Under the Full Moon

Part 1

Against the advice of his closest friends, the young prince Endymion, the reckless son of the King of the Earth, slipped out of his dark, stuffy bedroom. The sun had just set, and the Moon was brilliant orange like the color of the sky that had preceded it. It had just begun its climb into the sky.

For the past week or so a burning fever had kept Endymion in bed. Even so, nothing could keep him from his beloved forests and fields for long. As his fever began to diminish, the prince became restless, so in secret his had set out on a new adventure that was to last for one night only. As he planned it, nobody would even know he left.

Endymion set out feeling completely refreshed and he pushed the persistent warnings of his doctors to the back of his mind. They didn't know anything anyway. He quickly made his way through the winding corridors of the palace and found the secret passage that would take him to freedom. It led him to a door outside of the walls surrounding the palace grounds, and he ran until he was well out of sight of the castle.

The prince laughed with joy now that he was finally able to run again after being confined to his bed for so long. After that, her strolled through the fields and enjoyed the sunset as the last rays of the sun slipped over the horizon, and stopped as he reached a small grove of flower-bearing trees in full bloom.

As Endymion looked up to admire their beauty, the trees unexpectedly began to sway and the ground move beneath his feet. He had to fight to keep his balance, but finally he collapsed. Before peaceful, warm darkness overcame him Endymion thought he saw an angel descend from the heavens to take him away.

Part 2

It was from the full moon that a girl looked out upon the earth as it rose into the sky. High up on a balcony in a glimmering white palace, she stood daydreaming and watching the sun peek over the edge of the earth.

"Lady Serenity!" She whipped around to find her companion; a small black cat called Luna with the Royal Family's crest, a crescent moon, on her forehead. She was glaring at her with a look that encompassed both frustration and concern. "Shouldn't you be in bed? The hour is late! A princess must have her sleep."

"Sorry," Serena replied in a rather dazed tone.

"You can't go wandering off after like this," the cat scolded, "You are the only child of the Queen you know."

"Yes, I know all too well, and will you please call me Serena?"

"If you insist," Luna sighed. "You know, I really worry about you. If you keep staring at Earth one day you're going to fall in love with it." Serena didn't respond and continued to gaze at the blue seas and swirling white clouds. Luna jumped up onto the balcony rail next to her. "What do you see in the Earth that is so special anyway? I just don't understand it."

"What do the Earthlings see in the moon that's so special? I guess it's simply beautiful to look at."

Just then, a small gold light winked at Serena from the Earth. Serena closed her eyes and felt that someone was in need, someone with a powerful enough life energy to reach her from Earth. She could tell that it was beginning to fade. Serena leaned as far over the balcony as she could and studied the Earth intently, silently praying that she could once again find the little light.

"In the name of Selene, what are you doing?" Luna asked critically.

"I'm going to Earth," Serena said firmly. "Someone needs help, I can feel it. You saw the sliver of gold down there, didn't you? I've got to help! Luna, I'm begging you, please cover for me."

"But Serena, you're a princess! You can't simply-" Serena looked at Luna with eyes nearly overflowing with tears. "Alright," Luna finally gave up. "Just, please, try to stay out of too much trouble."

"Thank you so much, Luna!" She said as she scooped Luna up in her arms and stroked her under the chin. "Wish me luck!"

Serena let Luna jump out of her arms, and she leaped into the night, instantly vanishing. Luna stared out at the Earth and said a little prayer. When she turned around, she saw the Queen staring out at the Earth.

The Queen was smiling warmly, but her sad eyes told a different story.

Serena enjoyed the free falling sensation as she plunged through the night and fell to Earth. As she passed through some thin, icy clouds and approached the ground, she slowly stopped her rapid decent and righted herself. Instantly she felt the earth's gravity pull her down. It took her a few moments to adjust enough to walk. There was a chilly wind harassing the branches of some trees, liberating several blossoms from their branches. Serena folded her arms and drew them close to her chest. She wished she hadn't worn her sleeveless gown that day while cursing the Earth's fickle weather under her breath.

As she looked around her eyes finally came to rest upon a young man with dark hair lying under the trees. He appeared to be unconscious, so she deemed it safe to move closer. She sat down hard on the ground beside him, the force of gravity once again catching her off guard. Serena warily slid her hand across his chest until it rested above his beating heart. She sighed with relief and moved to sweep a lock of hair out of his face, but recoiled at the touch of his burning skin.

Serena ripped off a strip of cloth from one of her petticoats and wet it in a nearby creek. As she gently placed it on his brow she wondered what course of action to take next. She didn't know who the young man was or where he was from, and she felt too frightened to go and look for help anyway. As she jumped from her balcony she had felt so much braver, like a heroine rushing off to battle, excited by the thought of finally being able to explore the Earth.

"Luna is right," Serena chuckled nervously. " 'Don't you have any common sense'?" she imitated Luna the last time she had scolded her. She fell back and sighed, and then, for the first time, she saw the Moon instead of the Earth rising in the evening sky and felt what Earthlings feel.

Serena intertwined her fingers with the man's and she continued to watch the sky and conjecture what she should do. One by one, the stars began to appear, and she named each constellation silently as it was completed. Her eyes began to droop, weighed down by the excitement of the day, and she joined the young man in sleep.

Part 3

The moon had reached the apex of its journey and its orange complexion had been replaced by a luminous white when Endymion awakened. He slowly sat up and the damp rag falling into his lap. He found that the fever had begun to dissipate. Then noticed a small hand grasping his own, and his eyes followed it to a young maiden lying on the ground next to him. She had long yellow hair shimmering about her in the moonlight and a strange gold crescent moon mark on her forehead.

The girl curled up, and Endymion allowed her to reclaim her hand as she drew her arms about her. She slowly opened her deep blue eyes and saw that the young man staring back at her with his own dark ones. She quickly sat up and said, "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever wake up... I guess I feel asleep myself."

"How did a lady such as yourself find me all the way out here?" Endymion asked.

"Well I saw you, of course," she replied as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. "What were you doing out here in your condition is my question."

"Well… I – uh…" he stammered as he tried to come up with an explanation. "I just… wanted to be outside again, I guess." He was startled when she began to stifle.

"Who would be that senseless?" she giggled. "Who are you, anyway?"

"My name…" he hesitated, fearing that his new friendship would drastically change if he revealed his name to the girl. Then he thought no one would dare laugh at him if they had a clue that he was a prince. "My name is Endymion."

"Endymion?" she repeated to herself. The name seemed familiar to Serena, but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it before. She suddenly wished she had paid more attention to the gossip of the nobles and aristocrats at the court instead of just that of her attendants and friends.

"Have you never heard my name before?" he questioned. She shook her head, causing her hair to fly about wildly. "What might your name be?"

"You may call me Serena," she replied curtly. For the first time, Endymion felt a strange attraction to her. His curiosity about the girl would not let him alone. The two sat together and speculated who the other truly was.

Serena yawned without covering her mouth. "Where have my manners gone…?" she asked herself as she rested her head on her knees and closed her exhausted eyes.

'Who is this girl?' Endymion asked himself, his head filled with a million questions more questions. He recognized the crescent moon as the symbol of the Moon's Royal Family, but why did this girl have it on her forehead? She was dressed in a manner unlike he had ever seen before. The gold threads, pearls and other glimmering gemstones sewn into her dress were proof enough that she was of nobility. For all he knew of her she could have been a goddess.

This mysterious girl was unlike any woman Endymion had met. The daughters of nobles who frequented the palace were always uptight, witty and crafty. He felt as if most of them were constantly scheming to gain his favor, like it was a game. Serena, if that was indeed her name, seemed to neither know nor care about his status. She was carefree, sitting in the grass with unbound hair and bare feet peeping out from under the folds of her dress.

Serena unexpectedly remembered where she had heard Endymion's name before. Her mother had spoken of him once, and he wasn't just Endymion. He was Prince Endymion, son of the King of the Earth. Serena blushed profusely, embarrassed at her unruly behavior.

"I need to go home!" she said as she quickly stood up. She panicked and felt like she had lost the sacredness of the night forever. How could she ever have acted so poorly?

"Wait!" he cried out as he grabbed her hand. He was startled by how desperate he suddenly sounded. "Wait, please. Before you go, what's you're real name? Where are you from?"

Serena smiled and knew she hadn't lost anything. "You must promise me something first," she told him.

"What?" Endymion didn't have a clue what he could do, but at the moment he was willing to do just about anything for her.

She thought for a moment and replied, "You have to meet me here every night there's a full moon in the sky, but you can't tell anyone that we have ever met."

Endymion returned Serena's smile. "I'll be waiting for you when next time you come."

Serena looked up at the moon. It's failing light was a constant reminder that she had only little time left. "I'm from the Moon," she told him. "And my real name is Serenity, but please, don't ever call me that. Between you and I, it's Serena." She floated up into the air and disappeared.

"Serenity?" Endymion knew he had indeed met the Princess of the Moon that night.

Author's Note:

I wrote this story at least a year ago after reading an extremely short summarized version of the Greek myth about Selene, the goddess of the moon, and the prince Endymion. Look it up sometime, it's really romantic. This probably isn't the first time somebody has tried this idea, but I came up with it on my own. When I originally wrote this, Endymion and Lady Serenity were supposed to be children, but after I edited it I mentally changed them back to the TV versions.

I feel like the story is somewhat incomplete, but I guess that is how it shall remain. And yah, that title is so creative! ......... Stop mocking me! I have trouble labeling things... lol Please don't murder me for using dub names (I think). Flames are accepted!