visit. We would sit in the garden, picking flowers for our parents, or playing tag or hide and go sneak.
But there is no time to think of the garden now. I kept low until I reached the foot of the stairs. My body began to shake. I could hardly keep from falling down. I gripped the railing and slowly, I ascended two flights before reaching the launch site. Upon entering the site, I quickly ducked down behind a plant. There were a few servants bustling around the ship. Cleaning it, I suppose. I realized I would need a distraction.
Luckily, one came for me. Nanny Wildman came storming into the room demanding if the servants had seen me. They replied that hey had not. She then ordered them to stop what they were doing and to help her look for me. All three left close behind Nanny Wildman. I grinned. I was free! I bolted over to the ship and entered it. There were two beds towards the back with cabinets underneath them. They contained pillows and extra blankets. In front were the navigation systems with two chairs. They had a little kitchenette at the head of one of the beds. This ship was meant for week long missions, I concluded. It does not take more than an hour to get to the Moon, though. Hopefully, they were not making any other stops.
That's when I heard someone enter the launch site. I quickly squeezed in one of the blanket cabinets and shut the door behind me. The two delegates boarded the ship. Before I knew it, we took off. I heard one of them say we were headed to the Moon, which gave me great relief. I did not know how long I could stay crunched up in this cabinet. Sure it was soft... I had pillows and blankets surrounding me. But I was hot. I began to squirm after a while. I thought this flight would never end!
About an hour later, that had felt more like an eternity, I heard them getting ready to land. Suddenly, their voices changed from routine, to panicked. All I knew is that we were going down way too fast. I heard screams and the deafening blare of the engines. I was frightened. I pictured my body laying in the wreckage, lifeless. I had been trying to escape danger and had instead put myself in the middle of it. I screamed until my lungs were raw. My heart raced and my ears screamed from the pain of the quick decent. I was going to die, I knew it. Then came the crashes and jolts. I felt my body being tossed around and a fear in my heart that was indescribable. I smelled smoke and heard explosions, as well as the terrified cries of the others in the ship. On the last jolt I was thrown out of my cabinet. I was knocked unconscious for who knows how long.
I opened my eyes. Wherever I was, it was dark. My brow throbbed with pain, as did my neck and back. I saw a pool of blood where my head had been as I tried to pull myself up. I realized I had been bleeding from my left eyelid and across my eyebrow. I touched the cut, now, to see if I was still bleeding. I examined the space directly ahead of me. There was food that had been spilled from the shelves on the floor, a small fire to my right, wires and mangled machinery everywhere, and dent and holes on the sides of the craft. There were two bodies slumped over in the helm chairs, both of them lifeless. I drew my breath in. I realized I was the sole survivor. I felt almost guilty, but at this point I was too unnerved to care. I slowly managed to get to my feet. "Where am I?", I said aloud, supporting my weight on the side of the ship with my left arm. Then I realized something very bad. Not only did I not know WHERE I was, but I did not know WHO I was. I struggled to recall anything. All I could remember were a few emotions. I was scared and I had been trying to get away from danger. Any more than that was a mystery. "Well, you certainly didn't do a very good job of getting away from danger." I said, looking around myself. I got down on my knees and managed to crawl out of the mangled ship though one of the holes in the side.
I looked around. I was in a heavily wooded area. I panicked. I did not know what to do. I clenched my fists together and I decided to start walking. After what seemed like hours, I came upon a beautiful building. It was far off, but my heart raced. Finally, I could get help! I started running toward it. It had fountains and flowers and seemed to be well lit by a pink shimmer above in the sky. I figured this must be the palace of whatever planet I was on. It was then that two people walked by in very fancy clothes. I was about to approach them when an eerie feeling washed over my body. I didn't know why, but I got the feeling that I should stay away from them. I almost hated them, but as far as I knew, I had not even met them. It was then that I looked down and studied my own clothing. It was, or rather had been, very fancy as well. Maybe I did know them. I decided to steer clear of the palace for the reason that maybe the palace was what I had been trying to get away from.
I took one last look and darted across the path leading to the gates and headed down a dirt road that eventually led to another building. I had been walking a good hour before I reached it. It was dark, but maybe it was open and could provide shelter from the cold. I went to the front door. Locked. I went to the side door. Locked. I peered in and saw it was a Library. I went to the back. No door. It was there that I sat down, exhausted, in the grass and huddled against the back wall. "Now what?", I asked myself. I put my right hand on my throbbing forehead and my left hand down on the grass. Except, It didn't land on only grass. My fingers curled around a cold ring. It was large and covered in dirt and grass. I tried to lift it but it was caught on something. I managed to get to my feet and began to tug. Then to my amazement what appeared to be a hidden cellar door opened up. "The ring must have been the handle to the door." I deduced. Yeah, Yeah, I'm the next Sherlock Holmes, I know. But how often do you find hidden doors that lead underground. It hadn't been opened for years, I could tell by the way the grass had completely grown over it. "Well, it's shelter." I said. I then proceeded to descend the stair case just inside the door. There was a flashlight sitting in what looked like a torch holder. I walked down to it, clutching the railing for dear life, as I was very tired. I figured I had lost to much blood and was now weakened by it. I took out the flashlight when I reached the seventh step. When I took out the light, the door shut above me. I clicked on the light and slowly went down the stairs.
I found a light switch at the bottom of the staircase. I switched it on and a bulb in the middle of the room flickered to life. All I saw at this point was a bed. I was so exhausted, from walking I went and collapsed it. I then figured I had better tend to this cut on my head. I reluctantly pulled myself up and went to a table that was in the center of the room. There I found an old rag. I looked around. I saw what looked to be an adjoining bathroom. I found a light switch just inside, but the bulb in there was broken. I took in the flashlight and went to the faucet. I turned the water on. There was a gurgling sound followed by a gush a brown liquid. I waited to see if it would clear. When it got to a pale yellow I wet the rag. I looked up, into a mirror and saw myself for the first time. I would have looked okay if it wasn't for the ugly cut across my eye. I cleaned it, (well, with the yellow water, cleaned it) and went to collapse on the bed, but not before switching out the light.
I awoke the next morning. I got up out of bed groggily and looked around. I reached for my flashlight. I walked over to the light switch and turned it on. It was then that I examined the room more closely. There were many furnishings. A couch, a writing desk and chair, a coffee table in the middle of the room, and of course the bed. Along the walls were newspaper clippings of the building. I walked over to the wall. The clippings were old and yellowed. Some of them unreadable. I read a few that were legible and found out that the building I was in was a community center. Then I noticed two doors on the opposite side the room from the stairway I had first entered. My curiosity grew like a wild fire. I began to run to one of the doors but slowed my pace because my head hurt too much.
I opened the door on the right, revealing another stairway. I scaled the stairs only to bring myself to a sort of tunnel. I figured that when the stairs ended, I was at ground level again. The tunnel now before me could not have been more than five by five. I began to crawl. It had light coming through somehow. The tunnel had a sudden drop as it opened. It became about twelve feet high and only about three feet wide. I jumped the drop which was only about three feet down. I looked into where the light was coming from. I got to a place where I saw what looked to be like a dance class. I was standing there behind only glass where they could surely see me. Frightened, I stood there just looking. Then, the whole class turned towards me. But nobody appeared to see me. No reactions like, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" No funny looks. Nothing. The music stopped.
"Okay ladies!" the instructor shouted. Line up by the mirror. The class walked over to the other side of the classroom and turned away from me That was when I realized I had been holding my breath. I let it out and took a deep breath.
I realized this was a one way mirror and that they couldn't see me. I continued down the tunnel, taking great care not to make the slightest sound. They couldn't see me, but I bet they could hear me. The talent of sneaking around seemed to come naturally to me, but I couldn't remember why.
I then descended a short flight of stairs until I reached another tunnel; this one being not as long. I saw some light up ahead and I sped up slightly to see where it came from. I looked up and peeked through what appeared to be a set of vents. I was in a kitchen. The smells of the room were so intoxicating. I realized for the first time how hungry I was. I did not know when the last time I ate was. It felt like days ago.
"This place must be a whole lot bigger than I thought." I whispered to myself. It was apparently crawling through the walls of the community center. I doubted that anyone else knew about the tunneling. I had found my very own way to get around unnoticed. I felt excitement begin to rise in me. I also felt hunger. My stomach growled so loud that I was sure someone could have heard. I peered through the vent to get a better look around.
I saw three cooks with several large crock pots. They appeared to be cleaning them out over a large sink. I waited for the cooks to leave. They locked the doors (one leading outside and the other to an adjoining room.) I pushed up on the vent and was quite surprised at how easily it lifted. I raced to the refrigerator and grabbed (of course being nine) the large vanilla cake that sat in the center. My mouth began to water. I figured that I should take this back to the room I had slept in. I was about to make off with the cake when I heard the key in the door. I quickly shoved the cake back in the refrigerator and raced to an open cupboard. I looked around and found myself to be in a spice and preserve cupboard. The cook seemed to be having trouble getting the key in the lock. I debated making a dash for the vent. Finally, the door opened.
One of the cooks entered shouting, "Okay, I'll get the salt. Lousy Louise. Always forgettin' somethin'." I saw the salt next to me and panicked. I opened the door and dropped the salt out of before the cooked turned to the cupboard, at least I hoped it was before. Just then the man stumbled and hit the cupboard with all his weight. My heart leapt to my throat and I held my breath. Not even noticing the salt, the cook grabbed the door and yanked it open. He took a bottle that contained something green and shut it. I had seen the man look straight at me but he didn't even say a word to me about being in the cupboard. The man tripped and stumbled back towards the door. Then he shouted, "Ya know, Louise, I gotta lay off the beer. I just thought I saw a dirty kid in the cupboard."
I almost laughed. Thank goodness for drunks! After the man eventually managed to lock up the kitchen again, I crept out of the cupboard cautiously. I went back to the refrigerator. I reached in, and got the cake. Now, quick as I could manage, I dropped it into the vent from which I came and climbed in. I closed the vent and pushed the cake in front of me until I was able to stand. This break came when the short stairway was within reach. I picked up the cake and ascended the stairs and retraced my steps until I got back to the room I now called home.
I didn't have a knife or silverware so I just grabbed a fist full of cake and shoved it in my mouth. It was delicious. But then, I had a feeling the worms would have been delicious at this point. I thought I would die of hunger. I kept eating until I had devoured half the cake. Once I was full, I journeyed back into the tunnel, passing the vents in the kitchen until I had to climb a ladder. Once on top I found himself on a large platform hidden by a curtain. I peeked through to find I was an over a stage. This platform was too high for it to have been used by tech crew and was obviously hidden to anyone, including the actors. It looked like part of the ceiling.
On the other side of the platform I found another part of the tunnels. I walked over to it and continued down it. This time the tunnel roof was well over six feet above my head. It soon came to the library that I had seen the night before. After a few minutes of venturing down this hall, I came to a waist high platform to my left. The tunnel continued past it but the platform had several vents in it. I got on the platform and looked down through the vents into the library I had seen the night previous. I figured that the platform I was currently on was the ceiling of the Library and the tunnel I had been going down was near the roof in height. That meant, I should have to descend another flight of stairs eventually, to get back down to ground level. After peeking in a while into the Library I climbed back to the tunnel and continued my adventure. The walkway began to slant downward and I saw another light. I heard the music of the dance class starting up again. When I reached the light's source I had to stoop. It was the top part of a one way mirror of the dance room, except this time it was on the other side of the room and the mirror came up to only my waist. I looked down at the dancers and then realized I had made a full circle. I started walking again and soon came to a stairway; very long this time, and descended it. I recognized the door at the bottom of the staircase as the door on the left of my room. I came to the bottom and reentered my room, coming out the opposite door I entered. I was pleased.
"How nice." I said to myself. "I guess this is home now. I have everything. A kitchen that will always have free food. A library, where I can get books to learn. A dance room that will let me hear music. And I can watch all the plays for free from the platform. I'll live here forever."
The Library was probably my favorite place to spend time. At night I would sneak out and confiscate books from it and take them back to my home to read during the day. It is how I furthered myself and my mind. I soon learned I was on the Moon and in no time I had digested all of it's History. The current ruler was a certain Queen Serenity. Call me crazy, but I could have sworn that I had met her before my accident. I educated myself on the cultures and Histories of the eight planets, finding Earth particularly interesting. Maybe I came from there. It was either Earth or the Moon. I read many books. Math, the Sciences, Astronomy, Psychology, Anatomy, Biology, Chemistry, Zoology, and so on.
I was woken up every morning by the sound of the music of the dance class. It was faint, but not quite faint enough. Quite annoying as far as I was concerned. My daily routine was to get up, eat breakfast (which I would have stolen from the kitchen the night before, to the aggravation of the cooks), read yesterday's paper (the library got it delivered for it's achieves), read my books and later catch the rehearsal of the plays that were always being performed. I, of course, never went in the auditorium itself. Why would I when I had my own personal viewing platform? After that I would steal my next day's food supply, considering that by the time rehearsal was over, everything else had been closed up already. They might be long rehearsals, but I was most intrigued by the theatre.
From all of my research, I had come to one conclusion. I hated people. History contained nothing but greed, war, poverty, murder, and adultery. Why anyone would think that a man was great only because of how many others he could kill or how many nations he could conquer, was beyond my comprehension. I wanted nothing to do with such creatures. Especially royalty. Royalty seemed so over rated. All they did was sit around and cause trouble. They were so proper and with all their formalities, it's amazing they got anything accomplished.
I learned quickly how to cope with my situation. I gave up trying to remember my past less than a year after I first began to live at the community center. It just didn't matter all that much to me. I spent the first few weeks spending every minute of every day trying to come up with clues. After all that hard work and effort, I was still no closer to remembering anything. It was frustrating to say the least. So I just gave up. I realized that it just wasn't that important to me. I really didn't care who had brought me into the world, considering all I COULD remember was the feeling of fear and danger. I figured that my past was not something I wanted to remember.
By most people's definitions, I was a fairly cold hearted person. To coin a phrase, I cared for nothing and for no one. I relied strictly on what I had and needed, not what I wanted. I became able to almost shut out emotions entirely. I thought emotions to be small things which carried way too much weight. I could not believe that a society based around and upon such short, whimsical, and pointless things such as emotions could even survive a day. All they ever did was hurt people in the end. Anger, hatred, greed, lust, and jealousy seemed to be the most common. Very rarely did you see any great change happen as a result of love. And even love, in marriage, was not solid. Emotions lead to heartbreak and I for one did not see the point. I planned never to befriend, never to love, and never to marry. Besides, what was the point of feeling things if you weren't going to express them. Especially in royalty, humans tend to not say what they mean. A woman will approach another woman and say, "That is a lovely dress. Who designed it?" when she really means, "Who designed that wretched thing, so that I may avoid them in the future?" It was a concept I never grasped, and I did not wish to make the attempt. I had done my best in setting myself apart from everyone else, but at the same time, I was not ashamed of what I was. I found humanity to be an interesting race, and although I will take this secret to my grave, I almost want to be accepted by them. I wanted to be considered one of them, just more enlightened than most, I guess.
I, for the most part, was good about keeping quiet enough so that no one would hear me. However, on occasion, I had been heard bumping around, exciting people's imaginations. The began to say I was a ghost and that I had died during a theatre performance and now I haunted the place. I was amused by this reputation and was just grateful the no one had discovered my home. I had only been visually spotted four times. I gathered I looked rather frightening to most people. As I grew I stole outfits from the theatre's costume inventory, not to mention a patch for my right eye. The scar on it never healed, and I liked the way the patch looked. I was disgusted by the scar on my eye. I loathed it. Although I highly valued my uniqueness and independence, I still was part of humanity, and I saw nothing shameful in wanting to look like one.
The first person to see me was a little girl who was peeking through one of the vents and called out that there was a boy behind the vents. That was when I was eleven. The strangest time was when I was fourteen and a woman saw me late at night in the Library. She thought I really was a ghost and was certain I was going to eat her or some such ridiculous nonsense. She fainted and everyone told her she was just dreaming when they found her that morning. Another incident, I was getting food from the kitchen when a cook walked in. He was pretty upset about my being there and grabbed a knife yelling, "You! You're the one stealing food!" He chased me outside and around back. Luckily, I was able to get into my home and close the door before he got there. I was only ten then. That's when I decided that the true nature of humans was a violent one. I hated all people until someone taught me other wise, many years later. As for the fourth incident, well, that's a long story. I was eighteen at the time. I had adopted the nickname Tuxedo Mask because of my patch and because the garment I wore was a tuxedo since thirteen. (I found it to be the most logical piece of clothing simply because I could add or take away layers due to temperature as needed.) That's where my real story begins.
"Mama, why must I go play with this earth boy? I like Mina and Lita just fine.", I whined to my mother as she did up my dress. "Because, Serena, you are the Princess of the Moon Kingdom. And you need to get to know the Earth Royalty as much as I do. Besides, you will have fun. Just think of him as a new friend. Now I know you will be nice to him, and be that little Princess I taught you to be. Make him feel welcome. You know how you felt when you were new."
Mother was of course right. I would treat him nicely. I did remember what it was like on my first day.
When I met Darien he was just like me on my first day. Off in a corner crying. I went over to him and kissed him to make him feel better. He just yelled something about cuties and walked away. Well, at least I could tell mama I tried. I spent the rest of my time playing tag with Lita and Mina, my best friend. Soon Micah joined the game and knocked all of us over. That was the end of that.
Mother raised me the best she could. As far back as I could remember, she always made time to read me stories before bed and tucked me in after rocking me in her rocking chair. It must have been hard for her, having the responsibilities of the whole universe on her shoulders. But she never showed it. She was always kind and gentle and loving towards me.
I suppose she got rid of a lot of her work load by dividing it up between the members of her court and council (a.k.a. the rulers of the other planets.) She and I would take long walks in the flower gardens and remark on how beautiful they were. We would go for late night swims in the fountains and walks along the palace balconies. Yes, Mother always had time for me, no matter what.
When I was five, I found the greatest love of my life... ice skating. Princesses Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter invited me to go with them to the rinks on Pluto. I took to the ice like I had been doing it for years. I went on to be one of the best ice skaters in the kingdom. Mother signed me up for lessons the next week. I was a natural. I loved it.
The night after my first lesson I got home hoping to tell Mother all about it. But when I came to her room, she was not there. I went around the palace calling her name. One of the servants heard me and came in to see if she could help me. I told her I was looking for my Mama. The servant said that Mother had to go to Earth on urgent business. Something having to do with Darien. She took me to Aurora, my Mother's friend and she said to put me on a ship and to send me to Earth at once.
When I arrived on Earth, I soon learned that Darien was missing. They questioned around at the time of his disappearance with my Mother's help. See, my Mother had the power of telepathy, so when people were questioned she could easily tell if they were lying or being truthful. It was through this line of questioning that Darien's parents discovered that a woman named Natalie Wildman had been abusing him. It was then deduced that Darien probably ran away to escape this torture. They questioned her further to see if she knew where Darien might have gone. However, she truly had no idea where he had gotten off to. She was executed the following morning.
Darien's mother took it the hardest. She blamed herself for what happened because Darien had apparently come to her, telling her of the abuse. She therefore felt responsible for Darien's disappearance. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, and locked herself in her room for close to a year. She had her meals brought to her, that is when she was eating. Meanwhile they conducted an Earth wide search for Darien. They even investigated a ship that crash landed on the Moon, but found no sign of Darien. After Four years, the search was called off and he was pronounced dead. It was a pity. He was my friend and I missed him terribly.
When I was six, I began to be coached on the ways to use my powers. No other royalty starts training until they are ten because their power is not as great as mine. Because my power is so strong, it develops in my body faster. Thus I needed to learn to control it, or else I could have done some serious damage. By the age of eleven, I had mastered telepathy and telekinesis (that means moving objects with my mind). I also learned how to disable attackers with a thought and how to hit them with a surge of energy that I could produce at will. My next step was to start the mastery of the silver crystal.
The Silver Crystal was the basis of how our hierarchy worked. Since the royalty of the Moon were the only people who could use the full power of the crystal, it was quickly decided that they would be the Supreme rulers of the Kingdom. As a result the hierarchy went like this. First there was my Mother, the Supreme Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, Daughter of Calliope and Ambrose. Then came me, Princess Serena of the Moon Kingdom. I would not come into the position of second in command until age eighteen, but I was the most guarded and most powerful child alive, thanks to my Mother, who was very protective of me. It was said that as powerful as my Mother was, I would one day exceed even her power ten fold. Next came the Moon Court. The most influential members were of course the King's and Queens of the other planets, followed by their sons and daughters, who would one day be their predecessors. Venus carried a little extra weight for my Mother had married, the now Queen of Venus's, brother, Delian. Delian had died while in battle. The next people of the Court included the Ambassadors of the planets. These were people who were, for lack of a better explanation, the right hands of the King's, Queens, and their children. They were above the Delegates who basically carried out the rulings of the Royalty, but still had their say in what went on and gave reports back to the Court on how particular ideas and projects had worked.
My Mother had been the strongest ruler so far. She seemed to grow in power with each passing year. I suppose she was the strongest because she had ruled the longest. Mother was well over five hundred years of age, but her physical appearance reflected a woman of twenty-two. All of the royalty was like this. The only way for a King or Queen to die was to be killed or to voluntarily end your life.
I was mature for my age. Most royalty turns out that way. When I was thirteen, it was decided that I should be engaged to marry Micah of Saturn. I was not pleased with this choice. He had never gotten along with me and he was much to big and violent. He had such a temper that I was scared to death of him despite the fact that I could easily win a fight with him using my powers. However, I did not think that I should try anything of the sort. After all, he was five years my senior and I did not think it wise to challenge someone with that much more training.
I did not inform my Mother of my feelings because I knew that she desired the marriage to work. I did not wish to disappoint her.
The day we were presented to each other was the worst day of my life. I was fourteen, and had not seen him since I was nine. We were left alone in a room together so we could 'get to know each other better'. The only problem was he wanted to get to know ALL of me better, which he was not the least bit discreet about. It started like...
"It is a pleasure to see you again, lovely Princess." He bowed.
"The pleasure is all mine, Prince Micah." Yeah, right. I curtsied.
Micah was a very attractive man. He had dusty blonde hair in a mushroom cut, broad shoulders, a seemingly firm stomach and strong arms. His legs were too long and lanky though. And I did not care for his gray eyes.
He crossed the room to a couch and sat down. He studied me for moment. I felt my body tensed as he did so, wondering what his expression meant. I could have found out in a split second by reading his mind but I had been taught not to read other's thoughts unless they knew I was. Then he patted the pillow next to him. "Come and make yourself more comfortable. Shall I pour you a drink?" he said reaching for a tall bottle of Cider.
Reluctantly I crossed the room. I quickly realized his intentions were not pure ones. "Do you not think it is a little inappropriate for me, a young lady, to be sitting on a couch with you, a young man, in room with no one else in it?"
He looked up at me shocked. Then I saw his face twist in such a way that I could not breathe. He had become so cold that I felt like I was looking evil itself in the face. He stood and grabbed my shoulders. He shook me a hard and brought me very close to his face. I was so frightened and caught off guard that I did not try to fight. My heart began to pound with fear and I felt my body tense up even tighter. "Listen here, Princess. The only reason I agreed to marry you is because you have no other choice. There are no other Princes for you to marry. It is therefore my given right to use you and your power to further myself, considering I am doing you a favor. One cannot help but notice that you are very beautiful Serena, and I have every right to you and your body. You will give to me what I want, and when I choose to have it." With that he kissed me roughly. I was disgusted and out of breath. I felt like I was being smothered and I wanted nothing more than to get away.
I had been kissed before, but never like this. The other boys were just puppy love and I had merely pecked their lips. They were probably too intimidated of my Mother and my power to have tried anything more. I also knew that I would not end up marrying them, so why set myself up for pain?
Then I felt one of Micah's hands release my arm and grab my breast. He tried to pull down the top of my dress. Enraged I pushed him away using my energy. Micah flew across the room landing on his back side. "How Dare you!!!" I screamed as I backed away.
"Ah Princess." Micah started calmly and methodically. He was taunting me. "If you want a fight, you can have one. The Queen of Saturn started training me when I was only seven. I have far more practice than you, you can be sure. But never mind. I do not need to have you now. I can wait until after the wedding That way you can dread its coming. A far worse punishment in my opinion than taking you here. But just remember, you can't say anything to anyone. After all, we would not want to disappoint Mommy and the Court, would we?" he sneered.
Flustered, I glared at him, viciously with my fists clenched at my sides. "No. I will tell, my Mother. She would never want me to be violated like this by a man I am supposed to one day love!" I screamed, tears now streaming down my face.
"Well in that case, I will tell everyone that you came on to me." Micah replied nonchalantly.
"My Mother will be able to tell you are lying!"
"Serena... I can pull off a simple telepathic block. The only reason it works on commoners is because they do not have any telepathic powers. Our bloodlines do. It is what separates them from us. Your Mother, as powerful as she is, will not be able to tell."
"But my Mother knows me better than that!" I cried in desperation.
"Does she now? Serena you have never been around a man before. She will think it is possible that you came onto me."
He was right. I had only one choice for my husband considering that I was bound by law and tradition to marry a Prince. The other Princesses could marry whomever the chose. That was an asset Lita definitely took a great deal of advantage of. She had dated so many men. Mina, a few. Basically because she felt compelled to as the Princess of Venus, the planet of love. Raye had men falling all over her but was swatting them off like flies, while Amy had a few admirers but really had only dated one guy, a bookworm like herself. Helen was not yet old enough to date, Sharon was too busy with being the guardian of time and all, and Michelle and Alex just hung around each other a lot. There was no other possibility of person I could marry.
It was then that a servant entered the room and with the door opened for me, I turned and ran out, sobbing. When I was almost out the door, I heard him say, "It was my pleasure talking to you, Dear. See you soon. I will call upon you so we can start our wedding plans." He cackled as I left, leaving a very confused servant standing with a tray of food.
For the next month, I did not leave my quarters. My Mother asked me what was wrong and I simply told her I was feeling poorly and that I wished to be left alone. Micah had tried to call upon me twice. However, he found his invitations twice declined. I was furious at him, furious at my life, and furious at myself. How could I have allowed this to happen? I felt so dirty from the way he touched me. I must have taken a dozen showers that night. But it was pointless. There was nothing that I could do about what was done or what was going to be done with my future. I felt so sick every time I thought about the life ahead of me. I was
One late afternoon, my Mother came into my room with a broad smile across her face. "Serena, you know how you love the theatre?" I turned my head slowly toward her.
"Yes. Why?" I asked tentatively. Normally when my Mother had that look on her face, she had volunteered me for some activity without telling me so that way I could not say no.
"Well, I thought it would be fun if you were in a play. You love watching them so much, I knew you would enjoy playing a role. You have always loved the stage Serena. Your ice skating competitions and all, I know you will love it. Please say you will go. It will give you a chance to meet some of our subjects. It is at the community theatre. Oh Serena, you shall love it, I promise."
I sighed. I could never say no to my Mother after she had gotten herself all worked up about something. She was so excited and she wanted to see me happy again and out of my room. She looked so pathetically hopeful that I agreed.
As it turned out, the play was fun. We were to perform a play called Brigadoon. It was from Earth. We all had a wonderful time working on our lines and making mistakes during rehearsals. Luckily, Mother had signed me up as a girl named Jasmine, so with the help of the disguise power pen, I was not recognized by any of the people in the theatre. Instead of my long gold locks and blue eyes I had short black hair with green eyes. That was good, for I would have never have experienced what it's like to be a normal person doing a play.
One night, everyone else had left the theatre, but I stayed behind. I loved the looking at the sets and just taking it all in. I sat in the audience and just pondered the significance of what I was doing and what I was a part of. It was then that I heard somebody walking up behind me. I was a bit startled. I thought everyone else had left. I jumped out of my seat and ran to the stage, where I could oversee everything clearly.
There was a man walking up the center isle. I couldn't make out his face. My heart stopped. I was struck with fear as I realized who it was.
It was Micah. Mother must have told him where I was. Now what? I have nowhere to go, nobody's here, and he looks mad enough to kill me. "There you are my little Moon girl."
This is the way he speaks to me? His future wife? His superior in rank? Then the lights came on in the theatre, responding to the movement sensors. I had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I felt like a caged bird about to be pounced on by a cat. I began searching for an escape route.
"Oh. I am so sorry miss, have you seen Princess Serena? I am Prince Micah of Saturn, and she is my fiancé. I was told by Queen Serenity that she was here. Do you know where I might find her?" I studied at Micah a minute, puzzled. I looked down at myself. It was only then I realized that I still looked like Jasmine.
I quickly realized that I should bow if I was a subject. I did so and said, "Yes my good Prince, I believe she is in the dressing room." I thought that maybe if I could convince him Serena, or I rather, was not there, I could get him to leave. He went to the dressing room and I was about to leave the stage when he came and grabbed me from behind. I let out a scream of terror and then struggled to gasp for air as he began to tighten his arm around my neck, cutting off my air supply. "Thought you could fool me, did you not, Serena. Next time do not leave your disguise pen on top of your stuff. Someone might see it and figure out who you really are." With that he raised the pen above my head and made me change back. I looked like me again.
He whipped me around and shoved his tongue down my throat. I felt energy rising inside of me and I blasted him with it. It was enough to get him off me but I stumbled back and fell. I wanted to scream and run for my life, but I was so scared, I could not scream. I could not get my body to respond to my commands to get up and run. My heart rose to my throat as he approached me, a look of pure hatred across his face. "Now Serena did I not warn you about that." 'He is going to kill me', is all I could think. He picked up a nearby glass bowl. It was a prop for the wedding scene. He raised it high and was about to smash it into my skull. I put my hands above my head. I closed my eyes, waiting for pain. The next thing I knew, I heard a loud crash, a thud, and then Micah landed on top of me, causing me to bang my head against the wall, knocking me out cold.
