Forum: Silver Millennium
Type: Advanced

Plot Summary:
Before they took up their duties as senshi, Princess Neptune and Princess Uranus lived their respective lives in their own kingdoms, unaware of each other's existence. Until one day, the kingdom of Neptune threw a ball and invited royalties from other planets to attend. It was here where the two princesses first caught sight of each other.

It was not love at first sight; far from it. Instead, their first impressions were quite unfavorable. Princess Neptune thought Princess Uranus was an uncouth, strange princess who for some reason liked to climb trees and running. Did she even learn proper manners? What kind of upbringing did she have that left her so spoiled? She had no idea about the anxiety that plagued Princess Uranus ever since she learned she would one day have to inherit the position as guardian senshi from her mother. Meanwhile, Princess Uranus thought Princess Neptune was one pretentious snob, a boring prim and proper princess who didn't seem to have her own personality. She most certainly wasn't aware of the other princess' insecurities and how she was just trying so hard to live up to her parents' ideals and not disappoint them.

A relationship between them was not a good idea; they both would eventually be posted at far away places once they became senshi and would scarcely be able to see each other. But as they got to know one another better and looked under the surface, they found that they both had more beyond the layers that they had seen, and maybe they were falling for the person underneath the masks they wore because no one else ever cared to look that deep.

The story's end is already known; with them both watching the Silver Millennium fall without being able to do anything to help, and when Saturn eventually lowers her Glaive, everything they know and love would vanish. But before that point, there are plenty more that happened in this tale.

Details on any necessary information: This storyline takes place in the Silver Millennium and would start with the ball where their first meeting takes place. It will end with the fall of the Silver Millennium when Saturn destroys the world.

Restrictions: Only for Princess Uranus and Neptune, everyone else will be NPCed.

Source: N/A

OOC Thread: N/A

Characters:
Princess Marina of Neptune: Sailor Neptune
Princess Celia of Uranus: Lyssarie

This was the last time Celia would ever go to a stupid ball. 

It was all petty and pointless. Who could possibly find enjoyment in wearing impeding clothing and pretending to like each other, when really you want to punch the other person in the face? It was all smoke and mirrors, in Celia's opinion. She hadn't gone to a ball since she was six years old, and she was happy about that. Why should she waste her time with people who were only going to laugh at her when she turned around?

Celia had always been looked down upon for her choice of activity and wild nature. But could she help who she was? No - and so her mother shouldn't be forcing her to wear this stupid dress and go to the stupid ball.

Maybe she would feel better about the whole thing if it were on Mars or Jupiter. But no, it just had to be on Neptune, the planet of grace and elegance and overall perfection. Neptune was the exact opposite of everything Celia stood for. 

But she knew this would make her mother happy. For once, she would at least try not to disappoint. 

So as Celia struggled to walk in her four-inch heels and extremely tight corset, she kept her head held high. She was not a fan of the billowing skirt or the straps made of ribbon, but she did like the color. Dark blue - the color of freedom and the skies of Uranus. 

Celia's mother stood waiting in the throne room, smiling with glee at the sight of her daughter. "You look marvelous, darling! Oh, Neptune's rulers will love you! But before we go, listen to me. No nagging, bragging, slurping, burping, sweating, fretting, twittering, or frittering around. Stay present, stay pleasant, stay proud. Alright?"

Celia nodded, rolling her eyes as soon as her mother looked away. Before Celia had the chance to say anything more, they were teleporting to Neptune.

Marina wasn’t concerned about the ball. It was the entourage from Uranus that concerned her.

Though their planets were close, she had not met their royal family often. The planet’s reputation was always deemed… incompatible with Neptune, so they didn’t have much of a diplomatic relationship. But her parents had finally decided it was time to offer an olive branch, so to speak.

There was a knock on her door, and Marina forced herself to stop obsessing about what could happen. She hated not knowing, but thinking excessively about it wouldn’t help either. She’d just have to face the new situation when it came the best she could. Like she had always been taught.

“Come in,” she invited, after making sure she looked presentable. Her maids had just finished with her hair, and now it cascaded down her shoulders in blue ocean-like waves, decorated with a few petals of white lilies.

Her mother appeared at the door, and for the brief second before she spoke, Marina held her breath, awaiting her judgment.

Then her mother smiled and said, “You look beautiful,” and she inhaled in relief. The queen of Neptune came over, adjusted a few strands of Marina’s hair and stood before her. “The guests should be arriving soon. The princess of Uranus is around your age, you know. Your father and I are hoping you can entertain her while we talk with her parents.”

“Of course,” Marina answered immediately, though her stomach churned. She had never met this princess before. The people of Uranus were so… carefree and seemed to love physical activities more than anything else. She heard that competitive sport was one of their favorite activities. Marina didn’t really enjoy any type of sport herself, except for swimming. She didn’t care to mess up her appearance. A princess was meant to be elegant and graceful at all times. How was she supposed to strike up a conversation with someone she had zero in common with?

“Well. When you’re ready, join us below so we can welcome them,” her mother said. “Don’t be late, alright?”

Marina nodded and watched the queen leave. She dismissed the servants, and now stood on her own in front of her mirror, staring at her reflection.

She looked perfect. She just hoped the other princess thought so, too.

She took a deep breath and turned, exiting the room to join her family at the throne room and await their guests’ arrival.

The trip was quick - almost too quick for Celia's liking.

In the blink of an eye, they were standing outside the entrance to the grand Triton Castle. It was a beautiful building, just as it was expected to be. Everything about Neptune was beautiful. 

Ignoring the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Celia forced herself to follow her mother through the castle gates and into the premises. Before going inside of the throne room, however, the wueen of Uranus paused and placed both hands on Celia's shoulders. 

"What?" Celia groaned, wondering what was wrong this time.

"You look beautiful," her mother said, moving a stray piece of blonde hair out of Celia's eyes. Smiling slightly, Celia followed her mother into the throne room full of people. 

As she had suspected, the ball was infested with perfection. Perfect women, perfect men, perfect couples, perfect families, perfect decorations, perfect music, perfect -

No, flawless.

She was flawless.

There was no doubt in Celia's mind that this was the renowned Princess Marina of Neptune. She lived up to everything Celia had ever been told about her. It became harder and harder to look away from the woman who seemed to be born from the sea. 

As Celia walked alongside her mother to speak with the royal family, she felt the stakes rising higher and higher. If she messed this up, she was doomed. 

She blinked, and they were standing right in front of the king, queen, and princess. "Your majesties, my daughter and I thank you for welcoming us into your beautiful home." 

Celia's eyes were narrowed as she got a closer look at Marina. Her thoughts from just moments before had faded away, and although Marina was just as flawless as before, she looked...

Uptight.

The look in her eyes screamed maturity, responsibility, and solemnity. It was awful. How could a person live like that? 

A nudge on her arm told Celia that she was spacing out, and it startled her. Jumping back to life, she said, "Oh, right! Uh, thank you...your majesties." Quickly and without elegance, Celia curtsied. 

She hadn't even spoken ten syllables and she was already plummeting off-course.

Marina stood with her parents in the throne room, welcoming the guests that arrived one by one. The royalties from Uranus weren’t the only guests from other planets that they had invited, of course. The room was slowly filling up with people as each new arrival greeted their hosts before moving on to the adjacent ball room. Marina didn’t have to wait long to see the royal family of Uranus. They appeared in time and moved purposefully down the red carpet toward Marina and her parents.

Marina’s gaze landed on the young woman—wait, was that a woman?—walking between the king and queen. Her hair was the color of sand and uncharacteristically short for a princess. Marina had to blink and make sure she was indeed a princess and not a prince, wondering if maybe she had misheard her mother earlier. But Celia was definitely a woman’s name. Still, if the blonde wasn’t wearing a dress, she would have surely mistaken her gender. Marina did not know what to think of this. A princess who looked like a prince? What kind of an odd place was the Uranus kingdom?

The moment she looked into Princess Celia’s eyes, she was taken aback by how… alive they seemed. It almost looked restless, constantly searching for something. Or maybe she was just nervous? And though she didn’t have a single hair out of place, Marina could almost picture the wind ruffling through it and felt the strange urge of running her own hand through the sandy colored strands. Her gait was a bit odd; not as graceful as she was used to seeing from other royal ladies, and she became more and more perplexed by this strange young woman.

And then she completely spaced out, as if she had already mentally checked out of there. Marina blinked as the queen of Uranus had to nudge her daughter before she remembered her manners. And even then, her greeting left much to be desired. Marina had to resist the urge to scrunch up her nose. What on earth did they teach to young royals over on the neighboring planet? Her curtsy was almost a disgrace. Marina was certain that if it had been her, she would have been punished for an entire month for failing such an important night so spectacularly.

“It is our honor to welcome you to our kingdom,” her mother said smoothly, though Marina could see the brief look of disapproval on her face. But with practiced ease, the queen of Neptune’s expression returned to its warm politeness, the change so quick as to be impossible to notice for those not used to looking for it.

Marina was very used to looking for it.

“This is our daughter, Marina. She will be happy to accompany your daughter as you both enjoy the ball,” the queen continued.

Marina already wished she could get out of this task. If the princess of Uranus was like this, there was no way they would get along, and she didn’t want to spend an entire night that was supposed to be fun with awkward silences and frustration.

And yet she put on her best smile, nodding to the king and queen. “It will indeed be my pleasure, Your Majesties,” she confirmed, having perfected the art of masquerading her feelings.

“Please, enjoy yourselves tonight,” the king of Neptune added, and Marina looked at Celia uncertainly.

She took a deep breath and finally decided to just go for it. “Princess Celia, if you would come with me, I’ll be happy to show you the way to the ballroom. Or perhaps a tour of our palace first if you wanted?” she asked sweetly, portraying the perfect host.

The urge to say, "Oh dear god," was hard for Celia to push back. The last thing she wanted was to be escorted by the prissy little princess of Neptune. She could sense the judgment Marina's eyes, and she didn't want to spend her evening constantly feeling pressured to be perfect and have the best manners. Why couldn't she just lurk by the food?

Marina's eyes were suddenly on hers, and Celia immediately detected the uncertainty. Oh, so Marina didn't want to do this either? Great, then Celia could definitely have some fun.

The aqua-haired woman spoke, and the tone in her voice made Celia feel sick. It was so sweet, and so utterly fake that Celia would have thrown up had she eaten any food earlier. But the thought of driving Marina nuts was too tempting.

Shrugging her shoulders, Celia said, "I guess you can take me on a tour." Celia smirked and tossed her head slightly, moving her bangs out of her face. When they were out of earshot from their parents, Celia finally felt less pressure to be polite. She didn't care about this princess's opinion of her.

"So," Celia said, placing her arms behind her head, "Are you always like that, or is it just a show you put on for your perfect parents?"

Marina nodded at Celia’s choice, already dreading spending extensive alone time with her—why on earth did she offer to give her a stupid tour? Stupid brain that was ridiculously polite. She gave one last curtsy to the Uranus royalties, excused herself, and caught her mother’s gaze that reminded her not to screw up. She was feeling the pressure already and they hadn’t gone more than three steps.

As soon as their parents were out of sight, Celia dropped all effort to look presentable. Marina almost gasped when she saw her posture. A princess should never walk like that! And especially not in public where everyone could see her!

“Always like what?” she asked, confused. “I’m sorry, but… Must you walk with your hands like that? What if people see? That looks… unseemly for a princess.”

Celia laughed. "Always so uptight and prissy," she replied. At Marina's remark, Celia eyed her in amusement. She wasn't offended in the least by the woman's words. She didn't come here to impress anyone. She came here to satisfy her mother, and the last thing she cared about was how "unseemly" she looked. Smirking, she placed one hand on her hip and began to walk with her other wrist flipped out. "Sorry, am I supposed to walk with my hands like yours?" she said. Celia had become so indulged in her girly posture that she had forgotten how difficult it was to walk in her shoes. She lost her balance, rolling her ankle and stumbling forward. A string of curses escaped her lips as she frustratingly bent down and ripped the blasted shoes off of her feet. 

Standing back up, Celia held the shoes in one hand and tried to conserve her dignity.

Uptight and prissy?!

Marina gasped in outrage. How could she say such insulting things to a fellow princess? Her mouth opened to form words, but no sound came out. A string of choice words went through her mind, but her education and years of indoctrination forced her to keep her mouth shut. If you can’t say anything nice, say nothing at all, her mother always said.

She couldn’t stop herself from giggling when Celia stumbled in her heels, however. She was a bit disappointed the blonde didn’t fall flat on her face, but then her eyes widened when she watched the so-called princess take her shoes off and started walking barefooted.

Marina closed her hanging jaw and eyed Celia critically. “Perhaps if you walk properly, it wouldn’t be so hard not to stumble on your own feet.” With that, she turned ahead again and glided across the floor effortlessly in her own high heels.

“So, tell me about your interests. I suppose you’re not into reading or art. You don’t seem like the artist type.”

She might not say things that weren’t nice, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t hide insults behind nice things.

As Marina walked away, Celia made a face at her behind her back. She didn't like being ridiculed or made fun of. It wasn't her fault she preferred comfort.

Not bothering to put her shoes back on, Celia followed Marina down the hallway, listening to her question. The vague insult was detected, but instead of pointing it out, she decided to fight back.

"No way, art is definitely not my thing. Honestly, who could possibly give a damn about a story that isn't even real or a drawing that doesn't even move. I'm into reality," Celia said. "You know, running, adventuring - oh wait, I suppose you wouldn't know about those things..."

A small smirk played on her lips as she gauged Marina's expression out of the corner of her eye.

Marina was greatly bothered by the fact that Celia was walking barefooted. In her palace. This was so rude! But somehow she doubted the other princess would put her shoes back on just because Marina told her to.

She gaped at disbelief at the way Celia was describing art so carelessly. That wasn’t even what it boiled down to!

“Art is a form of beauty,” she said haughtily. “It is a form of expression. With no imagination, reality would be so boring. But I guess you don’t know that, being that you’re too busy getting dirty, sweating, and falling into muds or what-have-you.” She crinkled her nose. “Those activities hardly fit a princess.”

She couldn’t imagine doing any of those things. Just thinking about them made her shudder. “Have you no tutors or proper teachers for manners at all?”

Celia laughed. "Nature is a form of beauty. Art tries to capture the beauty of nature, but why bother when you can simply go outside and capture it with your own eyes? It's so much easier, and much more refreshing. And who are you to say what makes a princess? Although that is something I would expect you to say. After all, you clearly like everything to be perfect and routine. But where's the fun in that? There's gotta be some variation," she said. Glancing over at Marina to see if she was watching, Haruka tossed her shoe into the air and caught it, tossing it up again and repeated the motions as she walked.

"Sure I have tutors. I don't really listen to them though. They're boring. Let me guess - you spend your whole day with tutors, hanging onto their every word and practicing how to keep your pinky up?"

Marina could not help it anymore. She simply could not spend another second in the presence of this… this uncouth creature! She did not deserve her princess title at all. “Is everyone on Uranus like you then?” she asked in disbelief as she watched Celia throwing her shoe in the air. She could not imagine the chaos that the kingdom would be if everyone behaved as they pleased. How could the royal family have any respect at all from their people?

She bristled at Celia’s question. “What’s so wrong with listening to tutors? Isn’t that the point of having them in the first place? What I don’t get is why you’d waste your time with them if you’re not going to learn anything. I should think you need knowledge to be able to lead your people.”

They’d arrived at the end of the corridor and she had no idea where to go. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in seeing our library or gallery. Perhaps you have a specific request on where I should take you?”

Perhaps where we keep our livestock, or the dungeons?

The blonde princess blinked, tilting her head slightly at Marina's question. "Like me? You mean fun? Yeah, they are." Celia decided throwing her shoe in the air had gotten boring, so she resorted back to carrying them. The coldness of the floor beneath her feet made her want to walk on her toes, but that would be just as painful as walking in the heels.

"I'm smarter than you think," she retorted. "I learn by doing. If I make a mistake, fine, I'll learn from it and try again. It's so much more effective than sitting and having someone else tell you what's right and what's wrong. You really should try it sometime - maybe then you won't get stress lines in your head like most people I've seen from this planet."

A smile crept on Celia's face as Marina asked her where she wanted to go. "I want to see your gardens," she demanded. A plan was forming in her mind, and she was excited to put it into action.

“Stress lines?” Marina sputtered. “I don’t have stress lines!” Her hand flew up to her forehead anyway, even if she knew she’d find it smooth. She cursed mentally at how easily Celia had rattled her. Oh, her mother wouldn’t be pleased at all! She wasn’t supposed to lose her composure no matter what the situation.

She eyed Celia suspiciously when the other princess requested to see the garden. Marina didn’t like the mischievous look she saw on her face. “Very well,” she said after hesitating a moment. What was the worst that could happen?

She led the way outside to the side of the palace dedicated to their beautiful garden. Flowers of all types and colors were in bloom, making the scenery quite breathtaking. Marina herself liked to spend time among them when she was painting, trying to capture their beauty and adding her own artistic flair to it. It was quite a vast space of greenery with walking paths set out at exact intervals to create the perfect symmetry. Nothing was even the slightest bit out of line here in Neptune; everything was planned to perfection for maximum beauty.

“This is it,” she said to Celia, stopping just in front of the garden entrance, decorated by a beautiful arch. In the middle of the garden there was a gazebo and a pond with elegant white swans swimming across it. It was Marina’s favorite place.

She just hoped to god Celia wasn’t about to trash the entire place.

Celia had to admit, the garden was breathtaking. The vibrancy of the plantlife and purity of the area was almost enough to compel Celia not to carry out her plan.

Almost.

After dropping her shoes on the grass, Celia approached the pond and knelt at its edge, her fingers creating ripples on the calm surface. The water was crystal clear, allowing Celia to see her own reflection. She stared at herself, first her eyes, her nose, then her thin lips. She was imperfect - no where near as perfect as Marina, but she was free. That was what mattered most.

She suddenly felt mildly disgusted by this garden. It was too...tamed. Not a single leaf was out of place, no flowers drooped or grew out of proportion. Nothing like the gardens back home, Celia thought.

"Oi, Marina, why is your pond green?"

Marina watched Celia closely as the other princess knelt beside the pond. Part of her felt the juvenile temptation of pushing Celia in, but she reined the impulse in as usual. A princess does not do such childish things.

Bristling when Celia called her so rudely, she walked a couple steps forward until she stood just behind the short-haired girl. “Because there’s algae in it. What do you expect the color to be?”

Maybe ponds were purple or orange in Uranus. She would never know. It was certainly a bizarre place if it had princesses like Celia. Even the pristine white swans seemed to be looking at the strange girl curiously. Or maybe that was just Marina’s imagination.

Celia gazed into the pond, watching Marina's reflection in its waters. "You'd think that you guys kept the water clean, after how pristine everything else on the psychotic planet is," she teased. Celia stared at the water for a few more moments before abruptly standing and jumping in, smiling as the chilled water cooled her heated skin. The pond wasn't terribly deep, only reaching Celia's knees, her splash had been so large that the water had coated her torso and hair. But that wasn't her goal. 

Her goal was to splash Marina.

Tossing her bangs out of her face, Celia smiled her most charming smile in an attempt to soften the punishment she would be getting. But it was worth it, and she couldn't help but laugh until her sides hurt.

“Excuse me?” Marina’s voice rose in pitch as she heard Celia’s comment. Did she just call Marina’s planet ‘psychotic’? What the hell kind of things did they teach to princesses over in Uranus? If anyone was ‘psychotic’, that would be Celia!

She hardly had time to say anything before Celia was suddenly inside the pond. Marina gasped in disbelief. Did she just…?!

“What did you… What is wrong with you?!” she finally exploded, which was breaking all the rules of manners that she should have upheld. But Marina had completely lost control of her cool. That infuriating smirk—that Celia dared to laugh—she just… she was so overwhelmed with disbelief she literally could not form words anymore.

“That pond isn’t for swimming! You’ll scare off the swans! Please get out right this second!” She instinctively moved closer to the edge, not at all realizing the danger that awaited her.

Celia smirked, low chuckles still falling from her lips. "I'm doing them a favor - they need a little fun in their lives," Celia said, nodding towards the swans. "And so do you!"

Faster than the average mortal, Celia, grasped one of Marina's wrists, wrapping her other hand around her waist and pulling her into the water as if they were dancing. As the water seeped into the fabric at the bottom of Marina's dress, Celia grinned triumphantly. "See, this isn't so bad, right? If anything, it's almost relaxing."

Celia didn't realize how close Marina was to her, or how her arm was still wrapped around the small girl's waist. She just continued to smile, her attempt at getting Marina to loosen up having amused her.

Marina was about to exclaim that she had a lot of fun, thank you very much, when suddenly, faster than she could see, Celia had grabbed her and pulled her into the pond. She let out a surprised shriek when suddenly her feet were splashing into the water, soaking her shoes and the bottom of her dress.

Marina had reached the point where she could no longer function due to shock and horror. The alarmed part of her brain had given up and decided to short-circuit instead, leaving her frozen in an expression of utter terror. Relaxing? What part of this is relaxing?! I could literally feel the satin on my dress disintegrating thanks to this dirty pond water!

But Celia’s smile. Oh, it was so… honest, so happy, so… free of guilt, as if she hadn’t just committed one of the greatest sins a princess could ever make by Neptune standards. Marina just stared at her as if she was looking at a crazy person.

And yet… there was a part of Celia that just seemed so… charming. The way she was so carefree. The way she obviously didn’t obsess over small things.

The way her hand felt warm around Marina’s waist.

Her heartbeat picked up, and not just because she was afraid of her mother’s wrath for wrecking these dress and shoes and scaring the swans and basically just making a huge mess.

No, standing there so close to Celia… Marina had never had a feeling quite like that. What was it? Why was her stomach churning, her cheeks warming, and her heart beating a mile a minute? Why did she feel as if she wanted to get closer to the other princess?

“You…” she attempted to speak, though she didn’t really know what to say.

And finally, for the first time in her life that she could remember, Marina just settled for the truth. “You’re driving me crazy.”

Marina's words floated through Celia's ears and wrapped around her heart, squeezing it tightly and making her feel as if all of the air had been whipped away. The water rippling at their feet became unnoticeable, the slight breeze blowing at their hair became nonexistent, and the planet itself seemed to stop turning.

There was only her eyes.

Her warmth.

Her voice.

A goofy grin crossed Celia's face and she laughed. Now aware of how close they were, Celia regrettably removed her hand and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I get that a lot," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "But I'll have you know that you drive me just as crazy, if not more. But hey, you can't say that you're not having at least a little fun."

Marina’s face burned when Celia laughed at her words. That had been a stupid thing to say, wasn’t it? Figured—her mother always said the truth was not necessarily the right thing to say—in fact, more often than not, it was the worst thing one could say. Marina couldn’t believe she’d completely abandoned all her mother’s lessons. And for what? To be soaked calf-deep in dirty pond water and get laughed at by a princess with no manners?

However, she blinked in surprise when Celia said that she was driving her crazy too. And it didn’t really sound like an insult. Was it an insult or not?

“Maybe…” she admitted, looking down on her wet shoes and dress and shook her head in disbelief. A part of it felt funny, and a part of it also felt freeing, in a way. There was something about doing an action that was so outrageous and against all the rules that felt exhilarating, even if it was terrifying her at the same time.

But she didn’t want to turn into an uncivilized person. She was still a princess.

“Well. We can’t go to the ballroom like this,” she stepped out of the pool back onto the edge, dripping wet. “I’m going to have to change and somehow explain to my mother why I have to change…”

Already she was dreading that conversation.

Celia's expression brightened at Marina's hesitant reveal, glad to see that she had gotten through to the stuck-up princess at least a little bit. But despite how much fun she was having, Celia knew that Marina was right - they had to get back to the ball and think of some sort of explanation. Deeming she had had enough fun for now, Celia stepped out of the pond and extended her hand for Marina to take. "I guess we'll both need a change of clothes. Don't worry about explaining to your mom - I've got it covered." Celia winked mischievously, waggling her fingers as if her hand was getting tired waiting for Marina to take it.

Covered?

Marina was torn between curiosity and dread. “Dare I ask what kind of explanation you have in mind?” she asked.

She hesitated, then took the other princess’ hand as she stepped out of the pond. It was strange how Celia made her feel unlike anything she’d ever felt before. The girl was incorrigible and her behavior was outrageous, but Marina couldn’t decide if she hated her or really liked her. She definitely envied Celia’s confidence in breaking the rules, the fact that she appeared so free as if she wasn’t bound by anything in life.

How could a crown princess feel that way? Especially one who was meant to protect her kingdom soon enough?

Celia laughed, trying to cover up the small jolt that went up her spine when Marina took her hand. "I do think you underestimate my ability to converse with royalty. I'm actually quite good at it, if I try. Of course that's only about two percent of the time, but you get the point, I'm sure." Once Marina was safely out of the pond, Celia reluctantly let go of her hand. It was warm and soft, and almost comforting. In a way, she felt like Marina's hand fit perfectly in hers.

"Lead the way, princess," she said, motioning towards the palace with her hand. "I don't know about you, but I am dying to take off this wretched corset."

Marina raised an eyebrow at Celia’s remark, unconvinced that she could truly act like a princess if she wanted to. Celia had yet to prove it to her, after all.

She led them toward her room, hesitating briefly outside the door seeing that it was her most private chambers and no one besides her mother and her maids had ever been allowed to step inside. But seeing Celia’s drenched gown, she knew this was a special circumstance and she didn’t exactly have a choice. If she wanted them both to not get caught by their parents, she needed to let Celia in.

She pushed the doors and stepped inside, walking straight into her vast closet. “Close the doors behind you, please,” she told Celia, not wanting anyone to see a foreign princess sneaking into her room.

Inside Marina’s closet was rows upon rows of dresses, mostly in shades of blue and green. There were some in other darker colors as well, but there was no shade of brightness except white that could be seen. “I’m not sure you’d fit into these—do you think we’re the same size? Besides, my mother will surely notice if you’re wearing my dress.”

She picked out a brown dress and held it experimentally in front of Celia, wondering if it was a good fit. Then she remembered Celia’s words earlier about needing to get out of her corset and blushed. Right, they were going to have to take off their clothes. But that was no big deal, right? There were partitions right here in the room, no reason to feel self-conscious even if the situation was highly unusual.

Celia followed Marina, the corset around her waist feeling more and more suffocating with every step. Closing Marina's bedroom door behind her, Celia followed the aqua-haired princess into her ridiculously extravagant closet. Her jaw hung open for a good thirty seconds before Celia finally had the self-awareness to close it and respond to Marina's question.

Her mouth dry, Celia shook her head. "I'm at least a foot taller than you. Anything of yours I try to wear will look ridiculous. You wouldn't happen to have any suits, would you?" Celia tried to reach behind her and grab the clasp of her dress, but her arms wouldn't reach and she dropped them in defeat. Was it just her, or was it boiling in this closet?

An icy blue dress suddenly caught Celia's attention, and she snatched it off of the rack. After looking it up and down, she held it out for Marina. "Wear this one," she commanded.

"Right, of course," she dropped the dress she was holding, feeling foolish. Of course none of her dresses would fit Celia. But then she almost committed the cardinal sin of rolling her eyes when she heard Celia's question.

"Why on earth would I have suits? I am not a man, am I?"

She noticed that Celia was having trouble undressing herself, so she moved to help her without thinking, unclasping it with ease.

When Celia suddenly snatched one of her dresses, Marina wondered if she'd changed her mind, but instead the other woman just thrust it upon her.

"Well. It is one of my favorites," she conceded. But she had never heard of a princess so demanding. "What are you going to do? Steal into my father's room and grab one of his suits of armor?" she asked jokingly, then paused when she realized who she was talking to.

"Please don't do that."

"No," Celia said, a gentle smile playing at her lips. "You are most-definitely not a man." Marina's fingers brushed against the back of Celia's neck as she helped her unclasp the wretched dress, and the contact sent chills down the princess of Uranus's spine. Her touch was cool and gentle, so different from that of anyone else on Uranus. Everyone there was wild and rough - there was no time for moments such as these. 

Marina's "suggestion" sent a laugh bursting forth from Celia's throat. "That is a great idea," she admonished, pulling the zipper down and ripping the strings from her corset. "So how do we break into the King and Queen's chambers?" she asked, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "Think about it, Princess. I can't wear any of your dresses, and I doubt there's anyone else in this palace with any sort of women's garment that would fit me. And besides, you need to let go and have some fun. You have to admit, the pond fiasco was exhilarating. Your father probably has so many suits, he won't even notice that I'm wearing one." 

The tension immediately released around Celia's abdomen as the final string was torn out and the corset was remove, revealing her plain undergarments. It didn't really cross her mind that such an action could be seen as extremely inappropriate on Neptune, but she probably wouldn't care either way.