Moonlight Densetsu (Sun. June 1st, 1pm) (Open~)

[Artemis]

Artemis began to respond to Luna's inquiry about his well-being, but the door opened and interrupted him. That was too bad, because he was eager to tell someone about his adventure to Mount Aphrodite last week. Anemone had heard all about it, at least twice. When Queen Serenity entered the room, Artemis promptly abandoned the comfort of the window. Although he was loathe to leave the warmth of the sun's rays, he was fully aware of the respect that should be given to the royalty of the moon when she graced his presence. He gave his respect to her with a low bow and said, "Hello, your majesty. It is an honor and a privilege."

Oh? Well, he supposed that it was only proper that Princess Anemone be greeted first and foremost. He would just wait his turn politely and smile graciously. Oh, nope, maybe that was not going to happen. He never suspected his height would be a problem. Was he too short to be seen? Next time, Artemis would come as a human, because he was at least approaching average height. Well, the short side of average. Maybe he needed to speak louder next time, too. Or, he could wear a bell around his neck, ha!

The other party sat down, but Luna was still sitting at the window. It had been ages since he last spoke to another Mauian. For a moment, he looked torn between the window and the chairs arranged near the refreshments. But, pride had a bit more influence and he leapt into a chair near Anemone. Once he sat in a chair, Artemis supposed, he would be easy to notice and, therefore, should be acknowledged. Before the servant that brought the refreshments could leave, he quietly asked for the servant to please set a plate with a half of a scone and a half of a sandwich near to him. It was typically a bit awkward to serve himself with cat paws and, sometimes, unfamiliar company was off put if he tried.

They shouldn't be, he cleaned himself regularly.

[Princess Anemone]

Anemone gave a slight nod at Artemis' words. In truth, she thought of him as more a personal advisor. He always gave her the best advice... even though there were a few times she ignored said words of wisdom. "I will make a mental note to take a nice nap on the bay window of my room" she gave Artemis a playful wink. "I promise I won't hog one of your favorite spots for too long"


A warm smile played along Anemone's face as she gave a small but formal crusty. "It is a pleasure, your Majesty -- Aunite" She approached the silver haired female, arms opened to return the hug.

"I am doing well, thank you for asking. I also have good news, I will be finishing my secondary classes on the moon. I do hope to see you and my cousin more often this year" Anemone replied as she moved to take a seat at the table.

"My mother is doing well. She had a previous engagement and sadly could not attend. But she sends her warmest regards and promises to attend the coming birthdays during the last week of this month." The young princess had made a habit of trying to remember important dates. June would always stand out as an important month because of the various birthdays and events. "Father sends is his sends his best and would like to extend a formal invitation for you to visit the gardens that bear his name. My younger siblings are doing very well. I really hope you can meet them soon." Anemone knew her father never really cared for formal tea, but there seemed no point in giving away her father's secret.


"I hope you have been well, my dear aunt? How have you been? Hehe, I see my cousin is busy?"

[Queen Serenity]

Fortunately, the queen was not privy to what went on in the minds of the cats, so she had no way of knowing how poorly she was being thought of. But she wasn't as completely oblivious to the presence of the small male cat as he may have thought she was. She simply felt people were more important than mere animals, so she spoke to her niece first and foremost.

"You're coming here for school? Oh, how wonderful! I'm sure your cousin will be glad to have another princess her own age around to interact with."

She seriously doubted her sister was sad to be missing this little get together. And the thought of her daughter coming to the moon for school must have positively killed her! Okay, so maybe Serenity had no real ill will towards her sister anymore, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy a little schadenfreude, did it?

"Perhaps I will take up the invitation to visit back home, though it would have to wait until a more opportune time. I'm having a bit of trouble with the inhabitants of that ungrateful little planet we're orbiting. Can you believe they're actually trying to refuse my generous invitation to let their little backwater join our glorious empire? The very nerve!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to send a summons out to the other planets and have them send their own senshi over to help show them the error of their ways."

Finally she spoke to the small male cat who had said what an honour and privilege it was to see her.

"Yes, quite," she said. "You seem familiar. Aren't you a pet of my sister's?"

[Deleted]

At Serenity entering the room, Luna sat up a little straighter, watching as everyone meandered towards the table, not wishing to be rude, the large feline joined them, seating herself beside Artemis, then realized how awkward it would be to try and eat with her paws. Shifting slightly, and hoping she didn't get punished for turning human, Luna was now sitting at the table in her human form, her smoke grey hair in its usual style of heart-shaped buns atop her head with the rest of her hair cascading down, and her usual black, grey, translucent , gold-accented, dress.

Shifting a little, she set her tail more comfortably on the chair, her bell jingling slightly. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she smiled down at Artemis warmly and reached over, gently petting the male cat for a few moments before taking a delicate sip of water, keeping her brilliant gold eyes downcast as she simply listened to the conversation occurring around her.

[Princess Anemone]

"Yes, I am going to attend classes here. I even talked my mother into letting me stay in a dorm during the week" Anemone had worked very hard to convince her mother into letting her attend classes in the Lunar Kingdom. It took a great deal of research and planning. After that, Anemone spent time working even harder on her grades in order to be accepted into the academy. Her father, on the other hand, was easier to convince. Yet, he was the one who made her promise to spend weekends on Venus.

"Although I will be spending weekends and probably holidays on Venus" she quickly added with a smile.

"I hope so, I am sure you would love visiting the palace. Perhaps we could have a formal tea sometime? I am sure you and my other have so much to catch up on" Anemone knew it might take a while for that to happen. Even though her mother and her aunt were now on friendly terms, they were each probably very busy with the normal tasks of being a ruler.

"Oh... you mean Earth? That's a shame! I would be lovely if they joined. If only so I could visit. I doubt it would be safe enough for me to travel there"


"Artemis is so much more though" replied Anemone, giving the small white feline a nod "He's the one I go to when I need advice... "

[Artemis]

Artemis delicately nibbled at the portion of sandwich that had been placed on the plate next to him. He paused on occasion to wipe his whiskers and lips clean with a paw. If his current form was more adept, he would have used a napkin. But, he was used to these sorts of particulars when eating at formal events with humans and humanoids. Practice makes perfect.

Oh, oops, he may have let his mind wander for too long. After Queen Serenity had ignored his attentions on several occasions, he began to think of other topics. One such topic, having been reminded by the presence of the other feline, was Mau and what it may have been like if he had not been chosen that day. He looked to Princess Anemone, nah, he enjoyed his life with the royal family.

And then, Queen Serenity spoke to him directly. At first, he was startled, but Artemis recovered quickly. And then, he paused to steady his emotions. His face could not betray the indignation he felt by Queen Serenity's statement. It was not long before Queen Serenity's words that Luna had shifted into her human form. Unfortunately, he had only a few moments to marvel at the woman she had become since he last saw her. And then, Luna began to pet him. Her hands were gentle. But, a thought nagged at his mind. He tried not to look into it, but his heart couldn't help but sink a little as he wondered if Luna's hands signaled her agreement with Queen Serenity, only a pet.

"I am the royal advisor of Queen Parvati and King Adonis, as well as a mentor to Princess Anemone." He explained, shifting his shoulders backwards to sit subtly straighter in his chair. "Many years ago, I was selected, with Luna, from the temples on Mau to serve the royal family of Venus. We crossed paths then," he said, looking to Luna and Princess Anemone as he spoke. The Princess spoke kindly of him and he smiled warmly in her direction, so she would know he heard and appreciated her.

[Queen Serenity]

It pleased the queen very much to hear that her niece was going to be spending time with her, even if the weekends and holidays would still belong to the girl's immediate family. Would that change with the troubles currently brewing with Earth? She supposed only time would tell.

"As nice as a formal tea on Venus would be, I'm afraid it will have to wait until after this conflict with Earth is resolved. I'm sure your parents will understand." Speaking of the little blue planet they orbited, "For now, it would likely be dangerous to visit down there, indeed. I understand they are amassing an army from all corners of their world to use against us. The gods only know how they intend to get up here, or if they intend to do something to lure us down there, but they do intend violence. If they discovered you were not from their world, you would risk them doing violence to you, or perhaps even holding you hostage or otherwise using you against us."

Apparently the small male cat wasn't solely a pet at all, but acted as an advisor to the royal family, much the way Luna did for her. Of course that didn't change the fact he was a cat rather than a person, but it did improve the queen's impression of him at least by a bit.

"So you are," she said without even a hint of amusement. "Tell me, then, what would you propose we do next in regards to that planet? I do worry that if we let loose with a full frontal attack we may seem like bullies, but if we do nothing and wait for their next move it would put us at a distinct disadvantage."