Light of Love: Red Moon

by Hollie Daye

Serenity is a princess who longs to become a Senshi; Endymion is a prince who wishes to be a commoner. Legend fortells that their union will destroy the Silver Millennium. Fate will bring them together.

27. Chapter 26: Love in the Shadows

Hi everyone! It has been a while since I last posted. I've been working on this chapter for a while. It is far longer than any previous chapter, but I really wanted to keep all of the events tied together. I hope that makes up for my lack o' updating.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.

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In the previous chapter, lots of stuff happened, including Sailor Jupiter's death and Sailor Mercury's injury. Endymion discovered Beryl slinking (does she do anything else) in the woods, but he had to let her go to provide aid to Serenity and Mercury. Serenity, in her princess garb, told Endymion to stand back while she faced off against an ever-powerful Orleana.

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Light of Love: Red Moon

Chapter 26: Love in the Shadows

"I believe in you, Usa. Always."

Serenity heard Endymion's words loud and clear even amidst the roar of power swirling in front of her. His voice strengthened her resolve. The princess wanted to spin her head around to smile at the boy, but she shook away the impulse and reminded herself that must keep her focus; she must not break eye contact with Orleana's attack. Serenity instead concentrated on Sailor Mercury's earlier words of encouragement.

"Don't be afraid," the senshi had told the princess just moments before. The warrior attempted to sit up when she spoke; she collapsed onto her stomach with a moan of pain. A long blade of ice from Orleana's previous strike protruded from the center of Sailor Mercury's back. Serenity knelt down and cradled Mercury's right hand between her palms. She inspected the warrior's injury with her eyes; there was no way of knowing how deep the clear spike had lodged into the senshi's flesh without removing it from her back.

Serenity blinked away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Her voice cracked from worry and fear when she spoke. "We must get you out of here." In a hushed, more terrified tone, the princess said, "Orleana's so strong."

"Listen, Serenity," Mercury whispered though heavy, labored breaths. Her face contorted with pain. "Orleana swore to Selene to protect you." She paused and gulped the air. Through clenched teeth, she continued, "She swore that on her life. If she tries to harm you, she will be harmed. Selene protects you…"

The words filtered into Serenity's ears but she didn't have the patience to listen to what was said. The princess had been told, all throughout her life, that Selene protected her. The events of the past two days were reason enough for her to doubt all of the faith she had placed in the Lunar Goddess. Selene protected all Lunarians, and yet, the goddess had permitted Linnaus' torture at the hands of a cruel king. Where was Selene when he needed her?

The princess lowered eyes and shook her head. "Selene didn't protect you or Sailor Jupiter…"

"It's our job to fight on your behalf," the Mercurian interrupted. "But Orleana can't destroy you. You must be strong. Do not fear her."

Funny, the princess thought to herself, but she didn't feel strong. In fact, she felt quite the opposite; she considered herself very small and helpless. She clamped her eyes shut to keep from sobbing at her own worthlessness.

In her ultimate moment of despair, a pulse of energy surrounded the princess and slammed into the core of her body. Initially, she thought the power came from another of Orleana's attacks. She quickly concluded that the energy was from a friendlier source. This power soothed and protected like a warm, enveloping hug. When the princess opened her eyes, she noticed that she the dead boy's trousers and shirt were gone and she instead wore the delicate gown of a moon princess. In that moment, Serenity understood that what Mercury told her was true. Selene protected her.

Now, moments later, she stood in the center of Olreana's massive fire attack. Instead of striking the princess down, the ball of flame surrounded her. The panic Serenity initially felt when Orleana's blast first struck and surrounded her quickly dissipated. The noise that swirled about the princess was earsplitting, but the space closest to her body remained amazingly calm. In the eye of the tempest, Serenity looked out and observed the surrounding area beyond the flurry of fire.

The princess trained her blue eyes on Orleana; the Solarian still stood near the splintered tree on the side of the meadow. Her arms were crossed over the large bow on the front of her senshi uniform. Judging from the smug grin on the Solarian's face, Serenity concluded that Orleana already thought of herself victorious over her foe.

The Lunarian felt the power suddenly shift around her.

A cool energy tingled in Serenity's fingertips and radiated throughout her body. In a flash of brilliance, Serenity felt the tempestuous fire of Olreana's attack transition from red-hot to liquid silver. The princess harnessed the power between her outstretched arms. She whittled it from the massive, uncontrollable violent fire storm of Orleana's creation into a smaller ball of pure energy. Intense light bounced from the tinier orb; Serenity's blue eyes watered from its brightness. The princess blinked and kept her watchful gaze on the dark-haired Solarian positioned on the edge of the meadow.

The expression on the Solarian's face shifted from satisfaction to surprise. Serenity's scrupulous watch observed Orleana's smug grin melt into a frown. The girl's blazing orange eyes widened with horror; her mouth fell agape. Orleana tried to stagger back, but she remained rooted where she stood; her legs instead shuffled up and down as though they were held in place by sticky glue. Like a dog tethered on a leash, Orleana was immobilized. She could not flee the punishment awaiting her in Serenity's arms.

The Moon princess frowned while she witnessed the girl's struggle. Sailor Mercury's words again echoed in her head.

Orleana swore to Selene to protect you. She swore that on her life.

The ball of power humming between Serenity's hands, though created to protect her, promised destruction. The energy from the orb whispered to the princess, urging her to release it; it assured her that it would find its mark whether she wished it or not.

The Moon Princess was wrought with overwhelming sympathy. The contempt in Serenity's features dissolved. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest. Her throat tightened with regret. At that moment, Serenity acknowledged that the Solarian was not just a princess or a senshi-in-training; she was the Lunarian's friend. Even after all of the girl's treachery, Orleana didn't deserve death.

Serenity tightly clutched the hot sphere of light even as it tugged away from her. She was determined to keep it from harming Orleana. With new resolve, she wrenched it toward her. The princess hugged the silver energy ball close.

"Please, Selene," the princess pled. The object swirled and spun in her arms. Serenity doubled over to keep the ball from escaping her grasp. "She's my friend. Too many have been harmed already. Please spare her!"

The powerful sphere twirled more tempestuously betwixt Serenity's arms. The energy didn't harm her, but the cycling of the orb numbed her skin. The princess clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. She hugged the ball even closer to her middle. Her arms felt weak; she would eventually have to let go. A cry of despair escaped from her lips.

"Watch out!"

Endymion's voice interrupted Serenity's distracted struggle. The princess felt him push her sideways. She staggered and fumbled to keep her hold on the energy sphere. Her lids fluttered open in time to see Endymion, sword in hand, run past her. The prince stopped and positioned himself between Orleana and the Moon princess just as smattering of ice blades erupted from the Solarian's hands.

Serenity shuddered. She hadn't noticed Orleana's recovery or heard Orleana shout out her attack. The princess flinched and cradled the ball of energy. From her place behind Endymion, Serenity could not see well. She watched Endymion swing his sword back and forth to divert the volley of shards.

When the attack ended, Serenity staggered toward the prince. Her eyes widened with surprise when she noted that the blades of ice clung to the sides of his sword like metal to a magnet.

The prince aimed the tip of his weapon at Orleana.

"Reversal!" he shouted. The shards of ice flew off of his blade and soared across the clearing. Orleana squealed and ducked behind a tree before the volley of icicles pierced and stabbed the trunk.

Endymion laughed. He lowered his sword. He motioned to move toward Orleana's hiding spot, but Serenity's words stopped him.

"We shouldn't hurt her, Mamo."

The prince hesitated and turned to face her. "What?"

"We don't have to hurt her," the princess firmly repeated. The ball of energy, as though protesting Serenity's statement, struggled to be freed from her determined grip. If Endymion noticed the orb, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he stared at Serenity with a mixture of confusion and exasperation on his face.

"She killed Sailor Jupiter, seriously wounded Sailor Mercury, and nearly killed us." His voice cracked as it increased in volume. He punctuated his frustration by combing his left hand through his messy black hair.

Serenity shook her head. "She's my friend."

"She's a murderer!" Endymion persisted.

"She's not a bad person."

"Usa, I commend your compassion, but come on! She almost killed you with that fire thing, and then, when that didn't work, she unleashed those ice blades." He pointed his left hand at the edge of the clearing for emphasis. "How many times does she have to hurt you? How many people does she have to kill before you realize that she's dangerous? She must be stopped!"

A wave of panic suddenly rippled through Endymion's chest. His second pair of eyes again cautioned him of danger. The prince pivoted so that his body was square with the tree riddled with ice shards.

Orleana now stood in front of its trunk. Endymion spotted her shadowed figure just as she threw something; unlike her previous attacks, this one seemed small and punctuated. In the dark night, the prince couldn't even see what, if anything, Orleana had thrown. Endymion gestured to lift is sword. His timing, normally so precise, was slightly off on this occasion. He was unable to wield away the attack.

The prince didn't realize his folly until he felt something cold and sharp impact his right shoulder. The object, still filled with momentum though lodged in bone and flesh, hurtled forward. The propulsion moved Endymion's torso back while his legs staggered underneath to keep him upright. The prince dropped his sword before finally succumbing to gravity and falling on his back in the meadow. He heard the princess scream.

"Mamo!"

She held the spinning ball of power in front of her and used its light to inspect the prince. An ice spear protruded from the front of his shoulder. Serenity's blue eyes widened with concern.

"Are you okay, Mamo?" she timidly asked.

He blinked. His sight was curtained with stars; he couldn't see anything beyond those fuzzy pricks of light. His body trembled. Panicked, he absently fumbled his left hand toward the injury; he flinched when his fingers touched the cold spike. His first impulse was to pull out the icicle, but his rationale stopped him from actually doing it. The puncture was deep and he might bleed to death if the icicle was removed. Waves of pain passed through his body and sent chills from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. He clamped his teeth together. He shivered.

The icicle was laced with poison, he silently realized, but he wasn't about to tell Serenity. He tried to sound lighthearted by laughing. His joviality had the opposite effect of putting the princess at ease.

"Something's wrong," she said. "Mamo, why won't you look at me?"

Endymion licked his lips. The action was ineffective; even his tongue was dry. "Usa," his voice echoed in his own ears when he spoke. "You must get out of here."

"What about you?" Serenity whimpered.

"You have to leave me here."

"Like hell we will!" snorted a familiar voice.

Endymion hadn't even heard his guardians approach. He wanted to smile with relief when he recognized Jedite's tenor, but even his facial muscles rebelled against him. His breathing was sharper than before; his body experienced another wave of shock.

"'bout time you boys got here," the prince weakly said.

"Yeah, well, I wish we were alone," Zoicite stated, "Your flashy little show here has also attracted the attention of our fellow boarders."

"The Solarians are on their way here," Jedite explained.

"That's great," muttered Endymion. His mind ebbed into darkness. He blinked his blind eyes, fighting unconsciousness.

"We have a small head-start on them," Zoicite continued. "Very small. We've got to get out of here."

"You'll have to leave me. Get Usa to safety."

Zoicite knelt in the snow beside Endymion and inspected the wound. The guardian slid his hand to the back of the prince's shoulder and felt the sharp tip of the icicle on the other side. He masked his concern by clearing his throat. "It doesn't look so bad," he tried to say with optimism. "It's just a little…well, medium, uh, medium to largish-sized puncture wound. We'll carry you if we have to."

"It's no good," the prince persisted. "I'll slow you down. You must escape." He blinked his eyes. The stars had disappeared from his vision; all he saw now was darkness. His lids drooped. He longed for sleep. If he was unconscious, he wouldn't feel the burn of poison in his body.

"Hey!" Jedite said loudly. Endymion felt what he presumed to be his guardian's hand slapping him gently on the cheek. "No sleeping! What kind of weapon is that, anyway?"

"It's an ice spear," Serenity quietly stated. When the guardians arrived, the princess had stepped back. The energy orb tugged with more persistence. She pulled it close to her body. "Orleana must have salvaged it from her earlier attack…"

Jedite laughed lightly, "Well, at least she's a bad aim. It just clipped his shoulder."

Endymion shook his head; at least, he tried to shake his head. His skin felt hot. He couldn't see anything, least of all Serenity, but, by utilizing his connection with her, he detected her presence nearby. The prince didn't want her to know how dire his injury really was. Dryly swallowing the remnants of his pride, Endymion whispered, "It was poisoned."

He heard Serenity gasp. She was afraid; even through his pain, he could feel her fear.

"What?" Jedite croaked.

"This is bad," Zoicite muttered.

Endymion figured it would make little difference to tell them that the longer the spike remained in his flesh, the more it melted, sending more poison into his system. If the icicle was removed, he'd bleed to death. He cursed at his own foolishness. He should have hauled Serenity out of the meadow the moment they were finished with Linnaus' last rites. Even then, the prince was acutely aware that they were in danger. Why had he allowed her to linger?

He felt an immediate change in Serenity's disposition. Her fear transitioned into anger; the emotion was toxic to Endymion's already delicate physical state. He sensed her move away from him.

"Whoa, princess!" he heard Zoicite call after her, "Where are you running off to?"

Serenity's voice was strong and commanding when she spoke, just like it was prior to Orleana's fireball attack. "I'm finishing this."

"How?" demanded Jedite.

"Orleana must be stopped," Serenity said with a sad smile. Her blue eyes trailed to the glowing sphere she held close to her body. "I'm the only one who can do it."

Jedite stepped forward. "I'm going with you."

"No, you must look after Mamo," Serenity said while shaking her head. "I'll be fine." Recalling Sailor Mercury's earlier words, the princess whispered, "Selene protects me."

She glanced guiltily at Endymion. By the light of the energy orb, she saw how sickly he was. His face was pale and slick with a layer of sweat. He shivered uncontrollably. The spear of ice still protruded from his shoulder. Serenity noticed, for the first time, that the blade was not clear like the one that had injured Sailor Mercury, but rust-colored.

"One of my guardians is over there," she whispered absently to Jedite and Zoicite while motioning to the place where Sailor Mercury still laid in the snow. "She's also injured. Please see to her, too."

She looked one last time at Endymion before shifting her attention on the bordering woods. Serenity noted that Orleana was again hidden in the trees, either biding her time until she gathered enough energy for another full attack or spending whatever moments she needed to poison another of her prefabricated ice shards. The princess cared little. Whatever earlier reservation Serenity had in releasing the silver orb dissolved when she witnessed Endymion collapse from Orleana's poisoned icicle. This time, the princess would be merciless.

Serenity stepped forward, in part to separate herself from the prince and his guardians, hopefully ensuring their survival from Orleana's next wave of destruction, and also to tighten the gap between herself and her foe. The sphere of energy spun madly in her arms. Serenity was tired of fighting against its will. She was almost relieved that she would soon be rid of it.

The princess continued walking. She didn't dare look back to Endymion and the others, but she sensed that the prince was now a fair distance away. Serenity was a mere ten paces from the tree line, but Orleana was nowhere in sight.

The Solarian's voice caused the princess to halt.

"How's Endymion?" Orleana inquired. She sounded amused.

Serenity scowled at the shadowed trees in front of her. She was annoyed that the girl's heckling did not reveal her hiding spot.

"I should have struck you down when I had the chance," the princess muttered bitterly at the air.

"Struck me down?" the Solarian said haughtily. "Don't make me laugh. Why do you think your mother had to recruit five girls to protect you? It's because you're weak, Serenity."

Orleana punctuated her last statement with a cackle. Princess Serenity ignored her baiting and concentrated on pinpointing her hidden adversary. She eyed the surrounding wood and watchfully observed the shadowed trunk of each tree. When she aligned her body with one portion of the forest, the ball of power in her arms tugged more persistently to get away from her. The princess kept hold of the sphere; she would release it the moment Orleana emerged from her hiding place.

She didn't have to wait long. Orleana suddenly sprung out from behind the suspected tree cover. She held another sharp object in her hands. Serenity felt her insides shift; Orleana would try to kill her with a poison-tipped ice spear. The princess didn't know if the flutter in her belly was from relief or dread. She'd witnessed the pain Endymion endured—still endured—as the result of his injury from one of those ice shards. Still, she silently considered, Orleana's larger attacks were much more encompassing and catastrophic.

The Solarian flung her poisoned weapon at Serenity at the same moment the Moon princess released the glowing energy orb.

For all of its earlier persistence, the lighted sphere was slow, almost lackadaisical. It flitted in front of Serenity, shifting from its silver hue to rainbow. It fluttered like a butterfly casually drifting from flower to flower on a warm spring afternoon; its glittering tail left a path of its twisted flight in the atmosphere.

The princess frowned while she observed the fleeting object in front of her. In contrast, Orleana's icicle soared quickly and deliberately through the air. Serenity, initially disappointed by her own weapon, breathed in relief when the butterfly suddenly dove and cut across the air like a falcon and obliterated the Solarian's poisoned spear. This action spurned more speed and purpose in the sparkling object; it catapulted across the meadow. A streak of silver shimmers showed its quick progress. In a shower of light, the orb of energy slammed into Orleana's chest and disappeared on impact.

The collision made the girl gasp with surprise. The Solarian quickly inspected her front. She appeared uninjured; even her senshi uniform was unsoiled. Orleana smiled, but her relief was short-lived.

Whatever Serenity had unleashed was now inside of her. Orleana felt it writhing in her chest. The object squeezed her heart, thus preventing the blood from flowing through her veins. Her body felt cold; she felt her joints tighten and her muscles constrict.

The Solarian clutched at her chest and staggered back. She fell against the hard forest floor. The inside of her mouth felt like dry, rough paper. She gulped the air, but her throat contracted. She couldn't breathe. Her hands moved from her chest to her neck; she clawed desperately at her throat. Her lungs felt hollow and empty of air. Orleana stared horrifically at her legs; she couldn't move them. The muscles in her arms and hands seized like premature rigor mortis. Panicked, the Solarian peeled off her right glove with her teeth and ran her fingernails over her left forearm. Her skin crumbled away like ash. She let out a cry of anguish; her dry vocal cords burst from the simple exertion.

She was dying.

Her humiliation was complete when she realized that Serenity stood over her. The moon symbol at the center of the Lunarian's forehead shimmered; the sadness in Serenity's wide eyes glimmered in the light. Orleana suddenly felt very small and foolish. She blinked; her dry lids rubbed against her dull orange eyes and scratched her vision. She kept blinking until she could no longer see the pity on Serenity's face.

It was almost over. Soon, she wouldn't have to struggle anymore. Orleana would die on this miserable planet, abandoned and alone.

She felt Serenity's hand gently grasp her crumbling fingers. She heard the princess' sobs. Shock filtered through Orleana's slipping awareness. She'd wasted so much time hating her place in the universe and despising everything and everyone for having more, specifically Serenity. The Moon princess seemed so undeserving of her good fortune, especially when Orleana had so little. Now, hearing Serenity cry—for her, no less—the Solarian realized how sorry she was for the pain she'd caused. She had flown in the face of all she'd learned on the Moon and used her senshi skills for destruction. It was like she was diseased, and now, cleansed by the power of the Moon, Orleana was finally at peace. She was free, just like that strange glittering butterfly Serenity had unleashed on her. The Solarian wanted to apologize; she wanted the Lunarian to know that, although she'd killed Orleana, Serenity had also purified her black heart.

The Moon princess cleared her throat. She had seen many horrors in the past few days, but none compared to watching Orleana fade and crumple before her eyes—destruction delivered by the princess' own angry hand. She silently acknowledged that she never hated Orleana; rather, Serenity disliked the annihilation the Solarian willingly caused.

"I forgive you," the Moon Princess finally whispered to the girl. She rubbed the tears from her cheeks with her free hand. A loud sob escaped from her lips. She had wanted to save Orleana, not destroy her. She sniffled and sucked in a deep breath. Her voice wavered when she spoke again. "Be free, Orleana."

The hand she held dissolved in Serenity's fingers. Orleana's dry body crumbled into a pile of ash. Serenity swiped her tears from her cheeks and placed her palm on top of the heap and silently said a final goodbye. She knew that Orleana's demise was not her fault; the Solarian's violation of her promise led to her ultimate downfall. Still, Serenity could not help but feel responsible. The orb of light may have led to this eventuality, but perhaps Serenity could have kept it at bay longer. If only she had not been so angry at Orleana's path of destruction or so frightened from Endymion's injury…

"Mamo," Serenity uttered the prince's nickname as she stood. Her heart beat a little faster when she thought of his struggle against the poison. She could do little to help him, but she still wanted to be at his side.

She bowed her head and lingered a moment longer at Orleana's ashes before pivoting to face the center of the clearing. The edges of the forest around her shifted and wavered in her peripheral vision. Earlier, Jedite and Zoicite had mentioned the impending arrival of the Solarians; Serenity wondered if the moving wood was an indication of their appearance.

Unease settled into the princess' muscles, willing her to flee. She gestured to do just that, but a sudden, fierce tug on one of her long blonde pigtails prevented her from bolting. Instead, the princess felt her head—and, in turn, her entire body—shift in a half-circle, so that Serenity again faced Orleana's ashes. Fierce hands gripped each of her biceps while sharp fingernails dug into her skin.

The princess yelped with surprise. Her blue eyes settled on a shadowed figure standing in front of her. In the dark, Serenity could not identify the individual.

"You murdered my child," a familiar voice hissed at her. Drawing from both her own memories and Linnuas', Serenity quickly identified its owner: Metallia.

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"She's been gone a long time," Jedite observed. "Maybe I should get her."

The blonde squinted and eyed the dark line of trees. He and Zoicite were moving Sailor Mercury closer to the center of the meadow when a burst of light distracted them both. Unfortunately, the flare disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Endymion, his guardians, and the injured senshi in near-darkness.

"We need to protect the prince," Zoicite responded with a shake of his head. He crouched beside Endymion. Removing his glove from his right hand, the red-head placed his palm over the prince's forehead just as he had done earlier, before he and Jedite moved Sailor Mercury. He frowned when he noticed Endymion was no longer flush with fever.

A woman's terrified scream ripped through the meadow; at first, Jedite thought it was Serenity.

"It came from the other side," Zoicite observed.

Both men shifted their attention toward the outburst and drew their swords. Glowing orange eyes indicated that a small fraction of cavern dwellers now stood on the edge of the forest. The creatures hissed and jumped up and down, lashing their clawed hands at the source of the scream.

A woman was on the ground; she scrambled back like a crab to escape from the cavern dwellers who tried to stop her. The mud-covered creatures clutched at her legs and grabbed for the skirt of her dress.

The two guardians motioned to help her escape from her attackers, but before they took more than three steps forward, the woman had wrested herself from the cavern dwellers' limbs. She ran at a frantic pace, nearly tripping over her skirts in the process, toward Jedite and Zoicite. The cavern dwellers did not attempt to pursue the woman, instead settling back into the blanket of darkened forest.

Jedite gasped when the woman approached. He instantly recognized her; she was one of the Duke's servants. She was the attractive girl who had nearly been trampled by Endymion's horse at when they first arrived at Jade Castle.

"They came out of nowhere," the woman panted. She accepted Jedite's extended arm. He pulled her to the center of the meadow, to where he, Zoicite, Sailor Mercury and Endymion were positioned. "I thought I could out-maneuver them, but there were too many. They're everywhere."

She glanced around, first to each of her new companions, then to the open expanse of the clearing itself. "Oh great," she muttered while she crossed her arms over her buxom chest. "We're dead out here."

Jedite ignored her comment and sheathed his sword. He cleared his throat and introduced himself and Zoicite. He eyed her expectantly. When she didn't say anything else, he said, "And your name is?"

The woman snorted. "It hardly makes any difference what my name is, considering we're about to be slaughtered."

"Hold your tongue!" Zoicite snapped. He glanced at the edges of the wood and noted more and more orange eyes blinking back at him. A scream—this time Serenity's—echoed in the meadow. "Jedite, maybe you should get the princess…"

He turned around and noted that his comrade had already left the center of the clearing.

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Panic fluttered throughout Serenity's insides, making her nauseous. She wriggled, but the woman tightened her grip on the princess' arms. Serenity wanted to cry out in pain; instead, she gritted her teeth and glared resolutely at the woman's still-shadowed face. She whispered, "Your child killed herself."

"Liar!" Metallia viciously snapped. "I saw what you did."

Serenity shook her head, incredulous. "You saw what happened? And yet, you did nothing. What kind of mother are you? You didn't even come to her aid…"

"Silence!" Metallia loudly commanded. She unleashed her rough grip from Serenity's left bicep and slapped the princess squarely across the cheek. Metallia reached for the girl's blonde ponytail with her right hand and yanked the princess forward. Serenity's startled scream pleased the Solarian queen, who laughed at the girl's surprise.

"I was going to use you," the queen hissed, "to get the Ginzuishou from your mother." Serenity's gasp was barely audible, even to Metallia. "I've changed my mind. I'm going to enjoy killing you."

Serenity wiggled in Metallia's grip. She managed to free her right arm from the Solarian's hand, but the woman still had her by the hair. With an amused laugh, Metallia yanked hard on Serenity's ponytail. The princess fell to the ground with a yelp of pain. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a gleaning object in Metallia's free hand. The Solarian queen extended her arm above her head; for a moment, the faint moonlight caught on the short silver blade in her hand.

Serenity, still sprawled on the floor of the forest, struggled to break free by crawling on her hands and feet; Queen Metallia still held her ponytail, although her grip slid a little on the princess' silken blonde strands. Serenity took advantage of the extra slack and scrambled to distance herself as much as possible from Metallia's weapon-wielding hand. Half of her head ached, but the princess, keen on escaping the Solarian's short sword, ignored the pain and focused her attention on somehow returning to Endymion and the others.

"Ah, how undignified," Metallia laughed, punctuating her statement with a fierce tug of Serenity's blonde ponytail. The princess, who had sat up, fell gracelessly on her backside. "Queen Serenity will be most displeased when she hears of how cowardly and pathetic her daughter was during her final moments of life."

Serenity wished she was clever enough to think of a quick, snappy retort. Her head ached and she was starting to panic. No matter how hard she struggled, the princess could not break free of the Solarian's tight hold on her hair. She shifted her attention toward the clearing and spotted a man running toward her in the moonlight. He carried a sword.

"Duck, Serenity!" Jedite's voice commanded. The princess did as she was told and dove to the ground. She saw Jedites's feet stop near her crouched form. He lunged with a grunt above her, slashing at Metallia's midsection. The woman screamed when she was cut; she dropped her short sword on the floor of the forest near Serenity's legs. Even with the injury, Metallia refused to release her hold on the princess' hair.

Jedite quickly assessed the situation. He noticed that the trees around seemed to move, reminding him of ants crawling over a hill, a sign that the huge mass of cavern dwellers from the inn had arrived. His grey eyes glanced at Metallia. The woman clutched her slashed, damp stomach; thanks to the dim light in the wood, Jedite could see very little of the woman and her injury, which he was glad about. He reached his hand down to offer to the princess.

Serenity silently accepted Jedite's assistance and attempted to stand. Again, she was reminded of Metallia's vice-like grasp on her hair. The woman tugged on Serenity's ponytail, which caused the girl to stagger back.

"I won't let you go!" the Solarian queen announced.

Jedite marveled over Metallia's stubbornness on keeping the princess, despite the impressive cut across her own abdomen. The guardian's gaze trailed from Metallia's shadowed face, down to the hand that held Serenity's hair. He glanced at the princess. His eyes locked with the Serenity's blue orbs. He sucked in a deep breath.

"Sorry about this."

The girl opened her mouth to ask what Jedite meant. He raised his sword over his head, sidestepped Serenity, and dropped his blade in the space between Metallia and the princess. The sharp metal sliced cleanly through Serenity's ponytail, thus releasing the girl from the Solarian's hold. The princess staggered forward. Before she had a chance to react, Jedite took her hand and pulled her away.

Metallia screamed an incomprehensible response that made the fair-haired guardian shudder. He glanced at the Solarian as the woman lunged forward. Metallia's face caught in the moonlight, revealing her melted canvas of skin. Yellow eyes glimmered from sunken eye sockets. She scowled at Jedite's horror-stricken face, which made her already-disfigured features more gruesome.

Jedite staggered back; he wanted to quickly increase the distance between himself and Serenity and the disfigured woman. The princess noted the shock on Jedite's face and trailed his gaze to Metallia's face. Serenity loudly gasped with surprise. Her struggle against the Sun Queen had happened in shadow and she hadn't seen the woman's horrifying, melted face. Her memories of Metallia, combined with some rather graphic images she'd absorbed from Linnaus' last rites ceremony, were of a woman of breathtakingly flawless beauty, not a disfigured and spiteful creature.

Serenity's own fear was consumed with curiosity. She stepped toward Metallia. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jedite, strong and persistent, pulled Serenity away from the fringe of trees and toward the center of the clearing. The princess kept her eyes focused on the Sun Queen; she watched as the woman became smaller while the distance between them became greater. The figures she'd noticed earlier were easier to see now. They moved purposefully in the moonlight; cavern dwellers, Serenity thought with worry. The mud-covered people stepped in front of Metallia, blocking the queen from Serenity's view. Another row of cavern dwellers lined up in front of the first.

The princess' eyes scanned the edges of the meadow. All she could see were limbs and legs moving in the moonlight. She shuddered when she noticed orange, owlish eyes blinking at her throughout the lineup. The Lunarian turned her attention away from the edges of the woods and focused her eyes to the flat ground in front of her. Even in her peripheral vision, she could see movement.

"This is bad, Jedite," Serenity told the guardian. "They're nearly all around us."

"I know," the blonde guardian muttered. He clenched his teeth together and sucked in the chilly night air. He quickened his pace. Serenity practically jogged at his side to keep up, but she didn't complain.

Zoicite anxiously eyed the pair when they returned. He absently wrung his hands. "What the hell took so long?" he demanded.

Neither the princess nor Jedite cared to tell him. Instead, they both walked past the guardian and the red-headed woman and stopped at the true center of the meadow, just short of where Endymion was positioned. Serenity smiled when she noticed that Sailor Mercury's still-unconscious body had been moved and placed beside the prince. The senshi's eyes were closed but she was still breathing. Endymion looked less lively, even though his midnight eyes were open and his body trembled.

Impulsively, Serenity dropped to her knees in the snow. The delicate fabric of her white gown pooled around her body. She reached for Endymion's hand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled hopefully when she felt him squeeze back. She released her grip, but the prince refused to let go of her hand. Considering this tiny gesture as a hopeful sign, Serenity relented and kept her vigil over Endymion. She again tightened her fingers around his hand.

Zoicite stared at Serenity in the moonlight. He frowned.

"What happened to your hair?"

Serenity's free hand flew to her left ponytail. She fumbled to feel its blunt end. On other occasions, she might have cried over the loss of her silky locks. Tonight, she shrugged at Zoicite's question and dismissively tossed the shortened ponytail over her shoulder.

"Sorry about that," Jedite guiltily confessed. "It was the only thing I could think of. She wasn't about to let you go."

The princess nodded.

Zoicite let out a low whistle. His chocolate eyes darted from Serenity to Jedite. "You did that?"

Serenity, eager to change the topic of conversation, cleared her throat. "Orleana's dead," she announced.

"How can you be sure?" Zoicite inquired. Neither he nor Jedite had witnessed the outcome of Serenity's battle with Orleana.

Serenity shifted her gaze and stared directly at the redheaded guardian. Her eyes were cold as she said, "I turned her into moon dust."

Both guardians stared at the princess with shock mingled with admiration.

"Oh," Jedite said, his voice going up an octave, "Well, that would do it, I guess."

"Anyway, Orleana is the least of our worries," Serenity said.

Zoicite nodded. His eyes darted to the trees that encircled the meadow.

"I noticed. The Solarians are here. We're surrounded."

Endymion squeezed the princess' hand. Her blue eyes dropped from the exchange between the guardians to the prince. She noticed, even in the dim light of the moon, his pallor appeared healthier than before. His midnight eyes sparkled with renewed life; he winked at her and smiled. He gestured for Serenity to remove the spike from his shoulder, which she silently did.

The guardians and the red-haired woman, distracted by the cavern dwellers, took no notice of prince and princess.

"What are they waiting for?" Zoicite muttered while he slowly turned in a circle to confirm that they were now totally surrounded.

"No idea," Jedite answered with a shrug. More comically, he said over his shoulder, "So, Serenity, what are the chances of you turning all of these guys into moon dust?"

The princess turned the ice spear over in her hands; it was smeared with Endymion's blood. She set the spike aside. She shook her head at Jedite's question. "Unfortunately for us, those cavern dwellers never pledged to Selene to protect my life."

"Huh," Jedite flatly replied. The blonde, again joking, made another suggestion. "Well, maybe we could request a little swear-in before they swarm on us…then you could pulverize all of 'em!"

"You're getting on my nerves," the redheaded woman muttered.

Zoicite chuckled. His brown eyes apprehensively eyed the row of cavern dwellers on the fringes of the clearing while he contemplated their situation. Clearly, the Solarians had an advantage. Endymion was in no condition to move right now; not that it mattered, considering all possible exits from the meadow were blocked.

A noise rumbled throughout the lineup cavern dwellers. It started at one point in the circle and then radiated throughout the ranks, until the overlapping mutterings of the Solarians swarmed the small group at the center of the clearing from all directions.

Jedite cringed and covered his ears against the noise. "What the hell is that?" he demanded.

Zoicite remained quiet. He frowned and leaned his head forward. He focused his attention and turned his ear toward the noise, but all he heard was jibber-jabber. The guardian's mouth twisted into a frown. He heard the princess gasp. He turned to face Serenity; in the darkness, her pale features glowed in the dim light of the crescent symbol in the center of her forehead. The ethereal sight caught the guardian off guard, but the persistent noise from the cavern dwellers focused the man's attention to more pressing issues.

"You can tell what they're saying, can't you?"

The princess nodded. "It's a battle cry. She…" her eyes shifted to the meadow floor, "…Queen Metallia…wants my head."

"Well, they're going to have to get past us," Jedite replied. His grey eyes widened when he noticed movement on the edges of the forest. "They're advancing."

Zoicite cursed beneath his breath. He drew his sword, silently wishing either he or Jedite would have remembered, in their hastiness to reach Endymion and Serenity, to bring the bow and quiver of arrows. Jedite unsheathed his blade.

"How good are you with a sword?" Zoicite asked the princess over his shoulder. He reached down and grasped Endymion's scabbard. He tossed it at the Lunarian.

Serenity let go of the prince's hand and caught the sheathed sword. She stared at the weapon and then at Zoicite, incredulous. "Are you serious?"

"I can handle a sword," the redheaded woman eagerly interjected.

"There's no need," came Endymion's raspy voice. He groaned as he sat up from the ground and propped himself on his elbows.

Jedite and Zoicite nearly jumped out of their pants when they heard the prince speak. They spun around to face him.

"Holy shit!" was Jedite's response. Zoicite's was more subdued. He nodded at the prince.

"Good. You're of more use to us alive than near-death."

"Be careful, Zoi," Endymion chuckled at his guardian. He sat completely up. With Serenity's assistance, he stood. He patted the girl appreciatively on the shoulder before accepting his sword from her. "You're starting to sound like Kunzite."

He eyed Serenity silently. She watched him with trepidation, like she feared he would break at any moment. Endymion smiled at her. She had again saved his life. The link of their hands—their bond—had drained enough of the poison so that he could function. He still felt some remnants of the toxin pulsing through his veins, but the sensation was a dull, faint ache. His injury would have to be treated eventually. Now, he needed to fight.

Endymion stepped forward and stood between his guardians. His midnight gaze scanned the edges of the clearing; he was able to see for himself why Jedite and Zoicite were so uneasy. Indeed, the cavern dwellers approached. Their movements were deliberate but slow. The prince frowned.

"Cavern dwellers are methodical but deadly hunters," Serenity whispered. "They enjoy the fright before the kill. They relish the moments before they consume their prey."

"Consume?" Jedite echoed. "You make it sound like they're having us for their dinner…"

"They are," the princess said. "They're cannibals."

The prince's dark blue eyes darted from the approaching cavern dwellers to Serenity. His gaze finally settled on the redheaded woman standing near the princess. Endymion grew agitated when he recognized her. This was the second time in one night he'd had the displeasure of encountering the buxom redhead.

"Beryl?" he said. The woman turned around. She flashed a big smile at him like they were good, old friends. Endymion, inwardly repulsed, shifted his focus away from her face and addressed his guardians. "What the hell is she doing here?"

"The Solarians were going to kill her," Jedite explained.

"Why did you stop them?"

Zoicite nearly choked. He coughed to clear his throat. "We didn't stop them, really. She saved herself, but she ran over to us."

"Please, your highness!" Beryl pled, clasping her hands in front of her bosom. She bowed her head reverently. "Be merciful!"

Endymion rolled his eyes. "Cut the act, Beryl, I'm in no mood." His gaze narrowed when he noticed the woman's close proximity to the princess. "And get away from Serenity! Go stand over there…" he scanned the area for an appropriate place "…by that crag." He pointed to an area where a small bit of rock protruded from the ground.

"But," Beryl protested. Her voice was flat of the earlier desperation but still gratingly whiny. "That's closer to those creatures."

"I know."

"But, you can't be serious…"

"Be a good subject and do as I tell you," Endymion impatiently snapped. He avoided the startled expression on Serenity's face, instead choosing to focus his attention on his guardians.

Beryl cast a look of disdain at both Serenity and Endymion. She silently crossed to the crag. Her eyes wearily scanned the sides of the meadow.

Serenity watched as Beryl crossed to her designated spot. The glowing orange eyes of the cavern dwellers behind the red-head kept their methodical pace, inching slowly closer to the woman. The princess' limbs began to tremble with fear and horror. The cavern dwellers' gradual approach made Serenity even more afraid than if they had stormed the clearing.

Silently, the prince and his two guardians shifted their stances, so that they each stood with their backs to each other.

"Usa, stand between us," Endymion calmly instructed. "Next to Sailor Mercury."

The princess did as she was told. She glanced over to Beryl and noted that the woman had inched closer to them, slowly enough for Endymion and his guardians not to notice. She didn't understand why the prince had ordered the woman to stand so far from them; considering their dire circumstances, Serenity thought Endymion cruel to position Beryl closer to the slaughter.

She watched the cavern dwellers. They had quickened their approach and were closing in on her and the others. Serenity clenched her fists at her sides while she silently cursed her own powerlessness.

Sailor Mercury stirred at the princess' feet and groaned. Her blue eyes fluttered open. Serenity knelt by her side. A glimmer of hope sparkled in the princess' orbs when she gazed at the injured woman.

"Thank Selene you're awake," Serenity whispered. "Mercury, we're surrounded by cavern dwellers. What can we do?"

"Take my pendant," the senshi answered. She reached for the silver chain around her neck. The crescent charm emerged from beneath the collar of her uniform. Sailor Mercury winced from the pain caused by the simple gesture. "Teleport back to the Moon."

The princess shook her head. "I can't leave yet." She reached for the pendant and placed it in Sailor Mercury's palm. Serenity curled the senshi's fingers around the silver charm. "You're injured. You must use it."

"Your mother would not forgive me."

"My mother would do the same thing," the princess firmly responded. Her resolve caused the crescent symbol at the center of her forehead to flicker. The light reflected on Sailor Mercury's face. The senshi's eyes sparkled with worry.

"Draw on…the power of the Ginzuishou," she whispered to the girl.

The princess shook her head in protest. "But I don't have the Ginzuishou."

"You can still use it," Sailor Mercury persisted, "just like you did against the meteors."

The senshi trembled from the pain caused by her injury. The princess' eyes widened with concern.

"You have to teleport now," Serenity gently told the warrior. She squeezed Mercury's hand which activated the crescent pendant. The senshi's body began to disappear.

Before she was gone, Sailor Mercury said to the princess, "Endymion can assist you with his own power. He has the..."

Serenity never heard the woman's final words; the Mercurian had faded completely from the meadow. The princess shifted her focus away from the ground. The sound of battle surrounded her while Endymion, Jedite, and Zoicite began to wield off the first wave of cavern dwellers. The three men skillfully swung their swords and decimated the first batch of Solarians, but Serenity silently acknowledged that, with the exception of the senshi, only the power of the Ginzuishou could fell enough of their adversaries to make a difference. The princess must again draw on the energy of the ancient stone.

Serenity blinked her blue eyes while she attempted to remember how she tapped into the Ginzuishou's power during the meteor attack. Her abilities seemed to have emerged so easily before; she found it difficult to recall just what she had done to access the energy of the magical crystal. Her determined gaze darted around the meadow. Fierce battle cries erupted from the attacking cavern dwellers. They swarmed the area.

Serenity inhaled and exhaled deeply. She again settled herself on her knees and straightened her posture. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. The princess squeezed her hands together to keep them from trembling. The girl tried her best to ignore the noise in the meadow by focusing on her own breathing.

"Please, please protect us," she quietly whispered to Selene. The center of her forehead burned while her crescent symbol glowed brighter. Serenity sensed the power of the Ginzuishou, but its energy was just far enough away that she couldn't reach it. She clenched her teeth and concentrated harder.

Please Selene...

Battle sounds scratched in her ears and distracted her; the princess covered her ears with her hands to muffle the screams of dying cavern dwellers and the shouts of Endymion and his guardians. The noise still filtered through, weakening Serenity's resolve. She doubted her ability. She frowned over her own incompetence; if she couldn't tap into the power of the Ginzuishou, she and the others would die.

Deflated, Serenity's shoulders collapsed while she let out a sigh of defeat. She opened her crystal blue eyes and was horrified by what she saw. Despite the darkness of night, she easily identified the bodies littering the immediate area. Carnage completely surrounded her and the others. Endymion, Jedite, and Zoicite impressively and skillfully wielded their swords; the three young men downed large sections of cavern dwellers with deft swings of their blades. Within moments, stacks of corpses populated the immediate area. The pilings did little to deter the next wave of Solarians from approaching; the orange-eyed creatures absently scrambled over the torsos and backs of their fallen comrades to reach the center of the meadow. The indifference of the cavern dwellers for their fellow warriors chilled Serenity to the bone.

"What are you doing?"

The Moon princess blinked with surprise; her eyes snapped from the scene of death to source of the voice. Beryl towered over her. Somehow, the red-head had managed to wiggle her way back into the protective pocket between Endymion and his guardians without notice. The woman crossed her arms authoritatively over her ample chest and scowled at the princess.

"You'll be trampled if you stay down there," Beryl muttered. "Get up!"

Serenity winced at the Terran woman's commanding town. She blankly stared at Beryl.

"I was just…" the princess' voice trailed off. Her eyes wandered from the red-head to Endymion, who was positioned just beyond Beryl. Serenity watched the prince easily slice a cavern dweller in half; his sword sparkled with energy. Sailor Mercury mentioned that Serenity would need the prince's power to use the Ginzuishou. The princess wondered if the lighted sword was the source of Endymion's energy.

"You were what? Taking a nap?" Beryl asked with amusement. She extended her hand. Lightly, she said, "Let me help you up."

The princess, now aware of what she needed to do, silently accepted Beryl's assistance. The red-head pulled Serenity into a standing position with a strong tug. Deception sparkled in Beryl's green eyes, but the Moon princess, blind to anything but Endymion, failed to notice the change in the Terran woman's demeanor. She didn't realize that Beryl, even after hoisting Serenity from the meadow floor, still tightly held her right hand. Instead, Serenity's gaze was focused on young man fighting just a few steps away from her. The princess gestured to approach him, but Beryl violently yanked Serenity back to her side. The Lunarian turned to the redhead to protest the woman's ill abuse. Before Serenity spoke, Beryl's voice resonated in the meadow in a piercing yell.

"I have the Moon Princess!" the woman announced. "Stop your attack and I'll bring her to you!"

Everyone, Terran and Solarian alike, stopped in their tracks.

Endymion lowered his sword after felling yet another group of Cavern Dwellers. His blade glowed, reflecting the rage that coursed throughout his body. The prince's eyes were dark with murder.

"Let her go," he commanded through a clenched jaw.

Beryl smirked with triumph. She pulled Serenity closer to her. "No way." She shifted her eyes to the fringe of trees. She shouted. "Metallia! I have Princess Serenity!"

The surprised mud people blinked their orange eyes and shifted their attention to one side of the meadow. The darkened silhouette of a woman emerged from the forest of trees and cavern dwellers. Her eyes flickered yellow. She stepped into a pool of moonlight, which cast shadows across her melted features. Her front was damp with blood.

Endymion's face paled when his eyes rested on the woman. She looked very different from the beautiful queen in Linnaus' memories, but the prince still recognized her.

Queen Metallia eyed the small band in the center of meadow with amusement. She casually placed her hands on her hips. Jedite pivoted around and stared at the woman's abdominal gash with disbelieving eyes; the injury he inflicted still bled, but the Sun Queen ignored the wound. Zoicite glared at Beryl and then at Metallia.

"What do you want for her?" the Queen of the Sun calmly demanded.

Beryl kept Serenity in front of her like a shield. Her voice was filled with relief and confidence when she spoke. "I'll give you the princess," she said carefully, "if you spare my life." Her green eyes trailed to the three men covered in blood and cavern dweller entrails, finally settling on Endymion's enraged, homicidal face. "And the prince."

"Go to hell."

Beryl's expression shifted from amusement to anger, "I'm trying to save your life, you ingrate!"

"I'd rather be eaten by cannibals," Endymion dismissively stated.

"That can be arranged!" snapped Beryl.

The prince's sword glowed brighter, illuminating the lines of rage on his face. "You will regret disobeying me. Let the princess go."

"No."

In a stern tone, the prince persisted. "Release Serenity. Now."

"How dare you order me around!" Beryl hissed.

Queen Metallia, bored from the bickering, yawned. She waved her hand dismissively. The cavern dwellers stepped away from the group at the center of the meadow. "Very well. I'll spare you and the prince. Bring the Moon princess here."

Beryl smugly grinned at Endymion and his two guardians before advancing toward Metallia.

"No!" Jedite shouted desperately. He, Zoicite and Endymion gestured to intervene, but a swarm of cavern dwellers suddenly sprung toward the three. The trio simultaneously lifted their swords to fend off the Solarians.

"Do that," Metallia said, her voice thick with annoyance, "And I will order my minions to break your precious princess' neck."

The three men lowered their weapons and helplessly watched while Beryl slowly led Serenity closer and closer to the Sun Queen.

Serenity struggled. Beryl tightened her hold. The princess, too weak to break completely free, dug her heels into the frozen meadow floor and eventually sunk entirely to the ground, forcing the red-headed woman to drag her.

"Metallia won't free you," the princess told Beryl. "Once she has me, she will kill you."

"Shut up." Beryl grunted.

The Solarian Queen, observing Beryl's struggle, silently nodded her head to two cavern dwellers. The pair snapped to life and approached the pair. Beryl, glad to be rid of the resistant princess, allowed the two Solarians to lift Serenity from the ground. She stepped away.

The princess' body shivered with panic as she felt the rough hands of the cavern dwellers take a hold of her wrists and ankles. She struggled harder than before. More Solarians approached to help the first two; Serenity felt them claw and scratch at her. She clamped her lids closed to shut their orange eyes from her sight.

Endymion, desperately watching the cavern dwellers swarm on the princess, closed his hands tightly around the hilt of his sword. He noticed that his weapon glowed, lighting the ancient inscription carved into the blade. The prince became aware of his own strength; the energy of his rage warmed the core of his body. The familiar sensation reminded him of the night at Jade Castle, during the catastrophic attack on the Moon. His spine tingled as he realized the power coursing through him was from the lost Golden Crystal.

The prince wearily eyed Serenity and her desperate struggle against the mob of cavern dwellers. Endymion closed his eyes and concentrated on harnessing the Golden Crystal's power. He may not be able to physically reach the princess, but he could, though his connection, lend her his power. Endymion focused his effort on contacting her.

"Don't be afraid."

The voice inside Serenity's head startled her. The princess froze.

"Mamo?"

"I'm here, Usa," assured the prince. "We're connected. Draw on my strength to free yourself from the cavern dwellers."

"How?"

"Concentrate. Pretend I'm standing beside you."

Serenity nodded. Thanks to Endymion's support, the princess felt calm and supported. Unlike before, she cleared her mind quickly and easily. She inhaled deeply and concentrated on her connection with the prince. His power poured into her. The princess gladly embraced this new, sensational energy.

Her fingers tingled with Endymion's strength. By using his power, she could easily break free from the Cavern Dwellers; however, her meditation and the prince's lent energy had brought her closer to the Ginzuishou. The Moon's mythical stone was finally within her grasp. The princess focused her struggle on harnessing power of the legendary crystal.

Her forehead burned.

She felt the hand of a cavern dweller cover the symbol on her face. The princess twisted her head. Her eyes shot open. A flash of blinding brilliance burst from the crescent at the center of her forehead.

The creatures surrounding her screamed as their bodies were instantly turned to ash. Serenity fell to the ground. She scrambled up and surveyed the surrounding cavern dwellers. Her moon symbol flickered and glowed, which cast unforgiving light on the Solarians and their queen.

Serenity's gaze finally settled on Metallia's disfigured face. The woman's yellow eyes, which were wide with surprise moments before, narrowed when the princess directed her attention toward the Sun Queen. Metallia attempted to appear confident. Using the power of the Ginzuishou, Serenity sensed the Solarian Queen's true emotion of fear.

"Kill the princess! Kill them all!" Metallia screamed in the cavern dwellers' dialect. She gestured frantically with her hands to her army of followers. She retreated back to the shelter of trees.

The Solarians silently complied with the queen's command. The swarm of cavern dwellers closest to the prince and his guardians violently lashed out. Endymion, eager to dispose some of his rage, lifted his still-glowing sword. His power now mingled with Serenity's incredible energy, which increased his strength and dexterity ten-fold. Endymion easily bested the flock of mud men surrounding him and his guardians. Jedite and Zoicite stared, open-mouthed, at their prince's skill. The path to Serenity now cleared, Endymion bound across the clearing to reach her.

A large mass of cavern dwellers closed in on the princess. Serenity stood, her hands outstretched in front of her, and patiently waited for the approaching crowd. Her skin glowed from the Ginzuishou's power. The skirt of her pale dress fluttered from the waves of energy radiating from her body. The princess' focused gaze made her look amazingly calm but deadly.

Serenity opened her mouth to command the Ginzuishou, but a different voice echoed throughout the meadow.

"Supreme Thunder!"

The princess' eyes widened when she heard Sailor Jupiter's attack. She lifted her gaze in time to see the vein of lighting slash across the meadow floor in front of her, effectively creating a physical rift between Metallia, her minions and Serenity. The princess pivoted to search for the source of the attack. She shielded her eyes when bright golden light and a wave of fire smashed through the opposing sides of the clearing. Serenity recognized that the strikes were the handiwork of Venus and Mars. Cavern dwellers screamed as the powerful senshi attacks crushed their numbers.

"Usa, come on!" Endymion urged. He grabbed her arm and quickly led her back to the center of the clearing. The few straggling Solarians between the pair and the middle of the meadow were quickly decimated by Endymion's sword.

"What in the hell was that?" Zoicite demanded when Endymion and Serenity approached.

Linnaus' memories again helped the prince recognize the attacks, even if the Terran had never witnessed them first-hand. "Reinforcements," he concluded.

Serenity, still distracted from hearing Sailor Jupiter's attack, stared vacantly at the floor and shook her disbelieving head. The senshi was dead; Serenity had delivered the final rites. She witnessed the warrior's body vaporize. How could Jupiter still be alive?

"Are they reinforcements for us or for them?" Jedite cautiously inquired.

"Us," answered Endymion with a smile. "Most definitely for us." He cast his midnight eyes around the meadow. Specifically, he searched for the green, blue, red and gold uniforms of the senshi. On the west side of the clearing, he spotted them. He squeezed Serenity's arm and nodded toward the horizon. The preoccupied princess trailed his gaze. Her face broke into a wide smile when her blue eyes settled on four sailor senshi silhouettes.

Serenity broke away from Endymion and his guardians and ran across the meadow. Jedite gestured to follow her, but the prince held up his hand and urged him to stay behind.

"There are still cavern dwellers out there…" Jedite persisted.

Endymion glanced at Serenity's retreating form. He closed his eyes and tapped into their connection. His ability to sense her emotions was stronger than before. The prince opened his eyes and smiled while he watched her. "She'll be okay."

The princess' pace slowed when she neared and recognized the four senshi were actually Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako. Her surprise was visible in her face. She silently wondered why her mother had sent the apprentices in place of seasoned warriors. Her joy overshadowed her doubt as she made eye contact with the four girls. The princess was relieved to see her friends.

Ami, Makoto, Rei and Minako rushed forward and surrounded her. They enveloped the princess in four, consecutive big hugs.

"Thank Selene you're safe," Minako whispered. The future leader of the senshi stepped back and observed Serenity's soiled and torn dress, scraped arms, lopsided ponytail, and grimy face. She pursed her lips together in a half frown. "You look terrible, though."

"Thanks a lot," Serenity snorted. She blinked her blue eyes and shook her head in disbelief. "What are you guys doing here?" she finally asked.

Makoto laughed. "What? Aren't you happy to see us?"

Serenity's expression flashed with sadness when she made eye contact with the tall brunette dressed in the green and pink fuku. The princess' gaze wandered to the spot in the clearing where Sailor Jupiter died. Serenity resolved not to tell Makoto about the senshi's death until they were all safe. She shook away her sorrow and again smiled.

"Of course I'm happy to see you. I'm just surprised, that's all."

"I'm just glad you're safe!" Minako squealed. The Venetian again strong-armed Serenity into a big, tight hug.

Rei crossed her arms across her chest. "And of course, we had to save your butt, as usual."

"As usual?" Serenity echoed. She squirmed out of Minako's embrace and waggled her finger at the Martian. "For your information, we were doing just fine before you got here…"

"It didn't look like that from where we were standing." Rei tossed her long mane of black hair over her shoulder.

"Just how long have you been here?" demanded the princess.

"Not long," Makoto answered.

"We just arrived," chorused Ami and Minako.

Rei cleared her throat. "We would have been here sooner if Ami hadn't screwed up the coordinates…"

"I made a small miscalculation, that's all," the petite Mercurian confessed. Ami was glad for the dark, which concealed her blush from the other four girls.

"It felt like a pretty big miscalculation," Makoto commented. "We've been teleporting forever."

Motion caught in the corner of Rei's violet eyes. The Martian's posture stiffened into a defensive stance while she focused her full attention to the center of the meadow. "Someone's approaching," she cautioned her fellow apprentices.

Ami, Makoto and Minako each positioned themselves around the princess. They stood defensively, although they were capable of switching to an offensive attack at any moment. Serenity pivoted around and recognized the three approaching were Endymion, Jedite and Zoicite.

"They're okay," the princess said confidently. "It's the Terran Prince and his guardians…"

Rei released a "Burning Mandala" attack before Serenity finished speaking. Fortunately, the three men were able to dodge the haphazard volley.

"Hey!" Serenity snapped. "Watch it, pyro!"

Rei's face reddened slightly. "Sorry, I thought they were bad guys."

"Yeah, which is why I said they were okay!" the princess peevishly replied.

"I said I was sorry," Rei said. Her annoyed expression melted when her violet eyes drifted from Serenity to the three men she had nearly combusted. The faint moonlight revealed the bedraggled trio. She, like Ami, Makoto, and Minako eyed the three Terrans with interest.

Serenity noticed Rei's demeanor shift when she spotted the three men. The Martian's hair flip and timid smile irritated the princess, but she quickly dismissed her annoyance when she noticed a sudden movement behind her friend. Serenity opened her mouth to warn the distracted senshi-in-training, but her voice was drowned out by the now-familiar battle cry of a cavern dweller. Rei spun around and screamed; the creature lunged toward her.

Endymion, his limbs still tingling with energy, was the first of the group to react. He stepped forward, grasped Rei around the waist with his left hand and pulled her close to him before he slashed the cavern dweller in two. The Solarian's gooey blood splattered the senshi apprentices who were standing nearby. The girls shrieked with surprise.

"What are you all yelping about?" Serenity demanded.

Makoto winced. "That was so…gross!"

"It was just one. You obliterated most of those things with three attacks."

"We know that!" answered Minako, picking a particularly slimy bit of body part from the front of her uniform. "But those were all distant attacks."

"This one was a lot closer," Makoto agreed, wiping the blood from her right cheek with the back of her glove.

Ami activated her blue visor and took out her mini computer. She scanned the remains. "It's a cavern dweller!" she said excitedly. She glanced up and walked to another nearby corpse. "And another one!"

Zoicite cleared his throat. "They're everywhere, actually."

Ami nodded and absently glanced at the red-headed guardian before looking back at her computer. She felt a flutter in her stomach. The girl paused before pinching her blue studded earring. Her visor disappeared. The Mercurian again looked at Zoicite, this time with her naked eyes. She gazed dazedly at the young man. Despite his haggard appearance, the guardian was quite handsome in his Terran clothes. Sometime during the battle, his wavy hair had fallen from his trademark ponytail and now cascaded in tangles over his shoulders. His delicate facial features, which normally made Zoicite appear feminine, looked strong and rugged in the faint moonlight. The guardian still held his sword and he was covered with blood and grime. Yet, Ami found herself distracted by him. The normally timid girl felt an instant attraction to the young man.

Ami flipped her hair—probably not a good idea to mimic Rei, but oh well—and stepped toward Zoicite. She didn't know what to say to the guardian, so she kept the conversation on the same topic as before.

"Did you say their bodies were everywhere?" she asked, most likely a little too breathlessly.

Zoicite frowned over Ami's enthusiasm. He slowly nodded. "Yeah."

"Can you show them to me?" Ami demanded. She frowned at her own excitement and cleared her throat. More reserved, she explained, "I need to gather some data for our report for Queen Serenity."

"Don't wander too far off, Ami," Minako said with a knowing wink. "We need to get out of here. Soon."

"I'll be right back."

Zoicite and Ami wandered off together, toward the center of the meadow where the majority of the carnage was located. Makoto shook her head while she watched the Mercurian depart with the prince's guardian.

"She'll be okay," Serenity said with assurance. "Zoicite's a good man."

Makoto laughed. "You know something is wrong with the planets when Ami picks up a man in the middle of a blood bath."

Serenity shrugged. She shifted her attention back to Rei and Endymion. Her annoyance returned when she realized that the prince still had his arm around the Martian.

"Are you okay?" Endymion asked. Suddenly aware of the placement of his arm around the girl's waist, the prince removed his hand from her hip and sidestepped away from her. He sheathed his sword and nervously ran his fingers through his matted, soiled dark hair.

Rei fluttered her eyelids coyly and nodded with a timidity Serenity knew she really didn't possess.

"That was really brave of you," the Martian gushed. She stepped closer to Endymion, closing the gap he had previously created. She clasped her hands together in front of her. "Thank you for saving my life."

The prince cleared his throat. He said, shrugging, "It was nothing."

The Moon princess pinched her lips together. Her cheeks felt hot. She pivoted to face Minako and Makoto, but instead found herself looking at Jedite.

"Who is she?" Jedite whispered with interest while nodding his head in Endymion and Rei's direction.

Serenity, annoyed by the question, crossed her arms over her flat chest and simply replied, "She's Rei, princess of Mars, senshi-in-training."

"She's lovely."

The princess rolled her eyes, silently pondering how lovely any of them looked in the near-darkness of night. She chose to ignore Jedite's comment and focused her attention on Minako.

"When can we leave? We need to leave."

Minako frowned at Serenity's insistent tone. "Ami's collecting data. Where are Sailor Mercury and Jupiter?"

Serenity's chest tightened. Her facial features softened. She realized that she was behaving like a spoiled child. What did she care if Rei flirted with the prince or if Jedite found the Martian attractive? How could she be so selfish when Sailor Jupiter had made the ultimate sacrifice on her behalf, and Sailor Mercury was struggling for her life?

The princess glanced at Makoto. The Jupiterean had joined Rei, Jedite, and Endymion in conversation—the princess recognized the glimmerings of introductions and the awkward talk of recently-forged acquaintances in the small group. She took Minako by the arm and quietly led her a few more paces away from them.

"Sailor Mercury teleported back to the Moon," Serenity whispered. "Orleana badly injured her, but it wasn't fatal."

Minako heaved a heavy sigh and nodded. "Where is Orleana?"

The princess' response was simple. "Dead. Moon dusted."

The Venetian's eyes widened with surprise. "You killed her?"

"Selene killed her," Serenity insisted. "Because Orleana tried to kill me."

"And Jupiter?"

The Moon princess shook her head. She blinked her eyes to keep tears from falling. She extracted the charm from her dress that resembled a "4." She handed it to Minako. "I couldn't save her."

The future leader of the senshi flinched when she realized what Serenity had given her. "Poor Jupiter," she whispered. "I'll tell Makoto once we've returned to the Moon." She returned the charm to Serenity's outstretched hand. She noticed another, crescent-shaped object in the moon princess' palm. Minako's eyes were wide when she looked at Serenity. "Is that…what I think it is?"

Serenity nodded. "It's Linnaus'. I must return it to mother. He was murdered."

The Venetian rubbed her brow with her right hand. "You've had a difficult journey, Serenity," she finally concluded. Another sigh punctuated her decision. "We must return. Once Ami comes back from…"

"I'll get her," Serenity volunteered. She turned on her toe and determinedly trudged toward the center of the meadow. Her progress was slowed by the body parts that littered the clearing. She absently stepped over them. She didn't even bother to lift the skirt of her dress; the hem was already stained with blood.

Serenity's thoughts consumed her. She hated how fickle she could be. She had retreated from the others to get away from Rei and Endymion; the last thing the princess wanted was to witness more of the Martian's relentless flirting. She wouldn't be surprised if the prince found Rei attractive; the girl was extremely beautiful. And more…developed, Serenity somberly admitted. The princess, though nearly 1,000 years old, still looked like a child. Even if Endymion shared a bond with Serenity, she knew he would never look at her as anything more than a kid sister.

The princess growled and shook her head. Why should she care about what Endymion thought of her? He was exasperating and annoying.

She refocused her thoughts on getting back to the Moon. Her impulsive trip to Earth had uncovered much more treachery than Serenity ever imagined. The queen must be informed of everything. The princess anticipated her mother's response. She suddenly realized how cross the Queen would be with Serenity for running away.

"I wasn't running away," Serenity reasoned to herself. "I came for Linnaus."

The princess stumbled over what she thought was an exposed tree root. She fell on her hands and knees. Angry and frustrated, the she turned to curse the protrusion. Her eyes widened when she realized that a bent, bloodied leg had tripped her. She scrambled back. She surveyed the surrounding meadow and observed the capacity of the carnage. Serenity thought she saw some of the bodies move. Motion from the corner of her eye caused her to flinch.

"Usa!" came Endymion's scolding voice. "What are you doing? It's not safe here."

Serenity twisted her head to look at the prince. He towered over her; his face was masked by shadows. The princess stubbornly pinched her lips together and crossed her arms.

"Minako thinks we should leave," Serenity said. "I volunteered to fetch Ami."

"You should have sent one of your guardians." Endymion crouched down in front of the princess. His eyes flashed with amusement. A half smile crimped the right corner of his mouth. "What are you doing on the ground?"

Serenity's face flushed. She glanced around, attempting to think of a good, valid reason for sitting amidst the bodies littering the meadow floor.

"I was…" she paused, racking her brain for a viable word. "Interrogating."

Endymion bit his lower lip to contain a laugh. "Interrogating?"

Serenity was glad that the night hid her blush. She wanted to smack herself for saying something so stupid. After watching how easily Rei interacted with Endymion, she wasn't about to admit she was just clumsy and had simply fallen. Instead, she nodded solemnly. "Yes."

The prince frowned. "What were you interrogating? The bodies?"

The Moon princess didn't like where Endymion's line of questioning led. Proudly, she sucked in a deep breath. "What's the matter with that?"

"Usa," the prince slowly said. "You can't interrogate the dead."

Serenity glared at Endymion. The prince winced at her angry expression. "You don't know that. I performed last rites on Linnaus. He was dead."

"Yeah, I know you did, but that was different." Endymion paused and eyed the princess inquisitively. His sounded less amused and more concerned when he spoke again. "Wait, you don't mean to say you were performing the last rites on…one of these creatures?"

"What would it matter if I was?"

"That just seems…" the prince shrugged. "Dangerous. Why would you do that?"

"Why not?" Serenity pondered, since she didn't quite know herself. "It might be fruitful."

The princess inwardly groaned when the she saw Rei approach. Endymion turned and stood when the Martian sidled up next to him. "What happened?" Rei questioned. She giggled when she noticed Serenity sprawled on ground. "Did you trip?"

"I most certainly did not!" the princess squealed defensively.

Rei giggled. "You did, didn't you?" She shifted her attention toward Endymion. "She's always been a bit of a klutz."

Serenity rose to her feet. She glared at Rei. "The gravity is different here!"

"You're still a klutz," Rei replied.

Endymion moved his focus away from the pair. His skin tingled. Something dangerous still lurked in the meadow. He glanced across the darkened clearing, but even with his second pair of eyes, he couldn't pinpoint the cause of his unease. The prince shifted back to the noisy pair of girls in front of him. Both Serenity and Rei now stood inches away each other's face, waggling their fingers and sticking their tongues out at each other.

"I'll go fetch Zoicite and Ami," he told the pair, although he doubted they heard him. "Rei, watch the princess."

He walked away from the Lunarian and the Martian. Endymion was relieved to see that Ami and Zoicite were approaching. The prince stepped forward to meet them part way.

The tingling sensation returned to his skin. This time, the feeling was more intense. He clenched his hands at his sides. Endymion wearily scanned the area immediately surrounding Ami and Zoicite. Despite the barrage of carcasses the pair had to negotiate to get over, they were not in danger. Slightly relieved, the prince blinked and eyed the fringes of the meadow, searching for the familiar orange eyes of the Cavern Dwellers. He saw nothing but shadows.

Endymion felt Serenity's pain before he heard her scream. He turned to the place where he had left her and Rei. In the faint light of the moon, Endymion saw where one of the cavern dwellers, too quickly dismissed for dead, had risen to his knees from his resting place and stabbed the princess in the stomach. Judging from how Rei was sprawled on the ground nearby, the prince concluded that the Martian was the original target of the Solarian's attack, but Serenity had shoved the girl out of the way.

The prince sprinted toward the two girls. Serenity slowly staggered back; Endymion scooped her up before she fell on the body-littered ground. Rei stared, horrified, at the princess' injury. The others soon approached. Jedite, sword already in hand, cut the cavern dweller down with a swing of his sword.

Endymion knew the others frantically swarmed around him. He knew they were equally concerned about Serenity's life, but the prince blocked them out. He didn't hear their voices. The only thing he cared about was the petite girl in his arms.

The prince tapped into his shared connection with Serenity. She was still alive. Damn, she felt so light. Her head rested against his wounded shoulder; so much had happened on this night that he had nearly forgotten about his own injury. It could have happened a lifetime ago. The light from Serenity's moon symbol flickered and faded considerably. The ornate, jeweled handle of the dagger protruded from her middle. Her white gossamer gown turned dark with blood.

Serenity's eyes fluttered open. "Mamo?"

"I've got you, Usa," the prince whispered.

"I need to go home." She fumbled for something at her neck. She tugged at a chain and extracted the crescent pendant from the front of her gown. She then struggled to reach the pocket of her dress.

"Usa, please don't move," Endymion pled. His voice cracked. "You'll bleed more."

"You'll come with," the princess explained. She winced with pain; the prince also flinched from it. She pulled her hand from her pocket and held up a necklace identical to the one around her neck. "It was Jupiter's. Put it around your neck…"

Endymion bent his head forward and allowed the princess to place the necklace over his head. He glanced away from Serenity and noticed that the other senshi had hastily extracted their crescent moon pendants. His midnight eyes settled on Jedite and Zoicite; Rei and Ami placed similar necklaces around their necks. Satisfied to see that everyone would join him and Serenity on this particular journey, Endymion again focused on the injured princess in his arms. Her countenance was almost grey in the moonlight

"Put the pendant in your palm," the princess whispered weakly. She placed her own crescent in her hand and patiently watched Endymion do the same. "Now squeeze it."

In the corner of her eye, Serenity saw that half of her friends and Endymion's guardians had already disappeared. Her gaze wandered to someone approaching. The prince's midnight eyes trailed to the focus of Serenity's attention. He cursed under his breath when he spotted Beryl running toward them.

"Don't come any closer!" he shouted at the red-head. Surprisingly, she obeyed the prince's order.

"Please, your highness!" Beryl pled. "Take me with you."

"What?"

"The creatures aren't dead," the woman explained. "Those attacks only startled them. They're regaining consciousness…"

"You'd better start running, then."

Beryl gasped. "How can you say that?"

"Quite easily, actually," the prince admitted. "You nearly got Serenity killed."

"She's a foreigner. She isn't like us. And I did it to save your life! What do you care for Lunarians?"

"I care for Lunarians more than I care for you." Endymion simply answered. "You made your choice when you disobeyed me. Maybe you can sweet talk your way out of getting killed. Goodbye, Beryl."

The woman sputtered her protest, but Endymion had already activated his moon pendant and was fading from the meadow. He glanced at Serenity, who had also squeezed her silver crescent charm. Their surroundings changed; they were now in a vast, open void somewhere in the space between the Earth and the Moon.

The princess' eyes fluttered open. She winced. Serenity grasped the handle of the dagger; before she could pull the blade from her stomach, Endymion gently pulled her hand away.

Serenity whimpered. "It hurts!"

"I know," the prince gently told her. "But you can't remove the blade. Not yet. You'll bleed to death."

The princess cried in agony. An explosion of pain immobilized the prince; he realized it was caused by Serenity's injury. Her body slackened in his arms. He felt her slipping away from him.

"You aren't going to do this, Usa," the prince said stubbornly.

"I'm sorry Mamo," she whispered. "I've never…been strong. I'm just a clumsy crybaby."

Endymion felt his eyes prick with tears. He hugged Serenity tighter to him. "You know that isn't true. You are far more powerful than you give yourself credit for."

Serenity winced. The pain was intense. She thought of Linnaus and Sailor Jupiter. She wondered if they hurt so much before they died. Her mind craved sleep. The girl's blue eyes slid shut.

"Open your eyes, Usa!" the prince commanded. His voice was laced with fear. Her lids fluttered open. "Look at me."

She thought she might drown in the depths of his midnight eyes; she realized Endymion's eyes were the first thing she had seen of the Earth. Had that only happened two days ago? So much had changed since their first introduction. Serenity realized that it wasn't a simple coincidence brought her and Endymion together; their lives were linked. She couldn't imagine existing without him. She wondered if he could exist without her.

"This is taking a long time," Serenity suddenly muttered. Endymion, not sure of whether she spoke of their teleportation or her death, elected to favor the former.

"We'll be on the Moon soon," he assured her. "Just stay awake a little longer. I'll let you sleep for days if you just stay awake until we get there."

Serenity's stomach constricted and tightened. She moaned in agony. The princess felt her consciousness slipping. She blinked her eyes and attempted to smile. She wanted to thank Endymion for protecting her, for quarreling with her, for caring about her over these past days. She licked her dry lips. "I love you, Mamo."

Funny, she thought to herself while her lids slid closed, but she could have sworn that her Thank-you, Endymion sounded exactly like I love you, Mamo. She grinned at her own delusion. Dying or not, she would never tell him how she really felt.

Endymion's eyes widened to twice their normal size, the phenomena caused both by Serenity's confession of love and the sensation of her life force slipping from her broken body. He began to tremble. He cradled her petite figure in his arms while a steady stream of tears began to fall down his face. He shook his head with disbelief. She couldn't die. He wouldn't let her.

"No!" he desperately shouted. His voice absorbed into the void of atmosphere around him, almost as though he didn't exist. He stared at the jeweled handle that protruded from Serenity's stomach. Endymion impulsively reached for the hilt and gently pulled the dagger from the girl's abdomen. Serenity barely stirred; he hardly felt a stir of energy inside of her. He dropped the blade in the void and clasped Serenity's hand in his. He clamped his eyes shut and drew on the Golden Crystal's power. He bent his head over the princess. His tears dripped onto her cheeks. Endymion sniffled and sucked in a deep breath. He leaned his mouth toward her ear and whispered, "I love you, Usa."

He pressed his lips against hers, hoping for his kiss to revive her. Endymion felt the energy drain from his body and filter into hers. Using their connection, the prince willed the princess back to life. Their shared bond indicated that his power returned Serenity from the brink of death. Endymion only relented when his own energy was so depleted that he could no longer stand. He fell to his knees, but he was careful not to drop the princess. He feared that he would lose her to the void of space between the Earth and the Moon if he let her go. After everything that had happened, he wasn't going to surrender her so easily.

And yet, his weak limbs and tired body wanted to release everything. His exhaustion was stronger than his will to stay awake, to remain aware, or to hold Serenity. The prince's lids fluttered. Serenity's crystalline blue eyes, sparkling with newfound life, were all Endymion saw before finally succumbing to the darkness.

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End of Chapter 26

Whew! That took a long time to write. I have a feeling I am nearing the end of this particular tale; one or two chapters remain. I can't tell you how happy that makes me, though I doubt I'm completely finished. This is just the first installment. I'm prone to claim insanity when I realize what a big venture this particular story has turned into.

hatami: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like the story; thank you for your response regarding the past couple of chapters. It's always challenging to include all the facets and characters in the climax of a story. A lot of that was build-up for this chapter, so I hope it was worth the wait.

Nimbirosa: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Er, sorry about not updating sooner.

Karla: I probably put way too much thought and detail in this silly story. Thanks, yet again, for a review. You're one of my most consistent reviewers; I appreciate your devotion, even if I'm slow to update.

alexis: Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for reviewing.

Veronica: Always, I look forward to your reviews! I hope you also enjoyed this chapter.

bebe1984: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope this one was worth the, um, long wait.

Princess of Venus: A reviewer after my own heart! I always write lengthy reviews, so I really appreciated your long, detailed review. I'm so appreciative of your feedback; it matters little if you are a member so long as you provide an insightful response. I was flattered by your praise, plus relieved that you enjoy and appreciate what I've written. The story, above all, must be character-driven, and the one thing that attracted me to the world of Sailor Moon was the bond between Serenity and Endymion. The anime did not do the pair justice, which is why I tend to pull more influence from the manga. That being said, I also grab from the anime—Rei's attraction to Endymion in this chapter is a prime example (she's not attracted to him at all in the manga). I did take liberty with Endymion by giving him more power, though he does have tons more of it in the manga than in he does in the anime. As for whether the senshis-in-training overlook the Moon-Earth taboo so their princess can run into the sunset with her prince…well, you'll have to read future installments to find out if that will happen.

ChibiMoonEmEm: I didn't even realize how much of the last chapter was from Endymion's point of view until you mentioned it in your review. While I typed this most recent chapter out, I proudly thought that I had added more of Serenity's pov, but then I revised it and the end of this chapter wound up belonging to Endymion. D'oh! I hope you don't mind. The plot unravels with more ease when I write from his perspective, I guess. He just seems a lot more observant than Serenity while I'm writing. Thanks for making me aware of it, though. It was never my intention to write primarily from his pov; otherwise, I would have written it in the first person! As for the other scouts arriving soon…they were always intended for this chapter, so your comment came at the right time.