| "Oh, they're fine," I replied as I took a seat across from Calypso, near Carme. Calypso stared at me with those piercing green eyes. In them, I thought I could see a deep anger and hatred, and bleow that, and even greater pain. The pain seemed to run deep, down to her very soul, cold and cutting. I decided to ignore it. If it was anything of importance, it would be revealed to me in time. Carme, on the other hand, seemed rather nervous, so I gave her a warm smile of reassurance. It seemed to work, because she smiled back. "Metis, my husband, is working himself to an early grave, but that's nothing new. I know he loves what he's doing, otherwise I would have put a stop to it a long time ago. Corin is turning into a real hand full, though. He's my son, and he's always getting into trouble. Running off, getting in the way, going where he knows he isn't allowed, sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. Thank the gods for my daughter, Cora. She tags along where ever Corin goes and keeps him out of too much trouble. "You mean to say he actually listens to her? That's amazing. Usually brothers don't like sissters telling them what to do." Serenity seemed slightly surprised, though I could easily hear the joke in her voice. "Well, he loves her very much. They are each others best friends. As much as I may hate to admit it, they really don't have much contact with other children. They get along very well with Lita when ever she's around, but other than her and a few servants' children, they are all they have." Just then, a servant boy came in the room. "begging your Ladies' pardon, but Queen Serenity's presence is required some place else at the moment." He caught her eye with a look that sent shivers down my spine. I had seen servants give that look before, but not often. He nodded his head once, very slightly, and Serenity stood up fast and hurried toward the boy. "If you'll excuse me, I must go. I shouldn't be long." Without another word, she was gone. "Well, that was very strange, don't you think? Neither of them even said a word about what's going on of where she was going." Calypso seemed a bit miffed at Serenity's fast departure. "Not as strange as you may think. You weren't born into a royal family, were you?" "No, I wasn't. My sister is the princess of Rhea, but that's only because she got to marry the prince. It would have been me, but the goddess decided that I should become a Senshi instead of a queen." There was something in the way she talked about the goddess that seemed very odd for a girl from Saturn. Everyone from Saturn and it's moons spoke of the goddess with reverence and respect. But this girl spoke with a venom and hatred that I had never heard used against a deity before. Perhapes that was part of the anger in the girl's eyes. "Well, if you had been, you mighthave seen that happen before. I first saw it with my parents, and they were just high nobles, not true royalty. When ever a servant would come in with that look, I would be sent off to my room, and my parents would say that they would be busy and they would see me for dinner. Sometimes, they wouldn't come. I would ask a servant and they would just tell me that my parents were busy and they would see me before I went to bed. I even remember a few times that that didn't happen. On those nights I laid in my bed, crying and confused. I couldn't understand why my parents were ignoring me. Of course, when things settled down, they always made up for it. Now I know what that look means. There is some kind of emergemcy that the servant did not wish to tell the Queen about in front of us." I turned to Carme. "Have you ever seen this happen?" "Yes, a few times. My parents were also wealthy dignitaries," she replied in a quiet, shy voice. "Well, that can't be good. So who is this Lita you mentioned?" "Oh, she is my student, the future Sailor Jupiter. She's a sweet little child. A bit of a tomboy, perhapes, but she has a good heart. She really wants to do a good job as a Sailor. I think she can do it if she puts her mind to it. She could become one of the strongest Senshi ever if wanted." "Not as strong as MY hotaru. She will be the strongest Senshi the galaxy has ever seen." Calypso spoke these words with such a fiery passion and there was such a fierce glint in her eyes, I was taken aback by it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carme flinch and cower a bit. "That remains to be seen, Calypso; as does the fate of every Senshi. It is possible that, given her heritage, Hotaru may be the strongest. But there is no way to know that until she is much older. You shouldn't hold such high hopes for her. If you start training her with those intentions in mind, you may cause her to feel inadequate. That is never a good thing for any child, much less a future Sialor Scout. If she grows up feeling like she is not strong enough to e a good Scout, it could lead to problems down te road when she is forced to fight. It could even lead to her death or the deaths of others. You need to let her know that all she has to be and all she can be is who she is. She shouldn't have to be someone or somehting she isn't." At these words, Calypso's eyes flashed with anger and she jumped from her seat, slamming her fists on the table and madly gesticulating as she screamed. I half expected Carme to jump out of her seat, but she just flinched again. Perhapes there was more strength to this mousy little thing than I gave her credit for. "How DARE you try to tell me how to train MY student?! She is MY child to train however I wish! You have no right telling me what I should and shouldn't do!" I was compleatly shocked by this out burst. I had seen that she was a deeply troubled young girl, but I hadn't thought that such a quiet child could be capable of such violence. I didn't know how to react to such anger. Thankfully, I didn't have to, for Queen Serenity had entered with another woman in tow and heard the out burst. "None the less, Calypso, Elara is right. You should not try to force your will upon the child." She spoke in a calm gentle voice, but there was an under tone of comand in her words that made it clear she was not going to accept any arguments on the subject. After a moment, she smiled and gestured to the woman standing behind her. "At any rate, look who I bumped into on the way back. Tis is Bianca, Mentor Titania of Uranus. Bianca, these are Calypso, Mentor Rhea of Saturn, Carme, Mentor Ananke of Venus, and Elara, Mentor Amalthea of Jupiter." Bianca walked out from behind Serenity. I looked her over, and noticed Calypso doing the same with a cynical glare. Bianca was wearing a dress similar to mine, Carme's and Calypso's done in red and bronze. She seemed as open and loving as a child. I liked her immediately and could tell we would become close friends. I also thought that Carme seemed a bit relieved to see that I wasn't the only nice Mentor that she was going to meet. I could tell that Calypso had done some major damage to Carme's veiws of the other Mentors; damage that the others and I would have to undo. |