1 Chapter Four

"For perhaps as long as there have been people on the Moon and Earth and our other planets, there have been Senshi to protect them." Luna said, delicately washing her face. The entire group of Endymion, Libidia, and the Senshi had moved into a private room off the main hall. Artemis was there as well, having come in to find Luna and given Libidia a fresh screeching attack.

"Have the Senshi always been young girls?" Endymion asked.

"You got a problem with that?" Selenity asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"It is tradition that they are the princess of each planet." Luna said loudly, hoping to deter an argument. "If the planet happens to have a prince, then the other planets work harder to make up for that one."

"So the princes can't help at all?" Endymion inquired. Artemis and Luna nodded.

"I always knew you were worthless." Selenity remarked.

Endymion raised an eyebrow at her. Libidia scowled.

"Do you have a death wish?" Rei asked at her side, jabbing her with an elbow.

"Like that prissy little wimp could ever hurt me?" Selenity asked scathingly. "Puh-lease."

"Look-Usagi." Rei said, using her friend's pet name. "Just don't provoke her. If our suspicions are confirmed, then-"

"Then what?" Endymion asked, deliberately intruding on the conversation he had been overhearing.

Selenity looked angrily at him. "You're a rude eavesdropper, you know that, right?"

Endymion smiled loftily at her.

"Will you all PLEASE stop acting like juveniles?!" Luna broke in angrily, stopping Selenity from smacking Endymion upside the head. "This is very serious!! We need to explain what's going on to these two!"

Selenity sat back down, scowling.

"Does this all have something to do with Metallia?" Endymion asked quietly.

Selenity stiffened slightly in her seat at the mention of the name.

"Yes." Artemis said, nodding his head. "This all has to do with Metallia."

"What is she?"

"An embodiment of evil." Ami said quietly from her place on the other side of Rei.. "Very strong, very powerful, and almost completely indestructible."

"A demon that lives off of human life energy." Setsuna said, pursing her lips in thought.

"She's like a black hole of energy." Michiru, the Neptunian Princess, said from her quiet corner next to Princess Haruka.

"And right now she's starting to suck all the energy of the universe, starting with us and our planet system." Selenity finished, rubbing her forehead with one pearly hand. "If we don't stop her now, our entire universe is going to perish."

There was a stunned silence from Endymion and Libidia.

"And I thought these were silly rumors." Endymion muttered finally.

"They are our most important truths." Selenity said quietly.

He looked up at her. "Who are you, really?" He asked softly.

There was a long pause as she gazed at him, smoky eyes seeming to see right through him. A tingling sensation went through him.

"I am the leader of the Senshi for this generation." Selenity said finally.

"She has quite a lot of power, in other words." Princess Ami said, jumping in and ruining the mysterious moment.

Endymion felt a sudden surge of relief. "Can you fight Metallia, then, if you're so powerful?"

Selenity snorted. "Are you kidding? She'd atomize me before you could say 'Moon Tiara Stardust'!"

Endymion felt crushed. He sat back in his seat, misery and dread starting to drain his energy. "No hope at all." He muttered. "No hope, no hope, no hope…"

It was funny how just a little depressing thought could drain him of so much energy, he thought sadly. In fact, he wondered if he could even move anymore…

"Endymion, move!" Selenity suddenly yelled sharply.

Endymion jumped as she leapt through the air, knocking him and the chair he was sitting in backwards. She landed on his chest. He tinted slightly.

Selenity completely ignored him. She scrambled off him as fast as possible and hurtled at the balcony just behind him.

The other princesses leapt up. Libidia squeaked as she tried to pull Endymion off the ground and ended up flat on her back. Endymion stared out at the balcony, trying to catch a glimpse of where Selenity had gone.

There were sounds of a scuffle, then a high-pitched screech and a puff of smoke resounded in the air.

Selenity came back in the room, grimly brushing herself off. "Next time you start feeling so soporific, TELL someone." She ordered Endymion tensely.

"Soporific? What's that?" Libidia asked.

"Drowsy. Loss of energy." Selenity said absently, continuing to stare at Endymion. "When you're attacked by a shadow youma, the LEAST you could do is yell!"

Endymion grew red in anger. "Excuse me, but I had no idea! I don't even know what a shadow youma is!!" He spat at Selenity.

"A passive spirit." Princess Michiru said quietly. "It steals along and bides its time till it finds a worthy victim to drain of energy."

"That doesn't sound very nice." Libidia said, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout.

Everyone eyed her for a moment before choosing to ignore the comment.

"In other words, you feel one, kill it then, before it sucks too much energy." Princess Makoto said bluntly.

Princess Setsuna closed her eyes. "This is the third one we've had in a week, Selenity. Not good."

"More and more of them have been appearing over the past few weeks." Minako explained to Endymion, face unusually grim. "At first we'd only see one every two weeks. Now we see them every two days"

"Have they killed anyone yet?" Endymion asked.

There was silence a moment.

"No." Selenity said shortly. "Not really."

Endymion got the feeling she was hiding something. "What's 'not really'?"

Another long pause.

Selenity bit her lip, then stood up straight. "Follow me." She ordered quietly.

There was a noise of dissension. Rei put out her arm to stop Selenity. "Usagi." She murmured, just loud enough for Endymion to hear. "Are you sure? I mean, I know what its done to you-"

"I'm sure." She said shortly, brushing the Mars Princess aside. "Libidia, Endymion, now."

Endymion fell into step beside Selenity as she led the way down out of the room, down the main hall, into a side corridor, and then down a long flight of stairs.

The room where they came out was dark, and damp. Endymion squinted vainly through the darkness while Libidia hung on to his arm, uttering small squeaks.

Selenity pointed into the darkness. "Go in, but don't go too far."

Endymion glanced at her. In the darkness, her eyes and hair seemed to glow.

"Go."

Taking a deep breath, Endymion stepped forward out of the doorway. Libidia started to strangle his arm, whimpering slightly.

"Stop." Selenity said suddenly behind him.

"Why?" He asked curiously.

Something in the darkness leapt forward with a screeching of chains. Endymion yelled and fell backwards.

A light flickered on overhead. Selenity stood beside him, looking down at him. "Are you all right?" She asked, reaching down to help pull him up.

Endymion yanked her hand harder than she expected, causing her to fall down on top of him.

For a moment, neither of them breathed. Just stared at each other from the little distance between them.

Selenity quickly scrambled up and brushed herself off, face burning. Endymion climbed unsteadily to his feet. "What the heck was that?"

Selenity looked back at the remaining shadows where the thing that had charged Endymion hid. "It's one of the great tragedies of our war against Metallia, and one of the reasons we fight so hard."

There was the slightest clanking of chains, then a figure moved from the shadows to crouch in the light.

Endymion let out a small gasp. The creature that was crouched, muttering to itself in front of him was hideous! Pale and scrawny, its bones stood out at strange angles. Skin bulged out in odd spots and then barely covered bone in others. Matted, filthy hair clung to the sides of its head. It's nose was skeletal-like, and its teeth were a muddy brown. There were nothing but empty sockets for eyes.

"What IS it?" Endymion asked in horror.

Selenity sighed. "It was once a human. That's what happens to you if you stay too long in the grip of a youma. They suck away all your humanity and feelings and leave you a shell. Little more than an animal."

Endymion stared into the black eye sockets. "Who was this? A moon-ling?"

"Actually, he was from Venus." Selenity said, moving up the stairs.

Endymion caught up to her. "You knew him?"

Selenity turned around and stared at him. "He was my fiancée."

A moan from the bottom of the stairs startled Endymion. He looked down to se Libidia's crumpled, forgotten form lying fainted on the floor.