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Picture Credits:
Waking up in my small but comfortable apartment on a Saturday night, I took a shower, put on khaki cargo pants and a light blue shirt, cleaned off my white tennis shoes, and finally put on my distinctive blue cloak. Dressed for whatever the night might bring, I stepped outside and gazed at the full moon in the sky of downtown Tokyo. After a minute or two, I decided to walk to the Hikawa Shrine and meet my friends, who told me of a meeting around 11:00 p.m. Coming down off of a Mega Man X4 gaming binge earlier in the morning, I whistled the Storm Owl stage theme as I walked along the deserted sidewalk to the shrine. Whistling my merry tune and walking in the lights generated by numerous lightpoles, I arrived at the shrine in about 20 minutes.
Upon arriving I walked up to the door and looked about for any signs of my comrades on the premises. Searching all over the grounds in vain, only one obvious solution was left... knock on the front door! After doing that, I started trying to moonwalk. I expected a welcome with open arms, but instead I got a card to the face!
"Evil Spirit Retreat!" cried Rei's shrill voice as she stuck a card to my face.
"I am willing to wager you are a hit at parties, dear Rei..." I replied as I pulled it off.
Looking sternly at me, she turned around and walked off to let the others know I was present. A sly smile crossed my face as Rei stomped off. For a Shinto priestess, she certainly was an amusing character... but I thought better of saying so to her face! I was ushered into the main room by a young man named Chad, who was quite a good-natured fellow. Walking slowly into a room illuminated by paper lamps, the subdued atmosphere slowed my movement as I walked in front of my friends.
Just to grab their attention, I decided to do a dance called The Robot. As I performed the jerky motions characteristic of the dance, Rei came back in the room. She panicked and screamed "A demon is invading his body! I must act quickly!"
"Evil Spirit Retreat!" she screamed as another card was pressed onto my face.
"Come now dear Rei! I am eccentric, not demonic..." I chided as I removed the card from my face, meeting with another stern look from Rei but laughter from the others. Bowing to the audience, applause rang forth, especially from Usagi and Minako, who seemed to be easily amused.
"My sweetheart can dance? I had better take up lessons so I might waltz my way into his heart!" chirped Minako.
"Keep it up and you'll be a wallflower at the ball, Minako..." remarked Makoto in a menacing tone.
Greatly amused at this episode in the Minako-Makoto rivalry, I laughed until my sides hurt and my glasses fell off of my face. Makoto walked over to me and helped put my glasses back onto my face. Then came a surprise: she kissed my right cheek as she looked me in the face! My face burned hot as I realized the gravity of the situation, but Makoto merely sat in the floor and smiled at me in her irresistibly cute manner.
"Someone's playing hard-to-get with a brunette beauty!" cracked Darien.
"Too bad Rei and I aren't like that..." remarked Chad just before Rei's Broom of Doom (as I called it) came down upon the poor lad's head.
"Yeah! You two are MADE for each other, so just kiss her already!" crowed Usagi.
"Love is a strange thing indeed... it attacks when you least expect it!" Ami remarked with a sly smile and a wink.
"Go for it Jordan! Be brave!" encouraged Setsuna.
"Yeah sweetheart! Kiss her, but save one for me!" Minako chirped with a wink.
"We should leave the room, huh Hotaru?" asked Chibi-Usa hurriedly. "Yeah... we're not old enough for this yet!" Hotaru replied. The latter agreed quickly and dashed past me, practically dragging poor Chibi-Usa out of the room.
Embarassed silence was the only response as eight girls and two guys looked at me, awaiting a reply. My glasses fogged up as I sweated profusely, which was a tendency of mine whenever I happened to be around beautiful girls, especially when they looked me in the eye. Feeling a loss of control over my body, all thought was paralyzed as darkness settled over my eyes...
When consciousness returned, the whole world was changed. A crystalline palace loomed before my eyes, but I realized that I was not alone as I stood up.
"Are you alright Sir Jordan?" asked a teenage boy with black hair and wearing a tuxedo and a black cloak with red lining. Looking at his attire, I turned my head to look at myself. I had on two-tone blue armor, a blue cloak, and my glasses! Satisfied that I was clothed and some rogues had not made off with any of my clothing, my attention turned to the boy once again.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Prince Endymion of the Gaea Kingdom, remember? You tripped and hit your head on the ground. I hope the fall was not too rough on you..." he remarked with a smile.
"Where are we, and what are we doing here?" I mumbled.
"We are in the realm of the Moon Kingdom, and we are attending the Silver Millennium Ball. In front of you is the Millennium Palace. I do believe you have hurt yourself badly..." Endymion said with a trace of concern.
"No, I am alright..." I said while clutching my head in my left hand.
The two of us walked into the palace, waited at the door to what seemed to be a ballroom, and entered when the attendants beckoned us to. Vivaldi's Primavera was playing as the two of us walked into the grand ballroom, which was decorated with silver statues of eight girls in a strange costume and furnished with tables loaded with food of all types. As I walked beside the prince of Gaea, memories of a past existence flooded my mind.
"So I was Sir Jordan, Gaea's greatest general in addition to Prince Endymion's protector..." I thought to myself. I knew the young man's face looked familiar... as the memories returned, I remembered some of the exploits I had performed in the service of Gaea. I was deep in thought when a line of people carrying the banner of a crescent moon turned on its side with the points pointing upward came in.
"Here comes Queen Serenity now!" advised Prince Endymion.
As he said, a woman in a white gown and gray hair done in odangoes walked slowly in, accompanied by a young lady dressed in the same manner but had blonde hair in odangoes. Everyone in the audience bowed before her and she curtsied in return, then everyone rose again. I noticed the prince paying close attention to the blonde-haired girl. Out of curiosity, I asked who she was.
"She is Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. I aim to win her hand in marriage!" he said to me.
After the queen and princess walked in, next came eight girls clad in gowns that ran the length of the color spectrum. They also wore gloves that stopped at their elbows and matched their gowns. A girl in a green gown and with brown hair caught my eye, so I asked Prince Endymion who she was.
"That is Princess Jupiter. Do you have an eye for warrior princesses?" he asked with a grin.
"If they are warrior princesses, why are they standing on the sides of the room? Are they attendants?" I asked.
"They are not mere attendants. They are the guardians of the royal family!" he answered, his facial expression seemingly mortified at me for having the audacity to even think such a foolish idea.
My curiosity satisfied, I then faced the front of the ballroom and watched the queen. Yet I could not keep my eyes off of Princess Jupiter, no matter how hard I tried. Nudging me with his elbow, Prince Endymion motioned for me to pay attention to Queen Serenity. Raising her open hand, she then spoke to the gathering, her soft yet loud voice reaching throughout the room.
"Welcome to the Silver Millennium Ball. The hand of my daughter and heir, Princess Serenity, is sought after by a man of the Gaea Kingdom. I believe his name is Prince Endymion... if he would come forth at this time, I would like him to meet her..." her voice trailed off.
"Now is my chance! Wish me luck!" he said to me as he answered the summons. I gave a thumbs-up gesture as he ascended the stairs to the girl he sought. Once he reached the top of the stairs, I once more turned my attention to the beautiful Princess Jupiter.
She was engaging in conversation with four of the other princesses. One was clad in a blue gown and had blue hair, another wore a light orange gown and blonde hair, another had a teal gown and marine blue hair, and the last in a dark green gown with matching hair. They all fixed their gaze on me, and Princess Jupiter walked towards me with a smile on her face. Feeling my knees grow weak, I felt paralyzing anxiety envelop my mind! Here was a man who fearlessly led the armies of Gaea against the fierce Chimera Brigands of Europe and the fear-inspiring Lemurian Bandits of Asia stopped in his tracks by a mere princess!
By some coincidence, the orchestra started playing Mozart's Eine Kliene Nachtmuzik as she walked up to me. My hands trembling badly as I took my cloak to wipe my fogged-up glasses, she approached me and asked in a pleasant voice "What is your name? My four friends and I have watched you ever since you accompanied that Adonis into the ballroom!" she said with a bright smile.
"He is... Prince Endymion... and I am Jordan..." I choked out. My self-awareness raised to an uncomfortable level, I panicked as if Cerberus had just jumped in front of me and was preparing to pounce. Princess Jupiter put her left arm around my left shoulder and her right arm around my right shoulder and we proceeded to dance, albeit in a jerky manner. "Relax..." she said to me the entire time, but I did not feel better at all. However, looking directly into her bright green eyes as we danced seemed to help restore my flagging confidence to the point I stopped sweating, though I still trembled a bit.
As I was starting to regain my nerve, Princess Venus and her three companions (Princesses Mercury, Neptune and Pluto) approached us just as I was feeling somewhat better. Their presence was beyond what my frazzled nerves could handle: my legs buckled and I fell down with Jupiter on top of me! Everyone in the ballroom stopped dancing and stared at us: even Queen Serenity and Prince Endymion looked on, much to my discomfort. At the end of my rope, Jupiter tried throwing glasses of water on my face to cool me down, but it did not seem to work. In a strange reversal of the usual situation, I passed out in a girl's arms...
As I was coming to, I felt slight impacts on my sides and heard the sound of something being filled with liquid. Then came a cold splash from nowhere! When I bolted awake again, I was in the real world! The palace was nowhere to be seen, nor were any of the guests... I put my hand to my cheek and felt cold water. Makoto stood with a empty wooden bucket in her hand and smiled at me.
"How long was I unconscious for?" I asked of her.
"About 30 minutes, Jordan..." replied Ami.
"What on Earth was hitting me in the sides?" I demanded to know. In reply Chibi-Usa and Hotaru waved and smiled widely.
"Those two were kicking you trying to get you up! They meant well, so don't get mad at them..." said Usagi.
"I've never seen you so panicked before. What happened?" asked Setsuna as Makoto hugged me.
"For some reason, I get uncontrollably nervous around beautiful girls, especially when they look me in the eye. It is quite debilitating, but I think I can eventually reduce its effects..." I said.
"With my help, you can overcome the problem..." Makoto said as she hugged me tightly. I felt her warm embrace and silky brown hair and felt comforted. Perhaps I could do it! But what about the dream of the Silver Millennium Ball? What exactly did it mean, and was it significant in any way?
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