Bonus chapter:
Elysion
Helios (personification of the Sun)
Eos (personification of dawn)
Helios felt the exact moment his Prince fell in love with the Moon Princess. The side of Elysion blessed by his strength glowed brighter and stronger, for the Golden Crystal reacted positively to the happiness and love of its Master.
His little sister, Eos, was curious about the phenomenon, and as the good brother and Elysion's High Priest he was, he made sure to answer.
«Elysion is tied to Earth. One could say our home is the pulsing heart of the planet, and the Earth is tied to Prince Endymion through the Golden Crystal. When the Prince's heart is full and strong, the Golden Crystal gets stronger with him»
«Is it because he got of age? Will I be stronger too when I'll grow older?» she wondered.
Helios smiled «You will, but it's not only that. The Prince got stronger because his heart is full of love. Love is powerful, it fuels dreams like nothing else»
Eos seemed happy with the answer and ran away to play with Pegasus, her brother's steed.
The High Priest of Elysion surveyed his charge with a sense of dread in his heart.
True, the Prince's love made them all stronger, but the brightest lights call for greater evils.
He made sure the barriers of Elysion would be ready, should anything happen. Just in case.
Eos was a curious little thing. Being one of the few residents of Elysion, she never met anyone other than her brother and the Maenads, the priestesses that lived with them.
She knew of the outside world through people's dreams, for Elysion was the land where all dreams of the Solar System gathered.
She had her favourites, even if she wasn't supposed to: as the next in line to the charge of High Priestess, her duty would be to protect all dreams the same way, for they all were precious, but there were some she loved more anyway. The ones with animals, to say, always so funny and cute, and the ones with cotton-candy clouds that seemed so sweet.
And there was one that was her absolute favourite: the ones with the Green Knight with a cape of crystal stars and the large sword and gentle smile. It was a complex dream, in which the Green Knight walked around, and explored places, but, most importantly, he helped people, held their hands, received their hugs and exchanged other symbols of affection and love.
Eos loved to follow his trips that she thought were all around the Earth, but she wasn't quite sure because Earth looked different when the Green Knight dreamt of it rather than when other people of Earth dreamt it.
But, one day, this changed too. The Green Knight oneiric Earth matched more and more the ones of the others but never stopped being more bright and beautiful than any other.
It made her wish she could visit it too.
Except, Helios said it was not possible. Beings of Elysion were different than those on Earth, people of the Golden Kingdom would be scared by her white hair and amber eyes, and of her little horn more than all the rest combined. He said it with sadness in his eyes, and Eos wondered if maybe he wished to go to Earth too.
But...
Sometimes, Helios did go to Earth. To speak with the Prince, although not often.
Eos wanted so much to visit Earth she waited eagerly for a day her brother would have one of his meetings to follow his route in secret. She remembered to bring a cape with a hood to cover her head and slipped in behind Helios before the magical door closed.
She ended up in a nice garden, full of crimson roses on dark green stems. Curious thing: the stems never had this many thorns, back in Elysion, and were much darker here. She almost wounded herself with those.
The sky was cloudy, too. She wondered how many different things she could discover in the short time she had.
She strolled around the garden, watched the different flowers, felt the smells of water and earth and wind, which was a bit cold that day, only to pass through a gate to yet another garden with different plants and then another gate that gave out on a road full of people and things, many of which she seldom ever saw, others more well-known to her.
Eos walked around, curious of everything.
Distracted as she was, she didn't notice how far she had gotten from where she came and found she didn't remember the way back. She started to look left and right, suddenly scared of not being able to find her way home, not knowing what to do.
She felt her eyes moist and lips salty, finding tears on her face. She had never cried before, because never before she had been upset in such a way.
It was a terrible feeling, her eyes hurt and so did her throat and from her nose came a strange sound.
«Hello. Are you lost?» a gentle voice asked, with something familiar about it.
Eos looked up to meet the green eyes and freckled face of a young man with a light green cape with hood. Hesitantly, she nodded.
«Do you know where your home is? Or where your family works, maybe?»
Talking about Elysion to anyone but the Earth Royal family was forbidden, Helios had said, but she could say: «My big brother had to speak with the Prince today»
«Ah, so we may be able to find him at the Palace, if he's still there!» the green-eyed one smiled and offered his hand «It's a good start. Come on, I know the way»
Eos took the offered hand and got up, managing to see a lock of green hair tucked under his hood before he rose to his full height too.
He started to talk, said his name was Elpis and asked hers, complimenting it, told her that he was going to the Palace too, praised her for having a nice cape with a useful, large hood that was just perfect for that day since it looked like it was about to rain and many other things that put her at ease. Little by little, she recognized the gate she came from and left his hand to retrace the steps to the second gate where she would find the magic door to go home.
«Hey, where are you going? The entrance door is this way...»
«I came from there» she replied, then remembered manners and curtsied «Thank you, you accompanied me this way»
«Sure, it was my pleasure» he seemed unconvinced «Are you sure you can find your brother on your own?»
She nodded.
«Alright, then» he bowed a bit «It was a pleasure to have this nice walk with you, lady Eos»
Eos chuckled - how silly when people did that, was that the reason why dreamers found it so interesting? - and ran away, in search of her door, feeling safe now that she was on the Palace's grounds.
Except, despite she found the second gate and walked all the way to the roses, she couldn't find it.
Once again, panic rose in her, and once again it was the now known voice to help her.
«Oh, it's you again. You didn't find your brother yet?» Elpis asked, coming out from behind one of the bushes.
She wanted to cry again. The door was gone, how was she was going to go back home?
«Hey, it's okay, we'll find him... ah, Endymion!»
It was the Prince's name! Eos perked up, the hood falling from her head and she saw him, tall and handsome and gentle-looking, just like she pictured him to be. His blue eyes widened ever so slightly for a second, going back to soft and kind soon.
«I found her not far from the Palace, I think she's lost. Her name is Eos» Elpis told him, then pinched his chin at the sight of her horn «I never knew Earth people had Unicities too»
«They're rare, but there are some» Endymion answered, never taking his gaze from the little girl «But I think this young lady isn't quite from around here. Am I correct?»
Hesitantly, Eos nodded.
Endymion dropped to his knee, ignoring the curious looks Elpis was sending his way and giving his full attention to the girl «Does Helios know you're here?»
She chocked back a sniff «My big brother doesn't know, your Highness»
«Do you know it's dangerous to come here alone? There are bad things happening those days»
«I'm s-sorry, Sire...»
«Enough, Endymion. She's scared enough as it is» Elpis intervened before she could start crying again «Do you know her family?»
«I do. I can see her on her way home» he outstretched his hands for her to take «I didn't mean to scare you, Lady Eos. It's my duty to worry for my people and I was concerned for your wellbeing, as I am certain your brother is as well. One day, I promise you'll be free to visit Earth at your leisure, but you have to be patient and wait for me to fix some things, so your travels can be safe and happy. Can you promise me you won't come again before that day?»
«When will it be?»
«Soon, I hope» Endymion answered «I'll tell your brother to take you here then, you have my word»
She nodded «And you have mine, Your Highness. Thank you»
Despite the confusion, Elpis smiled at her when she turned his way, the solemn promise brightened her face. Endymion gestured him to wait for any explanation and made sure Helios was called immediately.
The High Priest of Elysion was there soon, relief erasing any other emotion from his stance. He had enough self-control to greet both princes with a curt bow before dropping to his knee to check on his sister, who latched to his chest.
«Are you going to scold her?» Elpis asked, worriedly.
«It was a good scare to us both. I'm sure Eos learned her lesson» Helios got up and faced the Moon Prince «Thank you, Prince Elpis, for helping her»
«No thanks needed, it was the right thing to do» the other assured with a wide smile.
«You're a Prince too?» Eos looked at him wide-eyed.
«Ah, yes, I am» he scratched his neck, making his hood fall and reveal his verdant curls.
«He's the Moon Prince, Princess Serenity's brother» Endymion added.
She took a good look at him and, if possible, her amber eyes got even wider «You're the Green Knight! Oh, your dreams are so beautiful!»
«My dreams?» Elpis looked at the other two men with some perplexity.
Endymion nodded, not after a look at the High Priest «Helios and Eos come from Elysion. It's a sacred place where all dreams gather and are protected by our High Priests, like Helios»
«Oh! That's a beautiful job. Will you do that too, Eos?»
«I already help my brother» she proudly affirmed.
«She does» Helios confirmed «In this regard, it's time for us to go. We've been away for too long»
Eos' face clouded over for a moment, then she curtsied «Goodbye, Prince Endymion, Your Highness. Goodbye, Prince Elpis. I wish we'll see each other again!»
«Me too, Eos. Take good care of my dreams!» Elpis answered with a radiant smile.
«I will!»
Eos knew she should have never done it, but when the Dream of Prince Elpis disappeared she panicked and ran to the magic door on her own.
She should have never disobeyed her brother, nor broken her promise to Prince Endymion to not come to Earth until he called for her, but she was worried and scared and did it anyway.
A lifetime later, with the knowledge of her first short life enriched with the stories of her elders, she'd think the misfortunes that befell on her in the earliest years of her second life were the punishment for her broken vows.
Beyond the door, all was silent. The Moon, high in a livid sky, glowed weakly.
There were no roses in the garden, and the place itself was unrecognizable and in ruins. All was dark and sad and made her antsy and scared.
Where were the flowers? The pretty fountain? The people? What happened to the Prince?
The door closed on its own before Eos could walk back, the protective barrier sealed itself with the protection spell that protected Elysion from any external harm.
The Moon glowed again, stronger, unsettlingly.
All was so silent, too silent. Eos wanted to scream.
The light coming from the Moon was purple and all was scary around her. She wanted to go back home, faintly felt her brother calling from the door that didn't want to open.
Eos' mind didn't realize she was about to die. Subconsciously, though, she must have known. She fainted before Sailor Saturn's Death Reborn Revolution even hit Earth.
Millennia later, she was born in a new family that named her Eri.
Notes: And this is it.
Wow, this is first long-fic I ever completed in English, it feels weird! Even if it's just a spin-off, I poured a lot of time and thought on it, so it's a huge satisfaction to me.
Of course, it's not an actual end because it's only the prequel to "Days of Moonlight (and) Heroes" so the real ending is still far to come in that story and I encourage you, if you didn't, to read that too.
What more to say? I hope you liked it and if you stumble upon it later on you can always comment, I'll be happy to hear your thoughts anytime.
Best wishes!