AN: Today I thought I'd upload all the random one-shots that never made to ffnet!
He was suddenly awake, his eyes opening fully to his dark bed chamber without cause. He stayed quiet and motionless, waiting for whatever had caused him to stir to repeat itself, expecting to hear a noise or cry of alarm to echo throughout the hall, but nothing happened. He blinked, his eyes moving to stare at his door, watching the heavy shadows of the moonlight, waiting for a sign that they could be under attack, but minutes passed and nothing changed. Finally he calmed, reasoning that it might have just been night noises, else maybe the bright moonlight through his open window had caused him to wake. He shut his eyes and attempted to sleep, but could barely do so for the feeling that someone was watching him. Finally he sat up in bed and looked around the room, but found nothing there.
One month later he was awake again in the dead of night, his eyes open and staring, finding nothing amiss but the strong light of the full moon, unable to return to sleep. He did his best to quell his beating heart and sleep, but with the same watched feeling, it was difficult to do so.
Two more months went by, and each night of the full moon was the same; on the fourth such month, Endymion had come to accept that he would wake far too early, and so stayed up late, studying and recording the face of the full moon, finding humour in that he was getting to know the source of his interrupted sleep, but when he awoke that night to the moonlight streaming, the feeling of paranoia was so high that the nerves on his back made his muscles arch. His eyes wide open, his ears straining to hear, he froze in terror as be sensed something behind him, breathing quietly, softly, cooly on his neck. Gathering courage, he flung himself around, whipping his elbow to strike at whatever was behind him, but found nothing but his empty bed. Breathing hard, adrenaline pumping, he tried to figure out if he had imagined it, but he could not prove to himself that the breath was real or dreamt. He did not sleep that night, but he dared not leave his bed til morning.
The fifth full moon had Endymion warring with himself. He stayed up late, sketching the face of the moon, resilient in his attempts not to let it become associated with his monthly night terrors. He fought the urge to sleep, he stayed up all night with his advisors, convinced them nothing was wrong. He was not afraid to sleep alone in his room. What he had not accounted for, however, was that this full moon had reached its completion between two days, and so the following evening, dead tired from a night awake, he was dreadened to find the full moon above the walls as he went to bed. So tired was be, and so stubborn, he went to sleep anyway, facing away from the window, thoughts of the breath on his neck quashed by exhaustion.
This time when he woke, he was more angry than frightened. He was the prince, he needed his sleep! He threw off his covers and strode around his bed to his window and drew the curtains shut, an act of defiance now, rather than the act of fear he had perceived it before. Now the moon could not bother him. Now he could sleep without its bothersome light! He tugged on the thick curtains to be sure they would not spread when he left, feeling a sense of accomplishment masking the unease that tingled his bare back. He stood, breathing quietly, facing the curtains and calming his heart. Now he could sleep. He turned back to his bed. Now, he could -
A cool arm crossed his chest, gripping his shoulder firmly as it pushed him back and sideways, throwing him easily into his armoire, his head cushioned from the wood by a cool hand. Too shocked to yell or to fight back, his wide blue eyes stared down at the slight creature that had him pinned and his body froze in fear.
"Don't like the moonlight anymore?" The slight pale girl asked playfully, her throaty voice filled with mock dismay, unnaturally glowing blue eyes looking up at him coyly. She was beautiful, but no less terrifying in how easily she had overpowered him, how confidently she toyed with him now. With his full attention she straightened, sobering as she moved herself in front of him, the hand behind his head sliding through his hair to pause to cup his face, her thumb caressing his cheekbone. Her other arm traveled down his torso and back up in a far too familiar manner. "I missed you last night, Endymion," she said quietly, and terror overtook him. She made quieting sounds and led him back to his bed; he was powerless to resist her, his body uncooperative as she tugged his arm and pressed his chest gently to make him turn and sit on the edge of his mattress. She stood over him possessively, her pale blonde pigtailed hair trailing on his knees. She glowed slightly - it was her pale skin, emitting light like the full moon, illuminating his room faintly. She could not be human.
"I like you, Endymion," she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper, "I think I've fallen in love with you, watching over you while you sleep," she smiled softly; he could have found her irresistible had it not been for his fear, but then her brows furrowed, and her mood shifted. "But I can't trust you anymore, Endymion, not after you kept me waiting last night. I can fix that, though, don't worry." She leaned in and kissed his forehead, her lips soft but ice cold. "Don't worry," she repeated in a whisper, as she lowered her lips to embrace his, kissing him softly. As she pulled away his body began to shut down, sleep overtaking him softly, aggressively. He couldn't keep his eyes open, couldn't fight her magic...
The next morning Prince Endymion was nowhere to be found.
Hundreds of miles away, shepherds reported seeing a shooting star landing in the cave-ridden hillsides, a star that looked like a woman holding the sleeping form of a man, but they were never able to find the cave the goddess had entered, and so never found her sleeping prince.