A/N: For the Generals' names, I have their Shittenou name along with last names from various sources. For their last names, I used the names a certain author I have read used in her story. The "Masato" I am sure I have read several times in reference to Nephrite, (Sanjounin Masato, I believe it is). The "Maeda," I looked up, and apparently there is some actress named "Ai Maeda," which makes sense, as Kunzite does end up with the Goddess of Love. As for the other two, I am much too lazy to search their names extensively, so deal with it. In reference to the time frame, I am going to assume that the destruction of the Moon Kingdom caused enough time warps and wormholes and magical disturbances that our perception of history is skewed by that cataclysmic event, so some of our dates may be wrong.

Oh, and for the ages …

Endymion: 15 (in a general sense, as no one knows his exact date of birth)

Kunz: 15

Zoë: 14

Nephi: 14

Jay: 14

Trista: 14

Alex: 13

Michelle: 13

Heather: 11

Lita: 12

Raye: 12

Amy: 12

Mina: 12

Serenity (the younger): 10

Serenity (the elder): Who knows? Who has the guts to ask?

Luna: looks 22, actually 33 in Mau time.

Artemis: looks 24, actually 36 in Mau time.

CHAPTER TWO – CHIBA MAMORU, ASANO JADEITE, NISHIMURA ZOISITE, MAEDA KUNZITE, MASATO NEPHRITE

Luna, Artemis, and the newly-named Meioh Setsuna landed on Earth with a thud. All three were used to cushy rockets and specially aimed teleports (all three technically being part of the aristocracy), so none enjoyed the jarring impact of the floor after stepping out of the portal, which had incidentally appeared five feet up in the air, resulting in a haphazard fall to the ground. Setsuna was the first to recover, having being trained in appearing regal under the worst of circumstances. Although she had lived a pampered life, part of her "composure" training had involved experiencing a rocky teleport to Tennille and facing the lecherous and backwater prince of that planet with due aplomb. That disastrous test (which she had failed) had resulted in less cushy teleports (on her mother's orders) and exposure to some of the lechers, suck-ups, and snobs of the court, so she could learn all about courtly intrigue and diplomacy. As a result, that short (perhaps two-month long) period in her life of rough teleports had shaken her enough to prepare her for this landing, which went beyond rocky into inhospitable. Fortunately, she had been the last to exit through the portal, and she fell somewhat on top of Luna and Artemis.

She glanced around her, and took in the surroundings, noting that the warm climate indicated that she was nowhere near Pluto … even Charon's magically-constructed atmosphere was nowhere near as balmy as this, even when it was closest to the sun. They were surrounded by gently rolling plains, sparsely located trees, and no sign of civilization for miles around other than the faint outline of something dark in the distance. "I wish I had a farviewer," she remarked, eying that dark splotch speculatively.

"We're not here to sightsee," an irritated Artemis grumbled, grumpy because of being the landing dock of Luna and Setsuna. He, as the first to exist, and had found himself being squashed almost immediately by Luna and Setsuna, both of whom were too heavy for him to support. He scowled at those two. "You two need to lose weight. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when you two plopped on me?"

Luna loftily ignored Artemis, being used to his impertinence, and asked, "What do you need a farviewer for?"

"One of the only useful things I learned in my Geography Class," Setsuna explained, "was how to recognize major landmarks as well as castle architecture on sight. If that blotch is a castle, I can probably guess what region of Earth we are in, and it is even possible for me to puzzle out who lives there, if the castle is well-known enough. If not, it will at least be a landmark I should recognize." She spoke rather pompously, her words flowing with diplomatic bombast, as she had been instructed since before she could speak.

Unfortunately, Artemis's acquaintance with stuffy aristocrats had always ended rather atrociously, and he despised pomposity in every way, shape, and form. He was laidback, a perfect contrast to Luna's fussiness, but his pet peeve was the bombast in which Setsuna now spoke. Before he could make the caustic comment lingering on the tip of his tongue, his sharp eyes caught sight of something in the distance that distracted him entirely. "Is that a person over that?" he asked, surprised. "I think he's herding cows."

"What are you waiting for?" Luna asked with impatience, itching to find herself in civilization again (she wasn't really a country girl, preferring the luxuries of the city despite her animalistic origins). "Let's go!" Without another thought, she began setting a brisk pace as she trotted towards the cowherd.

As Artemis and Setsuna moved to catch up, Artemis settling into a loping pace while Setsuna minced along surprisingly quickly in spite of her cumbersome skirt, something appeared to occur to Artemis. "Earth isn't a part of the Silver Alliance," he said, recalling this bit of information rather tardily. "How would you recognize the castle? All we know about Earth, and all that we care to know, is that the people of Earth have descended into savagery after being abandoned by Gaiea, and that recently the land which they called Pangaea has broken up." Of course, what the history tomes described as savagery was really nothing more than a lack of decentralized government. Most of the other Planets had enough magic to provide protection, but not enough for everyone to own a magical source, so a rather sophisticated feudalism had emerged, resulting in the kings and queens of the present day. Earth, however, had unending magic (which was also, ironically, inaccessible by any but the Mage-Prince of Earth, who in his power, had four Mage-Guardians) and quickly descended into thousands of warring tribes. Only recently had a rather crude feudalism emerged, one in which there were many kings of Earth, each ruling over a small plot of land. Yet it was understandable, when one thought about it. For some reason, life seemed to have originated on Earth, and although millennia of evolution had changed the appearances of the inhabitants of the various planets, Earth was supreme in its power … and its ignorance. This was why it had the Moon to protect it. This was why there were five Mage-Royals of Earth, as opposed to the one every other planet possessed. This was why its moon was the center of civilization. This was why the Moon itself, though but a satellite, had its own Mage-Princess.

It was also why Metallia wished to attack Earth immediately.

Setsuna didn't even bat an eyelash at the question. "We of Pluto, the smallest planet, believe that no planet, asteroid, comet, star, or moon is too insignificant to overlook, and we are careful that the royalty learns all of importance about those planets." Her pomposity descended into childish innocence as she made a confession. "Although it is true that I would much rather have learned practical things."

Luna, with whom Setsuna and Artemis had finally caught up with, asked Setsuna a question that had been nagging her for a while. "Have magical powers been discovered about you?" If she did have magical powers, why was she merely a Crown Princess, not one of the Magi? If she did not, how would she fare when she battled against Metallia?

Setsuna shook her head, a bitter sigh on her lips. "Everyone is tested at the age of five, regardless of rank, unless they dwell out in the uncivilized wilds of Pluto. The nomads who brave those wilds rarely come back from their expeditions, so they aren't tested. I was found negative, which was disappointing to my mother. She had hoped for a son so that the legacy of Hadei could continue, as she could no longer have children. Unfortunately, only I was born, and since I didn't even have magic, all that I could hope for was marriage to kind man who would be a good king so a new dynasty could begin. Rumor has it that my mom threatened to kill herself at first because she had been the one to solely end the long dynasty of Hadei.

"If my father were still alive, he would have taken a mistress long ago, and made the bastard son the Crown Prince of Pluto. Unfortunately, he died due to a successful assassination attempt."

"Princess!" Luna exclaimed, shocked that one of the gentility would utter such an epithet. "Watch your language."

Setsuna halted, momentarily surprised. "Oh yes," she said, suddenly remembering. "You Lunarians think that bastard is a bad word, don't you? All right, illegitimate son. I apologize for offending you. I don't know what came over me. If that had happened at home, my Etiquette Mistress would have had me writing lines."

As they began walking toward the human form again, Artemis asked, "Why didn't your mother just take a Royal Consort and have another child?"

Setsuna shook her head. "You don't understand. My mother is duty-bound to her husband once she marries him. Although he is dead, and she is a widow, the only reason she wasn't buried in his crypt with him was because she was with child (me), and I was the Royal Heiress to the throne (although at the time they did not know whether I was Heir or Heiress). Furthermore, she was only Queen by marriage; on Pluto, when your husband dies, any titles that you have gained through marriage are stripped from you. The only reason she remained Queen was because she had to bring me up to be Crown Princess of Pluto."

"Then what will Pluto do now that there is no Crown Princess?" Artemis asked, but the question remained unanswered for they had caught up with the cowherd.

The cowherd looked around him with surprise. He was not accustomed to meeting three strangers during his cowherd routine, but he knew that strange things happened once you left town boundaries. "And who be ye?" he asked cautiously.

Setsuna was the one who responded. "Gree'in's. We be lost'n' weary journers, see'in' a nearby village fer rest. D'ye know o'un?" She said all of this in a very countrified accent (complete with missing syllables and unconjugated verbs), her dialect contrasting greatly with her costume.

"'Round the necks' 'ill'n' pass th' twisted tree'll bring ye there," the cowherd said, tipping his hat.

"Thank ye," Setsuna said pleasantly, and strode briskly toward the direction the shepherd had pointed.

"Where did you learn that?" Luna asked, impressed.

"It's a skill I picked up," Setsuna shrugged. "I have an ear for languages, but I specialize in being able to speak dialects almost fluently after I hear a couple of words spoken in them." Saying this reminded her of the last time she had employed this skill, to embarrass the Princess Naira of Nimbus, who had whispered rude comment aloud in Nimbi, and reminded her of the laugh she had shared with her mother afterwards. Her mother who was most likely …actually, it was best if she refrained from thinking about what gruesome death her mother had most likely suffered through.

Artemis was about to open his mouth and ask another question, his eyes intent on Setsuna's troubled face, but his thoughts were cut off when they arrived at the village the cowherd had directed them to.

"All right," Luna took charge. "First order of business is to find out where exactly we are."

That was easy. A few questions informed them that they had encountered the small village of Artos, named after the legendary good King Arthur. After a couple of questions, they had a basic idea of where they were. Their next order of business was to five Mage-Royals who could or could not be close friends, and who most likely dwelled within Artos, but not definitely. As Queen Serenity had explained, she had sensed five vague auras in this general area (and as this village was the only one around for miles), and had set them down at a spot closest to those auras. These five Mage-Royals would not even be recognized on sight, and could be identified only by their effect on Luna's and Artemis's necklaces.

So Luna, Artemis, and Setsuna methodically laid out a plan. They would stay at an inn that night, and scout the village for possibilities and for a map. If the five Mage-Royals weren't here, they would search the surrounding countryside methodically in the most efficient way possible. They knew for a fact that four of the Mage-Royals (including the Mage-Prince) were male, while the last of the Mage-Guardians was either a very masculine female or a very effeminate male.

Seeing as Artos had a population of ninety to a hundred (nothing compared to cities on the Moon, which were populated with bustling noise, children and adults of all classes, and incessant noise), it should not have been too hard to find five Mage-Royals. The key word in that sentence was the word "should."

Strangers and curious, such people as them were usually labeled Trouble, and the people of Artos did not like Trouble. So they need to do further preparation

First, they need an alias. That wasn't very hard. Setsuna stayed with Trista, her original name, one that was not too uncommon among the people of Artos. Luna wasn't an uncommon name either, but a name like Artemis for a male was unheard of. Finally, Luna and Trista convinced Artemis to change his name to Apollo, god of the sun, which he did very grudgingly, as his stepbrother Apollo and he were on very bad terms. (I'm referring to the cat of Mau named Apollo, of course.)

So "Apollo", Luna, and Trista continued constructing their alibi. Finally, they agreed. Luna and Apollo were married (after much protestation) and Trista was their visiting niece from Terre, a Frankish village. They were visiting because Trista wished to see what the Anglo-Saxons were like. (This was, of course, during a time of peace.) This provided a perfect disguise, because they didn't have to concern themselves about looking conspicuous or doing anything wrong. Apparently, the villagers here consulted little with townsmen, who were a bit "strange in the head" about certain things. They viewed Franks as aliens, and seeing a lady of Frankish heritage visiting her Anglo-Saxon uncle and Frankish aunt was a curiosity, but a disguise they would not easily see through.

After seven days spent searching fruitlessly, seven days of fiddling with their necklaces as they greeted people in the middle of the street, seven days of inquiring as to whether there were any "eligible young men for Trista," and enduring the odd looks they received, as Trista was a Frank and a townswoman, and clearly not worthy for any of their sons, seven days of suspense and disappointment, Luna, Artemis, and Setsuna finally gave up. As they prepared to head out for the moor (or rather, moor-like landscape) to further their search, they encountered, of all people, a shepherd.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Endymion glared at the sky as the sun slowly set. That meant he would have to return to Artos again, it being time for the sheep he tended to be sheared. He often spent several weeks out in the wilds, tending to the sheep absentmindedly and talking with his friends when they came to visit (which was often). Several days ago, however, the incurably mischievous Jay had come up with, as he put it, "a prank to end all pranks." As if that wasn't bad enough, Jay had convinced Zoë and Nephi to go along with the idea, enough so that they had volunteered him to accompany the chosen victims to the weekly village dance. To his great disgust, even Kunz had gone along with it! He was now compelled to participate in their ridiculous prank, forfeiting some of his peaceful sheepherding time to come back to the village earlier than usual.

He kicked a rock to vent out his anger. The rock skidded across the grassland before coming to halt in front of one of his many placid sheep, one that looked at him with a great deal of reproach in its eyes before continuing chewing on a wad of grass. Endymion made a face. Although he didn't enjoy being shepherd (it had never been his life's ambition), it was better than the alternative.

Endymion had been found wandering the plains by a shepherd, who immediately brought him to Artos. The villagers were charitable in their own way, certain far kinder than the townsmen, who had kicked him out of the streets and beat him when he approached them. He had few memories of his life before Artos, but a couple of impressions lingered. The smell of bread baking. The sound of glass shattering. A cold bewilderment and a rainy day. And then, vague memories of townsmen throwing him out of house, townschildren pelting him with stale bread, which he eagerly gobbled up as a source of food. The impression were vague, the memories filled with pain. After he arrived in Artos, he was fed each day, if not as much as he would have liked. He was sheltered, and had somewhere warm to sleep, even if he had to work hard during the day.

Simply put, the villagers of Artos did not have the resources to feed him without something in return. As a result, he had learned how to make himself useful at a very young age. At the age of eight or nine, the shepherd who had brought him to Artos "apprenticed him," so he would have something to do with his life. Not long after, the shepherd had moved to another village (having recently married a shepherdess), and Endymion became the official shepherd of Artos. Not for long, though. Endymion had ambitions in life, and those ambitions did not include staying a shepherd forever. One day, he promised himself, when he came into his majority, he and his friends would leave to explore the world.

And back to his friends again. Sighing, Endymion let out a light chuckle. Although Zoë, Kunz, Nephi, and Jay were always causing trouble, they were his closest and only friends. It was not because he was antisocial. It was because he had no status; he was only a shepherd, and before that, he had been nothing.

The first person to befriend him had been Jay. Jay Smith was a rebellious adolescent who was expected to go into the family trade of blacksmithing, but had other ideas about how he wanted his life to turn out. He didn't dislike working by the heat of the forge or anything of the sort, but he wished to do better things in his life. That didn't mean Jay was ambitious—the "better things" involved having fun. And perhaps "fun" was the word that most characterized Jay. Jay was fun-loving, laidback, and creative. He was the one that came up with all of the practical jokes, and he was the one that always got them in trouble. He told the most outrageous tales when caught, and his good humor and persuasive voice talked him out of almost any dilemma. He was of the same age as Endymion (fifteen), and both had been friends since they had met outside the forge one day. Since then, Jay and Endymion had laughed together, gotten drunk together, gotten into fights together, and gone wenching for the first time together.

Then, there was Zoë. Zoë was a peculiar case with origins not that dissimilar from Endymion, even if his life turned out much differently. His mother had been found at the outskirts of town, heavy with child, and blue from the cold. They had not been able to save her, but Zoë had been saved. A couple who both held prominent positions in the town's council and hoping to achieve higher importance had adopted him so as to appear charitable and kind in the eyes of everyone else. In truth, they could care less about Zoë, who in turn could care less about them. It didn't even bother him that they had named him Chloe, which was a girl's name and meant "Love the Ice" in ancient Terran. In fact, he enjoyed playing with his name; he preferred to be called "Zo", or "Of the Ice." Zoë had always known of Endymion, as his "parents" constantly warned him that if he didn't behave, he would "end up like Endymion." After one too many of these threats, Zoë had given up and decided to befriend Endymion and see whether his life was really that bad. It wasn't, and they had remained friends ever since.

One could not forget Kunz, of course. Kunz was reticent by nature and was the oldest, older by the Endymion only by default as no one knew exactly how old Endymion was. Kunz's father had died when he was ten, and her mother was the Widow of Artos, for she was no longer quite right in the head. After her husband's death, she lost touch with the world, not recognizing her child for who he was, often wondering aloud when her husband was coming home, and recently even having fits in which she turned violent and had to be restrained. Kunz had to take care of his mother instead of vice versa from then on, resulting in a strong sense of responsibility and devotion. He was the most serious of the group, and smiles rarely showed on his forbidding demeanor. He was a recluse, also, and had not had any friends until he met Endymion and Jay (who introduced him to Zoë).

Last, but not least, there was Nephi. Nephi was probably the best off of all of them. His father was a famed astrologer, as was he, and they were consulted by all in matters of the supernatural future, which the others scorned. But although Jay, Zoë, Kunz, and Endymion didn't believe in the stars telling the future, there was still no refuting the fact that neither he nor his father had ever been wrong, though their "fortunes" were often vague. Nephi was currently courting Molly, the respectable daughter of the owner of the village store. The entire village anticipated a wedding, and it would be a good match. The daughter of the storeowner (who happened to be a widow) married to the son of the amateur astrologer and village doctor (for Nephi's dad served as doctor, dentist, and barber when the need arose) promised a lovely wedding. Nephi himself was obviously besotted with Molly, and Endymion was glad that this prank distracted Nephi from launching into (badly-written) sonnets about Molly's eyes.

Endymion sighed and got up, ready to head back to the village again. His friends had been there for him through thick and thin, but they did have an annoying habit of getting themselves (and him) in trouble. And today, he had to give up his private time in order to help them pull their immature (although sure to be amusing) prank. Apparently, an eccentric couple from town and their fussy, meddlesome, foreign niece had recently moved into town "to see the sights." As if there were any sights worth seeing in Artos. They might as well have come right out and said that they wanted to gawk at the ignorance of rural civilization. Jay and crew had taken an instant disliking to the couple, who walked the streets in their fancy clothes, and peered at everyone they met, constantly fiddling with their jewelry as if to reassure themselves that no-one had stolen them. So, Jay had developed what he called his "master plan" (he called all of his plans "master plans"), and they had chosen Endymion to execute it.

It wasn't very unique or creative on its own. It was really a typical "lead them into the wilderness" prank, with a couple of embellishments. But those embellishments were what could get Endymion and his friends in trouble. Before the night was over, Jay had promised, the snobby couple and their fussy niece would be running screaming out of Artos.

Endymion had protested of course. He had not yet seen the couple and their niece, but they surely couldn't be as bad as Jay thought they were. Then again, he always enjoyed seeing the high and mighty knocked down (it never occurred to him that in his supreme belief that he was right, he greatly resembled the high-and-mighty also).

He began herding his sheep back to the village, using his staff to gently point the sheep in the right direction. His steps grew more urgent. If he didn't hurry up, Kunz would have his head. Although Jay always came up with the ideas, Kunz was the one who was in charge of carrying them out, Zoë was always in charge of refining them, and Nephi was always the one who decided whether or not to do it. If Nephi's final decision was that it was too risky, the prank was dropped no matter what. Kunz, however, had absolute control after Nephi's affirmative.

Endymion penned his sheep, and double-checked the fence to make sure the sheep could not escape. He stepped into his little hut (perhaps the only perk of his occupation), and slipped into the ridiculous tuxedo Zoë had found somewhere and Kunz had made him wear. He tugged at his collar uncomfortably, and sighed before unbuttoning the top button for more breathing room. He ran a quick comb through his hair so he didn't look like a complete vagabond, and then he began the trek to the village inn. He got there in less than five minutes, and waited patiently for the townspeople to walk out.

When he was almost ready to give up on the entire thing, a willowy girl with dark hair and dark eyes stepped out of the inn, clad in a most fashionable gown of lavender, a ridiculously ostentatious hat perched on her head. Although the hat might have been reasonable during the day, it and her fancy dress were lost in the night.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Trista stepped outside, breathing in the cool air. She had not wanted to come to this stupid town bash, but Luna and Artemis had insisted. She disliked town life, being used to a more opulent and luxurious life and descending down as a mere townsmen was a degradation she had never before experienced. She had voiced none of this to Luna and Artemis, of course, knowing that they would merely think she was being a snob. Her eyes turned to the young man with the horses, and her lips curled into a smile. Perhaps this was worth it after all. That man was certainly handsome, and she could her feel her stomach flipping as she glanced at him. She was preparing to saunter up to him (in the exact manner her Etiquette Mistress had described to her, as a matter of fact) when Luna and Artemis interrupted her.

Luna and Artemis were dressed more elegantly than normal, at Luna's insistence. Her exact words had been, "Even if I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with an idiot of a cat as a 'husband,' I refuse to look less than fashionable, even if it just a town bash." She was clothed in sedate navy blue muslin that blended in with the night, sprinkled with silver threads (not real silver, of course … even Luna's and Artemis's crystals could not disguise them with dresses that elaborate). Her hair was tied behind her and sprinkled with a dust that made it glitter in the night. Even though she was a fussy cow, Trista mused, Luna did know fashion. Artemis, on the other hand, looked downright ridiculous in his navy blue tuxedo and with that grimace on his face that meant he was trying not to snap at Luna. His tuxedo kept flickering into a silver tunic and black breeches, as if that was the outfit he would have liked to wear, but it always flickered back whenever Luna turned to gaze at him. As soon as he saw the village boy, of course, he stopped the rebellious flickering.

"My name is Endymion, and I am the village shepherd," the boy greeted without inflection in his voice. "I shall be leading you to the town bash today."

"That's nice," Luna greeted rather regally.

"Follow me, please," Endymion said rather monotonously, and turned to lead the way into the dark.

Frowning, Trista lifted her lantern a little higher, hiked up her skirts, and chased after him. "Endymion," she gasped when she caught up with him, smirking inwardly because she knew that her bosom was heaving after all of her exertion (and making small modifications to her gown to adjust to show the heaving to the greatest advantage—this crystal necklace that Luna had procured for her really was useful after all), "why are you going so quickly? Why don't you …" here, she paused to glance at him "coyly," the way her Etiquette Mistress had instructed, "slow down a bit?" The last bit was purred, and would have sounded more seductive had she not nearly tripped on her voluminous (and voluptuous) gown immediately afterwards. Using her fall to her advantage, she pouted. "See? If you had slowed down a bit, my ankle would not be twisted."

Endymion turned and glanced at her with expressionless eyes, before turning and leaving.

Trista was shocked. Back on Pluto, she had never been rejected, although she hadn't done too much flirting. Back on Pluto, boys had been honored to have her flirt with them. She felt a warm flush creep up her cheeks, and glanced furiously at Endymion's back. Well, she didn't need him. She hated it here anyways. The pang she felt whenever she saw him was a pang of disgust, she told herself. She was disgusted that she should have to near these peasants. Having worked herself into a self-righteous fury, by the time Luna and Artemis came by, she was on her feet and clean again.

"Which way did he go?" Luna asked.

Trista opened her mouth, but was surprised to find that she had forgotten. No, that wasn't right, it was there, just clouded. "That way," she pointed. "I think," she added. "It seems kind of … hazy."

Artemis looked at her sharply, and then at her crystal, before placing his hand on his crystal. It emitted a faint, barely-visible glow. "The Mage-Prince or one of the Mage-Guardians is around here, having recently left."

"Why do you say that?" Trista wanted to know.

"It's a side-effect of being a Mage-Guardian. I believe either the shepherd, or someone who knows the shepherd well, wants to be rid of us, and so clouded our image of him so that we are lost. Chances are, it is completely unintentional, and the glowing of our crystals confirms it." Luna had done much research on these crystals, the topic having been her thesis when she first applied for an ambassadorial position to the moon. Her knowledge and wisdom had so please the Queen, that now she held a powerful advisorial position, and was one of the Queen's most trusted friends.

"Can we find the shepherd again?" Trista wanted to know.

"I imagine not," Artemis said rather dryly. "I, being a chronic prankster in my youth, recognize the signs. The shepherd was sent to lead us, but the woods are surely not the way to the village bash. I imagine he and his friends cooked up a plot to humiliate and lose us, and they are now boasting to their girlfriends over a cup of ale at the bash. When questioned, the shepherd will probably mutter something about never receiving the summons … how else have we missed such magical potential? He must have been out grazing the sheep, and only sheer luck brought him back before we left."

"So to find him, we have to find the village bash," Trista wrinkled her brow at the thought of having to go to this "bash" at all.

"Correct," Luna said crisply. "More importantly, do we know where we are?"

"No," Artemis grinned, "but I bet this crystal can help us. Just follow whatever direction it grows brighter in."

That was easier said than done. Luna, Artemis, and Trista spent several minutes arguing over the best path at one point. Luckily, they hadn't been lead very far into the woods, and easily escaped; only (most fortunately) to find themselves right in front of the bash, the shepherd on the opposite side of the clearing the villagers were dancing in. All three clutched their crystals simultaneously, and saw the bored shepherd surrounded by a rather faint glow.

They grinned. One down. Four to go.

Mercury, Venus, arth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Jay Smith grinned at Endymion (who could not see him) from behind a barrel, and prepared to pour some of his ale down Endymion's shirt. He was startled by Kunz's nudge, and turned to see what the matter was. Endymion's "lost" charges weren't so lost, after all.

"Endy," he hissed.

"Hmm?" Endymion asked, pausing in the middle of his flirting.

Seizing his moment, Jay dumped his ale on Endymion. "I thought you said you lost them," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Well, they're here."

"What? Impossible," Endymion frowned. "Whenever I lose someone, they stay lost till morning."

"Well, if that's not them, then I'm King Arthur," Kunz hissed.

"If they can find their way out of the woods," Zoë murmured, "they'll deduce that you intentionally led them astray in no time at all."

"," Endymion cursed. "I don't need any more trouble with the Village Elders right now."

"Get Nephi," Kunz said immediately. "He should know about this."

"Who knows where he is off with Molly," Jay objected. "Either way, I'm not fetching him. Last time I went after him, I found he and Molly in an unmentionable position. Although the view of her was rather nice, I have no great desire to see him sans pants again."

"Sans?" Zoë raised an eyebrow. "That's Frankish."

"Well," Jay smirked, "I've never been averse to hanging around a pretty lass, even if she is a Frank. I know lots of words now. For example, 'aisheteru' means I love you."

"I think she has you fooled," Zoë (the scholar of the group) objected. "I love you in Frankish is 'Je t'aime,' and whatever 'aisheteru' is, it's certainly not-"

"I don't care," Kunz said. "But Jay, since you're such a ladies' man, you are going to go over there and keep the girl diverted. Zoë, you go fetch Nephi. Endymion, you go up to the nobles and apologize. Mention something about striding too quickly and not realizing that they weren't behind you, or something silly like that."

"They won't believe me," Endymion objected.

"I know," Kunz said grimly, "but I figure if you and Jay can distract them long enough for us all to assemble and meet them, we can convince them to forget about this little incident."

"What?" Endymion practically screeched. "What kind of plan is that?"

"The only one we have in mind," Kunz replied. "Besides. What's the worst that could happen? We get kicked out? We've been planning to leave this dump for a while now, anyways."

While Kunz and Endymion debated cougharguedcough about the finer points of their plan and Zoë nervously prepared to search for Nephi among the many haystacks ripe for the use of trysting lovers, and Jay nervously approached the direction of the Frankish lady, praying that his life be spared, Luna and Artemis were making a discovery of their own.

"The crystal is glowing more intensely when Jay approaches. Why is that?" Setsuna frowned. For this moment, she was the Mage-Princess of Pluto asking a serious question, no longer young Trista of the kingdom of the Franks.

"He didn't elicit a reaction before," Luna frowned.

"He must be a Mage-Guardian," Artemis said finally, recalling some bits of ancient texts he had peered through as a child.

"What does that mean?" Setsuna wanted to know.

"He's not exactly a Mage-Royal … more like a Mage-Knight, really. He exists to protect the Mage-Prince, because Earth is such a violently and magically unstable planet. I imagine that he only exhibits magical powers when he's around his friend, the Mage-Prince. Now that Endymion is back from shepherding, all of the Mage-Guardians should elicit equal reactions."

"Thank goodness we didn't leave yet," Luna sighed. "That would have been disastrous."

"Well, that's two established Mage-Royals," Artemis noted.

"How many are left again?" Setsuna inquired.

"Three."

Mercury, Venus, ath, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

"I am not approaching them alone," Endymion said, frowning at Kunz.

"And I am not going with you. I need to see to it that Zoë and Nephi-"

But it was too late. Endymion was dragging Kunz over to the nobles. As they got closer and closer, however, Endymion began to pay more attention to the peculiar antics of Jay, who had halted (more like frozen in his tracks) and was having an apparently intense conversation with the man.

"What in the world is Jay doing?" Endymion began, but by then, both he and Kunz had entered the domain of the fragment of Silver Crystal. Symbols appeared on both his forehead and Kunz, symbols that the two did not see, of course, as they were too busy staring at the symbol on Jay's forehead (and what a funny-looking symbol it was).

"You didn't have that on your forehead earlier, did you?"

"Ah," the man said, "as I was explaining to Jadeite here-"

"Who's Jadeite?" Kunz asked Endymion.

"-you are the Mage-Prince, Chiba Mamoru, and you are the Mage-Guardian, Maeda Kunzite."

Both stared blankly at him.

Before there could be any more time for confusion, Frankish lady coughed. "The crystal's glow is increasing in intensity," she said rather distantly. "I imagine that as the trend seems to be that the Mage-Guardians are drawn towards the Mage-Prince, of the two approaching, one or both would be your friend."

Endymion, no, Chiba Mamoru turned to see his friends Zoë and Nephi. "Yes, they are both friends of mine," he frowned. "What are you talking about? Mage-Prince? Mage-Guardian? And why am I this Chiba Mamoru again?" (For all he knew, that could be his real name. After all, he had been found wandering, sans identity, as Jadeite would put it.)

"All will be explained," the Frankish lady, who he was beginning to suspect was not in the least Frankish, said serenely.

"Well," the elder lady said with some finality. "That will be all of them, no?"

"It is," the man confirmed.

"Good."

Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

"Queen Serenity. We have found the Mage-Princess of Pluto and the Mage-Prince and Mage-Guardians of Earth," Artemis reported.

"Good," the Queen said. "Now, your instructions are as such. Travel to Mars, and collect the mage-royalty of that planet before returning to the moon."

"But why?" Luna asked.

"Don't question my orders, Luna. All shall be revealed in time. Just do as I say," Queen Serenity said patiently.

"Yes, my Queen," Luna said, biting back a sharp retort. She purposely ignored the snickers of the young men behind her, who were all under the misconception that they had been told "All shall be revealed in time" too many times and were happy to see her put in her place.

"Next stop, Mars."

To be continued …