The Natural Laws of Nemesian Felines
1- If something comes up, it will only go down with Rudra's permission.
2- Savant Princes and egotistical Feline Prime Ministers will always produce an explosive reaction
3- Rudra embodies the best qualities of a cat- according to cats. Humans may beg to differ.
4- If someone is allergic to cats, it's the person's problem... as long as the person doesn't sneeze on the cat.
5- If it exists, Rudra will tax it. If it does not exist, Rudra will tax it as soon as it does.
Rudra did not like Saffir; Saffir did not like Rudra.
It was as simple, and as complex, as that. It was puzzling that they had developed such antipathy towards the other- the very fact that Saffir would occasionally go out of his way to torment the Eternal Cat was remarkable, considering the Savant had little time for anything aside from his numbers or his brother.
Rudra, surprisingly, responded to Saffir with anger on more than one occasion. Now remember, this is one of the oldest creatures in the solar system, and for him to loose his temper was an occasion of great magnitude. For him to lose his temper more then once in a decade was something to be feared. Don't get the wrong impression- Rudra went around in a state of constant irritation (as would most cats faced daily with the idiosyncrasies of humans), but irritation and anger are two entirely different things. Rudra's irritation made the civil servants run from cover and fear him- anger made them start praying that one of the Ayakashi sisters would lose her tenuous grip on sanity and destroy one or two of the Towers- Rudra's attention tended to be so focused that it WOULD take something like the Tower Maergra collapsing to distract him.
Saffir, though, seemed blissfully unaware of the uniqueness of Rudra's reaction to him. While most believed Saffir was too lost in his own little world of Demand, numbers, and more Demand, the few who truly knew him would be forced to disagree. Saffir missed nothing; for him to be truly ignorant of Rudra's dislike had the same probability as Esmeraude falling it love with Rubeus- it was impossible.
No one was quite able to figure out exactly why Rudra and Saffir disliked each other so much. Rudra has always had a antipathy for the Black Moon Princes, but that was caused by a sex-linked gene that always showed up in the males of the Clan.
It's actually rather interesting, as no other family seemed to have it, and the characteristic of the Black Moon Clan was lost if someone married outside the family, which led many to suspect that it was more magical than biological in nature. Quite simply put, this trait is what we would call "allergies". Every male of the Black Moon Family was severely allergic to cats, which annoyed Rudra to no end. He HATED having his fur sneezed all over. It should also be noted that in the most severe of cases, the Princes of the Black Moon became aulirophobic as well. In fact, Prince Demand's grandfather was one of those unfortunates.
While Rudra disliked the family, he had a special hatred for Saffir, beyond the contempt he held even for Rubeus. It didn't make much sense, but perhaps it can be attributed to the first impression they had of each other. It's always been said that the first impression is what counts, and most likely, that's what happened. Their first meeting certainly got their relationship off on the wrong foot.
Saffir officially became a Savant a little after his fifteenth birthday. Being a Savant is much more complicated then most would think- most Nemesians had no real idea what it was like. Savants were trained to think in a cool, logical manner that few could duplicate. They were gifted in the maths and sciences, and many would call them human computers. Most Savants were sealed to Rudra and became, in effect, his property. Saffir, though, never went through this- he was his brother's.
All Savants are incredibly gifted, and Saffir was a shining star even among them. He was undeniably the most outstanding Savant of his generation. The fact that he didn't belong to Rudra must have irritated the Lord of the Towers to start with.
Around Saffir's sixteenth birthday, Demand deputized him to fill in for him for a meeting with Rudra. Demand disliked having to send anyone else to deal with the curmugeonly 'Cat, but this time, he had no choice. His choices were three: Rubeus, Esmeraude, or Saffir. Rubeus and Rudra had met once and the Admiral had insulted Rudra within thirty seconds, Esmeraude's voice grated on the Mooncat's sensitive ears, so that left his ototochan. True, Saffir was young, but there was no one Demand trusted more.
So on that day, escorted by two of Demand's own guard, Saffir set off to meet Rudra in the Tower of Law. The Tower of Law was an imposing structure, and it was all Rudra's. Rudra had been there since before anyone could remember, and he would be there long after they were dust. For some reason, Saffir had never formally met the Mooncat, and was looking forward to the experience as much as a Savant could look forward to anything.
Saffir finally managed to shed his guards and walked into the reception room. Within moments, one of the civil servants escorted him in to see Rudra-sama himself.
Rudra was sitting on top of a desk, pouring over some papers that sat on his desk. It was an interesting sight to see a cat peering at the paper, but Saffir retained his customary cool. Rudra- sama was legendary, and Saffir had made no assumptions- to assume was anathema to the Savant mindset. Rudra looked up, and Saffir met uncannily intelligent eyes in the face of a beast.
He bowed his head, acknowledging the cat as his equal. Only Demand himself outranked Rudra. To his horror, his eyes started to water. He had hoped that his family legacy would be a mild one, but that seemed to be a vain wish.
Rudra motioned a paw towards the only chair in the room. His feline face seemed sharp, and Saffir could tell from the cat's posture that Rudra was on edge. "I received Demand's message, Saffir-san," the cat said, and Saffir noted that his voice didn't even hint that it came from a feline's diaphram. His fingers itched to inspect the cat's biology. To his surprise, they weren't the only thing that itched. His eyes were, by now, streaming steadily, and his throat was clogged. He raised a hand to his face, and sneezed. And sneezed... and sneezed.
Rudra gave him a tired look. "Blasted Black Moon Clan- you're all allergic to fur. I wish one of you would have the sense to take an antihistamine before visiting me."
Saffir tilted his head as he considered. He certainly was displaying classic reaction symptoms. "I'll- I'll go get some medication for it and return shortly," Saffir offered as he started to rise to his feet.
Rudra looked down his nose at Saffir, which was quite a feat when one considered the fact Rudra was no more then seven kilos. "I don't have time to wait for you. The meeting was scheduled, and we will stick to that. You do not have a problem with that," Rudra said, telling, not asking.
Most people would have either been intimidated or ready to backhand the kitty into the nearest wall. Saffir merely nodded, settling himself more evenly in the chair. He WOULD NOT allow himself to get annoyed- that would reflect poorly on him, and by extension, Demand. "I'll try not to sneeze all over you," he deadpanned. "But then again, being a cat, you wouldn't have to worry about catching the common flu, would you? As long as you've had a rabies shot recently, everything is perfectly fine."
Dead silence met Saffir's sarcasm. Rudra seemed to be struck speechless. Even before the fall, no one had ever dared to speak in such a manner to him. "What did you say?" Rudra said evenly, not quite believing his ears.
"I guess even cats go hard of hearing after a millennium or so," Saffir replied with exaggerated patience. "Must I repeat myself?" he asked, blue eyes cool.
"Leave," Rudra hissed, his voice taking on cat-like qualities for the first time.
Saffir didn't have to be told twice. The Blue Prince was gone before Rudra could flick his whiskers twice. Demand never made the mistake of sending Saffir to Rudra again. But the damage had been done.
Saffir occasionally had to go to the Tower of Law on his own, for meetings and such. And though Rudra was a master recluse, the two seemed fated to cross paths at the worse possible times. Often times it would be when one of the pair was in a foul mood over something. Saffir once even managed to trip over the minister, stepping on his tail in the process. The howl Rudra had set up had shaken the entire tower, and Saffir bore a nice set of claw marks on his hand for at least a week later. That was when the younger Prince had taken to wearing gloves regularly. Of course, the next time the two chanced to cross paths, Saffir made a pithy comment about getting a tetanus shot. Needless to say, any chance of reconciliation between the Savant and Mooncat had been utterly destroyed at that point.
Rather then ignore each other, the tail incident seemed to set a turning point for their relationship. Saffir, still disgruntled over the thin scars that marred his right hand (it had, after all, been an accident- he would never INTENTIONALLY step on Rudra's tail, after all... aw, hell... yes, he would), decided a little bit of revenge wouldn't go amiss. He arrange for a pile of catnip (strange the plants that survived on Nemesis) to be delivered to Rudra's office during the night. The next morning, Rudra walked in, his ears and nose twitching.
Rudra, needless to stay, wasn't terribly impressed. About a week later, a series of love-letters started to arrive for Saffir, and they weren't from his current lady, a green-haired fire-eater called Petz. Strangely enough, they only arrived when he was with her, and it took quite a while to calm her down. The letters stopped arriving after a couple of weeks, their writer never revealing himself. Saffir, though, easily figured it out.
It was all out war after that. Saffir had the advantage of technology and being the Prince's brother, while Rudra was able to command the vast arsenal the Tower of Law represented. Neither of them would admit to anyone else that they were caught up in such a petty squabble, so no one really could figure out why a plague of mice would suddenly appear in Rudra's Bastian (and no where else)or why Saffir spent one week sneezing from some sort of weird allergic reaction. Those who did notice dismissed it as standard Nemesian shenanigans.
The conflict escalated. Finally Rudra pushed Saffir beyond the point of no return.
Rudra was undoubtedly one of the most intelligent creatures in the solar system- perhaps even the universe as a whole. Sometimes, though, his very intelligence got in his way. Having little to do with emotions, he forgot to rule those "annoying insignificant baggage" into consideration. He screwed up Saffir's life in a major way, and the Blue Prince vowed vengeance.
His Serene Highness, Demand, the White Prince of Nemesis, treasured his younger brother, and like any older sibling, tried to ensure the best for his ototochan. However, Demand's judgment didn't necessarily agree with Saffir's own opinion. Rudra simply arranged for Demand to discover Saffir's attachment to one of the Tower Avatars, and that was that. Saffir's relationship with Petz was destroyed.
Saffir's pain surprised him. The Savant had never believed he was capable of finding someone to love aside from Demand, and he was sorry to learn how much he had cared for the volatile Petz after she was gone. Everything the Savant and Mooncat had done to each other before paled. Saffir began to research in earnest, trying to find the perfect way to get even- something that would make Rudra truly sorry that he had ever dared manipulate Demand in such a manner. But how to torment the Prime Minister? Rudra was several millennium old, and Saffir was under no illusions that Rudra still had a few decks up his furry sleeves.
Finally Saffir found the answers he had been looking for. He had been careful to avoid Amethyst, the librarian, during his research, for she would undoubtedly trace the connections the books he had been reading. It would take guts and some luck, but Saffir devised a plan that would more then give Rudra the payback he had earned.
One night a few weeks later, Saffir entered the Tower of Law, carrying a bag on top of a sheath of papers. The people there hardly noticed his passing- being a Prince allowed him to go where he pleased. He passed the guards to the final door, and walked in, carefully shutting the door behind him, glad that he had taken an antihistamine.
Rudra looked up from the papers he had been reading over. His beautiful blue eyes grew wide. "Yes?" Rudra asked pointedly.
Saffir glared. "I didn't appreciated you informing Demand of my relationship with Petz," he growled. Damn it, the cat just made him so ANGRY.
"I did no such thing. I have more important things to do then mess with the affairs of a lesser being," Rudra replied.
"Indeed," Saffir replied ironically. "I think it's time you got a little lesson in being a "lesser being" again, Rudra-sama," he drew out.
"Nani?" Rudra asked, confused.
Saffir's face gained a predatory grin. "The door is closed, and you yourself arranged for the silence spell that prevents eavesdropping." The Savant lunged forward and managed to grab the cat by the nape of his neck before Rudra was able to avoid him. "It's rather interesting. I bet you're shielded from all sorts of magical attacks, but you can't do anything when someone just picks you up. I bet you thought no one would dare."
Rudra squiggled and tried to use his claws, but the lock Saffir had on him was like iron. "What do you think you're doing, Saffir?" Rudra yelled.
"I'm reminding you of what it's like being a lesserbeing," Saffir answered. "I found a book on Queen Serenity- the one who gave you to Nemesis? Anyway, strange thing is, all her magic was tied up in the crescent symbol that still marks the Lunarian Royalty. Seems if you cover up or destroy the crescent, the magic goes into abeyance."
The look of horror on Rudra's face was everything Saffir could have wished for. His smile turned even more evil as he pulled out a piece of special adhesive he'd made for just this occasion. It would only come off when soaked in salt water, something he doubted would happen unintentionally. "Good night, Rudra-sama," Saffir said brightly, slapping the blue sticker over the crescent in Rudra's forehead.
Saffir set Rudra down to watch as the bright blue eyes dimmed. Then there was nothing but animal intelligence there, and Saffir was hardly able to ignore the wave of horror that was sweeping through him. For someone of Rudra's caliber to lose his mental abilities was frightening. Saffir could hardly think of a worse fate. Ruthlessly he suppressed his sympathy, and decided to move onto the second stage of his plan.
Esmeraude had seen all of three cats in her lifetime, and none of them were Rudra. Saffir knew this, and planned to use it to his advantage. Esmeraude had recently put a screensaver on his computer that flashed photos of herself, and it was time for a little revenge. He hadn't even known she knew what a screensaver was, much less how to put one on, so he hadn't bothered to password such a minor function. He had learned a little lesson from that, but his gratefulness for the lesson was eclipsed by his irritation with the cackling egomaniac. Time to kill to birds with one stone.
He scooped the disorientated cat into his arms, and winced as Rudra tried to claw him. Even without his normal mental facilities, Rudra maintained his dislike of the Blue Prince. Saffir was glad he was wearing gloves, and grabbed the bag he'd prepared off the desk and shoved the squiggling animal (for that was all Rudra was at the moment) in the bag. As quickly as he could, he trotted off to find Esmeraude. Strangely enough, no one stopped him and demanded to know what was in the bag. 'Just the Prime Minister of Nemesis,' Saffir thought wryly. It was sort of worrying that someone of Rudra's importance could be catnapped so easily.
Saffir walked into Esmeraude's quarters, not bothering to knock. His eyes were running slightly from his prolonged proximity to the cat. Not surprisingly, Esmeraude was standing in front of a mirror, primping. "What ARE you doing here,Useless?" she asked.
Saffir feigned a sneeze easily enough. "Demand-sama needs a favor," he said.
Esmeraude narrowed her eyes. "Oh?" she asked warily.
Saffir nodded and handed her the bag. Esmeraude, shocked to find it move in her hands, dropped it almost immediately, eliciting a pained meow from Rudra. "Rudra protect!" she exclaimed, not aware of how ironic her words were. "It's a cat!" she continued as the Siamese poked his head out of the bag.
"Nice of you to make that identification, Esmeraude," he said. "That is the reason why YOU are the one who must take care of this little monster, as I'm sure you know I'm allergic to the critters, as is my oniisan," he said, grabbing the cat off the floor and placing him roughly in Esmeraude's arms.
"Demand wants me to take care of a CAT?!" she exclaimed, not sure what to think. Her hand was idly stroking Rudra's ears, and Saffir tried to keep his face steady as Rudra began to purr like a normal housecat. 'I didn't know he was even capable of that,' Saffir thought.
"Demand wants it done, therefore we shall do I," Saffir said softly.
If there was one thing that Saffir had been counting on, it had been Esmeraude's devotion to Demand. If Saffir informed her to strip naked and do the can-can because Demand wanted her to, she would with relish. She looked at the purring cat in her arms, setting the fan down with a slightly more delicate touch then Saffir would have believed her capable of. "If that's what Demand wants," she agreed, her voice surprisingly smooth and calming. Rudra took that moment to roll over in Esmeraude's arms and expose his belly. Saffir was barely able to keep from laughing. His eyes were watering heavily, and he hoped that she would assume it was because of his allergy.
"Just keep the furball away from me," Saffir gasped, then uncharacteristically teleported away to his own quarters and fell onto his bed in fits of laughter. 'This is just too perfect!'
It took three days for anyone to learn of Rudra's absence. Saffir spent the time gloating to himself, helping makes plans to attack Earth, and following Demand like a shadow. When Rudra's disappearance became known, Saffir just watched the court. Most of them were stunned, but Rubeus' eyes were more amused then concerned, but Demand was worried. Saffir watched his beloved oniisan turn the matter over in his head a few times before focusing on Saffir.
"Saffir-kun," Demand said quietly, locking his exceptional violet eyes on his brother.
Saffir had been hoping Demand wouldn't link him to Rudra's disappearance, but the White Prince was too intelligent for that to truly be a possibility. And for him to address Saffir so formally meant trouble. "Hai, oniisan?" he asked.
"Where is Rudra?" Demand said point-blank.
"Why would I know?" Saffir questioned evasively.
"Because of everyone on the entire planet, you're the only one who might actually get the better of him in a battle of wits," Demand replied. The Clan Princes muttered to themselves, but no one denied that.
"I don't know where he is right now," Saffir said. "You might want to ask Esmeraude, though. She might have an idea." Saffir was barely able to suppress a grin. Now he got to embarrass both Esmeraude AND Rudra in front of the entire court- it couldn't get any better then that!
Demand blinked. "Esmeraude re'Garnet? Really... I thought they had never met," he mused, but sent a summons to the green-haired vixen anyway.
Esmeraude appeared in a less then a minute, cradling the Mooncat in her arms, without her trade-mark fan. "Did you want the cat now?" she asked. "I'm afraid I was unable to remove the patch, but aside from that, you'll find he's in excellent health. He's a darling," she cooed, stroking Rudra's neck with a gentle hand.
The court was plunged into dead silence. "Where did you get him? I didn't give you any orders to keep him!" Demand said hurriedly, eager for some answers.
Esmeraude wasn't one of the world's brightest women, but she could tell something was not right. "Saffir-sama dropped him off three days ago and told me you wanted me to care for him. So I did." Saffir had expected her to distance herself from the cat once caring for it gave her no advantage with Demand, but to her credit, she kept petting it as though nothing was wrong.
"Saffir!" Demand bellowed. "This is inexcusable! I KNOW you and Rudra dislike each other, but I simply can't tolerate this feud continuing. Return him to normal, right NOW or else I will be forced to take action- and trust me, you won't like it."
Saffir had never seen Demand so angry. Esmeraude looked at her beloved prince, eyes wide. "Rudra? Do you mean this is Rudra- our Prime Minister?" she whimpered.
Saffir summoned a small bottle of salt water he had prepared earlier and approached Esmeraude. "I figured Rudra and you would get along splendidly, Esmeraude. You have so much in common," he answered. He upended the bottle on Rudra's forehead, and the patch dissolved. Rudra leapt out of Esmeraude's arms onto the floor, swearing in a at least twenty languages, some of them dead ones.
Finally Rudra seemed to orient enough to get ready to attack Saffir verbally. They squared off, blue eyes clashing with blue, and were about to lit into each other when Demand's voice descended on them. "This has gone far enough."
They whirled to look up at the Messiah of Nemesis, trying to find something to say. Rudra was sopping wet and agitated, hardly the Mooncat everyone was familiar with, while Saffir wore a slightly manic grin on his face that faded as Demand rose.
"We cannot have the Prime Minister at war with my younger brother," Demand said. "Nemesis will soon be going to war, and without a united homefront, we will not succeed. Both of you must put aside your hatred for our people and our land."
Neither of them were able to argue with that. Rudra stalked out of the Court and went to his Tower where he could find a servant to groom him- there was no way he was going to lick all the salt water off. The very thought of how Saffir had managed to get the better of him -him!- made his blood boil. The impudent upstart had better watch out...
Saffir himself left as soon as the door shut behind Rudra, Esmeraude's shrieking voice following him. He had certainly succeeded in his objective to embarrass the two- now he just had to deal with Demand's anger.
Seated on the Throne of Winds, Demand listened to his court impassively, trying to block thought of wet cats and vengeful Savants from his mind. He knew that if he indulged himself, he would fall in gales of laughter.
Perhaps Rudra and Saffir would have picked up their rivalry again, given time, but time was one thing they did not have. Six months later, on April 1, Nemesis attacked Earth.
The rest of the story you know. How the Black Moon Family ventured into the past after the fleeing Princess. How the Senshi redeemed the Sisters Ayakashi. How Rubeus was destroyed when his ship went up in flames. How the Wiseman betrayed the Black Moon Family, killing Esmeraude by playing on her desires, killing Saffir when he attempted to warn his oniisan of the Wiseman's treachery, Demand himself falling in battle to the Wiseman while protecting his beloved Sailor Moon.
And that was the end of the reign of His Serene Highness, the White Prince of Nemesis, Patriarch of the Black Moon Family, Demand re'Adamant. The Wiseman had fallen to Queen Serenity; yet the people of Nemesis were in chaos. Rubeus, son of Stephanite, had fallen in battle to the Senshi of the past, taking with him all knowledge of the Sisters Ayakashi. Esmeraude re'Garnet was dead as well. Without either the of the Princes, there was no Heir to the Throne. Without the Sisters Ayakashi, there was no religion to sustain them. Without Demand-sama himself, the people had lost their hope.
Perhaps that's why no one really noticed a command that came from Tower of Law amidst thousands of other commands in that period of chaos following the fall of the White Prince. The only one who noticed was the gardener. To get anything to grow on Nemesis was a long and tedious process, and all resources were precious. So the gardener, one Jadeite re'Safiiru, was astounded to see the order.
He set out to the Crystal Casket that had been created for the Blue Prince. To his surprise, the guards let him pass without asking why a Lower Star was visiting the Royal Tomb. It was easy to find Saffir's resting place- it was the most recent.
Jadeite was surprised to see the crystal that enclosed the younger Prince. In it he would lie for eternity, forever unchanging. He looked down, getting his first look at the reclusive Saffir.
Young. That was the first word that came to mind.
Saffir looked like he was barely a man; hard to
believe that this was the much-vaunted ao no oji. He
touched the encasement softly, then looked down at the
foot of the casket. "I'm going to have to be getting
some flower pots in here- even the Nemesian rose won't
grow in marble. I've got an order to make sure that
there'salways a flower in bloom by you, an order that
my successors are to follow into eternity. Waste of
resources, if you ask me, but it caries the
authorizing paw print of Rudra himself."
THE END
===== Quicksilver Lady of the Labyrinth Full time student and part-time writer She who is going to flunk statistics because she's a ditz http://www.homestead.com/quicksilverslabyrinth "I'm a history book you never could write; Poetry in paralysis, too deep to recite."