Story 00 – The Old World
A body lies resting on some rocks, his hand over his face to cover the sun.
There is a river nearby and trees surround hot sun above begins setting…
His fingers are twitching…
There is a loud succession of thumps, each closer and increasingly violent.
And a voice.
'Endymion!' the voice echoes. His eyes snap open but his vision is blurry.
Endymion ,suffering from a concusion, finds himself at the balcony of The Moon Kingdom, dazed and hazy, somewhere between concusions. When his vision clears, Earth is in view.
His breathing increases…
It is as if the planet has parasites. Continents replaced by fire, brown where there was green.
'Endymion!' he turns to the room behind, his grip automatically on his sword.
A bright light engulfs him, forcing his hands to his eyes. The voice deepens
'Endymion?'
A sun ray, passing trough his fingers, blurring his vision as he sits up.
'My Lord?' A man with long silver hair asked again with raised brows.
With a motion of his hand Endymion dismisses Kunzites' concern as he sits up.
He rubs the sand from his eyes and gathers some water.
'Another dream, My Lord?' he asks.
'More like a nightmare' as Endymion splashes his face.
The Moon can be seen reflected in the water and its grey surface reminds him of Earth, in his dream.
They walked along the river, uphill, towards the sun until they reached the peak, where they both stop to sun is setting towards the direction of a large temple that peeks just above the tree tops. Surrounded by mountains and preserved by the jungle.
Kunzites eyes lock onto something near the temple.
'There.' Endymion points with his chin and speaks in a casual tone despite Kunzites renouned formality.
'Is where you will find him. He will be expecting you."
Handing the sword over to Kunzite.
'I trust you to care for this, as I have.'
Kunzite, ever loyal, does not interrupt.
His manner of complaint is a different tone.
His manner of objection is in a certain word.
'If you insist, My L i e g e ' ,taking the sword in hand.
'Display this when you reach the village near the temple. They will do the rest.' Endymion turns to leave and as he does Kunzite bows deeply in respect. Endymion walks to Kunzite, placing his hand on Kunzites' shoulder.
'You serve me best when at shoulder length, Brother ', As he lifts Kunzite from a bow. His smile reassures him in this.
He turns to walk away, facing the moon while the sun sets behind him. The last rays of sunshine crawl down the back of his cape, and as the ray reaches the bottom of his cape, the cape falls down to the ground. And as Kunzite puts on the cape, his eyes locked onto the moon along a trail of shimmer that leads towards the moon, rides the wind towards the temple.
Across the Tree Tops and past hills and mountains, through the vast jungle and towards a temple. Where the body of a youma, its hands tied behind its back in the fashion of a slave, lies stretched out on a slab of stone.
Its head, meanwhile, lies mounted atop a Nephrite tip spear as tribute.