Shinzoku

The young Diana in mourning

The little girl sits on the cushioned seat wearing a formal, scratchy green satin dress, the skirt reaching her ankles, her most recent guardian put her in. A servant is pulling her fiery curls into a tight braid.

“Arianne,” the little girl whines, in her sweet voice, her seven-year-old patience running out, “it’s too tight!”

“Diana,” the brown haired woman responds gently. “You need to look perfect for the royal family. The prince is your age, so maybe King Endymion and Queen Gaia will let you two play once you’re introduced.”

Her skilled hands finish weaving the last strands of silken fire into the ornate braid before turning the chair Diana sits in. Brilliant green eyes meet gentle brown.

“Now, little girl, promise me you’re going to be on your best behavior.”

“I promise. Arianne?” Her wide green eyes start to take a frightened look to them.

“Hai?”

Delicate red brows wrinkle. “Will you be coming with me?”

“Oh, sweet one…” With a quiet sigh, she strokes the girl’s soft cheek. “You know I can’t. I’m just a servant, and servants can’t attend a presenting. Count and Countess Denarius will be presenting you to the royalty.”

Diana’s lip trembles a little. “B..but…they’re so mean! I won’t even be living with them anymore in another two years…! I wish Da was still alive…”

Arianne pulls the girl into her arms. “Shh…don’t cry, dear. Your mother and father are always with you. They’ve always loved you and always will, no matter how strict or mean people are to you.”

The girl sniffles a little and nods, looking up at the woman as she speaks. What she’s saying makes a lot of sense, and it helps to sooth her fears a little.

“This is a very touching scene, Arianne, but is she ready yet?” demands a cultured male voice impatiently from the doorway.

“Hai, sir,” Arianne answers, standing with a bow.

The Countess goes over to Diana and kneels in front of her, tugging some wrinkles out of the dress. “Now, don’t you look pretty! Are you going to be a perfect lady for the King, Queen and Prince?”

Diana nods, straitening up, flipping the waist length braid back over her shoulder. “Yes, ma’am.”

The child looks to Arianne, only to see her friend being scolded by the Count. Her brows furrow. She blinks as the Countess roughly takes her small hand and stands, looking disapprovingly down at her.

“What have I told you about your relations with servants?”

Diana looks up into the older woman’s muddy green-brown eyes. “That they’re inferior to us and we shouldn’t get close to them.” Her eyes cloud with innocent confusion. “But Da said…”

Her brows wrinkle when her hand is squeezed painfully and the Countess cuts her off sharply. “Your father is dead, child. You’d do well to remember that.” The woman frowns at the child’s bowed head and slumped shoulders. “No, you may not cry so soon prior to meeting the King and his family. Head up,” the woman tilts the girl’s chin up before pressing a hand to her lower back, “and straiten up your spine.”

The red-haired girl barely gets the chance to squeeze out another “yes, ma’am” before the Countess takes off towards the stables with her in tow.

She stands stiffly between the Count and Countess before King Endymion, Queen Gaia and Prince Endymion. The Prince is a boy of seven years with his mother’s dark hair and his father’s deep blue eyes. He’s clothed in a royal blue tunic ornamented with gold, and black trousers. The decorations and style matches the gown his almond-eyed mother wears and the robe his brown haired father is draped in. Besides them, the massive, ornately adorned room is strangely empty.

“King Endymion, Queen Gaia and Crown Prince Endymion, I would like to present you with Diana Shinrai, daughter of the late Harmony Blaze of Earth and Yuken Shinrai of the Moon,” Count Denarius says formally, his voice echoing slightly through the massive chamber, as Diana curtsies exactly as told to.

“Ah, yes. I remember Harmony and Yukan,” the King says as he beckons the girl closer. “Come here so Gaia and I can get a better look at you, Diana.”

She starts to go up to the royal family, but stops when the Countess’s fingers tighten on her slender shoulder.

“Your manners, Diana,” she says in a suitably soft voice.

She blinks a little, now a little frightened of any anger she might have provoked. She still speaks in the clear, chime like voice of a confident little girl, though. “Thank you for this great honor, your majesties.” She curtsies again before the Countess would let her make her way up the steps to stand before the King. Already a small framed child, thanks to the Moon in her blood, she’s dwarfed by the King, who stands at 6’2” and is well muscled.

“Come now, Countess,” he comments as he kneels in front of Diana so he can look her in the eye. “Let the girl have her childhood.” He then smiles at Diana. “How you’ve grown, Diana! The last time I saw you, you were barely a week old! You’re a very pretty little girl.”

She smiles sweetly at him. “Thank you, your majesty. You knew Mama and Da?” she asks, innocent curiosity in her eyes.

“Yes, I did. Your mother was a good friend of Gaia’s long before either of them met me or your father.” He smiles kindly. “I’m sorry for what happened.”

Her brows wrinkle a little. “Thank you again.”

His smile turns gentle and sympathetic. “Ah, but enough of these sad matters. The Count, Countess, Queen and I have matters to discuss. How would you like my son to show you around?”

She gives him a brave, yet shy smile as the Prince comes over. “I would like that, sir.”

“You don’t have many friends, do you, Diana?” The Queen speaks up with a soft voice, the young girl looking over at the sound.

“No, Ma’am, I don’t. Ki…” She remembers her manners and corrects herself. “Children do not like me because I am an orphan and I am not from just one place.”

Both the King and Queen nod.

“I see. Well, there are other children around the palace, and I’m sure they’re willing to be friends with you,” the King tells her before turning to his son. “Endymion, this is Diana. I’d like you to show her around and introduce her to some of your friends.”

“Yes, father.”

Diana smiles at him and curtsies again. “It was nice meeting you.”

The adults nod back and the Prince takes her hand, leading her out of the throne room.

The Prince walks next to the red-haired girl, looking at her curiously, his nanny following close behind the two children. “What kinds of games do you like to play?” he asks.

“I’m not allowed to play games anymore. The Countess says that I play too rough for the other girls.”

He gives her a funny look. “Huh? What does that mean?”

She shrugs. “I dunno…when Da was still alive, he said it was good how I played. He said that it helped me with what he was teaching me.” She scritches at the neckline of her dress. “But I was allowed to play with the boys then, too, though. The Countess says it’s not proper for a little lady to wrestle with boys. She says I should be playing tea with the little girls. That’s boring!” She pouts a little. “I jus’ think that the Countess and other girls don’t like getting dirty.”

“That’s weird…”

“Yeah…” She tugs at the bodice of her dress and scratches at the neckline again. “What games do you know?”

“Tag, hide ‘n seek…hey! I see Nephrite up ahead! C’mon!” He grins and runs down the path. Diana giggles a little and runs after him, lifting the skirt to her knees, her hard bottomed shoes clicking on the pathway.

“Neph!”

The older boy, about eleven years old and clad in a white training uniform that looks almost like a plainer version of the King’s Guardian’s uniforms, turns, looking up from the book he was reading. “Hello, Prince. Is there something wrong?”

“Iie…wanna play? Aren’t you supposed to be with your family?”

He looks down at his book, then at the boy and girl before him, then back to his book and shrugs.

“My family is getting here this evening, so, sure, why not? Who’s your girlfriend?”

The Prince makes a face. “She’s not my girlfriend! Icky!”

“I’m icky?” Diana asks, unsure of whether to be hurt, angry or both.

“Yeah! You’re a girl!”

“So?” She crosses her thin arms over her chest and pouts cutely. “I bet I could still kick YOUR butt!”

Neph laughs. “Such an attitude! Are you the Princess of Mars, little girl?”

“She’s not a princess!” The young Endymion retorts. “She’s an orphan half blood!”

“My Prince! What a horrible thing to say!” The nanny scolds the boy.

“It’s true, though!” He turns back to Neph, “This’s Diana Shinrai. Her mum was from here and her da was from the Moon.”

“I see.” He bows and gently takes the girl’s hand, kissing the back of it. He chuckles softly at her return curtsy, then looks up at the sound of adults approaching from behind. He bows deeply, causing Diana and Endymion to turn.

“Sphaleraito-sama,” Neph greets the man who approaches. The newcomer stands at 6’4” and is so muscular that the yellow lined white dress uniform jacket strains across the broad chest. He also has short black hair and stern dark eyes.

“Good afternoon, Nephrite, my Prince,” he bows to the prince. “And you must be Diana.” He nods to the slightly awestruck girl, who barely manages to curtsy in return.

“Nice to meet you,” she says softly, bright green eyes wide.

“Are you alright, Miss Shinrai?”

“Y…yes, sir.” She pauses for a moment, looking up at him, eyes still wide with naive amazement. “You’re just so big!”

The man bursts into laughter and kneels in front of her, looking into her bright eyes. He reads through the innocent openness, her sorrow, confusion and sparkle of joyful magic that fights its way through to the surface being the foremost things he sees in those orbs of green. He smiles gently and picks her up in kind, strong arms. “Come, there is some news you need to hear.”

“Uhm,” she reflexively puts a slender arm around the back of his neck, eyes wide, “ok.”

Diana’s grip tightens a little on the back of Sphalerite’s cape as he begins walking back to the palace with one arm supporting the little girl, leaving his other hand free to hold the curious Prince’s small hand. Nephrite follows with the nanny.

The big man takes them back to the throne room. He sets Diana down on her feet and kneels in front of her. Brushing a few curls that came loose out of her face, he looks into her eyes again.”

“You are in for some very big changes, little one. I know you are strong and these past two years have been hard on you. Just be brave, ok?”

She nods quietly, brows furrowed slightly. “Alright, Sphaleraito-san.”

With that, they step into the room, which is now pretty crowded with courtesans. The crowd parts and bows as the Guardian, Crown Prince, paradoxly shy, bold girl, Guardian-in-training and royal nanny pass through in single file. At the front of the room, the King and Queen sit enthroned among their jeweled finery, soon joined by their young son. At the base of the stares, two on each side, stand three men, all clad like Sphalerite, but  uniforms lined with different colors. The man with the bright red lining was 6’0” and built like a runner. He has stunning red-brown eyes and shoulder length blue-black hair. Beside him stands a man of 6’1” with an average build and light green lining on his uniform. His hip length light brown hair is bound in a braid much like Diana’s, and he watches the newcomers with piercing blue-green eyes. The man Spalerite goes to stand by is 5’10”, his uniform lined with tan. He’s also very well muscled with gentle gray eyes and honey blond hair that falls just beyond his shoulders. They’re introduced as Latorlite, Diorite and Andesite, respectively. With Sphalerite, the four of them make up the King’s team of Guardians.

Nephrite stops at the edge of the nobility with the Prince’s nanny, while Diana joins the unsettled looking Count and Countess Denarius before the group of Guardians.

“Now that we are all here, I would like to introduce the newest member of the royal household,” the King proclaims, standing and holding a hand out to Diana.

The small girl looks at him in confusion before looking to the Count and Countess. The woman she’s so used to being scolded by gently nudges her forward, making her stumble a little. She blinks and heads up the stairs again, timidly taking the King’s large hand. She cranes her head to look up at him as he speaks.

“This is Diana Shinrai. Her mother, a family friend by the name of Harmony Blaze, died while giving birth to her on a shuttle between here and the Moon.

Two years ago, shortly after she reached her fifth birthday, her father, Yukan Shinrai, a Moon citizen, was killed before her eyes in a riding accident a few miles north of the palace grounds. It was her parents’ wish that she learn of both worlds, because she is the embodiment of a union of the two, so it was agreed upon that she spends alternating periods of five years between the Earth and the Moon.

Because of her unique position and loss of her parents, Queen Gaia and I have decided to allow her to stay here during her stays on Earth. She will receive training from my Guardians as well as our Queen’s ladies.

I have spoken to Queen Serenity of the Moon, and she has agreed to take Diana under her wing during her stays on the Moon. The royal Senshi will also train her.”

There’s stunned silence as this sinks in. Diana stands frozen for a moment before responding quietly, “Thank you, King Endym…” She’s cut off at the loud, chime-like music that suddenly fills the room.

In the center of the room, midway between the vaulted ceiling and the heads of the courtiers, a figure begins forming from a sudden vortex of golden sparkles beside another of silver sparkles. The sparkling gold takes the form of a petite red-haired, green-eyed woman clothed in shimmering robes of ethereal platinum. The silver forms into a man of just over six foot with a graceful, almost delicate build, like Diana’s. His hair is a sparkling mass of blond curls, his eyes pale blue. He wears clothing matching the woman’s, except it’s sterling in color.

“Da…! Mama…!” Diana whispers, tears tracking down her fragile face. She lets go of the King’s hand and holds both of her own up to her ethereal parents.

The ghostly man and woman float down to their living daughter amid the stares of all present. The woman folds her arms around the daughter she gave her life to bring into this world. The child clings to the mother she never got the chance to know.

The ghostly man stands before King Endymion and smiles gently, bowing deeply. “Thank you.”

King Endymion, shocked nearly into silence, bows back. “I will love and protect your daughter as my own.”

The man smiles. “I know.” He then turns to his small daughter and her mother. “Diana,” he says softly as he joins the two. “We both love you, sweetheart, and know you’ll make us proud. We have one last gift to give you.”

They each kiss the softly crying little girl before standing and facing each other. They grip their hands togehter, his right wih her left. There’s a bright flash of light, and they’re suddenly holding a beautiful silver sword with a jeweled hilt. As one, they let go and the sword hovers over to Diana.

“Our sweet child,” the woman says softly, “This sword is bound to you, and you will learn how to use it over the years. Use it to protect yourself and the ones you love. It will help to bring out your true potential, but remember, your true strength is,” she floats over and presses a hand to her daughter’s chest, right over her heart, “here, and” she touches her forehead, “here. Your father and I will always love you.”

The father goes over to the trembling little girl and they both embrace her again as the sword seems to sink into her body, becoming one with her. She closes her eyes and the muscles in her back tense, causing it to arch as the immense wave of power rushes through her small body. The man and woman lovingly lower her to the ground when she passes out from the stress. Yukan stays by his daughter’s side, caressing her cheek as Harmony looks up at the King.

“I always knew you were a good man, Endy,” she says softly. “Your son will make you proud.”

The entire room watches silently as the two spirits vanish after bidding their final farewell, leaving their only daughter to begin a new life.

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