Princess Jupiter stared happily at her work as she clipped the over grown leaves of her flowers. Weeding the gardens always put her in a happy mood; she was able to leave her troubles behind her as she tended to the trouble of plants that could not fend for themselves. She smiled with a contented sigh as she continued her duties when footsteps from behind drew her attention.
“Mercury!” Jupiter said with a delighted smile as she lifted herself from the ground. She dusted herself off and removed her apron and gloves, dropping to the ground near her gardening tools. Her smile still on her face, she turned again to her dear friend and greeted her with a hug. “To what do I owe this visit?” She asked pulling her toward the bench to their right.
Mercury smiled a distracted smile as she took her seat. “I have just come to say hello,” she said, sighing heavily before continuing. “I have been unable to get my mind off of the Moon princess and her troubles. I do not understand why the queen allows her to continue seeing that Earth man.”
The Jovian princess smiled a soothing smile and took Mercury’s hand into her own. “The queen has her reasons, I am sure.”
“But in this time of uncertainty,” the blue haired princess shook her head, “I am unsure of who to trust outside of our guarded circle.”
Jupiter smiled again and regarded the plants of her garden. “Did you know that flowers can communicate with us, much as we can communicate with each other?”
Mercury looked up and followed Princess Jupiter’s gaze around the garden, bringing her eyes back to the green ones of her friend after taking it all in. Always interested to learn something new, she prepared herself to listen intently and plastered a curious expression on her face.
“Each flower has a meaning, some several, that can communicate different messages - love, grief, heartache, happiness. The flowers possess a magical property to read the heart of those asking the right questions. They are almost a way to see the future, foretell the coming of misfortune, or learn of beauty that lies ahead.” She sighed quietly to herself and then turned to the apt pupil at her side. “Would you like to see a reading?” Jupiter asked as Mercury’s gaze played over the plants and flowers nearest them.
Mercury brought her attention back to the brunette at her side and nodded enthusiastically as Jupiter lifted herself from the bench they were perched on.
Princess Jupiter called out with her mind, called to the flowers of her garden, the things of which Jovians draw their power and strength. As she stood at the center of the garden, concentrating her energy, calling out to the things that she loved, a flurry of flower petals, herbs, mosses and leaves flew into the air, creating a cyclone of color above her. Mercury gasped at the beauty before her and couldn’t tear her eyes away from the spectacular storm.
They landed in a stone basin that rested atop a pedestal in front of Jupiter, separating themselves; some falling to the ground around the princess and the pedestal. As the last piece of plant life settled into the bowl, Jupiter lowered her hands and moved forward, beckoning Mercury from the bench.
Slowly lifting the bowl from its perch, Jupiter looked at the princess in blue as she moved forward. “Princess Mars and her people,” she commented as she gazed into the bowl once Mercury was near enough to see as well, “don’t believe that flowers offer an adept perception of things to come. She told me once that she regarded it as the same thing as reading tea leaves – something popular among the gypsies of the Earth,” she explained when she received a confused look from Mercury.
“My, my, my,” she whispered approvingly at the bowl before her, “an abundance of red and yellow roses here – that means joy and happiness. They are mixed in with forget-me-nots, too. This is a happy bowl.”
“Those mean love don’t they?” Mercury asked as she screwed up her face to recognize the flower petals in the bowl.
Jupiter looked at her and smiled, “You have studied everything, haven’t you?”
Mercury blushed and lowered her eyes. “How long have you studied flowers?”
“All my life,” Jupiter explained. “The people of my planet draw their strength from life. We value trees and plants and flowers. They give us—”
She cut herself off as the contents of the bowl began moving on their own. The rose and forget-me-not petals began to curl in on themselves and looked as if they were burning, turning black and shriveling up. Beneath them, there lay a whole other layer that had been covered by the petals lifting from the bowl on an unfelt wind and traveling over the walls of the garden, away from the mystified girls.
“What do those mean?” Mercury asked, bringing Jupiter’s attention back to the bowl and jumped as the princess in green gasped at what she saw.
She looked at Mercury, meeting her confused eyes. She set the bowl down slowly and caught her breath. “These are petals of marigold and bird’s foot trefoil. They are omens of revenge, pain, and grief.”
Mercury looked up as a dove landed in the bowl atop the ominous flowers and dropped a message in Jupiter’s palm. As she read it, her eyes widened and she looked from the note to Mercury and to the bowl again.
“We are needed on the Moon,” Jupiter explained as she passed the note to Mercury and pulled a green crystal from a pocket at her side. “The planetary soldiers are needed immediately. Mars has had a reading such as mine.”
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“Ominous Beauty” copyright 2007 by Bella Luna (beautifulmoon129@aol.com)
Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon and its associated characters copyright Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha Ltd., and Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
The text of this work was created by Bella Luna (beautifulmoon129@aol.com) and is her exclusive property. It is not to be used without her personal permission.
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