Wish Upon A Star Part 3-A (Aqua Illusion)
Zoicite of the West had plainly fallen for a maiden, and it was the talk of the
kingdom that their prince of ice had finally found love. Except they weren't
quite sure who it was, but the greatest gossip of the town was determined to
find out who it was.
"I hearsay that when his best friend, the King of the North, visited with his
new wife, beautiful creature, absolutely breathtaking, was shocked to find such
a change come over our prince. Pale skin almost tan, chinks of green ice coming
to life."
"Come, Miranda, that surely isn't possible," scoffed a lady out for the
morning's shopping. A gaggle of harpies were out in front of the greengrocer's.
The plump woman insisted,"I swear it! King Kunzite was indeed shocked, and he's
sent for the last two of the Four Kings! He also wasn't paying attention to
anything, and word has it that for once, his tutor has became dissatisfied with
his royal student's work! Daydreaming in class, ‘e says. Heard it from his
sister when I went to have tea with her just a week ago!"
Skeptically raising her eyebrows, yet another housewife joined them, toting a
child, a basket, and holding the hand of yet another child's. "Really? Perhaps
they just want to have a conference, Miranda. And did it ever occur to you that
people don't always daydream for love?"
"Move along there ladies, please, you're blocking the doorway and my
customers." With those semi-polite words, the greengrocer wiped his dirt-caked
hands on his apron and shooed them away from the front of his store (at least
the ones that had finished the haggling at his shop), but that didn't mean that
the rumors had ended. No, the situation was far from it.
~~~*~~~
"Ho, Jadeite!" called a smiling brown-haired man. He was the second of the Four
Kings, Nephrite of the South. He had chosen to pack lightly and was currently
riding his favorite mount, Aquila, named for the constellation of the eagle.
Waving and sending a grin in return, Jadeite of the East knew they were in for
an interesting fortnight. Even Endymion, who rarely strayed far from Elysion,
was bringing his sister, of whom he was highly protective of. In fact, none of
them remembered ever seeing her, but the Prince of the Earth (his overall title)
had said they had the same color but that Rei had purple eyes. Behind Jadeite
sat his cousin, one of his two cousins, actually. Princess Serenity also sent a
friendly beam towards Nephrite, on her white horse Luna. The trio of cousins
were all blond-haired and blue-eyed, although the shades of blond and eye color
varied. Serenity and Jadeite had nearly the same shade, Mina's was just a bit
lighter. The first of the three had light blue eyes, the second azure, and the
last, a cheery cornflower blue. Mina had met Kunzite when the solemn,
silver-haired man had come to see one of his good friends, and the two had fell
in love. Jadeite had smirked a great deal at their wedding and even before,
giving them his full blessing. He now drew his horse closer to Nephrite's and
asked softly, "Do you think what all the villagers have been whispering about is
true?"
"Why, Jade, you actually paid attention to them?" he asked in return,
surprised.
Grinning wider and flashing him a roguish wink, the prince laughed off, "They
were women, that was why."
Serenity gave her cousin a reproving look, overhearing everything. "Nephrite,
it's a pleasure to see you again. Still not married?"
"Likewise for such a fair beauty as you, Serenity." He smiled as she blushed.
They were just friends, but he could be as charming and gentlemanly (more) as
Jadeite when he wanted to be. "No, I fear that I doomed to become...er...the
opposite of an old maid."
"Hey, I resent that!" she told him, blue eyes twinkling. "Nevermind, we've all
got a lot of time left. So what did Kunzite say that brought us all here in such
a hurry?"
Jadeite ducked to avoid her slap when he said, "You didn't have to come, Sere,
but you did anyway. Joking, joking!"
Trying to refrain from laughing, Nephrite told them, "To put it simply, our
silver-haired commander says he's flipped."
"That's not a surprise, Zoi was always batty," the other man mumbled under his
breath.
He had to veer away from the golden-haired princess as she reached out again.
"Just because you're not as studious, smart, or handsome as Zoicite is-"
"Are we talking about the same guy?"
"JADE!!"
The Prince of the South smiled, things were back to normal once more. As they
continued up towards the palace, he knew they were in for a pleasant and noisy
visit. While his sharp, dark blue eyes took in nearly everything, he missed a
wisp of fog, a hint of blue in the trees...
~~~*~~~
"So, Zoi, what's she like?" asked Mina, smiling secretively. She loved playing
matchmaker...her husband started and sent her a warning look, but she just shook
out her long blond tresses and pretended to ignore him.
Meanwhile, the Prince of the West choked and tried not to upset his inkstand.
"What? She?" Despite the real shock in his tone, Zoicite's brilliant green eyes
grew dreamy and lost their alertness while Kunzite and Mina shot each other
triumphant looks.
The King of the North really had to hand it to his wife sometimes. "Zoi, don't
try denying it. We all know you've fallen in love..."
"No, I haven't. But there is this one lady..."
Rolling his eyes, the silver-haired one inquired, "And may I ask her name?
Where she's from?"
"I don't know, I haven't spoken to her."
Blinking, the recently-crowned Queen of the North sat down in a chair to digest
this. Calm, level-headed Zoicite had actually fallen for someone he'd never met?
The Fates definitely had their little pinkies in this pie...and that meant that
this girl was surely someone that would make them all sit up and take notice.
"Do you at least know what she looks like?"
Hazily, he replied, "Oh yes...she was magnificent blue hair, shining,
lustrous...and eyes of the same medium blue, glinting with intelligence, and
wisdom...yet she's so sad. I can see it in her eyes."
"You've gotten close enough to get a good look at her eyes but haven't talked
to her?" Now Kunzite had to agree with Jadeite, his best friend and the youngest
of the Four Kings was definitely going off his rocker.
However, he was saved from answering when Endymion burst in, grinning, dragging
a protesting, beautiful girl behind him. "Endy, I don't think it's really that
proper to just burst in, no matter how good of a friend they are..."
"Hey, Endy!" Both Kunzite and Zoicite sprang up to give him a good hard slap on
the back, and once the ebony-haired prince had stopped reeling, he was able to
give Mina a kiss on the cheek.
"Dear, dear, Endymion, you're still as handsome as ever," the golden-haired
goddess grinned teasingly, she could sense Kunzite's jealousy across the room
now. "But your manners seem to have taken a turn for the worse."
"What?"
Pointedly, Zoicite said, "You have yet to introduce, at least formally
introduce, your sister to us. Princess Rei, it's a pleasure to finally meet
you."
Her pale skin was warmed to a rose color as the two kissed her hand. "It's a
pleasure to meet you as well. Really, Endy, I don't understand why you confine
me to the palace at Elysion!"
"There are dangerous men out there, and I'm protecting my little sister,"
Endymion told them defensively.
Rei shot back at him, "While the vultures out there circle for their prey? I
can take very good care of myself, thank you."
The other woman in the room smiled, she definitely liked her fiery spirit.
"Rei, if I may call you that, it's also a pleasure. I'm Mina, since my kind
husband and his friends have forgotten to introduce me, but I've just barely
married Kunzite."
The raven-haired girl analyzed her sharply for a minute before returning the
smile. "Yes, you may. And don't worry, I've grown up with my brother and his
inconsiderate ways."
Endymion's protests were cut off when three more burst in, a profusion of hugs,
kisses, and pats on the back went around. This time, shooting a look at his
giggling wife, Kunzite said, "Princess Rei, allow me to introduce-this time-the
Prince of the East, Jadeite, and his cousin, the Princess Serenity. And the last
one is our Fourth King, although not yet crowned because he has not married
*ahem*, Nephrite of the South."
Grumpily, Nephrite told them all quite vocally, "Stop making such a big deal of
it. Besides, Kunz, the wedding was all Mina's doing-if she hadn't insisted,
you'd probably have waited another century or two."
*dryly* "I'm not sure if that's a compliment, Neph..."
"Mina, beautiful as you're looking and jealous as Kunzite is getting, I'm not
sure if it's one either..."
"JADEITE!!!"
~~~*~~~
That night, the Princess Lita, who was a very distant cousin of Zoicite's,
arrived. A gigantic banquet commenced to honor the guests, and their
slightly-lonely host snuck away from the scenes. Endymion and Serenity had
gotten along very well, Rei and Jadeite were flirting (much to the former's
brother's chagrin), Lita and Nephrite were conversing animatedly (the second was
no longer enduring threats and bribes from his friends to get married), and he
was pretty sure that Mina and Kunzite were walking hand-in-hand in a garden
nearby. The one Zoicite was journeying to was a more private and secluded one,
on the edge of a shimmering lake. The full moon shed its silver light elegantly,
magically. Pretty soon, the one he desired to see appeared. She was like a
sprite, a nymph, gracefully skimming across the surface. She was filled with an
ethereal and slightly unreal light, resembling shadows, but not dark ones.
Poetry and music filled the long, fair-haired prince's head as he watched her.
She stopped her midnight wanderings to come over to him and peer at him
curiously, shyly, tucking veils of fog around her until only her large blue eyes
were visible. Before, though, Zoicite had caught a glimpse of delicate, pink,
petal-like lips, pale skin, and a pert nose. Before she could leave, as she did
every night when the sun started its ascend into the sky, he bowed to her and
said, "Gentle lady, please don't go. Tell me about yourself."
Looking at him sadly, for the first time to him, she whispered softly, "I
cannot."
"Can you at least tell me your name?" he pleaded, desperately.
Smiling down on him so that Zoicite felt an angel blessed him, she chose not to
answer and sped away on the surface once more. His dreamy gaze faltered when the
sun started rising, her form became to shine with the same unearthly glow that
made her all the more mysterious, beautiful, and attractive. A last wisp of fog
reached him, and a crystalline voice whispered in his ear, "Ami. My name is
Ami."
~~~*~~~
On the whole, Miranda was thoroughly shocked and delighted at the state of
things in the Western Prince's palace. The idle chatter around the town reached
her ears:
"So it's true, then, that the Prince of Elysion and the Earth has fallen for
the Princess Serenity? Yes, I believe it, what an excellent pair they make."
"They look so well together, but I hear that the Prince Nephrite has fallen for
Prince Zoicite's distant cousin, a brunette beauty with the liveliest green eyes
you've ever seen...."
"That's right, they say her name is ‘Lita.' Pretty name, isn't it? But that
isn't all, the Queen of the North is rumored to have set up Prince Endymion's
younger sister with Prince Jadeite..."
"The one they call ‘the Firebrand?'"
"None other! She's a real beauty, like the Queen Mina, no wonder Endymion kept
her away from the eyes of the public, alabaster white skin, long raven tresses,
and the eyes..."
"Indeed, the eyes, it's heard that the Prince of the East could talk of no
other. Like living amethysts, it's said."
She swooped in with jubilation and delight on the usual crowd, adding to the
grapevine. "The servants at the palace tell me that each night the Prince
Zoicite goes out until dawn, and his eyes are getting bags and dark circles!"
The brought a new hush of whispers, exclamations, and theories. "You don't
think he has a lover, do you?"
"I doubt it, our shy prince? He probably gazes at his chosen hopelessly the
whole night, with her never knowing. Who do you think the lucky girl is??"
But it was that question that was on everyone's minds, no matter if they wanted
it there or not. Particularly, the Four Kings, their ruler, and the four women
at the palace were puzzled but certainly not in the position to ponder when they
were all entangled in love lives themselves...except one lady they called the
reincarnate of the goddess Aphrodite.
~~~*~~~
Zoicite settled down on the hard ground for another night, mindless of the
grass stains on his velvet pants. His green tunic that matched his emerald eyes
wonderfully had the sleeves rolled up impatiently, a few twigs and leaves
brushed off now. He wanted to ask more...more...every night he was permitted to
ask one question, and she answered only that one while still leaving a flair of
mystery. For example:
"Where do you come from, Lady Ami?"
"From the ocean, from the seas, and from the element water itself," she smiled.
"Who are you parents, Lady Ami?"
"The two who bore me. The ones that rule all that is liquid."
"Then Lady Ami, are they a king and queen?"
She smiled that smile of hers he had grown to love, to yearn for. Softly, she
replied, "In a sense, my lord. Prince Zoicite of the West."
"Lady Ami, how do you know that I am the Prince of the West?"
"There are a great many things I know, Prince Zoicite, and that is just one
among many."
"What do you feel, Lady Ami?"
"Sometimes nothing, other times everything. And sometimes emotions unknown
completely to me and my people."
Tonight was a special night, the night before his birthday. It was going to be
the last day of the full moon tomorrow, but he wasn't paying attention to the
phases of the moon anymore, losing some of his scholarly appetite. Zoicite was
not looking forward to the swarm of ladies that were going to be deflected from
his friends, since they all had women now, and he did not. She appeared on the
lake once more, dancing for him, only for him. As the evening drew to a close,
she sat on the water as if it were a chair, solid. She smiled at him, bemused,
and waited for his daily, or rather nightly, question. And it came, as expected.
"Lady Ami, have you a special person in your life?"
The smile faded. "No, my lord, I do not. I have no sisters, except a cousin
whom I hold dear to me, but the ruler of the skies now holds her heart. I have a
great many suitors, none of which care for me. They want the power royalty
holds, the type of royalty I have that is different than your's yet the same."
With that, Ami disappeared in a flash while he was left to ponder. His strange
happiness that she seemed not to have a husband or a man she loved, faded. She
was so sad...Little did he know that someone in the bushes was watching them and
had been watching for the past two nights.
~~~*~~~
Mina bit her lip and tried to decide whether it would be wise to approach him
tonight. She knew what his "Lady Ami" was, for her land and heritage was rich in
tales and legends. And magic. She knocked on his door and then came in at his
greeting, more cheerful than ever yet lacking the will for life. Plain life. He
wanted the day to be over with, to live by the water and at night. By the light
of the full moon. "Greetings, Zoicite."
"Hello, Mina. Something the matter?" he asked, one blond eyebrow raised. There
seemed to be no one else with her... "No Kunzite, or any of the ladies?"
She laughed slightly, a tinkling of bells that sounded to him a bit like Ami's
but still different. Everything was different about her... "Kunzite, my dear
Kunzite, is busy with some paperwork, and I couldn't get him to stop and pay
some attention to me. I believe Rei and Jadeite have gone riding, for she has
bet that she can beat him on Burning-Bright. And then Endymion and Serenity
follow, the former to make sure his little sister doesn't break her neck, the
second for the excitement and to follow him. Lita and Nephrite have gone as
well, they're racing Storm-Bringer and Aquila. *pause* Yes, something's the
matter."
Putting down his work and taking off his glasses, he examined their dirty
lenses and rubbed them clean. "I figured, otherwise you probably would have gone
along."
The Queen of the North nodded, discomfort creeping into her tone. "I-I-I've
been, forgive me, Zoi, but I've been spying on you."
*coolly* "Whatever for, Mina?"
"Because you've come home every night near sunrise, and the servants say you've
been doing that since the full moon started. We're concerned for you, Zoicite,
we're your friends."
Mildly puzzled, Zoicite pushed the bridge of his glasses further up and
surveyed her. "I know that. I suppose you've seen her?"
"Yes, she's a beauty."
"That she is." If Jadeite had said that, his statement might have been
accompanied by a whistle, but he merely had a hint of longing and sadness.
"Zoi, she's not what you think."
Raising both his eyebrows again, Zoicite's emerald eyes took on a closed
hardness, shiny, like a mineral or rock. "I barely now what to think. She seems
like a sprite, a nymph, a spirit."
Breath catching in her throat, Mina said earnestly, "But that's what she is.
Barely anything but an illusion, a prank of fairies."
"No. NO! Mina, stop that. What are you trying to say? Ami's wonderful. She
isn't an illusion, she's REAL."
Sadly, she told him, "You've been bewitched, Zoicite. By an illusion, an aqua
illusion."
Voice and nerves strained, he told her, "Please go. I appreciate the advice,
but you don't know Ami like I do. She's a reality. My only light in the
darkness, I've always despised my life as a prince."
Closing the door, on her way out, Mina whispered softly, "You don't know her,
either."
~~~*~~~
That night, the Prince of the West trudged through the undergrowth and greenery
to be greeted by the sight once more. Mina had persuaded Kunzite, who made the
other six come along as well, to watch. They now hid in the bushes, and none of
the two they were monitoring noticed or heard. Settling down comfortably,
Zoicite felt that his nerves had been pushed a bit. There was an odd ring of
truth to Mina's words, and he wanted to check. Just to double-check...He didn't
bother to wait until she came this time. "Lady Ami, I'd like to ask another
question."
Her luminous blue eyes glinted with grief and sorrow, but she surprised him.
"You may ask as many as you like tonight, my lord."
Without bothering to ask why, the fair-haired prince plunged on, "What are you
called? Just Ami?"
"Not always just plain Ami. The water nymph, sprite, Aquarius in the female
form, and I've even been called by weather names. The Lady of the Mists,
Commander of the Fog, Wielder of Water, and-and Princess of Ice." Her voice
shook on the last words, as did her fingers. They could visibly see the long,
slender appendages as she raised them high above her head, tilting her head back
to show off a creamy white neck. She was perfect, an immortal perfect that
stunned the surveyors.
"Lady Ami, why are your eyes so sad?"
Sapphires met emeralds for a breathtaking instant as she replied, in the
crystalline tone he yearned to hear during the day and even during the night.
"Because I have to leave you tonight, my lord. Forever. And I shall never be
able to see you again."
"Why?? WHY??" The blood pounded furiously in Zoicite's veins, filling his ears
with a thumping that alarmed him.
Sighing, the beautiful lady, more like a girl, sat once more and ignored the
gasps. "I'd like to spin you a tale, Prince of the West. Zoicite. Zoi. I want to
tell you everything-because I love you, and because I have to go. My father is
indeed a king, my mother a queen. They aren't from these realms, and I, who have
never showed them disobedience or temper, come and came here secretly each
night. It wasn't because of you in the beginning, for I hardly knew you. I still
don't, yet I love you, and I don't see how it's possible. But you've prolonged
my visits, and my parents will find out soon. It stops tonight, not because of
them, but I can't come here anymore when the full moon doth not shine upon these
waters."
Voice shaking, as his entire body was, the prince asked, "A-a-are you really an
illusion?"
"Some call me that. But no, I don't consider myself one. Specter, chimera,
apparition, daydream, fantasy, fabrication-"
"Stop, please."
Her tone stayed light throughout, and Ami watched the horizon. "It's almost
time for me to go. I forgot to tell you another one of my names, though.
Mirage."
The sun began coming up, and he demanded, as her form started to shiver
uncontrollably, "Why can you never see me again? Another full moon will come."
"I can't live like this, and neither can you, prince. I'm not a creature of the
night, nor am I of the day or light. I come...from the water. I was born from
the water. And I control the water. You are of different form than I am, and we
could never be together, forever."
Her words echoed eerily in the mist... "We could never be together,
forever...never be together, forever....together forever...forever..." Zoicite
tried to seize her around the waist, to keep her from going. He touched nothing,
his hands went through her, and they were wet. "Ami...don't go."
Tears shimmered in her eyes and began falling down her cheeks. "I must....or I
shall die. I told you, we can't exist this way. You are of mortal descent,
slightly, although your oldest ancestor wasn't. It doesn't matter. It can't
matter now."
Wonderingly, he kissed her, or at least tried to. This made the teardrops come
quicker, faster, and more often. "I love you, Prince of the West. Zoi. I love
you, Zoi." With one last twinkling, she was gone, her crystalline voice, her
perfect features.
Zoicite's friends came to surround him sympathetically, although their mouths
were hanging wide open, incapacitating them of any speech. He shook them off,
and on impulse, he leapt into the water, in the last patch of silver moonlight.
The other four men leapt after him, but after minutes of fruitless searching,
Kunzite came up puzzled to tell them (although it was also for air). "He's-he's
gone. I mean, there isn't a body, and he couldn't have drifted."
"Magic," Rei said flatly, purple eyes burning.
~~~*~~~
And from that night forth, on one occasion of the full moon per year, you see a
lovely couple dancing across a surface now hidden to the world. Only a few very
special people get to glimpse it, but King Endymion and Queen Serenity, King
Jadeite and Queen Rei, King Nephrite and Queen Lita, and lastly, King Kunzite
and Queen Mina, made sure to journey there every time. For the lucky people
glimpsed a handsome, long, curly blond-haired prince bowing and asking his
princess to dance. She was blue-eyed and blue-haired, flawless in appearance,
and the sadness in her eyes was replaced by love, an emotion she had rarely
experienced up until then. And they danced the nights away, for just those days
of the full moon, the most perfect couple that had ever been seen, skimming
across the surface of the lake. The shining aqua illusions.
~END~