A/N: Hello, and welcome to my story. I thought "Jupiter Ascending" failed to delve deeper into Balem's background and story. It bothered me that the movie had so much potential, and didn't take advantage of it. While I was watching, I kept on wondering what had made Balem so dark and evil. His mother, his siblings, and time had obviously taken its toll on him, but was there anything else? Love perhaps? Obsession? This is my story for him, set thousands of years before the movie, to answer those questions. It should be about 6-10 chapters long. We'll learn more about Balem and his obsession as the story progresses.

Please tell me what you think. Feedback encourages me and helps me grow as a writer. Enjoy!


Prologue

He was watching her again, as he was wont to do.

She stood below in the gardens of Feris. The flowers around her were luscious—in full bloom this night—but she was the most precious flower of them all in his eyes. Her sun-kissed hair cascaded down her back, her laughter echoed in the night, and her bright green eyes sparkled in the starlight... She was beautiful.

"Artemis," he murmured huskily.

They had been friends since the very beginning, several thousand years ago. Their parents had raised them in the same land, in the Valley of the Nobles where the royalty and mighty families lived and raised their young. It was a time before the name Abrasax became omnipotent. It was a time of great scientific achievement. Of peace.

They had met in the very gardens he presently gazed down upon. It had been midday, and he had run from his mother to think under the warm glow of Ferisca's two suns. And there, he'd first laid eyes on her. She was so little back then. He remembered the light dress she wore and the blond streaks in her brunette hair, but what he remembered most was her eyes... They had been so startling that day, and they still were.

"Who are you?" she had asked, rising from the stone bench she'd been perched on.

"I am Balem Abrasax," he'd said, holding out his small hand to shake hers.

She had smiled, and then had taken hold of his hand. "Artemis Basilius."

It had been the beginning of a long friendship filled with fire and adventure. Her family specialized in building spaceships that could traverse across the universe in the blink of an eye. They were the ones to invent portals and create the fastest ships, and Artemis could pilot all manner of them. She'd taken them to the furthest reaches of the universe, and with her, he'd learned that time was the most precious commodity, for he cherished his time with her above all else.

They'd had their ups and downs as they grew in their first life cycle. Artemis' brothers did not care for him; they thought he was twisted, especially when he began to mature and see the world in a different light. They tried to take her away from him, but he would not let them. If she went to live somewhere obscure, he convinced her to come back. If she disappeared, he found her. The world was dark, he'd realized then. It was merciless—unforgivable. It could take away everything he'd ever loved, but he could hold it all in the palm of his hand if he played his cards right. None would challenge him. All would know his family's name. And with the youth serum his mother had invested in, he could have it all. Even her.

By the time his body had aged into that of a man's, Balem had gained unlimited power. Billons of people from millions of planets bowed to him and cowered at his family's name. Oh, how he'd loved to torment them—to see them beg at his feet for the purified youth serum that would give them more time. It was an industry, a massive business, and he had the most claim to it.

Of course, throughout his rise to power, there were only two lights in the otherwise dark universe: his mother...and Artemis. His mother was his rock. She was the steadfast presence in his long life. Yet Artemis was a different matter entirely. She was his motivation and inspiration. She listened to his thoughts, and did not bow to him. She was like fire—if you got too close, you were burned, but if you only neared it, you were warmed. He'd seen that fire hundreds of times in the thousands of years he'd known her. And each time he'd been burned by her temper, he'd found himself craving her inner fire even more.

There was passion burning steadily beneath her tan skin and it never faded. In thousands of years, she'd lived. She had not let time take its toll on her, like he was beginning to suspect it had on his mother. Artemis was timeless. She was his burning light. His obsession.

Balem swallowed hard. He hated weakness. Weaknesses could be used against you. It was something his mother and siblings had taught him. Yet he could not find it in himself to hate Artemis for her control over him. She was not one to abuse power (she had no idea of power she truly held). Balem would do anything for her, if she asked. He would kill for her, and he had done so several times for her sake. He had protected her family's dynasty and her inheritance so that, one day, their empires could be united.

He'd been patient. He'd claimed his part in the Abrasax dynasty, and had built himself an almighty empire. All the while, he had kept his eyes trained on Artemis. The palace on Jupiter was for her, inspired by her. He'd made a promise to himself that, once he had become the most powerful in the youth serum business and had finished building on Jupiter, he would take steps to make her his.

A familiar voice cut into his thoughts. "Watching her again?"

Balem took his hands off the stone balustrade but did not turn around. He had thought he was alone on the terrace, and was vaguely annoyed to have been caught staring at Artemis. "Mother," he said evenly, directing his gaze to the stars overhead. They were planets—several of which he owned.

"You are obsessed with her."

The words came out knowingly.

Balem wished to bite his tongue and lie, but he never could. Not to her. "Yes," he answered softly, bowing his head and letting his eyes drop back to the woman standing unawares below him.

His mother moved to stand beside him at the edge of the terrace. She looked tired and old, for she had not taken the youth serum for some time. Her dark hair was beginning to grey and her eyes had grown wise. "And still you do not take her," she said.

"It is not as simple as you say," he said somewhat sharply. He had had this conversation with his mother before.

She lifted a hand to cup his cheek and turn his face to hers. "You must hurry then. She will not always be free."

Narrowing his eyes, Balem cast another glance down at Artemis. She had moved forward to lean against a balustrade that overlooked the ocean. Her back was to him, but he could see the ease in her limbs and in the muscles of her back. No one else was beside her and it had been that way for a very long time. She was alone. And the thought of another man laying hands on her made him think of committing murder.

"She is mine," he said, a hint of danger in his tone.

"Not yet."

"But she will be."

His mother sighed. She let her hand fall from his cheek before looking to Artemis. "Be careful, Balem. Your brother and sister are not fools. Nor are your enemies."

Balem's eyes shot to hers. "If they harm her, I will see them dead," he hissed, feeling his hands clench into fists. If anyone hurt Artemis, he would unleash his wrath upon them.

His mother smiled sadly. "I know. But you must move quickly if you are to persuade her. You are running out of time."

Was he? Balem felt like he had all the time in the world. He had unlimited stores of the youth serum and an invincible empire. There was nothing he could not have—no thing too expensive or too great that he could not buy. "It will not be long now," he said. "The construction on Jupiter is almost complete."

"I know. I am proud of you."

A brief flash of happiness shot through him at her praise. He smiled to himself, and then turned back to stare at his black heart's greatest desire. He had achieved everything he had set out to obtain—everything but Artemis. And one way or another, he would have her.