Oracle of Dreams Tempests of the Past By Iruka Updated: 7:33 PM 7/21/2001 Website: www.angelfire.com/anime2/iruka/fanfiction.html ~~~~~~~~ Short, I know, but I needed to get something out! At least it is something!!!! Insert standard disclaimer here. ~~~~~~~~~ Queen Serenity Solene regarded the tall, slender man stand straight and tall before her. She hid her smirk. The man was beyond tall. He was perhaps the tallest man she had ever seen, especially for a noble man. He was far too tall for his own good in fact, always hitting his head upon her poor doorways or falling down steps to short for his large feet. Then again, he was her dearest friend and such clumsiness was allowed. "My Queen." He said with a bow, almost comically struggling to bring his immense bulk back into its proper upright position. "Peleus, it is my pleasure. My castle has not known your joy in far to long. We have been much deprive, my lord." Serenity acknowledge with a tilt of her head, her grin overcoming her inner strength and spreading like a field of wild roses back on earth across her beautiful if pale face. "Ah, but my dear Serenity, I think that my beloved betrothed would not be pleased with me if I had stayed with you. All know how Jovians get when their betroths are far and other women are near." Peleus declared, his face eclipsed by a broad grin as bright as the sun itself. "So true my dear Peleus. Jovian women, even half blooded, are known for their jealousness, even when it is a truthful sense." Serenity threw back her head and let out a soothing chortle of bubbly peals of silver laughter, her pearly tear flashing against her red lips. "My dear Queen, how I have missed thee!" Peleus roared, slapping his knee rather hard. "I do think our mirth is overtaking our good sense, my Peleus. Perhaps a tad more solemnity to our conversation would prevent such unnecessary pain." Serenity pronounced carefully, bringing her mirth under control as she watched Peleus' face contort in exaggerated pain. Peleus flashed a smile at Serenity. "Ah, but my Queen, my oldest and dearest of friends, I have missed thee much. Far more in fact then I have missed this palace of silver marble." "You were never partial to silver marble Peleus. Much preferring the natural woods of your home." Serenity said in mock forlornness. Peleus chuckled, but a dark shadow crossed his face. "Unfortunately, I have not come just for mirth and pleasure, Serenity. I come before you on an important mission, one I did not even trust my uncle with." "I dare think no one would trust King Jove." Serenity snipped, then shook her head. "Sorry, Peleus, but Jove and I have always shared the same animosity towards each other." "He does not like women he can not put a child into. You do not like men who only want to put children in you and then leave you to your business. Not that I blame you in your animosity towards Jove. After all, his treatment of Io`ainne is nearly criminal. But he his King of Jupiter, and I am only his nephew." "And my friend." Serenity said with a strength she rarely exhibited. Peleus smiled. "And you. But, my mission must not wait. The terror of the Nemesis Cult has come before the Inner planets. I am sorry, my Queen, but many of your Kings and Queens have already fallen to the enemy." "And your marriage to Thetis will not improve things, I am sure." "Unity between the Inner and Outer territories is perhaps the worst thing for the vile Cult, your majesty, especially with the newest prophesy." Serenity grimaced. "I savagely dislike having the Oracle tell me what I can and can not do! As if all matters of life and rule were controlled by a faceless entity. And yet, too much has been foretold that has brought to life truth. My own coming to the thrown was foretold, and here I am." Once again, a smile touched Peleus' handsome face. "You always hated others telling you what to do." "Yes, I always have." She remarked impiously, a smile stretched out on her fair features, her eyes sparkling with some remembrance of their shared childhood, hundreds of years prior in the very beginning of the Silver Millennium, when Serenity Solene’s mother Cyrene ruled. "Your majesty, I would love to sit here and speak in font remembrance of our shared youth, but please, allow me to continue with my mission. For, it is not only my true love who looks with a watchful eye towards my meeting with you." "What?!" Serenity exclaimed, her eyes gapping with unabashed fury. "That vile, common-born Cult dares to spy on ME!" Peleus grinned at his dear friends outrage, but that grin faded as a more pensive expression came to light in the darkness of his face. "This cult was created, if your majesty cares to remember, by the Late Queen of Nemesis’ youngest sister Brunhilde-" "Ah, yes." Serenity practically spat out, "Brunhilde. Lover of darkness, minion of second rate demons, mother of half hearted fiends. A worthless sorceress, not worth the essence within her veins!" Boldly she pronounced, discarding the vile woman with a wave of her hand. "She may be the darkest foe of your rein, Serenity. Her powers-" "Are nothing compared to the might of the Ginzuishou. My silver crystal is invincible." Serenity stubbornly said as she touched the magnificent gem which hung around her neck on it's customary rope of silver metal, catching and displaying all the lights in the throne room and reflecting them in its many facets. "So you say, Serenity, but that crystal has never truly been tested. And don’t be overconfident in that pretty crystal, either, my Queen." "Is that a threat?" Alarm creeping into her voice, Serenity Solene regarded her friend warily. "No. I would never threaten you. But like all good friends, which I will forever be, I come here to warn you about the Cult and know you this: the Cult has tainted the hearts of good men and women. What would happen if your heart, silver and pure, was corrupted? I only ask that you guard against the oncoming night. I heard, however, that Neptune was... enraptured with it’s spring night skies." "I knew that they had turned." Serenity snapped, "Do you think me a half-witt? And this Cult truly is the least of my worries. They aren’t even THAT dangerous." Peleus’ eyes flashed with anger. "Then your majesty hasn’t heard the current news from Nemesis. This ‘certainly not dangerous’ cult has taken lives. It is said that they have attacked one of Nemesis' moons and killed over a hundred million lives." "Do you have proof? Or is this just a spun tale woven in hopes of squashing a political opponent by the might of the Ginzuishou?" Even as Serenity Solene spoke, her hands shook, and she clenched the silver crystal, the soft flesh of her hands being cut by the sharp surface of the pure gem. She winced and looked at her bloodied hand, oddly being reassured by the sign of her mortality. "What more proof do you need besides that of my word? Or that of your twin aunts, the final Solaris Princesses." "They were at Nemesis? And they did not report directly to me?!" Peleus regarded his Queen and friend for a moment, then shook his head. "I love thee overmuch, I fear, for I am so used to your selfish outburst that one didn’t even bother me." The enraged Queen, albeit with tears clinging to her pale eyelashes, leaned forward menacingly. "You dare call me selfish? Your soverign? Your Empress?" "Think for a moment Serenity! Think at what you said! The Solaris Princesses are more then your pawns! They are the eldest still functioning Senshi in this Solar System! Their duty if first to the people of far Nemesis, second to the System, and third to you!" Her tears clinging to her eyes, Serenity turned from her angered friend. "I am sorry, Peleus. How arrogaunt and worthless you must see me." "Never, my Queen. For, next to the Senshi who guard us and the Priests who guard our souls, you are the most important being in this System. I would gladly sacrafice myself for you-" "Shush! Don’t speak like that! Eris the trickster might be listening!" Serenity half-gibed, half-counseled. "She might turn your words said in jest and turn them into reality!" "I fear Eris far less then I do the damned cult of Nemesis. From what Princess Daenara de Taiyou, your eldest aunt, told me about the death scene, they truly are from Hades." "This cult must be stopped." Serenity said, a feeling of helplessness creeping into her voice, causing it to tremble as the tears began to shed down her cheeks akin to a cascading waterfall of silver. "That's what we are trying to do, my Queen." Peleus remarked, bowing again before leaving his queen's presence. "That's what we're trying to do." ~~~~~~~~~~~ Well? E-mail me at chibi_iruka@yahoo.com! Originally Peleus came across as a sissy, so I tried to make him stand up to Serenity Solene a bit more. I think in this version she came across as a major... ah... b***h, but that could just be me. I added her tearing up more to create a feeling of the overwhelmed girl who rests inside my version of Serenity. I know, Selenity is more appropriate, but it didn’t sound as good with Solene so I just left it with Serenity. Anyway, I think this is the shortest chapter, with just one scene involved. More to come! On an added note, I want to add that I have written what I think will be the final three installments of Oracle, in an effort to gain control of the story, back from the vile depths of Writer's Block. Isn't it the most vile demon of them all? At least I can understand the Dryer Stealing Sock Demon's motivation- but WB? Anyaway, I've written up to Chapter 5, and will be posting the improved versions up to four throughout the week. Chapter five will be posted next week, although it will be added to my main site on Thursday night.