TSUKI NO HIKARI

It was night, but many people didn't take notice of this as they were running for their lives. A small village out in the mountains was under attack, but no one in it knew why. Unknown to the inhabitants, there had been a rebellion forming in their village. There was a small rebellion against the king as there usually is in a large kingdom, but no normal person could understand why this one was forming. The king was kind, caring, and understanding.

No one knew what made him such a good king, but rumor was that when the prince had disappeared a few years before his father's death, he had lived as a peasant so that he would know how to rule them fairly, and what they needed. His name was Endymion IV, son of Endymion III. The name was a tradition, and he was going to keep that tradition.

Endymion knew that the village didn't know about the rebellion, so he sent one of his generals, Demando, to get rid of the rebellion, but Demando attacked the village killing women and children. Endymion didn't trust this specific general, so he had sent a scout to watch over him, and told him to report everything that Demando did.

The scout left a few hours previous to this attack as soon as he heard of Demando's betrayal. He wasn't too surprised about this either, and at this very moment, Endymion, along with a large amount of soldiers, came running to the village's rescue. He had put Demando to the test, but he failed it, as everyone who knew about expected. Endymion ran to the people's rescue, and captured Demando.

It took four of his strongest generals to hold Demando as Endymion confronted him on his betrayal. "You knew my orders, but yet you still directly disobeyed my command! Why?"

"HA!" Demando scoffed. "Your telling me that you actually believe that those people didn't know about the rebellion forming right under their noses! You can't actually believe that's true!"

"I can when that is what all proof states, but you, whether you had proof or not, still directly disobeyed my orders, and for that you will be tried for treason!" Endymion told him. His anger was beginning to rise, and he knew that it would be best for everyone if it didn't get any further than it already had become.

Endymion had worked hard to unite the earth, the next step was convincing them that it was a good idea to unite with the moon. Demando's punishment was the same for any other treacherous act, death.

Endymion knew that it had to be done, but he didn't want to do it. Some of the others knew that it wasn't his favorite choice, but since he was the king, he had to be strict. For the people who lived in that village in the mountains, he found a place to live while their houses were rebuilt. He also supplied them with food for two years after it was destroyed.

For the next two years, Endymion took vote after vote of the people from their representatives on whether or not they should try to join the Silver Alliance. He would try to convince them that it was the best thing, but it took a lot because everyone believed that the lunarians were a power hungry people that wanted all the people to follow them blindly.

The people, on the other hand, wanted Endymion to marry, but he said that he wouldn't even consider it until the alliance with the moon was made. The people spoke up after hearing that saying that they would agree to it on one condition. That he would marry the Moon Princess. Everyone had heard rumors of her beauty, and they thought that was the best choice for their king.

When Endymion heard their command, he was speechless. He knew that it wasn't up to him whether or not he was to marry the princess, but he soon found out that it would be easier that he thought.

Queen Serenity of the Silver Alliance was also trying to convince her people that an Alliance with earth would be a beneficial thing. They had all heard of the new King Endymion IV, and they were starting to give in to the idea of making an alliance with them. They all came together to come up with an idea. They wanted their princess to be happy, and so they made the choice, and said that they would agree on a marriage contract only.

That meant that Princess Serenity and King Endymion had to married. Queen Serenity wouldn't make that kind of choice without her daughter's permission, so she went in to talk to her.

"You've heard the people's commands, Serenity, but what do you think about it?" Queen Serenity asked her daughter.

"I really don't know Mother, what am I supposed to think about it?" the young princess replied. She was about sixteen years old, and had long blond hair held up in the traditional style of two buns on each side of her head with the rest flowing freely. She also had deep sapphire eyes that showed just how innocent, and wise, she really was. The people knew that she would be a great and fair ruler when it was her time to assume the thrown.

"Would you like to meet him first?" Queen Serenity asked.

The princess looked at her mother with appreciation and said, "That sounds like a good idea. Maybe that will help me decide."

When the Queen left her daughter, she immediately summoned her ambassador, Luna, and said, "In this envelope is a letter requesting the presence of King Endymion. I would like you to deliver it personally, and hopefully return either with an acceptance letter, or the King himself, but if you can't, that is all right. The letter asks if he could join us for about two weeks."

Luna nodded, and said, "Is this about what the people said in that letter that you received the other day?"

Luna and the Queen were on very social terms; they were actually best of friends. The Queen didn't even have to move her head for Luna to know the answer was yes. From there, she was able to figure out what the letter was asking of the Queen, but being the ambassador, she had spent a good amount of time at the Earth's Palace, and around the King, she knew that the Princess would fall in love with him.

Luna set out with Artimas immediately for earth, and when they arrived, she wasn't at all surprised that he wished to come back with her. He told her what the people had said, but she decided that she wouldn't mention why the Queen wanted him to come visit. Endymion had never come to the Moon before, and therefore had never met the legendary beauty of the moon.

They arrived about an hour after the message had been sent that they would be coming and the Queen and Princess only had a short time to get ready for his arrival. The Princess's Senshi were there, so she was out in the garden when she was told to prepare for his arrival.

When he arrived, the Queen was the first to greet him. He, at first, didn't notice the princess and her guard to the side, but when the Queen brought him over to introduce him to her daughter, he barely heard what she sad because her beauty captured him. He faintly heard the Queen say; "This is my daughter, Princess Serenity, and her guard, the princesses of the other planets. Their names are Princess Minako of Venus, Princess Makoto of Jupiter, Princess Rei of Mars, Princess Ami of Mercury, and the princesses of the Outer planets include Princess Haruka of Uranus, Princess Michiru of Neptune, Princess Hotaru of Saturn, and Princess Setsuna of Pluto."

Endymion realized that she had stopped talking, and he bowed to the nine ladies in front of him, and said, "It is very nice to meet all of you, I would like to get to know you better!"

"That won't be too hard," Queen Serenity said with a mischievous smile playing on her face.

"What are you up to Mother?" Serenity asked.

"Well, since the King of Earth is here, I took the liberty to arrange a ball in his honor," Serenity said watching her daughter's response. Princess Serenity knew that her mother was up to something, but she wasn't quiet sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Everyone knew that the best thing for the kingdoms was the union of the King of Earth, and the Princess of the Moon. Queen Serenity loved her daughter, but she really wanted to play matchmaker, so she decided that she would send them off on their own. She looked to her daughter and said, "The ball won't be for a while, why don't you take his majesty to see the gardens while your senshi and I prepare the ball?"

Princess Serenity knew that her mother was up to something now. The senshi never had anything to do with the preparation of balls and banquets, but she decided that it would be best to listen to her mother, so with a questioning glance at her mother, she led the king of Earth off into the depths of the palace.

After they were gone, the senshi looked to their Queen with their eyes showing every single question they had. Only Minako of the Planet of Love, Venus, knew what the Queen was trying to do, so her question was 'Why?'

The Queen looked at them and said, "I know that you must be very curious, but I can explain it all. It started at the last council meeting in which the representative of the people of the Moon had a letter that said the people would agree to an alliance with earth only if my daughter and the King of Earth joined in marriage. I don't know why they wanted this, but I did a little bit of research on his character, and he can be trusted. The reason that I have kept you here while my daughter is gone is so that I can get a little bit of help in playing matchmaker. I actually think that they would be a good match in character, but we have to get them to see that. What do you think? Will you help?"

The senshi stared at her in amazement. Was she really saying this to them? The Queen of the Moon was acting like a sixteen-year old girl! This was amazing! Too bad they couldn't tell Princess Serenity about this little escapade. Minako looked at her in shock for a moment before she suddenly broke out into a large smile and said, "Of course we will! This is going to be a LOT of fun!"

None of the senshi could hold back their smiles at her enthusiasm, and Queen Serenity was happy to have their support. She knew that they would enjoy an intrigue such as this. She smiled and said; "Now this is what were going to do. Tonight"

Meanwhile, Serenity had finished showing the King around the palace, and was on her way to show him the gardens. It was beautiful, but she didn't know what to think. She knew that duty told her to go for the marriage, but she wanted someone that would love her for her, and not her title. Was he the man? Would duty or love prevail?

To be continued

I hope that everyone enjoyed my story, until next time, ja matta ne.