Princes of the Universe
Prologue:

Alone among the charnel house that had once been a palace, a single figure moved with purpose, his once awe inspiring golden armour covered with dents, cracks and gore. In his arms, cradled close to his chest, was the body of his dearest friend his one equal in the entire world.

Someone must pay for this. The enemy was gone, destroyed or beyond his reach but there was one who shared the blame for this disaster. The woman, whose foolish actions had caused such devastation to his world, his kingdom, and to his companion, still lived. And so he walked to meet her for her final chastisement.

The man in gold finally reached his destination laying down the body of the one who had been like a brother to him with surprising gentleness. His free hand was soon filled with a sword, an artifact of great power that could tear the very universe asunder. With his weapon in hand he turned to the one he had come to see, as she sat barely breathing on a ruined throne.

"Was it worth it?" The man said to the dying woman "Your manipulations, and politicking, and attempts to claim what did not belong to you? Were they all worth it? Did you think that no one on the world you sought to induct into your empire would oppose you if you pushed them far enough? Or that there were not forces that would cease the chance to bring ruin to the kingdom you had built? Was attempting to claim Earth worth all this death? Well was it Serenity?" He spat the name like it was a curse.

The Queen of the Moon Kingdom could only move her head to look at the man filled with so much rage towards her and whisper "I wanted ... to share ... the kingdom's ... glory with ... the Earth."

"HA" the man in gold barked, "You think this hollow shell of a kingdom ever knew true glory? Your empire had no heart, no will, and no value beneath its decadence. You became lax and complacent while the very drive that let your kingdom become powerful withered. On Earth, the great powers built themselves up from nothing, even the fey and gods had to constantly prove themselves. And now because you undermined us and manipulated us the great powers of Earth have been ground to dust, casualties to a conflict caused by your schemes."

Serenity blinked away a tear, "I never wanted this..."

"Well I never wanted Enkidu to die on this meaningless battlefield fighting your enemies." The man in gold snapped back. "What now, queen of lifeless rock? With your enemies gone what will you do? Your kingdom is dead, and there is nothing left to carry on its legacy. It will be forgotten, while the people of earth, who you thought inferior, will survive and rebuild. You have lost. Take that knowledge with you to the halls of the dead, it is not nearly enough to make up for Enkidu's death but it will have to do."

Serenity steeled herself and forced herself to straighten. "That is where you are wrong, King of Uruk. My legacy is not yet done. My final act of magic was not just to seal Metallia away; I have sent the souls of my daughter, Prince Endymion, and the Senshi into the future, where they will be reborn. They will finish what I have started here and rebuild the Moon Kingdom long after we have both long been forgotten. What say you to that Gilgamesh?"

Gilgamesh paused for a moment and asked "This spell, how does it work?"

Serenity was confused at the question, "the magic drew together the strong souls of those bound to the destiny of my child and kingdom sending them forward to be reborn."

Gilgamesh interrupted, "Strong Souls? So others may have been affected beyond those you specifically chose?"

Serenity replied, "Possible. Beyond a chance few members of the court in close proximity to my chosen only souls of immense strength would be affected by my spell. Maybe Beryl and the Shitennou would be affected but other than that..." She stopped as she heard what sounded like a low chuckle from the man before her.

Gilgamesh dismissed his sword back to his treasury. His red eyes twinkled with something that shocked the dying queen, amusement and hope. "I had thought to make you suffer further but you have given me reason to let you expire on your own. Unlike you I know Enkidu, there is no one with a soul and will stronger than his. He will return and I will await him. I have learned much from your mistakes Serenity, and I will learn much more in the ages to come but I will remember the price of arrogance. Farewell Queen of the Moon, I have a lot of work to do in order for me to live long enough to fix your mistakes."

And so the Golden King of Uruk left the Queen of the Silver Millennium to embark on the road to legend and immortality as the fate of a far distant future shifted.

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Interlude:

A clash as master and pupil exchange blows, swords seeking any weakness. An opening sighted, a swift motion, and suddenly the spar ends as suddenly as it begins.

"OWWWW" whines the defeated student nursing the blow to the head from the teacher's training sword. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"

"You are slowly improving, Minako. But you have a long way to go before you have mastered the art of the sword. If you truly wish to protect the innocent from evil then you must be dedicated, because if you falter you are not the only one who will suffer for it. Now again!"

"Yes Arturia" And the combat began again.

Another clash, this one of fists, two standing against many, hearts ablaze with the thrill of combat.

"Oy Girlie? How'd you manage to piss off so many of these scumbags?" The older of the two, a blue haired man asked his unlikely comrade as another of his enemies crumpled.

"Beat up the gang leader's little brother and took his lunch money." Said the tall girl knocking back another of the criminal trash.

The Blue haired man chuckled, "Well you hold yourself well in a fight I'll give you that. Remind me of myself when I was a young lad."

"You ain't so bad yourself old timer" The girl replied ducking under a swing before kicking the opponent's legs out from under him.

"Well you could say I've picked up a thing or two about fighting over the years." The man paused looking for another foe to strike but realized that there were none left. Those not lying on the ground in agony had fled terrified of the two foreigners. "Well that was fun, having had a good tussle in a while. You got a name lass?"

"Makoto Kino. How about you?"

"Setanta Mac Deichtine, A pleasure to meet you."
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