Prologue |
Chapter One |
Chapter Two |
Chapter Three |
Chapter Four |
Chapter Five |
Chapter Six |
Chapter Seven |
Chapter Eight |
Chapter Nine |
Chapter Ten |
Chapter Eleven |
Chapter Twelve |
Chapter Thirteen |
Chapter Fourteen |
Chapter Fifteen |
Chapter Sixteen |
Epilogue
The stars were shining brightly, filling the night sky with glittering diamonds. Standing beside the fountain in his beloved's favorite garden, Endymion gazed up at the blue-green pearl that was the Earth and wondered what the stars would look like from the planet. There would be new constellations to learn, and the phases of the Moon would mark the passing of time from now on. He breathed deeply, savoring his remaining moments in the fragrant fresh air of the flower garden. A sharp breeze swirled through the bushes and Endymion drew his thin coat tighter around himself, mindful not to damage the red rose pinned carefully to its inner lining. It had pained him to remove Serenity's first gift from its life-sustaining water, but a full mug would be too much of a hindrance to carry, and the living flower he would be holding in his arms for the rest of his life was far more precious than any rose. Once they reached Earth, he planned to dry and preserve the childhood relic. Shifting the sack that contained everything he owned, Endymion focused on the sky above him, trying not to think about all he was leaving behind. This was the last time he would stand in the shadow of the Moon Castle, the last time he would see the ice-blue earthlight spread over the silvery waters and alabaster stones. "Endymion." Turning around, the stable hand beheld his cherished lover. Princess Serenity was standing at the entrance to the garden, her pale hair shining in the starlight. She walked toward him, her dress tinted an eerie blue by the light of the Earth. Endymion blinked in confusion. Serenity was dressed in her usual silver and white gown and she had no baggage with her. Standing in the presence of the man whose dreams she was about to shatter, Serenity's heart ached so badly that she could barely breathe. He was so beautiful, from his dark hair to his strong legs, the hope and excitement shining in his eyes too precious to destroy. As she approached Endymion held out his arms, and she entered his embrace automatically, trembling as she clutched his clothes and pressed her head against his chest. The sweet fragrance of roses surrounded her, and beneath that, the steady throbbing of her beloved's heart pulsed against her ear. "Sere, what is it?" Endymion asked slowly, dread bringing a waver to his voice. "Where are your things?" She loved him. By the Ancients and all the power of the Crystal Tower, Serenity loved this man and she knew at that moment that she could not, would not, live without him. Standing there wrapped in his arms and his scent, the Princess could not imagine ending their romance and never seeing him again, never feeling this again. She needed Endymion more than the air, more than the Moon itself, more than anything or anyone. She simply could not go on without the man she had joined with in their night of pure unrestrained passion. Serenity shuddered violently as she realized she would be expected to be that intimate with the Earth Prince. It was impossible. She could never share her body without love. Blinking away the tears that were threatening to escape the corners of her eyes, the Princess looked up at the stable hand. "I don't need anything from this life," she said, her voice firm and steady. "Only you, Endy. You are all I need." Endymion smiled, breathing a bit easier. He felt a slight twinge of disappointment; he had hoped Serenity would bring some trinkets they could sell on Earth, but most of all he was relieved that she had not changed her mind about fleeing the Moon. "Come, we must go, quickly." Taking her lover by the hand, Serenity pulled him toward the hedge maze, her heart pounding in her chest. Escape would be tricky, now that their romance was no longer a secret, but her mother did not know they planned to run away this night. With luck, they could reach the teleportation chamber without - An abundance of light flooded the area so suddenly that it seemed a tidal wave was sweeping away the darkness. Princess Serenity stopped short and shielded her eyes until her vision adjusted, but as the scene became clear, she almost wished she had been struck blind. The four Sailor Soldiers stepped out of the hedge maze, each skirted warrior carrying a crystal lantern. They stood firm, their faces cold and stern, two on each side of the garden's exit. For a brief moment, Endymion considered turning to flee, but the thought was short-lived. Although he had never seen the Sailor Soldiers before, every inhabitant of the Moon knew enough about them to recognize them on sight in their distinctive white bodysuits and brightly colored skirts. Beyond that, the power they held simply radiated from their bodies in waves. Endymion could feel the invisible energies crackling across his tingling skin. Any one of them could strike him dead before he had taken two steps toward the old gardener's door. Even if he could escape, there was nowhere to run to. As he struggled to prevent fear from setting in, Endymion could think of only one thing - the sole person he had trusted with his most precious secret. Prien. How could his dearest friend have betrayed him to the authorities, when they had shared their entire lives with each other? The bitter seed of anger planted itself in Endymion's stomach. Serenity shrank back against him, but protectively, extending her arms behind her as if to shield her beloved from the wrath of her guardians. The Sailor Soldiers were not the only ones standing in the lovers' path. From between them entered the white-robed, lavender-haired form of Queen Serenity herself. All the pity and sorrow her daughter had seen in the monarch's face earlier was gone, replaced by a stone-cold look of decisive, unshakeable resolve. "Mother," Princess Serenity gasped as the powerful ruler stepped forward to stand in the center of the square formed by the Sailor Soldiers. From the beginning, Endymion had known who his beloved's mother was, but no amount of knowledge could have prepared him to stand face to face with his Queen for the first time. She was shorter than the stable hand, but her perfect posture and elegant manner made her seem to tower over all others present. Her eyes were like ice, staring at Endymion with an intense gaze that did not flicker or waver. From the crescent moon on her forehead to the form-fitting white dress that hugged her body, she practically glowed with power and majesty. Endymion's legs buckled beneath him, and he fell to his knees involuntarily, unable to tear his eyes away from the cold beauty of the living goddess. "Serenity, you disappoint me," Queen Serenity said in a calm and quiet voice. "I couldn't do it, Mother," the Princess confessed, trembling from head to toe. "I wanted to do the right thing, but I couldn't send him away. I just couldn't!" "You must realize that there is no choice in this matter," the Lunarian monarch replied, her eyes flickering back and forth between her daughter and the Earth-born man kneeling on the stone path, "for either of us." At this, the Mauans Luna and Artemis emerged from behind the Queen and strode forward. Luna wrapped an arm around the shaking Princess while Artemis approached the cowering stable hand with a set of metal shackles. Terror gripped Endymion's heart as, for the second time in his life, the man in the white suit bent over him with a face cross with anger. "Don't hurt him!" Princess Serenity pleaded as Luna firmly pulled her away from her beloved's side. Something flickered in Artemis' eyes and for a moment, Endymion feared he would remember that he had already ordered this particular stable hand to stay out of the gardens. After a moment, however, it faded. To the white-haired nobleman, all servants were the same. Artemis grabbed him roughly from behind, and Endymion shuddered as cold irons were fastened firmly around his wrists. This time, Miss Amaris could not save him. "No!" The Princess lunged against Luna's grip, but Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars were at her side instantly, their gloved hands as unyielding as chains on her arms. "You can't! I won't let you!" Fear and desperation gave Serenity extra strength as she struggled against the three women, determined to protect Endymion's life with her own. She shot pleading glances at the two soldiers restraining her but found no sympathy there. "Calm yourself, Serenity," the Queen ordered, giving her daughter a disapproving glare as she stepped toward the kneeling stable hand. "He will live." The Princess stopped struggling at this news, relieved that her beloved would not be executed, but she continued to watch Endymion with frantic eyes. Artemis' firm grip on the shackles that bound Endymion's hands behind his back kept him still as Queen Serenity approached, drawing closer until the hem of her dress was scarcely an arm's length from his knees. With wide eyes, Endymion stared up at the monarch he had served his entire lifetime, the most powerful woman in the solar system. If death was not his sentence, what punishment awaited him? What would the Queen do to the man who dared defile her daughter? As she stood over the cringing young man, something in Queen Serenity's eyes softened. She gazed down at his tanned face, so alive with love despite the fear running rampant within him. No amount of sympathy, however, could alter the situation or change the decision the monarch had already made. "He is to be banished to Earth," Queen Serenity announced firmly. Endymion's heart sank into his stomach. He would be going to the planet of his origin after all, but alone. "No!" the Princess wailed, pressing her hands to her face. "Mother, please!" The consequences of this sentence cut into both lovers like a knife. If Endymion were jailed, Serenity could find some way to visit and possibly even free him, but if he were sent to Earth, she would never see him again. The tortured outbursts of his beloved brought a fragment of hope to Endymion's heart. If anyone could convince the Queen not to go through with this, it was Princess Serenity. "Serenity, dear, we have already discussed this," the Queen said more gently, turning around to face her frantic daughter. "Have you forgotten your people so soon?" Leaning closer to the Princess' ear, she added, "Without you, the Moon Kingdom is as good as dust." Endymion could not hear all that was being said, but he saw his beloved's face change into pained but solid resignation. As she sagged, her pale shoulders drooping, the stable hand knew he had lost. When Princess Serenity raised her head again, there were tears slipping down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Endy," she said in a half whisper, her blue eyes swimming with pain. "Ours was a lovely dream, but reality leaves no room for love." On the last few words, her voice broke, and the Princess buried her face in her hands, shoulders quaking as she began to sob uncontrollably. Queen Serenity waved a hand at Luna, who swiftly returned to the distraught girl's side and began leading her out of the garden. Endymion could only watch helplessly as, without another word, the light and joy of his life was taken from his sight. As the last traces of the Princess' crystal hair vanished around the corner, Artemis readjusted his grip and hauled the stable hand roughly to his feet. The Queen turned to face him, and Endymion took a deep breath, prepared to endure her wrath. "Moonbeam, stop!" a woman's voice cried from within the hedge maze. Princess Serenity came running back into the garden, shoes gone, skirts clenched in her hands, a vision of white and silver with teardrops flying from her cheeks and spinning off into the air. Before anyone could react, she had barreled through the startled Sailor Soldiers, ducked around her mother and leapt up to wrap her arms around Endymion's neck, pressing her lips firmly against his in a desperate kiss. All at once, the love they shared surged to the surface, pouring all their passion into this moment of unity. With his arms bound, Endymion could not hold her, could not feel her soft skin beneath his fingers, but Serenity made up for it by seeming to caress his entire body with her fingertips as they embraced. The kiss ached of longing and pain, and tasted of the salt of the Princess' tears, but she was as soft and warm and yielding as ever as she opened herself to Endymion's eager lips and tongue and melted against him. The four Sailor Soldiers surged forward, but Queen Serenity stayed them with a gesture, signaling to Artemis as well not to interrupt the young lovers' desperate embrace. The entire group stood as still as stone as the Princess clung to her beloved and tasted his mouth as deeply as if she could draw her very soul into herself, never to be parted from him. All else was forgotten in the heat and fire of the moment, banished for an instant by the smooth touch of the Princess' hands against Endymion's skin and the softness of her mouth like sweet nectar against his lips. Then, as suddenly as it began, it ended. The blonde Sailor Soldier crossed the garden and gently laid her hands on the lovers' shoulders, bringing them back to reality. An instant after touching them, the orange-suited soldier jumped back suddenly as if shocked by the contact, but the spell was broken. Serenity stepped back from Endymion, her fingers lingering on his arms, and at last she let go. "Sere-" The Princess stopped Endymion with two fingers pressed against his lips. He could not help but close his eyes momentarily, savoring the light touch of her fingertips against him, the heat of her soft skin soothing despite the trembling of her hands. When he opened his eyes again, Endymion saw in his beloved's tear-streaked face that the kiss had changed nothing and was merely a final farewell. He wanted to do something, to shout out a protest, to stop this from happening, but he knew all his efforts would be futile. Instead, he took advantage of his last few moments with Princess Serenity to drink in every detail of her face and store it away in his memory. "I love you, Endy," the Princess whispered. "Farewell." Luna came forward and took the crystal-haired woman by the arm. The blonde guardian accompanied the pair out of the garden, glancing back at the Princess' lover with a strange look of wonder. This time, as she was led away, Serenity turned her head to keep her gaze locked on Endymion's stormy eyes until the last, savoring every second she could look upon him like the last drops of an elixir she would never taste again. Then she was gone. Even in the light of the lanterns and the ethereal glow of Queen Serenity, the garden seemed to darken, consumed by a suffocating gloom in the absence of Endymion's beloved Princess. Loneliness and fear surged up with a vengeance. Endymion's lover had left him and he was a mere stable hand alone with Lord Artemis, three Sailor Soldiers, and the Queen of the Moon Kingdom. As Queen Serenity turned her attention back to him, Endymion's knees weakened, and he dropped to the ground again. Artemis roughly grabbed his hair from behind and yanked it back, forcing him to look up at the woman who would decide his fate. The green-suited soldier marched over and snatched up Endymion's pack from the ground. "He may keep his possessions," Serenity announced, not taking her eyes off the ragged Earth-born man crouched at her feet. Endymion stared up into eyes like glass, flawless and empty, as emotionless as crystal. Having no idea what the Queen was thinking was more unnerving than the rage he had dreaded to see. The brown-haired soldier looked uneasy. "But, my Queen-" "Whatever he has taken is of no consequence," the Queen interrupted, still gazing down at her daughter's lover, "save one item. Where is Serenity's engagement pendant?" Endymion opened his mouth and tried to speak, but only air passed his lips. He was frozen, stunned into silence by the loss of his beloved and the unblinking statuesque stare of the goddess incarnate. "Answer your Queen, boy!" Artemis snarled impatiently, punctuating the statement with a sharp kick to the small of the stable hand's back. Pain exploded up Endymion's spine and through his kidneys, but he bit his tongue, refusing to cry out as the white-hot shock sent a wave of nausea through his stomach and ignited sparks in front of his vision. Now the Queen's face changed. It was brief, barely an eyeblink, but a lightning flash of outraged fury escaped the monarch's restraint before her emotions were buried again. "Artemis," she snapped, her tongue as sharp as daggers, "return to the castle. Now." The Mauan advisor started to protest, but one fiery glare from the Moon Queen instantly changed his mind. With a mutter of assent, he released his hold on Endymion, slunk around the assembled women and retreated into the hedge maze. "The pendant," Queen Serenity repeated when Artemis had gone. "Where is it?" "On the table in my hut," Endymion managed, although his throat was dry and his voice rasped as if his mouth were full of sand. "The one with the blue marker on the door." The lavender-haired monarch turned her head slightly and nodded at the Sailor Soldiers. The guardian wearing a blue skirt and tall boots broke away from her companions and headed toward the gardener's entrance behind Endymion. If his current situation had not been so dire, the stable hand would have laughed at the thought of his fellow servants' reaction to a Sailor Soldier in their midst. As it was, even the departure of the blue-haired one left two equally deadly women a mere few steps away from him. Queen Serenity's arm moved and something clinked to the ground just in front of Endymion's knees. Looking down, he discovered a small drawstring pouch lying on the path, undoubtedly filled with coins. At this, a shred of pride mustered itself deep within Endymion and he lifted his head and boldly glared up at the powerful ruler. "Keep your charity," he hissed through clenched teeth. "You can not buy me off at any price." "Show some respect, you miserable worm!" the soldier in red snapped from behind her Queen. "What more can you do to me?" Endymion challenged, the emptiness in his heart that had been filled by Princess Serenity's love beginning to ache so badly that he was consumed by bitterness and despair. "Take my life? You have already done that," he added, his voice breaking despite his efforts to appear strong. "You cannot hurt me any more than you already have." The stable hand and the Moon Queen stared at each other for what seemed a long moment, although it was barely a heartbeat. In that single glance, Endymion tried to express everything that was in his heart: all the love he felt for the Princess, how much she meant to him, how meaningless his life was without her, and how little he cared for his own fate now that she was gone. Boldly, he glared at the elegant ruler who had caused such pain to his beloved, letting contempt show through now that there was no redeeming himself in her eyes. He resisted the tears as much as he could, but they were still there, welling up from the hole that had been torn in his soul and stinging the corners of his eyes until he could no longer swallow and his vision blurred. The image of the Queen became a cloudy smear, but Endymion still held strong, refusing to blink and release the tears to roll down his cheeks. His agony was far more than mere sorrow and he would not cheapen it by weeping. "Leave us," Queen Serenity ordered, looking around at the two remaining Sailor Soldiers. "What?" the green-suited one protested incredulously. "My Queen, that-" Serenity silenced her with a glance. The soldiers withdrew, but only to a far corner of the garden where they could still keep an eye on the prisoner. The fierce glares of the two warriors sent shivers down Endymion's spine. "Rise." Endymion was getting to his feet before he even processed the command, his legs unfolding almost automatically upon the Queen's word. At his full height, the Moon Queen was barely eye-level with his shoulders. She was only a bit taller than her daughter, but her age and maturity showed far more in her demeanor than her size. Endymion found himself wanting to stoop so he would not be looking down upon her, but he forced himself to stand firm, boldly facing his fate. He refused to apologize or beg for mercy; he did not regret loving the Princess and he would not act sorry for it. "So, you are the man who has earned Serenity's heart," the Queen said quietly, looking him up and down. Endymion was momentarily startled by her choice of words. He might have expected "stolen," or "tainted," but never "earned." "Might I have your name?" Again, an odd use of decorum. Endymion blinked, confused. Here was a woman who held his life and many others in the palm of her hand, yet she appeared at that moment to be just a concerned mother meeting her child's beloved for the first time. "End - Endou," Endymion stammered, deciding there was no sense in risking whatever fragile sympathy the Queen had developed for him by claiming a Prince's name. The next moment, he wondered why he bothered to care what happened to him. His life was worthless now that he had lost the woman he loved. Whatever existence awaited him on Earth, it would most likely be a brief one. He could not endure this emptiness for long. Queen Serenity's eyes narrowed for an instant, as if she suspected there was more he was not telling, but it faded quickly as she accepted the lie. "Don't be a fool," the monarch said suddenly. Her face hardened back to the firm expression of a Queen; solid, immoveable. She bent down, snatched up the coin pouch from the ground and reached for the stable hand's pack. Endymion cringed to see his ruler's perfect, delicate hands touching the tattered filth that was the battered old satchel, but without hesitation she opened it and placed the money inside. "I don't want your-" "This is not meant to buy off your love." Queen Serenity stood up and looked Endymion straight in the eye. "Do you think I want to abandon you to Earth with nothing, to sink or swim in a world of strangers? I am truly sorry it must be this way." The soft look returned to her eyes, an expression of pity or regret that was quite out of place on the face of a monarch. "Why must it be, my Queen?" Endymion asked quietly, emboldened despite the cold shackles around his wrists and the watching Sailor Soldiers. "Serenity - the Princess - is happy with me. All I want is her happiness." "I wish I could say the same." The Queen trembled slightly, as if from a chill, then quickly composed herself. "However, those of royal blood must always do what is best for their people. For us, happiness is a dream we give to others, not a thing we keep for ourselves. You are fortunate, Endou, that you are as you are. You may find happiness yet." "Without Sere," Endymion countered bitterly, "no joy remains for me. A life without her is meaningless, without-" "Don't be a fool," Queen Serenity repeated in a bitingly fierce tone. "Endou, I give you your life. Live it. If you choose your own end, she will know. No matter how far apart you are or how much time passes, she will know, and it will destroy her." Something sad flickered through the Moon Queen's face then, a deep, aching depression that cut straight to the center of Endymion's soul, so empty and longing that he could not even speak. As the monarch turned and called to the two Sailor Soldiers to return, that dreadful look of utter abandonment and loss stayed with him, blocking out all else to the point where he did not hear Queen Serenity's final words to him or her orders to her soldiers. As they led him through the gardens toward the Moon Castle, Endymion resolved to live whatever life he was given as best he could. He knew the separation would hurt his beloved Serenity, but he could never cause her the pain her mother hid behind an alabaster mask. When they reached the castle wall, at a point far from the Princess' balcony, a cloud of attendants that had been waiting there swiftly surrounded Queen Serenity and escorted her inside. Endymion could not help but notice the high quality of the servants' clothes and the haughty, superior looks they gave him, although there was not a drop of noble blood among them. As an Earth-child and a stable hand, he was nothing more than a common criminal, even to those of his same station. At least he was going to a world where his would be the dominant race, primitive as their society was. The two Sailor Soldiers, who Endymion now identified as Jupiter and Mars from his memories of conversations with the Princess, led their captive toward a door far smaller and plainer than the entrance the Moon Queen had passed through. They pushed him inside and for the second time in his life, Endymion entered the Moon Castle. Even the servants' passages of the extensive marble structure were far richer than anywhere Endymion had ever lived. The corridors were flawlessly clean and as pearl-white as the castle's outer walls, seemingly endless with branches in all directions and lit by glowing crystals that hung from the ceiling. At this time of the night, the passages were nearly deserted, but here and there a startled face peered out at the pair of grim-faced Sailor Soldiers and the solemn man being marched along between them. Endymion walked with his head hanging in shame, trying to ignore the sting of wondering eyes upon him. The shackles were heavy on his wrists, a constant reminder of what was about to happen to him, but that was not the most pressing thing on his mind. He had lost Serenity, his beloved, the only woman he had ever truly loved. His life was as good as over, yet he was bound to it, unable to give up for the sake of the lover he would never again lay eyes on. If only they could have been making this journey together, arm in arm on a new adventure. Endymion would have given anything to have the Princess at his side. After what seemed an eternity of ducking through twisting corridors, Sailor Jupiter pushed open a door that was quite different from the others, a pristine white instead of plain wood. Endymion stepped through onto a smooth polished surface and looked up in amazement. These were the main hallways of the Moon Castle, where the highest-born of the kingdom spent their days. The ceiling here was so high it was nearly lost in the shadows above, and the corridor seemed wide enough for fifteen people to walk side-by-side. Every surface was of the purest white marble polished to perfection, accented by carvings and miniature sculptures at the corners. The passages were dark, but as the Sailor Soldiers and their captive progressed down the hallway the light crystals set into the walls around them flared to life, illuminating only the area where they stood and flickering off again once they passed. They had not gone far when they reached their destination. As Jupiter opened another door, Sailor Mars shoved Endymion roughly into the teleportation chamber. It was smaller than he had expected, just another room nowhere near the scale of the main teleportation station out in the city. Clearly, the design of this room was purely functional. It was bare of any decorations or furnishings beyond the round gray slab on the floor that produced the portal between worlds. Something struck the back of Endymion's legs, and he dropped to his knees with a grunt. Sailor Jupiter flung his pack to the floor beside him as she walked forward and turned around to face the captive. With her arms folded over her chest, she was quite an intimidating figure, her natural height made all the more impressive by her high-heeled green boots and the hard-edged glare emanating from beneath her dark brown hair. "You have been charged with trespassing and high treason with regard to the training and upbringing of Princess Serenity," the green-suited soldier announced without a trace of sympathy on her face. "By the decree of Queen Serenity, you are hereby banished to Earth and are forever barred from the Moon. So ordered, so done." A sizzling sound at Endymion's side drew his attention. Sailor Mars was standing there, holding a metal rod with a cross of two short bars at one end. In one of her hands flickered a live flame, so real that the kneeling stable hand could feel its heat, but the soldier's white glove was undamaged. Endymion could not help but watch in wonder at the small display of magic as Mars brought the flame to the rod and held it so the blazing tongue of fire engulfed the metal cross. Within seconds, the end of the instrument was red-hot, glowing a bright orange within the soldier's intense flame. Sailor Mars looked up from her efforts. Her deep violet eyes met the dusky gray gaze of the man kneeling beside her. Her face twitched. Her lips curved ever so slightly into the hint of a sinister smile. Endymion's eyes widened in horrified realization, but it was too late. In a calm, practiced manner, Jupiter seized the stable hand's arm in one hand and grabbed him by the hair with the other, her gloved grip like a vice despite her lack of emotion. Endymion gasped at the pain her strength inflicted, her slender fingers digging deeply enough into his flesh to bruise. The pain of compressed skin and broken blood vessels roared through his upper arm, and Jupiter's other hand pulled his hair back so tightly that his scalp felt as if it would tear loose from his skull. The soldier tugged Endymion's head toward her, exposing the silver tattoo on the other side of his neck that marked him as a Moon Castle servant and served as proof of his right to be on the grounds. In one swift, smooth motion, Mars pressed the glowing brand against Endymion's tattooed skin. Halfway across the castle in her chambers, Princess Serenity jolted upright and screamed. Endymion's skin burned and blistered instantly. Fire exploded through his neck, singeing and melting the tender flesh where Queen Serenity's emblem had stood undamaged for so many years, crossing out the symbol of loyalty in a wave of searing heat. The pain was beyond anything Endymion had ever felt in his life. It shot straight down his spine to his stomach, making him nauseous with agony as his entire body twitched violently in Sailor Jupiter's grip. The stable hand's mouth gaped open and his eyes squeezed shut so tightly that stars sparked in the darkness beneath his eyelids, but he refused to cry out. He would not scream like a victim. He would not beg for mercy. Surely, it would be over soon. In spite of his determined hope, the torture only continued. "Mars, isn't that enough?" the soldier in green muttered over Endymion's head as he twitched in his suffering. "It only takes a few seconds to-" "Do you really think it will all be over after this?" Mars hissed through her teeth. "You saw the Princess! She's absolutely smitten with this - this common-blood scum! Before he interfered in her life, she was a good girl, ready to shoulder her responsibilities, but now - her heart belongs not to her kingdom, but to some Earth-born servant!" Throughout her tirade, the red-suited soldier kept the burning metal firmly pressed against her captive's neck. With every passing second, it seemed to grow hotter and heavier until it felt as if Mars were leaning against it with all her weight and Endymion could smell his own flesh burning. Jupiter's grip on his convulsing body grew ever tighter and the more he struggled to remain silent, the more his lungs ached to scream in twisted agony. "Mars, you know I feel as you do," Jupiter assured her partner bitterly. "This worthless wretch out for a taste of power deserves far worse than exile," she spat in Endymion's direction, "but you saw how the Queen reacted to Artemis' rough treatment of him." "Yes," Mars replied, her lips twisting into a smirk, "but the Queen is not here and we are the last faces of the Moon this man will ever see." To the horror of the prisoner caught between them, the brunette echoed her companion's logic with a cruel smile of her own. With a grunt, the green-suited woman wrenched her captive's arm behind his back so sharply that Endymion thought it would break, his entire body consumed by agony. "Did you think you could hurt her and get away with it?" Sailor Jupiter's low voice hissed fiercely in his ear. "Did you think she was a toy you could play with and then toss aside? Did you?" Blinded by the searing pain of red-hot metal pressed against his skin, Endymion could not even think, let alone speak to defend himself against the accusations. He felt hot liquid trickle down his neck as his flesh peeled away beneath the brand. "Fool!" Mars snapped. As she berated the captive, the fire against his neck seemed to double in its intensity. "Why didn't you choose some nameless peasant girl to feign love with, to satisfy your lust? What have you done to her? Have you sullied her body with your filth?!" Both soldiers jumped as the door to the room flew open suddenly, banging sharply against the wall. "What are you doing?!" a strange voice cried. The terrible pressure on Endymion's arm and neck vanished. He collapsed face-first on the marble floor, gasping for breath as his scalp throbbed and the blood flowed back into his arm. The Earth-child's neck, however, still burned with a fire that felt like it would seal off his throat entirely. He gritted his teeth against the pain and opened his eyes, but they watered so badly that the orange-suited Sailor Soldier who had entered the room was little more than a blur. "It is the policy of the Moon Kingdom to mark exiled criminals so they can not return," Sailor Mars said matter-of-factly, dismissing her own behavior with a toss of her long hair. "Not like this!" Sailor Venus crossed the room toward the man cowering on the floor. Involuntarily, Endymion shied away from her in the wake of his ordeal, even though the blonde's face was filled with concern. The potential for cruelty that lurked within the Sailor Soldiers had been revealed and a fear had been created that could never be erased. However, these gloved hands were gentle as they helped Endymion back to his knees. "Yes, we brand banished servants, but this man has broken no laws and does not deserve to be treated so cruelly." Venus was breathing heavily, as if she had been running. As the stable hand's vision cleared, he saw the soldier cringe as she examined his wound, and as he watched she paled and began to look as if she would be sick. Endymion was glad he could not see the seriousness of his injury, although the burning in his neck was still so severe he could barely see straight and something warm was trickling down to his shoulder. "If anything, he is a victim," Venus muttered. "This sort of violence does not become you, Mars. I would think you, of all people, would show a little more mercy toward this man after what you did to him before ever laying eyes upon him." "How can you defend him?" the soldier of fire demanded. "He led our Princess astray with false promises of love!" "If only we had realized it sooner," Sailor Jupiter lamented quietly. "When the Queen hears of this..." Venus began in a threatening tone, glaring up at her fellow soldiers. With eyes as cold as ice, Mars and Jupiter approached with arms folded across their chests, looming over the blonde and the half-choking captive. "She will never hear of it," Jupiter said in a voice filled with daggers, "unless one of the three of us tells her." Sailor Venus' eyes widened under the sharp unwavering stares of the women who should have been her subordinates. Taking a deep breath, the orange-suited soldier opened her mouth and seemed about to argue, but after a moment she sagged, reconsidering her words. "Just get him out of here," Venus muttered bitterly. "That's what we've been ordered to do, is it not?" The blonde straightened up and crossed the room to press a series of buttons on a panel set into the wall. The teleportation platform roared to life with a hum that started low and rose into a wail that seemed to make Endymion's bones tingle. Silver light rose from the platform in a vertical column that vanished into a receptor disc set into the ceiling. The shining beam swirled with a multitude of colors for a few moments, then settled on a smooth golden glow that indicated its destination: Earth. Sailor Jupiter seized Endymion by the arms and hauled him to his feet, dragging him roughly toward the platform. Without knowing why, the stable hand began to struggle. Something about the shimmering light frightened him, something he could not explain. He was no match for a Sailor Soldier however, especially in his weakened state with his arm bruised and his head throbbing and feverish from the burn on his neck. In one fluid motion, the tall brunette released the shackles from his wrists and shoved him onto the platform. The golden light enfolded him in its glow, and Sailor Mars tossed his bag of meager possessions up beside him. Staggering on shaking legs, Endymion turned around for one last glance at the world that had raised him and the three faces expelling him from it forever - two angry, yet satisfied, and one filled with anxious pity. Then the power of the magic-augmented technology took him. The golden light brightened, blurring out the room completely and paling to a blinding luminescence that seemed to penetrate all the way to the back of Endymion's skull. Pastel colors burst and faded, until he was surrounded by a maelstrom of energy that seemed to sweep him up in a powerful whirlwind. At the same time, Endymion began to feel as if his entire body were fading away, the sensation in his fingers and feet vanishing and spreading inward until he was little more than a mind. Suddenly a wave of intense terror rose from the depths of his memory and struck him like the cold fingers of death itself. He tensed in fear. This was dreadfully familiar, all of it, and he knew what would happen next - there would be pain, burning, ripping agony and then - "No! Mama! Papa!" Who was screaming? A little boy, frightened, lost, crying out in shock as the light devoured his body... No, it was his own voice, his own throat crying out as his forehead burned with fever and his neck blazed and throbbed as hot liquid rolled down his skin and the universe finally stopped spinning, the lights and colors vanished and Endymion was once again a whole body standing on a platform of stone. The journey itself had turned out to be painless. Why had he been so frightened? He caught a brief glance of a dim room, walls of gray stone lit by torches and covered with tapestries, and armored soldiers, regular palace guards, flanking the wooden door. Endymion swayed, struggling to regain his balance. He felt strangely heavy and the air was cool and tingly on his tongue as he took his first breath of Earth's atmosphere. Then it hit him. It came like a blow to the chest, an invisible force that slammed into him like being trampled by a horse. Endymion was seized by an unknown power that gripped his entire body, holding him immobile as something deep within his torso awakened from a deep slumber and roared. It cried out with a voice not heard by the ears but rather felt by the soul, and Endymion's muscles spasmed with its strength as white-hot energy blasted through his veins in an explosion of tingling power. Deep inside his chest, something was shining. Something gold. For one brilliant moment, he felt bigger than anything and more alive than he had ever been, filled with power and knowledge and strength beyond any creature on the planet. It was as if he could sense everything; every creature that moved and every plant that grew and every wave that rolled on the surface of the Earth. Energy pulsed through his bloodstream. He felt like a Sailor Soldier. He felt like a god. After only a few seconds of growing intensity, the unexpected rush overwhelmed his unprepared mind. Darkness flooded Endymion's vision, and he collapsed on the teleportation platform, the cold stone a shock to his feverish body. The light faded from his eyes and everything went black. Endymion was surrounded by softness. He lay floating in a cloud, utterly peaceful and content, all pain and suffering gone. Beside him was a source of warmth, and a comfortable heat spread over him. Rolling over, Endymion reached out a hand toward the heat source - and his fingers touched the smoothness of bare flesh. His eyes popped open. He was lying in a bed larger and more luxurious than any he had ever seen, wrapped in soft sheets and thick blankets. Sunlight was pouring in the windows of the room and as Endymion blinked in its brightness, he realized the bed was filled with gold. He was not alone. A young woman was sleeping with her back to him, her long blonde hair spilling over the pillows and folded among the blankets. The sheets were only pulled up to her waist. She was naked, and by her skin tone, obviously not Lunarian. As Endymion sat up, confusion sending his head spinning, he realized he was naked as well and in bed with a complete stranger. Dread churned in his stomach in a rising wave of nausea. What had he done? Perhaps more importantly, where was he? Endymion buried his face in his hands, searching his memory. The last thing he remembered was a room, a gray stone room...on Earth. It all came rushing back, from the cruel smirk on the face of Sailor Mars to the sudden rush of power that hit him as he stood on the planet for the first time. He had been exiled. Nothing that he remembered happening to him, however, explained how he had ended up in bed with a strange woman. Looking around, Endymion beheld a room as large as the hut he had left behind, but it seemed to be designed solely for sleeping, with no furniture except the bed and several chests of drawers. A low table with a mirror hanging above it sat against one wall. This was the woman's room, then. A closed door hid any adjoining rooms from view. A soft sigh beside him made Endymion jump, startled, and his heart began racing in his chest as the sheets rustled and the woman rolled over, turning to face him as she pulled the blankets back up to her shoulders. Her eyes opened and she smiled at Endymion sweetly without a trace of surprise. "Ohayo, Mamo-chan." Snatching up a sheet to wrap around his waist, Endymion jumped backward and leapt from the bed, backing away in shocked confusion. The woman began to sit up, looking at him in concern. "What is this?" Endymion demanded, rubbing his face with one hand as if he could make the strangeness of the situation resolve into something familiar. Someone was playing with his mind, trying to trick him with this false mockery of his beloved Sere. She was Serenity, yet she was not. The structure of her face was all there, from the smooth curves of her jaw to her small button nose, and her large eyes were of the purest, brightest blue...but she was not the Moon Princess. Her skin, while still lighter than his, was a creamy rose, and her long hair was the gold of noon sunshine. There was no crescent moon on her forehead beneath the soft curls of her bangs. Still, the warmth of her presence was painfully familiar and Endymion felt surrounded by the same caring light he had always sensed in the presence of the Princess. "Serenity?" he asked warily, still keeping his distance from the bed. To his surprise, the woman's eyes filled with tears and she looked at him with such sadness that his pounding heart sank clear to his toes. "Mamo-chan, you said you wouldn't call me that," the blonde image of Serenity protested, her lip trembling. "It's bad enough I'm going to have to be Queen soon. I don't need to hear it from my own husband." Husband! Queen? Even the words that made sense weren't adding up. "I don't understand," Endymion muttered, pressing his fists into his eyes until he began to see sparks. "Where am I? Who are you?" Now the woman hauled herself out of the bed and hurried toward him, a blanket wrapped around her body. She rushed up to him, her face stricken with panic, and Endymion was torn between wanting to comfort this person who looked so much like Princess Serenity and wanting to escape her strangeness. "Mamo-chan, don't tease me; not like this," she begged desperately, reaching toward him as he shrank back from her. "It's me, your Usa-ko. Don't you remember me?" Her gaze was steady, but she was clearly fighting frightened tears. "I don't know," Endymion mumbled, confusion overwhelming him. "You're my Sere, and yet...you're not! What's going on?" Trembling from head to toe, the blonde pushed past him and dashed over to the table beneath the mirror. Pulling open drawer after drawer she began a frantic search, tossing hair ornaments and cosmetics wildly over her shoulders as her breath became choked with restrained sobs. Finally, she found what she was looking for: a small object that fit into the palm of her hand, which she spoke to. "Ami-chan, something's wrong! Onegai, get here quickly!" As she dropped the object and turned around, a few tears slipped down her pale cheeks, but she forced herself to smile at the befuddled dark-haired man. "Don't worry, Mamo-chan. Everything will be all right." Something in the woman's voice was indeed reassuring despite her trembling. Serenity or no, she still possessed the comforting aura of Endymion's beloved. Crossing the room again, she began to pull clothes out of a closet and Endymion automatically turned away to give her privacy. His attention was automatically drawn to the mirror. Remembering the burn Sailor Mars had inflicted, Endymion stepped over to examine the damage. Oddly, his neck did not hurt at all. To his surprise, there was no trace of the injury. Not only was there no brand marking the exiled servant's skin, there was no silver tattoo either. All evidence of his years of service under Queen Serenity was gone, and not merely the marks on his neck. Endymion's skin tone was lighter and his reflection was smaller than he was used to; he was still the same height but had lost some of the muscle mass that came from years of hard labor. His hands, as he reached up to touch the unmarked flesh at his throat, were far smoother and softer than they should have been, free of the rough calluses he had developed over the years. This could not be real. Still, this fantasy did not feel like a dream. There was touch and taste and scent, and all of his senses were fully alive. Never had he dreamed so vividly. "I can't go through this again," a soft voice whimpered. Endymion turned around. Princess Serenity's Earth-born twin, her back to him, was pulling a shirt over her upper body. It was far too large for her and hung halfway to her knees. Her golden tresses were now tied up into a familiar pair of tight buns at the top of her head. "Not this," she mumbled to herself, her shoulders quaking. "Anything but this, not now!" She pressed both hands to her face and sank down on the edge of his bed. "Sere, I am sorry," Endymion said quietly. Even if she wasn't his Princess, or merely an illusion, he did not want to see her suffer. The woman did not respond, but now he could hear her crying. With a regretful groan, Endymion crossed the room, walked around the bed and knelt beside the distraught half-stranger. "Sere, I-" He stopped short. With the bulky blanket gone and only a thin shirt covering the blonde's torso, the slight bulge of the strange woman's abdomen was strikingly obvious. She was carrying a child. Noticing Endymion staring at her rounded stomach, the woman who was not quite Serenity reached out, seized his arm and pressed his hand flat against her belly. "Please, please remember, Mamo-chan," she pleaded, fresh tears in her eyes. "I'm your Usa-ko, your wife, and I love you. I need you. So does our child." Endymion had never touched the belly of a pregnant woman before. His hand slowly caressed the warm, taut skin, still a small bulge but firm and round with the promise of the baby inside. Suddenly, something within thumped against his hand and he gasped in wonder as the bump struck his palm twice more. "See," the mother-to-be whispered. "Our little bunny needs you too." A lump began to form in Endymion's throat and he looked up at the blonde woman, tears beginning to cloud his own vision. She smiled hopefully, but his growing emotional response was not due to any returning memories. He was thinking only of Princess Serenity. If only this cruel fantasy could have been their reality. If only this could be their life together, he and Serenity, married and happily expecting their first child. As he held his hand against the woman's rounded abdomen and felt the kicking of the infant inside, he wished it was his beloved Serenity sitting there, her long silver hair pooled on the bed and her alabaster skin tight from the growth of their baby... As he sank into his wistful thoughts, the room around him began to blur with a severity beyond the wavering of tears. A tunnel of darkness began to surround Endymion, carrying him away from this place, but until the last bit of light vanished, he concentrated on the feeling of warm, taut skin and the thump of a tiny foot against the palm of his hand. "Endymion." It was still utterly dark, a blackness devoid of any feeling or sight, but out of nothing came the voice. It spoke to him softly, gently, but with the wisdom of experiences beyond any the stable hand had ever known. "Endymion. Awaken." His eyes were open, but there was nothing to see, nothing beyond the inky blackness that seemed to pour into his eyes as he strained to discern anything out there in the void. After a moment, something seemed to gather, coalescing into a faint blur that resolved into a dim golden glow. "Who's there?" Endymion called out into the darkness. He knew he should be afraid, but he was not. Whatever the presence was, it was peaceful and gentle. The glow moved closer and seemed to be emanating from a spire of gold. Beneath its base, a pair of warm amber eyes smiled at him in the gloom. "Long has the Earth waited for your return," the voice continued, and now Endymion could tell the words came from this mysterious being with copper eyes and a golden horn framed by pale hair. "You must prepare for the coming of your destiny." The light winked out. Once again, the exiled servant sank into oblivion. With a sudden gasp, Endymion sat bolt upright, his heart racing in the aftermath of what he had just experienced. He struggled to catch his breath as yet another unfamiliar scene surrounded him, but this time, his shabby clothes and the dull throbbing in his neck quickly convinced him that this vision was real. He was once again in a strange bed, but it was little more than a cot suited for only one person, with a handful of worn blankets covering him. The room was dim, the only light coming from a fire flickering in a corner. Endymion winced slightly in the red-orange glow, which was brighter than the firelight he was used to. The fire on the hearth was also much larger than any domestic fire he had seen on the Moon, yet it produced less heat. A small kettle simmered over the flames. The chamber was small and sparsely furnished, a one-room home as Endymion's own hut had been, but it seemed to be part of a larger building. The two walls with windows and the corner where the hearth sat were stone while the other walls and floor were made of wood paneling. Despite its lack of furnishings, the room was quite full. Old tattered books were piled in the corners, and odd statuettes and trinkets covered nearly every surface. Strange symbols were hanging from the ceiling, many of them metal, flickering orange and white in the combination of firelight and the glow filtering in from the windows. As Endymion looked around, a breeze swept into the room and the amulets jingled together in an array of flashing lights. "Ah, you're awake." A thin curtain at one end of the room was pushed aside, and a young woman emerged from what seemed to be a storage area, carrying dishes and utensils in her arms. She was of average height, and had the slender but solid build of a worker. Amber-brown hair rippled down to the small of her back, and she was clothed in a simple tan dress. Round green earrings dangled from both ears as she stepped forward. "Where am I?" Endymion asked, automatically shrinking back from the unknown girl. Although he knew this was no fantasy, his dreams had made him wary. "Who are you?" "Talma," she replied, dumping the dishes rather unceremoniously on the table. "You're in the Golden City, capital of the kingdom. On Earth." Earth. Hearing it spoken aloud sent reality crashing into Endymion like a cartful of stone. This was no dream. The air in his lungs was thicker and he felt heavier, every movement hindered by the unfamiliar gravity. A brisk breeze was blowing in the stone windows, the air a bit too cold and tainted with the scents of animals. He had been banished to a primitive planet, far from everything he had ever known. Far from - Endymion flung the blankets aside and leapt out of the bed, ignoring Talma's pleading for him to rest. Nearly buckling under Earth's gravity, he stumbled across the room to a window, pressed his hands against the sill and leaned through to look outside. It was the dead of night. The streets of the Golden Kingdom's capital were empty and dark, lit only by the occasional lamp. Most of the light that touched the narrow avenues crowded with erratic buildings did not come from the lamps. High above the city, the full Moon was shining. The bottom dropped out of Endymion's world as he beheld the satellite that had been his home as a celestial body for the first time. It was much smaller than the Earth had looked from the Moon, yet he could still see the great Sea of Serenity clearly, sprawled across the surface in a stain of royal blue against the bone-white face of the Moon. Beside it lay the great pearl, the shining atmospheric dome that covered the capital city. It was one of many domed cities on the satellite, but it was by far the largest, a glittering jewel beside the enchanted waters. Somewhere beneath that dome was the other half of Endymion's soul. He was doomed to suffer this torment for the rest of his days, to gaze upon the place where his beloved Serenity dwelled yet never to see her sweet face again. The Moon was so close, so clear in the night sky, yet so far away, eternally unreachable. Its shining face seemed to mock his yearning, a relentless reminder of his loss. Endymion screamed. He stared up at the glowing white orb and let out an aching howl of longing, an impulsive burst of pain that echoed across the empty street. The light of the full Moon burned into his eyes, the stone windowsill ground into his palms and his throat grew raw from the cry that poured out all of the emotion he had been holding in check. As the Moon's pale surface began to remind him of Princess Serenity's hair, Endymion turned away, unable to bear the sight of it any longer. As he faced the room again, he discovered Talma staring at him, openmouthed, utterly stunned by his outburst. An overturned bowl lay at her feet where she had dropped it in surprise. Outside there were shouts and doors creaking open and slamming closed as various citizens of the Golden City ventured outside to investigate the noise. Above, footsteps pounded across the ceiling and down flights of stairs, and fists hammered against Talma's door. Shaking off her shock, she hurried to the door and opened it a crack. "Yes, yes, everything's fine," she reassured her various neighbors. "My guest's just woken up, and he's a bit confused, that's all. Go back to your beds." Closing the door, Talma turned back to Endymion with her hands on her hips. "I'll thank you not to do that again," she scolded, her face more serious than angry. "There are other homes in this building." "I apologize," Endymion said sincerely, bending an arm back over his head to scratch his neck in embarrassment. "It's just that... How did I get here?" Even as he asked, his eyes roamed the room in search of potential exits, in case his hostess proved not to be as friendly as she seemed. The people of the Golden Kingdom were supposed to be quite untrustworthy. "Since the engagement, we've hardly gotten any exiles from the Moon," Talma explained, retrieving the fallen bowl and moving toward the fire. "Usually, criminals from Selene's kingdom are arrested until our courts determine if they are a threat to our society, but when you arrived, you were so unwell it did not seem right to send you to prison." She chuckled as she stirred the simmering pot with a wooden ladle. "Most of them show up indignant and furious, not weak as water and burning up with fever. Namrin almost didn't know what to do with you." "Namrin?" "A friend of mine in the Guard; the lieutenant who was on duty," the Earth girl explained. "Luckily, I was assigned to clean that section of the palace that night. Namrin let me take you home to care for you. It's odd," she mused aloud as she ladled some thick broth into the bowls, "that he would leave an exile in my care with no knowledge of your crimes, but from the moment you arrived there was a feeling that we should help you. We all sensed it." Endymion listened numbly, the words barely registering in his mind. Whatever he had expected to find on Earth, a kind woman caring for him was definitely not it. Could he really trust this stranger? Suddenly, a nagging concern at the back of Endymion's brain leapt to the surface. His eyes grew wide, and his gaze searched the room frantically until he finally spotted the battered old pack sitting in a corner. Heart racing, Endymion lunged for it more desperately than he meant to, shooting a suspicious glance at Talma in case she tried to stop him. Of course, she would not have gone to all this trouble for nothing. She must have taken whatever payment she wanted from what little he had. What if she had chosen the gold star locket, all he had left of his beloved Serenity? "It's all there," Talma said reproachfully as Endymion searched through the bag in a near-panic. "Is the Moon such an insecure place?" After some frantic rustling, the former stable hand had to admit she was telling the truth. From his tattered worn clothes to the enchanted locket wrapped carefully in a piece of fabric, it was all there, even the pouch of coins the Moon Queen had given him. One item, however, was nowhere to be found, but it had not been in the satchel to begin with. Endymion searched the old coat lying beside the bag, but it was gone, pins and all. "The rose," he said sharply, looking up at the young woman with danger flashing in his eyes. "What have you done with it?" "Hey, calm down," Talma said nervously, setting the bowls on the table and raising both hands to placate her edgy visitor. "It's over there. By the time I spotted it, it was too late for water. Hasn't been drying very well, though," she commented as Endymion crossed the room to where the flower hung upside-down from a string tacked to the wall. The edges of its petals had begun to wilt, but the blossom was still as rich and full with color as ever, a perfect deep blood red. The layers of enfolding velvet were just as thick as Endymion remembered; it appeared as if not a single petal had fallen. With a melancholy half-smile, the exiled lover reached up tentatively to caress the edges of the rose with his fingertip. Something warm and tingling rolled down his arm and flowed into the red bloom. Endymion jumped, startled, and stared at his fingers, but nothing seemed amiss. Yet, he felt a bit lethargic, as if part of his life had been sucked away. Now he recalled what had happened to him as he took his first breath of air on Earth, the sudden rush of power that had overwhelmed his consciousness. As he thought about it, he could feel that something about him had indeed changed. Deep inside Endymion, something warm was glowing, a strange heat that seemed to pulse outward to his limbs. What was happening to him? As he looked up again, considering, his gaze fell back to the rose. He blinked. He rubbed his eyes, but the illusion did not change. All traces of impending death had vanished from the old flower. Life had returned to the edge of every petal, banishing the wrinkled, dried-out tissue that had been spreading there only moments ago. The rose now looked as healthy as it had the day young Princess Serenity first plucked it from its bush. Taking a deep breath, Endymion shook his head hard. Surely he must have imagined the signs of weakness, the crippled and wilted petals, the brittle stem. Flowers did not just miraculously heal themselves, even on the Moon. Whatever had happened to him on his journey was making him see things. "So...um..." an uneasy voice said from behind him. "Might I have your name?" Endymion turned around and found Talma standing nervously beside the table, watching him with an unsettled look. The former stable hand sighed regretfully. He had not treated his hostess well and clearly she was beginning to wonder if taking him in had indeed been a mistake. "I am sorry," he said, apologizing for the second time that night. "I am Endou," he added, noting with some dismay how easily the lie came to him. "Please understand this is all very strange to me." He expected to be thrown out immediately like the unwelcome burden he was, but Talma brightened at this exchange and sat down at the table with a welcoming smile. "Come, eat," she invited him. "You must be hungry. You've been asleep two days." "Two days!?" Endymion stumbled to the table and sank down in a chair before his legs could collapse from the shock. Two days! What had befallen his beloved Princess in that time? What had Miss Amaris been told? Of course, it mattered little now. He was on Earth and would never see them again. In his misery, food was the last thing on his mind. As he looked down at the stew steaming in the bowl in front of him, however, Endymion realized he was indeed ravenous. Snatching up a spoon, he began to eat with such gusto that he did not even taste the food. "Namrin thinks the connection we felt was simply because you were not like the others," Talma said awkwardly, trying to ignore her visitor's unexpected rudeness as he sloppily gobbled up the stew. "You're human...but I think it's more than that. Even now, there's something about you that...that..." She gave up, unable to associate her earlier feelings with this wild man spilling broth down his chin. A strange word caught Endymion's attention, and he stopped and swallowed. In the pause, he realized how uncouth he was being. He hurriedly wiped his mouth and the area around his now-empty bowl with a napkin, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Hu-man?" he repeated, stumbling over the unfamiliar term. Talma nodded. "It's our word for ourselves as the people of Earth," she explained. "The Freedom Voice - that's the group that most dislikes the Moon Kingdom - started spreading it around after Queen Serenity closed the teleportation system to us." She stood up, took Endymion's bowl from him and returned to the fireplace to refill it. "Has a bit more dignity than 'Earth-child,' don't you think?" A chill breeze swirled in through the windows, circling the room in a swift breath of fresh air. Endymion shivered in the unfamiliar cold, eagerly wrapping his hands around the warm bowl of stew as Talma set it in front of him again. The various trinkets hanging from the ceiling jingled in the wind, clinking against each other in an erratic melody. Strange patterns of reflected light danced around the room. The brunette Earth girl straightened up and closed her eyes, listening to the music they made. "A portent of impending disaster," Talma intoned ominously. Startled, Endymion dropped his spoon and looked up at his hostess, dark eyes wide. The flickering firelight gave the young woman an orange glow that contrasted eerily with the spinning objects above her. "Or...a seasick farmer is selling bad fruit." Opening her eyes, Talma sighed and sagged, her shoulders drooping. "I'm never going to master the art of wind interpretation. There is magic in the universe, I know it. I just need to find the right path..." She slumped back into her chair and the pair resumed their meal. Now that the edge was off his hunger, Endymion was able to calm down and eat more properly. The stew turned out to be quite good, creamy and filling with just the right amount of spice. For a heart-stopping moment, it occurred to him to wonder if it might be poisoned, but he quickly banished that notion as he observed Talma was eating food taken from the same pot. Perhaps the people of Earth were not quite as treacherous as he had been told. "Who is Sere?" Talma asked suddenly. Endymion looked up sharply, sucking in his breath as his grip tightened on the spoon. The sound of his beloved's nickname falling from the lips of another cut into him like a knife, especially when spoken by a stranger who should have known nothing of recent events on the Moon. "How do you know about her?" he demanded. "You were calling your name in your sleep," the Earth woman replied gently. She leaned forward slightly, and her smooth hazel eyes focused on Endymion's furious gaze with cool patience. "Who is she?" For a long moment, they simply stared at each other over the table as Endymion tried to decide how to respond. An indignant, sharp-tongued snap rose to his lips immediately, but it died in his throat. Talma had been nothing but kind to him for no reason at all; she meant no harm. Besides, was there any point in keeping his love for the Princess a secret any longer? All that had happened to Endymion weighed heavily on his mind and he ached to have it all out in the open, whether his hostess believed him or not. "My one and only true love," the exiled man sighed, summoning all his willpower to prevent his voice from breaking. "Princess Serenity." Talma blinked. "You had a fancy for the Moon Princess?" "No," Endymion replied slowly, taking a deep breath to fight off the nervous nausea rising in his stomach. "We fell in love. Both of us. We had been meeting secretly for months when we were discovered." "The daughter of the Goddess," the brown-haired girl said flatly, her expression skeptical as she watched her guest carefully. The dark-haired man's hands tightened into fists. "Queen Serenity is no goddess," he muttered. "There is a power that surrounds her, but she is also a woman just like any other." Talma stared at Endymion, waiting for him to admit he was only joking, but the man returned her gaze just as patiently with utter seriousness. Finally, she pressed both hands to her face in disbelief. "No wonder you were exiled!" she breathed. "If the Royal Family knew of this..." "There is no need to worry," Endymion said quietly. "Princess Serenity will go through with the marriage to your Prince Endymion." The words burned his tongue like flame. His beloved had chosen to spend the rest of her life in the arms of another man. "Not everyone on Earth is eager for that to happen," Talma informed him. "I am not sure how much the Lunarians know, but the loss of our crown Prince to the Moon Kingdom is not popular among humans." Endymion nodded. "I had heard rumors." "At first it was only the occasional whisper, here and there," the brunette explained, getting up and collecting the dishes. "Now I hear mutterings about it every day, with almost every step I take outside the palace. Almost everyone thinks the marriage is a sham, meant only to give the Moon control over the Golden Kingdom." After setting the bowls in a washtub, Talma gave her visitor a sideways glance. "Is it?" "No!" Endymion burst out indignantly, the need to defend the kingdom he had loved automatic. Yet, even as he denied it, Queen Serenity's blank mask swam in his memory and the cruel eyes of the Sailor Soldiers burned into him. "I...I don't know." The exiled man buried his face in his hands, leaning on the rough tabletop. "All I know is what Sere has told me, and if it is indeed a plot, she is innocent. The Princess merely does as her mother tells her." "What is it like, life on the Moon?" Talma asked quietly, sitting down at the table and placing a cup of water in front of her distraught guest. "They say the streets are paved with silver and every home is a mansion." Endymion glanced up, prepared to chuckle at the joke, but he discovered the brunette's eyes shining with eagerness as she awaited firsthand news of the fairy-tale utopia. "The Moon Kingdom has its share of poverty," the man informed her. "It is peaceful, but not perfect. Queen Serenity herself is an enigma. Even standing face-to-face with her, it is impossible to guess her thoughts. After all," he added bitterly, "one moment she seemed to pity me and the next she ordered her soldiers to...to..." A shaking hand rose automatically, cautiously, to his own neck. His fingertips brushed the edge of a dressing that had been stuck there. "It's a special healing salve," Talma explained. "Your injury..." She shuddered visibly at the memory. "It was worse than any brand I've ever seen. None of the other exiles were ever burned that severely. You're lucky to still have full mobility in your neck." Spotting a small mirror on one wall of the dim room, Endymion got to his feet. As he approached the reflective glass, he gingerly ran his hand over the bandage - and nearly stumbled as, once again, a tingling warmth rushed down his arm and sank into the covered wound. The dull throbbing vanished. By the time he reached the wall, the former stable hand was already pulling at the edges of the dressing, his breath catching in his throat. "Don't!" Talma protested, rising from her chair, but the sticky herbal salve was already peeling free from Endymion's neck. It stuck rather firmly to his flesh, yet he felt no pain as the substance gave way. Slowly, he turned his head until he could see the affected patch of skin in the mirror. As his gaze roamed over his neck, he was seized by vertigo and his mind reeled in disbelief. The shock was so complete that Endymion forgot to breathe. "Impossible," Talma croaked hoarsely from somewhere behind his elbow. There was the silver tattoo, plain and shining against the dark tan of Endymion's skin, now marred by a neat cross of white scar tissue as pale as if it had been there for years. The injury Sailor Mars had inflicted could never be fully erased, but the wound was completely healed. Empty spaces always seemed larger at night. Ceilings loomed impossibly high, corridors extended far into the infinite, and every tiny sound in the shadows seemed to be a trap ready to spring. It was dark and lonely, and the stone walls made the hallways resemble an endless tomb, but the lone figure continued its wandering. Queen Elana needed some more time alone with her thoughts before she would be ready to return to her bed. This night, as well as the previous two, her sleep had been restless and disturbed. Strange dreams consumed Elana's sleeping hours, filled with the cries of a young child echoing in the distance and a mass of shifting multicolored light. She had not endured these nightmares since the first few years after the loss of her firstborn son. Why had those memories returned to her now? She had not spoken of this to Arton, but instead left him sleeping peacefully as she walked through the palace and waited for her heart to stop racing. The guards at the doors to her chambers did not like allowing Elana to wander around unescorted, but she was their Queen and they could not disregard her wishes. Pacing the endless deserted corridors with only a candle to light her way, the Queen of the Golden Kingdom distracted herself from the painful memories with thoughts of her living son. It saddened her that she would soon lose her second child to another world, but Elana knew the alliance it would secure with the Moon Kingdom would bring rewards beyond any they could ever imagine. Why did her people not understand that? Surely even the most common residents of the Earth could tell that conditions on the planet were deteriorating. Even if Prince Endymion suddenly obtained the ancient Earth powers now, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to recover without outside help. The Queen scowled into the darkness beyond the candle's light. People were such fickle creatures. First, they cried out for help; then, when their monarchy brought itself to its knees for their sake, they cried out against its cowardice and weakness. If it weren't for her son's guardians keeping a military presence in key areas, they might already have riots on their hands. The citizenry had to be shown that their rulers would not bend to their every whim and that their faith in the Moon was not a foolish trust. The marriage of Endymion and Serenity had to go through. As she passed a tall door, one of many, Elana suddenly shivered as if she had walked through a ghost. A cold shudder rolled through her body and she was strangely reminded of days gone by from long ago. The Queen's dreams forced their way back into the forefront of her mind and refused to be ignored. She stopped short and turned around. In the darkness, Queen Elana could not tell at first glance where in the palace she was. The door was dark wood accented with simple carvings, just like any other, and she peered at the small plaque on the wall beside it in the flickering candlelight. The teleportation chamber. There were not even any windows in that rarely-used room. Why did she feel such a chill? Without hesitation, Elana pushed open the door and stepped inside. There were always guards posted here, so whatever the cause of her unease, she had no reason to be afraid. Surprised, the group of sentries greeted their Queen and bowed...but by that time, Elana could not longer hear nor see them. The room looked the same as it always had, plain stone walls decorated with tapestries depicting the history of the Earth and a lush carpet leading up to the stone teleportation platform, no different from any other time Elana had stood there. The change was in the air. No. It was impossible. He had died, years and years ago. She had heard the screams, watched his tiny body being shredded by light until he vanished into nothingness, never to be heard from again. He could not have survived. No one survived destruction such as that, least of all a helpless little boy barely old enough to remember the events of each passing day. In defiance of all logic, however, it remained, buried beneath the scents of carpet and cloth and sweat and metal and soap: the fragrance of flowers where none should be. The smell of roses, faint, but there; a distant velvet musk that filled Queen Elana's senses and brought tears to her eyes as she stood trembling violently in its meek power. To anyone else, it would not even have been noticed, but to a mother, it was a scent unique from any flower in the garden, familiar yet without equal in all the universe. Elana smelled...him. A scent she had once breathed every day of her life on a small form cradled lovingly against her chest. A little boy with dark hair and gray eyes like his father, a fragrance she had never expected to smell again. Her firstborn son. Endymion. |
