Here, I'll spell it out for you. I d-o n-o-t o-w-n S-a-i-l-o-r
M-o-o-n. Does that help?
This chapter is dedicated to Sailor Debbie. Have a good time on your
trip! That reminds me, I mentioned this before, but I'll tell you
again; I'm going to be away from the 5th until the 15th. I might or
might not have another chapter posted from now until the 16th.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning

-CHAPTER 16-

Endymion looked over to where Serenity laid peacefully. Her
mother and both his parents had been told what had happened.
Queen Serenity had hugged him and practically squeezed him to
death when she had found out that he had saved her daughter's
life. Princess Serenity would sleep in her mother's room for the
night. Endymion had insisted on staying with her. Queen Serenity
had not minded at all. A makeshift bed was set up. Princess
Serenity had been placed on Queen Serenity's bed. He watched the
golden angel sleep. Everyone else had left, and now he and Queen
Serenity were the one's left in the room. Endymion looked around
the room. Queen Serenity was getting the makeshift bed ready.

"You get to bed." Endymion said. "I will take care of the
makeshift bed." Endymion had said. Queen Serenity smiled.

"But I'm not sleeping on the bed with my daughter." Endy
opened his mouth in a question, but she continued. "You are."
She stated simply. Endymion blushed a deep crimson. Queen
Serenity laughed.

"Endymion, I know that you are a gentleman. Besides, I know
how much you love my daughter. I see it in your eyes." She
smiled kindly at the young man before her. "Now get to bed."
Endymion did as he was told.

Queen Serenity watched as her daughter wrapped her arms
around Endymion, practically reflexively. Princess Serenity
smiled in her sleep. The Queen smiled at her daughter's
happiness, and then smiled sadly that her own beloved was gone.
The two lay asleep in one another's arms.

"Always protect her Endymion." Serenity said quietly before
she fell asleep.

"Always." Endymion murmured in his sleep.

-The Next Morning-

Endymion awoke with Princess Serenity's arms around him.
He smiled and kissed her forehead. 'She looks like an angel.'
Endy thought to himself. Guilt rushed through him as he removed
her arms from around him. Serenity moved into the spot that he
had just occupied. A smile graced his face. Queen Serenity still
slept soundly.

Silently he crept down to the main hall where the other
contestants met for breakfast. Before he entered, he transformed
into his true form, already dressed in his armor and black mask.
The rest of the contestants kept their distance from him. He had
become kind of like an enemy since he had gained the crowd's
approval. His own friends and generals avoided him. Endymion got
and ate his breakfast in silence. Since there were half as many
people, only one test of lancing, jousting, and archery each
would be going on today.

The contestants had to wait in the tent while the others
performed. Many of the men would have been able to find
weaknesses as they watched. Endymion would be among them. His
first task was before lunch this time. Jousting, his first task,
was his favorite because he could see Serenity from the jousting
arena.

-Out in the arena-

Endy smiled as he saw Sere enthusiastically cheering him
on. 'I wonder if she recognizes me.' Endymion wondered as he
began to charge at his opponent. His focus was set on knocking
the man off without being knocked off himself. He directed the
lance to aim directly at the other man's chest. Endymion's
opponent flew off of the horse. A loud cheer erupted from the
crowd. Endy dismounted his black horse and stroked the horse's
hair to soothe the animal. From the crowd, women admired his
sincerity. Endymion groaned inwardly. His mother had said that
women would flock to him like hawks if he did not wear his
disguise. He only hoped Serenity did not fall for him like this.

Endymion had another test against the same opponent. Endy
won that match just as easily. After the first skill test for
the day was done, Endymion headed back to the tent to relax. It
was not long before it was time for him to go to the archery
arena. This had to be Endymion's easiest task. Since the age of
six, Endymion had been a sure shot, and had never missed a mark.
However, Endy also knew that he should not allow things like
that get to his head. It would do no good for him to let that
mess him up now. Endymion looked to his opponent and wished him
good luck. The other man nodded and the next test began.

"Now!" His opponent yelled as a flying object launched into
the air. He hit it. "Now!" Endymion yelled. Endymion shot the
small object through it's center. About five minutes later the
other man missed and received a demerit. Endymion won the
fencing part of the contest as well.

Tuesday passed into Wednesday, Wednesday into Thursday, and
Thursday into Friday. Only twelve contestants remained, Endymion
was one of them. He had yet to lose a match.

-Friday-

It was not until after lunch that his problems began. The
last test that Endymion would perform for the day was fencing.
Endy entered the circle and saw that his opponent was none other
than Judis. Anger filled Endymion as he remembered what Judis
had tried to do to Serenity. His Serenity. Endymion's hands
squeezed the hilt of the sword as he imagined it was Judis's
neck. 'Relax.' Endymion thought. 'Anger will only cloud the
mind.' Although if he used it right, his anger could act as a
fuel to his sword fighting.

Back in the Royal box, Queen Gaia gripped onto King
Terrance's arm in anxiety.

"This is not good." She whispered into his ear.

"Endymion will be just fine against Judis." Terrance said
to Gaia reassuringly. 'I hope.'

"Kick his ass Endy." Gaia said. Terrance gaped at her. She
blushed.

"You never say such things." Terrance said in awe.

"Well Judis deserves it." She smiled. Terrance laced his
fingers through hers. Their attention turned to their son as the
sword fight began.

Judis looked over at Endymion with a sneer.

"I bet you wear that mask to keep the ladies from looking
at your hideous face." Judis laughed at his own lousy attempt at
a joke.

"Maybe you should wear a mask to cover your hideous soul."
Endymion said quietly, with a hint of menace. Judis glared as he
lunged at Endymion. Endymion side-stepped it easily and blocked
the blow that Judis had aimed at Endymion's head. Endymion and
Judis fought heavily for nearly an hour. Endymion had a cut on
his right side, and Judis had reopened the wound from the other
night. Judis had two cuts on his left leg, and a gash across his
forehead. Still neither moved out of the circle. The audience
was getting more and more into the fight. Gaia was nearly crying
from her seat as she watched her son get hurt.

Endymion circled the inside of the line getting an idea.

"I bet you will never reach the throne." Endymion said.

"What makes you say that?" Judis eyes him suspiciously.

"Someone would probably assassin such a beast like you
before letting you rule Terra." Endymion said. Judis glared at
him before taking a lunging towards him. Endymion's plan had
worked as he side-stepped the attack and hit Judis in the back
with the butt of his sword knocking him outside the circle.
Everyone in the crowd was on his or her feet. They had been
intently watching the match for the last half hour because the
other tasks had already finished for the day. Everyone had been
cheering Endymion since no one really liked Judis.

Endymion handed his sword to a page to take back to the
tent as he left the arena to go get treatment for his wounds.
Judis angrily marched off to the tent. Endymion would have to go
against Judis again tomorrow since Judis had only gotten one
demerit. Six other players had been eliminated already, and six
others remained. Four men walked up to Endymion as he neared the
tent; his generals.

"Good job." Zoisite smiled as he shook Endymion's hand.

"We will all be going against you tomorrow." Nephlite said.

"We all made it to the second round too." Jedite explained.

"If you beat us all tomorrow, promise that you shall do
your best to defeat Judis again as well." Malachite said.

"Of course." Endymion replied.

"What is your name?" Jedite asked as the generals started
to head in another direction.

"Tuxedo Mask." Endymion replied. 'Where'd that come from?'
He wondered to himself.

What an odd name. Malachite sent through the link so that
Endymion was not supposed to hear his remark. Endymion held back
a laugh.

Well, as long as he beats Judis if we don't, that's all I
care about. Nephlite sent.

Right. They all agreed. Endymion rushed into the tent to
get his things. However, he shouldn't have bothered. His bow and
arrows, his lance, and his sword had all been smashed. Endymion
could tell by the way his sword had been broken that magic had
to have been involved to destroy it. It was obvious Judis had
destroyed his things. Endymion ran a hand through his hair. 'If
I'm going to compete tomorrow, I'm going to need new equipment.
Maybe I could borrow some from Father.' Endy thought. In the
dark of night, he was able to transform without anyone seeing
him. The Endymion that was recognized only as a palace servant
went in search of his father.

Endymion knocked on the door of his father's bedroom. He
heard someone come to the door. Gaia smiled as she opened it.

"Hello Endy." She smiled.

"Mother Earth, what are you doing here?" He asked giving
his mother a hug.

"You haven't called me that in ages." She smiled. "Well,
I'm moving back in." She gave a little gesture with her hand as
she pointed to her things.

"It's been confirmed?" Endymion asked excited.

"Judis is not Terrance's son. We have three test results
that read the exact same thing. We also compared samples with
his blood, and your blood. Terrance can't deny that your his
son." She smiled. Endymion knew that she had been waiting for
this moment for years. Before they just knew by more or less
instinct that Judis was not theirs, now they had proof.

"I could never deny Endymion. He looks and acts too much
like me." Terrance said as he came to the door. "Come on in
Endy." Terrance said looking happier than Endymion remembered
ever seeing him, and King Terrance was happy a lot too.

"That glad to get rid of Judis?" Endymion asked flashing a
sarcastic grin.

"Of course. Do you know how hard it was for me those ten
years when I thought that there was a possibility that he really
was my son? No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't find it
in my heart. It wasn't like he and I had anything in common.
There was just something about him. You on the other hand, I
didn't even know you, I just knew that you were a good person,
and I wanted to trust you." Terrance smiled again. "So what
brings you here?" Terrance wondered.

"Judis destroyed my tournament equipment. My sword, bow,
arrows, and my lance. Do you have spares you could lend to me?"

"Of course I do. Gaia love?" Terrance said facing her. She
put down the clothes that she had just unpacked.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I need to take Endymion to get new weaponry. We'll leave
immediately from dinner." Terrance said. Gaia and Endymion
looked at him.

"Okay." She said. "Speaking of dinner, we better head down.
We don't want to be late."

"Oh shoot! I am." Endymion said as he remembered that as a
servant he should be helping out with dinner.

"Tell them you were helping me." Terrance called after
Endymion as he rushed to the kitchens to help. Normally, he
would have nothing to do with dinner but with the tournament
going on, everyone had to help out. Endymion arrived late, but
they excused him since he said that he was helping Terrance. No one
really cared anyway, Endymion was a hard worker.

Endymion would never miss dinner anyway. It was a chance
for him to see Serenity. He balanced two trays on either hand as
he walked over towards Princess and Queen Serenity.

The only real time that he had been able to spend with
Serenity was after she had turned in for the night. She had been
sleeping back in her own chambers again, but the locks had been
changed. Princess Serenity, Queen Serenity, Terrance and Endymion
were the only ones with keys to her room.

He set the trays for Queen and Princess Serenity on their
plates. Serenity smiled up towards him.

"Hello Princess." Endymion smiled. She nodded.

"Hello," she added in a whisper, "my Prince." Endymion gave
her a charming smile before going to help someone else.

-After dinner-

Terrance walked over to where Endymion was helping to clean
off plates with Andrew.

"I need to borrow him for the night." Terrance said to
Andrew. "Will you do his duties for him?" Terrance asked.

"Of course I will." Andrew said. Terrance and Endymion
walked together down the hallway. Even though Endymion was
wearing a disguise, it was easy to see that he and his father
had the same commanding walk. Terrance was leading Endymion to a
lower part of the palace. Kunzite, Tinite, Starlite, Jenite,
Malachite, Zoisite, Nephlite, and Jedite waited for them.
Endymion had rarely seen his father's generals. Normally they
were on diplomatic missions to other parts of the world.

"Just follow me." Terrance led them down a torch filled
passageway. Endymion's generals looked just as puzzled as
Endymion felt. Terrance stopped and pulled on one of the
torches. It opened up into a secret passageway.

The ten of them filed into the dimly lit passage. They
walked for about fifteen minutes in almost complete darkness
until they finally reached a large mahogany door. Inside,
nothing but books ran along the outer rim of the room, which was
amazing since the room seemed to be the size of a ball room.
Endymion stared in awe. His generals looked on in wonder too.
However, near the center of the room a large table that sat
underneath a golden table cloth that appeared to be made from
silk. Terrance strode to the table in the middle of the room.
Endymion approached closer, following his father.

"Transform into your true form." Terrance commanded. His
generals and his father's generals looked with keen interest at
Endymion since they had never seen his true form. Endymion
nodded. A flash of gold light flared around him as his normal
clothing was replaced with his armor. He stood in full body
armor with his black mask. His generals gasped.

"You're Tuxedo Mask?" Malachite asked in disbelief.

"It is an odd name isn't it?" Endymion said with a smile.

"I guess you could hear that." Malachite murmured.

"Tuxedo Mask, is that a code name?" Terrance asked. Endy
shrugged.

"I don't know where I got it from. It just seemed to fit
me some how." Endymion explained. "Anyway, what are we doing
here?"

Terrance picked up the table cloth to reveal weapons. In
the center of the table laid a sword with a golden hilt and what
looked like diamonds traced a pattern of earth on the shining
sword.

"This is called the Golden Terra." Terrance held it in his
hand and then placed it back on the table.

"I need a sword like that." Jedite said.

"It belonged to the first generation that lived here in
Terra. It was hidden away in this room. Your great grandfather
discovered this room, and then mastered the skill of how to use
it. Your great grandfather gave it to my father, and my father
gave it to me. Now, I'm going to give it to you." Terrance
smiled. "Pick it up." Endymion was in awe as he reached down and
picked it up. As he did so, it disappeared.

"What happened?" Endymion asked.

"Look at your sheath." Terrance said. Endymion looked down
to see the sword hilt sticking out of what was his empty sheath.

"How did it do that?" Endymion asked confused.

"Look around you, what do you see?" Endymion looked, but
besides the generals, all he could see were thousands of books.

"Books?" Endymion asked, not knowing if it was a trick
question.

"Exactly. Books that are full of magic used to enchant that
sword." Terrance paused in thought for a moment. "I'm not quite
sure what it will mostly be for you."

"Mostly be?" Endymion was completely confused.

"Yes. When my father gave me the sword, it was used as a
bow and arrow mostly. You will be able to use it as a sword, but
there is something else that it's used for to suit your own
personality. Your great grandfather used it as a sword. Although
I am not quite sure what it will be for you. That's why we need
the help of our generals." Terrance explained as he looked at
his friends and their sons. "The Gold Terra is what links me to
my generals, and you to yours. Endymion, Jedite, Nephlite,
Zoisite, Malachite, step forward. Each of you hold hands.
Jenite, Starlite, Tinite, Kunzite, put your hands on your son's
shoulders." They did as they were told. An electric shock washed
through them. 'What happened?' Endymion sent through the link.
No response.

"We don't have the link anymore." Endymion said startled.

"You don't need it. You will be able to sense when each
other needs help." Starlite explained.

"We all have the same connection to Terrance as our sons
do to you." Tinite said.

"Look at your sheath again." Terrance said to Endymion.
Endymion looked down to see that it wasn't there.

"Where did it go?" Endymion wondered out loud.
"It went here." Terrance walked over to the table where
the gold table cloth laid. He picked it up to reveal a perfectly
red rose in bloom.

"Odd." Terrance said as he picked it up.

"What's odd?" Endymion wondered.

"This is what form you will primarily use the sword as."
Terrance handed it to him. Endymion somehow knew what he was to
do with it.

"I know how to use it." Endymion said. "I don't know how,
I just do." Endymion gave a mental thought and it disappeared
from his hand, and reappeared again as the sword in his sheath.
He left it as the sword. He smiled to his father. "Thank you. I
don't need all of the weapons that I used to now. I can just
transform this into what I need." Endymion said.

"I'll give you new weaponry to use during the tournament
anyway. This weapon should only be used when you really need
it." Terrance explained to his son.

"Let's go back." They all journeyed through the secret
passage to get back to the regular part of the castle.

"You entered the tournament and didn't tell us?" Zoisite
asked, feigning hurt.

"Sorry." Endymion said fascistically.

"Now we know who'll win this tournament." Malachite said.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"We all know that you can beat us in practice, and who
knows how good you are with your real form." Nephlite said.

"And really, we know that you could kill Judis if you
really wanted to." Jedite said.

"Thanks." Endymion said, not sure whether he should be glad
of that thought or not.

"We'll let you go see Serenity now." Jedite winked. Endy
hit him over the head.

"Hey!" They each parted their separate ways, no one knowing
what to expect tomorrow.

Endymion walked down the hallway to Serenity's chambers. He
came into the room quietly so as not to wake her. However, he
noticed with a smile, that she didn't seem to notice he was
there. He crept quietly over to the bed, and wrapped his arms
around her from the back. Smiling in her sleep, she moved closer
against his chest. "Goodnight Sere, my love." Endymion whispered
as he kissed her on the temple. 'Whatever happens,' Endymion
thought, 'I pray Sere is safe.' Before long, Endymion drifted
off to sleep.

Umm...was anyone confused with the whole Golden Terra thing? I don't
know if that was confusing. I got it, but then again, I know what's
going on in my head. If you have any questions or need it to be
explained, review below and I'll try
and answer your question(s) there. - Jelp