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"Retreat!" he cried out "Retreat!" His commanders took up his cry and the whole mass of the Earthian Defense Army retreated from the onslaught of the alien Xels. It was amazing how quickly they had been forced back to medieval technology by the alien seeds that had landed on their planet two moons before. But he wasn't thinking of that now. Endymion spurred his horse onward and just focused on getting his army the hell out of there. By chance, he happened to look down and froze. There, lying on the ground, was a pink-haired child who like she had been trampled on by a horse. Endymion quickly leaned down and scooped her up. Riding as fast as he could, he galloped into where his vanguard was setting up camp. "Healer! Somebody fetch me a healer, quick!" he commanded desperately. A tall redhead wearing healer's clothing rushed to his side. "Yes, Sire?" she asked. He breathed a sigh of relief. Surely she would be able to do something. "Thank God! Heal this child!" he demanded. The healer spread her hand over girl he held in his arms. Light flared from them for a moment and then vanished. "Gomensai, Sire" she said softly "She's too weak..." Endymion looked down with disbelief as the little girl died in his arms. "I didn't even know her name..." he murmured to himself.
Endymion shook himself out of his reverie. It wasn't like he hadn't seen death before. Hell, it all but surrounded him these days. But that particular death had reminded him of how helpless he felt against the alien onslaught that was destroying his people. At least Serenity is safe. His wife and queen had been just a couple weeks pregnant with Chibiusa when the Xels attacked. Sailor Pluto had convinced her that she needed to be away from the fighting because of, quote on quote "a danger in the timelines". He didn't give a damn about the timelines but had been grateful for her and the child's safety when Sailor Pluto had whisked her away to hide and guard her in the folds of time and space. But however well hidden, will she ever be really safe if we are defeated here? The other senshi had returned to the Earth to help him fight, but it seemed all they did these days is retreat. His face twisted. And watch people die. Endymion blinked, seeing her face again. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get the image out of his head, but only managed to replace it with one of Chibiusa. He cursed, tripped over a tree root, and hit the ground hard. Endymion sat up and winced. He felt the blood on his left arm and cursed again. It had gotten cut sometime during the day's battle and he had insisted that the healers only take of it after everyone else had been seen to. Some great warrior I am, he thought bitterly, I can't even take a walk in the woods without hurting myself. He had started to pick himself off the forest floor when he noticed a strange light in a tree in front of him.
With a frown, he started to crawl forward to check it out and found himself crawling inside the tree. The strange light was coming from glowing pictures of moon in different phrases that decorated the whole inside of the hollowed out tree. And there was a lot more of that inside than he had thought. In fact, Endymion was able to stand up and even walk a few paces around. He looked at all the different moons. Wow. Someone must have taken a lot of time and magic to do this. Then he noticed that there was rough drawing of a young woman with writing below in the center of the moons. Moving closer, Endymion found that the inscription read "For Our Savior, the Moon Goddess" in an archaic language. The mention of the moon reminded him of his troubles and he slumped against the shrine wall, suddenly exhausted. He gazed at the picture of the goddess and spoke out loud.
"Moon Goddess, huh? Well I sure wish you could help us on Earth." He sighed. "It seems so fucking helpless. We're losing the Earth and not a damned thing I do seems to help!" Endymion's voice got softer and he looked the more like the lonely child he had been than the warrior he was. "And I'm afraid. Afraid of losing her for good..." His eyes didn't seem to want to stay open and Endymion could feel himself slowly falling asleep. He blinked, and the picture seemed to change from the Goddess to Serenity. "Serenity..." His voice was barely a whisper now. "Serenity, I miss you." His eyes closed...
A silver light seemed to surround him. It slowly became the figure of Neo Queen Serenity, lying beside him. Her pale skin felt warm against his and her silver hair sparkled in the moonlight. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when she held a gentle finger against his mouth. "Shh" she whispered. "You don't have to say anything." She moved her hand up and caressed his face. "Just let me touch you" She ran her hand farther down his body "And then..." She turned so that their legs and bodies intertwined. "...let me touch you again" She kissed him tenderly on the lips. A delicious warmth spread through him. He wrapped his arms around her, and feeling the young life within her, proceeded to give her some of his own warmth. Their cries of pleasure became as intertwined as their legs and hands and he could feel it as the warmth filled both their bodies and their souls.
Afterwards, he looked over at Serenity. "How?" he asked her.
She held a finger to his lips once more as she sat up and smiled "Didn't I tell you to hush? How is not important. But what is, Mamo-chan..." she said softly, calling him by her old pet name for him "...is that I believe in you. I believe that you'll protect the people of the Earth and defeat our enemies. And I believe that you will come back to me and our daughter."
He sat up and then made the only response he could: he leaned in and kissed her fully. When their lips unlocked, she began to disappear into little pieces of light again. He almost cried out, but then she smiled once more and murmured "Ashiterou, Mamo-chan." He touched the light and it disappeared.
"Ashiterou, Usako" he whispered. The light was gone and then, so was he.
Endymion woke up. "A dream?" he asked himself. It was still dark inside, so he knew it was still night. He frowned. There was something missing. Then he noticed that his left arm didn't hurt anymore. Incredulously, he raised it so he could look at by the light of the moons. He grasped. It was completely healed. Endymion slowly began to smile. As he stood up and got out of the tree, he smile grew bigger. He was positively grinning as he stood out in the night air again and started walking purposefully towards the lights of the camp. After all, he had a strategy to plan and a wife and daughter to come back to.