Chapter 02: Serendipity

"Jadeite's fine," Endymion insisted, shrugging his inner vest off. "He's just a...self-styled comedian."

"None of my friends talk to me like that," Serenity said, dropping her slippers to the carpeted floor by the side of her bed and slipping her slim body underneath the covers.

"Well...friend might not be the...exact right word to use." Endymion placed his vest on a hook inside the wardrobe. "I mean, you get to pick your friends, right?" He reached down and loosened the waist of his pants, pulling the garment down his legs.

"So is he fine or not?" Serenity wormed her way down the bed, setting her head down on her pillow and putting her hands up behind her head.

"Well, I mean...maybe he's not as funny as he'd like to think, and...look, just chalk it up to a male thing." Endymion folded his pants and placed them over a small metal bar in the wardrobe, then quickly danced his fingers down his front, unbuttoning his shirt on the way. "He won the genetic lottery, he ended up as my guardian, and he...really knows how to talk some trash, but it's okay."

"I guess," Serenity conceded. "Really though, we weren't exaggerating...really good speech today. That kind of thing is going to be...really important going forward."

After hanging his shirt on a hook, he closed the wardrobe sliding door and turned to face his wife-to-be. Though he would obviously never bring himself to say it, her bedroom always managed to highlight the radically different direction her Kingdom was taking compared to his. In terms of size, it was quite respectable, with a high ceiling and space to spare in both directions. And there was an impressive chandelier of bright white pearls and crystal ornaments hanging from a golden chain in the middle. On the right wall, a door opened up into a walk-in closet. The walls themselves had been made into a very large canvas, an artist long ago adorning all four of them with an impossibly complex series of paint strokes that told an old fable through colorful images.

On the other hand, the size served to highlight what the room didn't have. The furnishings of the room felt somewhat minimalistic, large areas of empty space separating the various furnishings. The middle of the room was so open and blank it may as well have been a dance floor. Close inspection of the above chandelier revealed many bare strings where pearls had had fallen from without replacement. The artistry on the walls had been chipped, cracked, and dulled by the ravages of time. The plainer sections of the wall were left bare, even as they seemed to beg for some sort of decoration or smaller painting for the sake of variety.

Of their two bedrooms, he certainly knew which one he would prefer a majority of their time be spent in.

"Yeah." He approached the bed. "There can't be a misunderstanding here on what this is, it's...two strong Kingdoms consolidating their power for the benefit of all."

Serenity gave a wry smile. "There's nobody else listening, you know, it's just me here. You don't have to pitch anything to anyone."

"No, no, this is...this is an alliance, a...a merger," Endymion insisted, sitting down on the right side of Serenity's bed, looking at her over his shoulder.

"Hey now," Serenity said, pulling herself across the bed towards him. "You can call it what it is, I don't mind." She reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders. "It doesn't matter to me as long as we're together."

"Okay, well...just believe me when I say what I say about your Kingdom. I'm going to make sure that it...maintains its independence and all that." Endymion allowed himself to fall backwards onto the bed.

"I believe you," she assured him. "Now, you don't need to keep trying to comfort me. I know what I'm sitting on, I know what you're sitting on, and I know what this union does for us. And I'm fine with that!"

Endymion sat back up, then rolled himself over towards the top of the bed. "Alright, sorry, I...talk too much about that." He sighed. "So, you think you're gonna be okay seeing a lot more of the...the guys now?"

"Ohh...well, Jadeite's a bit of an...acquired taste, but I'm not worried about them," she said, snuggling up by his side. "It always throws me though, how...casual your father is. I mean, with you, maybe with me, sure...but your guardians?"

"Trust me, my father's...a lonely man. And we all need people we can have a normal, easy conversation with. For him, those people...aren't around anymore. So he gets it where he can." Endymion reached over, placing his right arm on Serenity's left shoulder. "I keep telling him he should get some new guardians for himself, but...I suppose he's still too attached to the ones he lost."

Serenity thought for a moment. "He ever consider...y'know, remarrying?"

Endymion didn't immediately reply. "I don't know," he finally answered. "We've had the conversation before, of course...don't know if he ever actually considered it."

A slightly uneasy silence hung over the couple for a moment. Serenity finally decided to break it by reaching over Endymion's body, small, slender hand rubbing along his pelvis area. "Soooo, what do you wanna do when we get up? Wanna go see the mines?"

"Mines?" Endymion repeated. "What's down there, rocks?"

"Well, mostly," Serenity admitted. "But it's a pretty big and...complex tunnel system down there, and you've never been down there."

"Yeah, complex tunnel of rocks," Endymion said, giving a slight wince as Serenity's hand continued to play about the most sensitive area on his body.

"One moment you're telling me how great the Moon is and how this is a 'mutually beneficial merger'...next moment you're talking bad about our mines," she chided.

"I'm not saying anything bad about the Moon," he insisted. "Just...when I take you on tours of Earth, you get to see...the Great Barrier Reef system, or the Abussos Falls, or the Vilma Temple."

"Okay, okay, fine," Serenity said. "We'll head back to Earth first thing after we get up, if that's the attitude you're going to have."

Endymion gave a little smirk. "I didn't say no, I'm just asking...what's down there?"

Serenity began to rub a little harder. "We can ride the carts around. It's fun. On the straightaways they get around a thousand pesses per secunda, it's exciting."

"Hey hey," Endymion said. "You need to set a good example for your people and start getting used to Earth units of measurement, sweetie."

Serenity rolled her eyes. "What happened to keeping our independence?"

"You'll be thanking us once you get used to it," Endymion insisted.

"Alright, alright, if you really hate the Moon that much—"

Endymion shook his head. "No, no, the mines...the mines sounds good, really. We'll do that. That sounds fun."

"Now that's the attitude to have." Serenity nodded, then frowned, peeling the blanket up slightly with her off-hand and peering underneath it. "What's going on down there?"

Endymion pursed his lips. "W-well, maybe it's not such a great idea, what about the baby?"

"I'm not even showing yet, don't be silly," Serenity comforted. "Now today's a day of celebration, so let's celebrate."

Endymion closed his eyes. "Okay, alright...I'm good, just...keep going, it'll go." He gave a little moan as Serenity began to rub harder.

"

"Y'know, this is the...the one thing they never taught me, I swear," Endymion babbled, leaning his head up against the wall behind the bed. "It's really kind of silly when you think about it, I once spent two days being taught which forks you're supposed to use for different foods, but they never teach you this."

Serenity laid back on the other side of the bed, arms crossed over her chest, looking up at the ceiling. She rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, I...sorry," Endymion mumbled.

She gave him a wry smile. "It's okay, you'll...figure it out with experience," she said.

"You think so?" Endymion said, sliding down into a lying position.

"Well, I...sincerely hope so," she added, crowding up closer to him. "Don't worry about it...everyone knows I'm marrying you for your money anyway."

"I-I mean, I...have my moments, obviously, right? I mean, I did kind of...without even wanting to, plant a—"

"That's not something to be proud of, dearie," Serenity interrupted, cuddling up to him. "Just...stop talking. It's okay. We'll get it next time."

Endymion, with a little sigh of his own, sunk into the mattress and wrapped his left arm around Serenity.

"

The silver, tube-shaped trolley zipped across the grey, flat expanse of terrain, leaving the man-made structures of the capital city behind. It was a ride as smooth as it was silent, anti-gravity pads along the bottom of the tube allowing it to hover just above ground as it cruised along. A pair of thin wisps of smoke, trailing up towards the skies, were all that it left behind as evidence that it had ever passed through at all. Those inside the trolley could close their eyes and forget they were moving at all.

Inside, a dozen chairs were set in two rows along the sides, built of polished wood carvings and purple velvet, a single alley down the middle. Serenity and Endymion sat in the front two seats, Kunzite seated right behind the Earth Prince. Serenity was watching the landscape zip by, eyes dancing from one natural landmark to another. Endymion had his head turned, leaning back towards Kunzite.

"I think I can handle this one on my own," Endymion said quietly, glancing over at Serenity before looking back to Kunzite. "I think I'd prefer it, actually, please."

"I have a job to do, Prince. There are many aspects to this job, but chief among them is doing everything within my power to keep you safe," Kunzite said through gritted teeth, keeping his voice down. "Me letting you go into an unsecured system of tunnels with a young woman and a single guide is me not doing my job."

"Well, I'm putting my foot down," Endymion replied. "Today it's...accompanying me down into the Moon mines, tomorrow it'll be sleeping in my room at the foot of the bed. Stay here or go back to the palace." With another quick glance at Serenity, he leaned in closer towards Kunzite. "I don't want to look weak in front of these people, and nothing says weak like having a bodyguard following me around everywhere." He thought for a moment. "In fact, I'd prefer you not leave the trolley at all."

"You'll have to forgive me, my Prince, if I'm dubious about the quality of the safety mechanisms down there," Kunzite protested. "I mean, look at this trolley."

Endymion's forehead wrinkled. "What about the trolley? Feels perfectly safe to me."

"Some of the cushions are frayed, and the wood polish is faded along the front," Kunzite pointed out. "If this is what they use to transport royalty, I can't help but wonder about what the miners get."

"Maybe it needs a touch-up, but it seems just as safe as anything we have on Earth," Endymion replied. "Now, if there was any danger down there, they'd never let Serenity set foot inside."

Kunzite grimaced as the trolley approached a small crater, with an artificial iron gate built into the side. "What if there's some sort of...cave-in, and you get trapped? Even if they have taken every precaution, accidents do happen."

Endymion squinted. "Well, in a cave-in, breathable air tends to run in short supply, so...the fewer people are with me, the better."

Kunzite rolled his eyes. "Suppose there's an...an avalanche of some sort?"

"Wait, wait, is this some sort of...if I die, you want to die with me, kind of thing? Because I'm not seeing how you'd save me from an avalanche even if you were there." Endymion shook his head. "You're staying here, that's final."

"Sorry that the trolley isn't to your satisfaction," Serenity suddenly spoke up. Both Prince and his guardian snapped their heads over to look at her. "We've been focusing our budget into social programs the last few years."

Slowly, Endymion turned back over his shoulder to shoot Kunzite a dirty look. Kunzite grimaced.

"O-of course," Kunzite mumbled. "S-sorry, Your Highness, I was just—"

"You boys should know how much your voices carries," she added. "They're very deep."

"I didn't say anything bad about the trolley," Endymion said quickly.

The sleek transportation tube slowed to a halt alongside the below-ground gate, the doors at the front and back of the trolley snapping open. Serenity stood up, Endymion quickly lurching over to her side and taking her hand in his. Kunzite remained seated, watching as the two descended down the single step to the surface of the Moon.

"Because really, I think it's a very nice trolley—"

Serenity snuggled up at his side, wrapping her right arm around his back. "Don't worry about it," she comforted. The two quickly covered the short distance over to the iron gates.

"I just...I just don't want you think I'm a snob or something." Endymion quickly looked the arching metal structure over, a simple iron barrier with a large pair of hinged plates in the center to provide an entrance. To the immediate right of the gate was a protruding little booth, large enough for perhaps two people, with a square on the front face removed. A single man sat inside the little booth.

"I already think that, dear," Serenity said cheekily.

Endymion stopped mid-stride, looking down at his wife-to-be. "W-wait, you think—"

"Yes, dear. You're a snob, I'm a snob, we're all snobs. That's what happens when you grow up in a palace." Before he could reply, she raised her left hand up in the air to wave at the gatekeeper. "Hey, Ales!"

Ales quickly stood up, eyes trained on her companion and going slightly wide. His back straightened imperceptibly. Serenity guided Endymion to the front of the booth.

"Suppose you two haven't met yet," Serenity said casually, gesturing over to Endymion. "Ales, I'm sure you're familiar with Prince Endymion of Earth?"

Ales's mouth flapped open slightly, then sealed again, before he spoke. "I—I wasn't told to expect the Prince," he mumbled, taking a small half-step backwards.

"Oh, well, it's not really a big deal or anything." Serenity came up to the front of the little box. "We're just gonna cruise around in the carts for a bit, same as usual. Could you give Sergio a call and tell him I'm here?"

Ales suddenly remembered himself and turned to the Prince, bowing deeply. With an awkward pirouette, he turned away to the wall at the back of the booth, hands reaching up to a rectangular screen built into the surface, fingers dancing across it.

Serenity turned to look up at Endymion. "You'll like it. It's fun."

"

Endymion swallowed a building lump in his throat down as he looked at the iron-grey cart, mounted on a pair of steel tracks that extended off into the distance, down deeper into the dark caves. He peered inside the rectangular vehicle, seeing three wooden planks set up as seating, enough room to fit six. He reached his right hand up and placed it on the rim of the cart, gripping it and giving it a little push down the tracks, feeling the slight movement and watching the wheels rotate slightly.

"Something the matter?" Serenity asked from behind Endymion. He turned to look over his shoulder, a thin smile on his lips, seeing a male figure standing next to Serenity in his peripheral vision.

"Oh, uh, no," Endymion said, turning around to face her. "It's just...y'know, wheels." He pointed at the man next to Serenity, middle aged with brown hair. "This is Sergio?"

Serenity nodded. "Yes. He's been working down here since before I knew how to walk."

Sergio bowed in Endymion's direction. "Pleasure to meet a Prince, Your Majesty." Serenity walked back over towards the entrance of the mine, where a pair of sentries stood guard.

Endymion gave him a small nod and smile. "Y-yes, pleasure to meet you as well." He turned to look down the path of the steel tracks, quickly losing sight of them due to the darkness that quickly engulfed the passage down deeper into the Moon. "So, bit of a blast from the past, right?" He gestured down towards the tracks. "I mean…" he gave a small nervous laugh, "...anti-gravity pads haven't made their way down here?"

Sergio walked up to the cart, vaulting the side and neatly slotting himself into a seat against the back. "No room in the budget for that. But wheels get you where you're going just fine." He winced. "Sorry, Your Majesty, I'm...I am just far too used to contractions."

Endymion shrugged. "Use them, I don't mind." He pointed down the pitch-black path. "Not that I know anything about mining, but I've seen the ones on Earth once or twice, and...seems a little dark down there. You could maybe string some lights along the walls."

Sergio nodded. "We've had to cut back in the illumination department as well," he conceded, left hand tapping at a switch inside the cart, to the left of his seat. A dozen lenses along the outside of the cart lit up, ejecting light in all directions. "People bring their own lights down when they need it."

"Okay," Endymion said, leaning in towards Sergio. "I need to ask, please don't be offended, I just need to know...honest now, what's the...mortality rate in these things? What about injuries? Just...be honest."

Sergio hit another control button to his left, the cart sparking to life with a gentle hum, shuddering for a split second as the motors on the wheels warmed up. "We've had no cart-related injuries in the mines in one hundred and eighty-one cycles, Your Highness."

Endymion put his hands against the edge of the cart, looking down into it, pursing his lips. "F...fifteen years, are you sure? That...doesn't seem entirely possible. N-no offense, again, it just doesn't...look that safe." His mind went to Kunzite's warnings of a few moments ago.

Sergio nodded. "It's safe," he assured him. "We've allowed the heir to the Moon Kingdom to ride in these things since she was very young, we'd never do that unless we trusted it completely."

"Yes, that's how I viewed it." Endymion warily looked at the transport, glancing down at the wheels, the grooved edges slotting in perfectly with the tracks. "It's just...there's a reason why anti-gravity vehicles are being used in most situations these days, it's...having points of contact with the ground, that's basically where all the unpredictability factors in, and given your apparent budget restraints, I just have to wonder about...safety protocol."

"Very fair," Sergio admitted. "Your Majesty, think of it this way." He spread his arms out to the sides of the cart. "We can't afford much of anything down here, you've probably figured that out by now. And there is nothing in this industry more expensive than work-related injury and death claims. So whatever funding we get goes right into making sure everything is safe as can be."

Endymion nodded, then sighed. "Well...alright."

"If anything happens to you or Princess Serenity while they're in these carts, I'm the first person who ends up on the chopping block," he added. "I'm very aware of that."

Serenity stepped up from behind Endymion, a small leather sack strapped across her back and a second identical one in her hands. She handed it over to Endymion, then jumped into the front left of the cart.

"Make sure you strap that on," Sergio warned Endymion. "Just in case you get lost or separated, you'll need that."

"C'mon!" Serenity pointed down at the seat at her right side. "Let's go!"

Ignoring the slight uneasiness in his stomach, Endymion stepped over the rim of the cart and settled himself down next to his fiance. He looped the strap on the leather sack up above his head, then tightened it around his chest. He glanced around as Sergio dragged his fingers across a panel behind him on the cart.

"You know...I think this might be the first time I've ridden in something with wheels," he mused quietly as the cart eased forward. Quickly, he reached over to his right and pulled a small hinged iron bar across his lap, securing him in.

"

Endymion reached over, behind Serenity, grabbing her long blonde pigtails and pulling them back into the safety of the cart. His right hand remained firmly attached to the small handle to his right, knuckles white with the force of his grip. The cart made a sudden right turn, Endymion almost falling into Serenity as he tried to gather her hair with one hand.

"It's fine!" Serenity yelled over the roar of the rushing wind, the cart accelerating to top speed on a straightaway, zooming past a seemingly infinitely-repeating set of stone walls.

"It might get tangled in the wheels!" Endymion insisted back, taking her two long bundles of hair and holding it between her right shoulder and his left side.

"Hasn't happened yet!" Serenity replied.

Endymion felt a tap on his left shoulder. He turned over it, finding Sergio leaning up close to him.

"Your Majesty! You want to stop at the next port?!" he said loudly, the cart zooming out of the mouth of one tunnel, passing through a more open area that had been mined out, before ducking into another tunnel.

Endymion threw a glance up towards Serenity, then looked back to Sergio. "Keep going!"

"

Endymion leaned up against the wall of the tunnel, taking in a deep breath. "Whew!" he muttered to himself. "Yeah, you were...you were right, they do get going pretty good on those straightaways."

"You okay?" Serenity asked, jumping over the edge of the cart and walking over to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he insisted. "Just give me a bit."

"We're pretty far down," Sergio said, also stepping out of the cart. "Eighty leugas roughly."

"Dolichos," Endymion said, still slightly breathless. "That's what we call them on Earth."

"That's right," Sergio said. "It'll take a while to get used to that."

"It's easy," Endymion insisted, pushing himself away from the rock formation he had used for temporary support. "You've got the length of a single pace, a...haploun, or most people just call them paces. Averaged size pace. Then it's just multiples of ten. Ten paces in a kalamos, ten kalamos in a pletron, ten pletrons in a dolicho. It's a very clean system, you'll like it once you get used to it."

Sergio gave a little chuckle. "I'll take your word for it." He grabbed a circular lens attached to the strap across his torso and gave it a right twist, immediately drawing a searing beam of light from it and projecting it against the wall.

Endymion looked around the tunnel, both down further into the depths of the mines and back the way they came. "So...you like working down here?"

Sergio shrugged. "Don't know much of anything else. I'll admit, it's not as rewarding as it used to be."

Endymion nodded. "How are things down here? I mean, if you're allowed to say, what minerals do you guys find down here?"

Sergio gave another small chuckle. "I suppose this'll all basically be yours in due time." He cleared his throat. "Mostly silver. Unfortunately. Healthy amount of iron and copper. Some gold and a few gems. Every now and then we get really lucky and find some Boron Crystal, but it's mostly silver."

Endymion gazed down the tunnel that lead further downward. "Rotten luck, how things change."

"Our bad luck, someone else's gain," Sergio said. "Was inevitable, really. Look at how small the Moon is compared to...well, every other independent Kingdom out there." He looked at Endymion. "Have to be a fool to not see it coming."

"Well, if the history books we get over on Earth are accurate, I can hardly blame anyone for assuming the best." Endymion licked his lips.

"Oh, so you're familiar, Your Highness?"

"Hey!" Serenity called out, back in the cart and clearly antsy to take another extended joyride through the mines. "I'm ready when you are!"

"I know!" Endymion called back. "Just hold on!" He turned back to Sergio. "More or less, but...you can tell your version of things and we'll compare."

Sergio bit down on his cheek. "Recorded history on the Moon only goes back about...thirty-eight thousand cycles, right before we started to have interplanetary travel. W-what's that...three thousand Earth-years?"

"Three thousand two hundred almost, yeah," Endymion said.

"And I'm sure those old scriptures contain plenty of...hyperbole and inaccuracy, I can't pretend to have been there. But back then, I can certainly understand why we thought we'd never run out of exports." He shook his head. "Carnelian Crystal, right on the surface, didn't even have to dig for it." He gave a small smile. "Nobody else in the galaxy had so much as a pinch of the stuff. You want to talk about negotiation leverage, there you go. Might have been a little careless with it. If you believe the ancient murals and drawings, every structure on the surface was made of Carnelian Crystal. So, twenty-five hundred of your years ago, when...exporting goods became the lifeblood of the economy, everyone wanted a taste."

"We've got a couple temples on Earth made from the stuff," Endymion said. "Really incredible."

Sergio nodded. "Again, hyperbole, but...the old scriptures swear you could take a lump, a single libra...y'know, about the size of my fist, give it to a powerful-enough psychic, and they could mold it into a...y'know, structure, house big enough for a family of eight. Don't even ask me about the science behind that." He shook his head. "So we rode that for...I guess it would be fifteen hundred years. Then the well went dry."

"Sounds more or less like what they teach on Earth," Endymion said.

"But hey, it wasn't so bad at first. We started digging, and lo and behold, we found silver. A lot of it." He grimaced. "Maybe too much. Thousand years ago, it was actually worth something."

Endymion shifted a little, glancing back over towards the wall to his left. "Yeah...sorry about that."

"Oh, it wasn't just Earth," Sergio replied. "It was everyone...they basically found an entire mountain made of silver on Neptune, then it showed up on Venus...supply had outstripped demand. Had to send the stuff out faster and faster, got harder to find buyers, and...well, here we are now."

There was a short pause, Endymion chewing on his lower lip.

"A-at least there's a lot of it," Endymion mumbled.

"Was a lot of it," he corrected. "We've practically dug our way through the entire Moon at this point. At the rate things are going...give it twenty years and there won't be anywhere left to look." He sighed. "Can't squeeze blood out of a stone. Not that we haven't been trying these last hundred cycles. Most of of the time, we find enough stuff to pay all the workers at least."

"Well…" Endymion paused, then turned to Sergio. "Wait...most of the time?"

He nodded. "Some cycles we're up. Others we're down."

Endymion turned back towards the wall, forehead furrowed in thought as he tried to think of something to say.

"Don't worry, I know what you're thinking. Not the smartest investment by the crown." He glanced over his shoulder at Serenity, who was still seated in the minecart with her back turned to them, tapping her fingers on the rim of the cart. "I suppose the logic is...keep looking and hope this place has one last gift to give. That or just...give up."

"What do you think?" Endymion asked.

He gave a wry smile. "What do I think? Well...I like to think this is a really special place in the galaxy. And I don't believe it's going to just...go out with a whimper."

Endymion patted him on the back. "That's the spirit."

"Come oooonnnnnnnn!" Serenity whined. "While we're young, please?!"

"Alright, alright!" Endymion said over his shoulder. "We're coming!"

"Can we go deeper?" Serenity asked.

"Afraid not, Your Majesty," Sergio replied. "Past this point, things get a lot more unstable. Section one-eighty-two is pushing it as it is. We head back up, maybe take the long route down seventy-two and seventy-one."

Endymion took one step towards the cart, but paused on hearing a mechanical whir from his right, from behind the stone wall, as well as a series of abrasive crunching. He stared in the general direction of the sound as it grew louder, noticing the wall starting to shake ever so slightly.

"Alright Your Majesty, it'll be more of an uphill climb this time, so it should be a little slower and more controlled," Sergio said, jumping into the cart and turning around, face falling as he saw the Prince of Earth hadn't followed him. "Your Majesty?"

Endymion took a couple cautious steps back as the grinding got to an ear-splitting volume. A circular section of the tunnel wall suddenly began to crumble, being reduced to rubble and falling to the side as a circle-shaped piece of metal burst through into the tunnel. On the face of the circle were a dozen glowing-red bubbles, Endymion immediately able to feel the intense heat emitting from them.

The large piece of mining equipment slid forward easily, emerging completely from the hole it had created, revealing a single worker manning it, holding onto two large handles on the back to guide it.

"Who's there?" he called out, peering out from behind the driller, a bright light emanating from a lens on his chest.

Endymion shuffled to his left, away from the menacing front of the driller. Sergio and Serenity, having leapt from the cart to run over to Endymion's side, came up next to him.

"The manifest didn't have anybody—" he began, mouth quickly zipping and eyes bulging as he made out the tall, thin figure he had nearly run over. "—holy shit!"

"Hey, watch it," Sergio grunted. "Don't worry, it's fine, he's just down here for a little joyride."

The drillman, however, remained frozen in shock, eyes glued to the Prince, right finger making a small movement on the back of the drill to deactivate the energy bubbles on the face.

"N-nice drill," Endymion said, walking up past the drillman and poking his head into the hole in the wall. It was a tunnel, maybe just three paces in length, that opened up into a massive empty chamber, towering wall of rock on the right and massive, gaping crevice on the left, a small ledge allowing a dangerous passage across. "Wow...did you guys do this? This must have taken years." Thoughtlessly, he stepped forward, passing through the small tunnel and out onto the ledge.

"N-no, this was like this when we got here," Sergio said quickly, following Endymion. "Your Highness, please, this place hasn't been secured yet, it might be unstable."

As if on cue, the chunk of rock Endymion was standing on crumbled into rubble, leaving the Prince standing on air. With no time to act, he slipped down, grunting in shock as his back hit the stone wall of the crevice. As he began to slide down the rock face, helped only by a slight outward slant that slowed him ever-so-slightly, he could hear assorted screams from behind him.

He turned and blindly grabbed at the wall, looking for something to grab. His hand found nothing but sheer and smooth rock, and his efforts just caused him to begin to tumble out of control. Suddenly, his body slipped into a large gap in the cliff wall, sliding off deeper into the caves, the force of impact from the landing in the tunnel's curved surface knocking the wind from his lungs. His slid far out of sight, gravity pushing him into a place unknown.

"

At the mouth of the tunnel, Serenity stood, mouth gaping in horror, eyes wide as she stared at where her fiance had just been. Sergio stood just one step out on the ledge, similarly terrified by what had just transpired.

"Oh shit, I'm DEAD!" Sergio gasped out, spinning around and almost running into Serenity as he tried to go back through to the main tunnel.

Serenity's mouth flapped open slightly, then regained use of her legs and quickly turned to run back into the main tunnel as well, Sergio following. The drillman remained standing there, seemingly still in shock.

"Your Highness, please tell me he got the locator up at the entrance," Sergio pleaded, marching towards the cart, Serenity one step in front of him.

"Yeah, of course!" Serenity said breathlessly, leaping into the cart, Sergio slotting in behind her and immediately turning towards the little control panel against the back side. "S-Sergio, I—I...w-what do we—"

"I-it's okay," Sergio said with little conviction. "We'll go up to hub seven and ping his locator, and hope it works!" The cart hummed to life and the wheels cranked forth, sending the two rocketing up the tracks the way they had come from.

"W-why wouldn't it work?!" Serenity could feel her eyes tearing as the initial shock wore off to be replaced by fear. "A-aren't those supposed to work through anything?!"

"Yes," he answered. "But we have no idea how deep he went!"

The cart sped past a bend in the tunnel, making record time, Serenity not enjoying the ride at all this time.

"

Endymion coughed raggedly for several seconds, eyes squeezed shut as a cloud of dust was kicked up from his impact with the rock surface. He yanked his arm out from underneath him and tried to swat the cloud away.

After a moment, he opened his eyes, finding absolutely nothing in the pitch-blackness of the cave before him. He sucked down a deep breath, trying to alleviate the pain in his chest. Slowly, his lungs filled. His hands felt around, finding smooth stone all around him. As his hands crawled forward, however, he felt a lip, as the tunnel he was in seemed to expand. Afraid to move without the benefit of sight, he calmed himself before acting. After a silent moment, he propped himself up slightly and fumbled with the leather strap on his chest, feeling along it, finally finding the circular lens. He twisted it, and to his relief, it fired off a brilliant beam of light.

He looked down, thankful to see he was not hanging over a bottomless gap. In fact, the ground was right beneath him, as the small tunnel he had slid down opened into a larger one, the smooth surfaces and steady cuts indicating the tunnel had been forged artificially. He pulled himself forward, getting to his feet and looking down the long path before him.

He jumped at a series of clicks emitting from the leather bag strapped to his back. Quickly, he pulled the bag up over his head and kneeled down on the floor, setting it down in front of him. Thankfully, the sack had remained sealed through his fall. Undoing the four clasps at the lip, he ripped the bag open.

The source of the noise was at the top of the bag's contents, a spherical ball the size of his fist. He picked it up, a small indicator light on the surface blinking blue. He spun it around in his hands until he found the 'LOCATOR' label on one side of the smooth surface. Slowly, he tilted his head up and looked at the ceiling, a handful of paces above his head.

He quickly searched through the remaining contents of the bag, finding a pack of crackers and bottle of small pills, along with a water canteen and three flares. Sealing the bag, he looked around, both at the small rock tube he had come in from, and the larger tunnel in front of him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he carefully considered his situation.

"Okay...okay…" he muttered under his breath. "The locator was activated remotely...if they can turn it on then...they'll be able to pick up the signal too, that's...that's logical."

Nevertheless, he couldn't help but again glance up at the very-thick rock ceiling above his head and wonder if the pulses were strong enough to get through countless layers of the stuff. He bent down, looking at the ground of the open tunnel in front of him, placing his palm down on it. He put his left ear against the ground, looking down the tunnel. It seemed to ramp upwards, at least slightly. And these tunnels were obviously cut for mining, so it had to lead somewhere…

Cautiously, he stepped forward, pausing with each step as he tried to test the ground before putting his full weight on it. His trek forward was slow and rather uneventful, the tunnel making a slight turn to the left as he went on.

After fifty paces, give or take a couple, he came to a fork. The path seemed to continue to the right, but there was an alternate tunnel that split out to the left side. Grimacing, he shined his light down the left route, trying to judge the path ahead. He again kneeled down, rubbing his right palm on the ground, looking for any sort of slope.

A small glint about half a dozen paces down the path caught his eye, distracting him from his decision on which way to go. He stood up, the light beam from his chest catching something on the ground. A quick glance to his right, he slowly stepped forward, closing in on the object. He kneeled down over it.

At first look, it appeared to be a piece of glass, crystal clear, easy to see directly through. It was about the size of his index finger, a couple of roughly-cut lines down the length of it. He slowly picked it up, holding it between his right thumb and index finger, lifting it up as he stood back up straight.

He turned it around in his fingers, observing it from every angle. His initial guess of glass remained a fair guess, as no perspective offered anything but a shockingly clear view of the rock wall on the other side of it. And then, he lowered it slightly, just a tad closer to the light on his chest, and the crystal's surface suddenly became reflective. He dropped the crystal in shock, fumbling it around in his fingers before catching it again. This caused it to return to a transparent state, and it laid in his hands, for all the world resembling a crude piece of glass art.

Slowly, he brought it back closer to his chest, closer to the source of bright light, until it again suddenly transformed into a tiny mirror. He stared at himself on one of the flat sides of the little crystal for several moments, feeling his mouth go dry as he processed this.

He engulfed the little crystal in his hand and looked up at the walls on either side of him. He went up to the right side, taking the light from his chest and bending it around, closely analysing the rock surface as best as his eyes could manage. It didn't take long for him to find it. A few steps to his left, there was a little indentation in the wall, about the size of his finger. And to the left of this little mark was a thin little vein of a crystal-clear substance, trailing down the tunnel, around a bend about twenty paces away from Endymion.

Quickly, he went up to the little crater in the wall, pulling out the crystal in his hand and putting it up to it. He flipped it about in his fingers until a smooth face was facing outwards, then pushed it into the gap. It was a perfect fit, slotting into the gap and rejoining the vein it had no doubt been part of before.

Endymion's breath hitched, his left hand running across the smooth vein, admiring it's clarity. If you weren't looking for it, it wouldn't be hard to not even notice it at all, instead seeing right through it. Grabbing the light on his chest, he twisted it off the strap and lifted it up to the vein. Sure enough, several paces worth of the crystal became reflective.

Endymion swallowed down hard, eyes glued to the vein as he took the small piece of it back in his hand. He took three steps down the tunnel, looking down, seeing the deposit continue on beyond his view. There was a bend not far ahead, he could at least follow it that far and—

"Your Majesty!"

Endymion froze in his tracks, twisting his head over his shoulder as the pair of words echoed off the walls. It had definitely come from that direction. He stood there, waiting.

"Your Highness! If you can hear me, stay where you are! We're coming to get you!"

"I'm fine!" Endymion yelled back, cupping his hands around his mouth. "I'm well, I'm not hurt!"

He waited, counting the beats as his own voice carried through the tunnels.

"Good! Stay there, Your Highness, we're coming to get you!"

Just a couple beats. They weren't far away.

Endymion glanced to his left, at the long vein of crystal trailing down the path. He then turned his focus to the small piece in his hand. He quickly shoved it into the inside pocket of his jacket, then shined the light back down the tunnel the way he had come, quickly jogging down it.

"No no, it's quite alright, I'm coming, I'm following your voice!" Endymion called out, getting back to the fork. He whipped the sack off of his back and ripped the flap open, reaching in and pulling out one of the flares. He bent down and dropped it to the floor right inside the mouth of the tunnel he had investigated, then taking off down the one path he hadn't been down yet.

"Your Majesty, please just stay where you are, it's not stable!"

Endymion ignored the request, however, as he swiftly jogged down the tunnel, putting distance between him and his discovery. His footsteps echoed off the walls of the cave as he went. Fortunately, there were no more forks in the path, and before long he could see a small light source dancing along the walls in front of him.

"Alright, I'm here!" he cried out, quickly taking the corner and stepping into a cone of powerful light. Two men stood there, one of them Sergio and the other a stranger.

Sergio inhaled deeply, falling to his knees at the sight of the Prince. "Oh, thank the Gods," he moaned. "You're alive!"

"Better than just alive, actually," Endymion said, trying to sound casual. "Just a...a little jolt." The man to Sergio's right dropped to one knee in front of the Prince, Endymion quickly beckoning him back up.

"Oh...they'll probably still kill me," Sergio said quietly to himself.

"Hey, this was my fault, okay?" Endymion insisted. "You don't worry about a thing, I'm the idiot who...fell off that ledge, you had nothing to do with it."

"I'm supposed to keep you from unsecured areas," Sergio muttered. "Been doing it for a long time with Serenity, I've got no excuse."

"Don't worry about anything," Endymion insisted, waving his hand dismissively. "You're fine, I'll see to it personally if I have to." He gave his head a little shake. "O-oh yeah, where's Serenity?"

Sergio gave a small smile. "Practically had to tie her down back at the cart hub. Crying like you wouldn't believe." He shook his head. "I almost started crying when the locator pinged us back and you were here of all places."

A small lump popped up in Endymion's stomach. "U-uh, what's...what's here?"

Sergio wordlessly pointed at the wall right next to Endymion. Endymion turned to look, finding a large slab of wood propped up, bearing large red words.

WARNING: TUNNEL AHEAD UNSECURED AND DANGEROUS. ACCESS FORBIDDEN.

"Huh," Endymion said, reaching up and rubbing his chin. "I, I actually came through from the...the other side," he muttered. "C-could I ask why, I...I didn't notice anything over there." He pointed over his shoulder.

Sergio grimaced. "About...three-quarters of a cycle ago, we sent two miners down there to survey things, standard procedure. Except for the part where they never came back. Of course, accidents do happen in this line of work...so we sent another two down to confirm it." He sighed. "And then...they didn't come back either."

"Huh," Endymion mused to himself. "W-wait, this…" he pointed at the walls on either side of him "...no way, look at the tunnels. Back that way too, the walls are perfectly cut, these tunnels have been drilled out artificially. How can you not know what's inside them?"

"Oh, someone definitely dug these out artificially," Sergio agreed. "Wasn't us, though. As near as we can tell, these were down here back when the mines were first being dug. A lot of the tunnels down here were dug out before civilization as we know it got down here. Those who were here before us, I suppose."

Endymion nodded. "S-sorry, finish your story."

"We don't exactly have the manpower to spare down here, so I didn't want to send another down at that point. Someone volunteered though, and who am I to deny someone the opportunity to figure out what happened to a friend? Now, this one did come back pretty quickly...said he went down one of the paths and set off some sort of...fire trap. Didn't stick around long enough to see what it was. In any case, we've got enough problems without employees burning to death, so we threw up that sign. Guess we're saving this area for last." He shrugged.

Endymion nodded slowly. "W-well that's...that's quite something." He cleared his throat. "Say, just out of...curiosity, h-how far did I fall? Like, what...section did I end up in?"

"Fortunately, not too far," Sergio replied. "Maybe three quarters of a leuga, or...dolicho. And I suppose this would be...section three-one-four. Now, we should get back before the Princess loses her mind."

"Right, right…" Endymion nodded. Sergio turned and began a trek down the tunnel, his search partner and Endymion following closely. "Three-one-four, yeah…"

"

The minecart braked to a halt, cruising into the primary hub and stopping among several dozen other identical carts. Endymion practically being tackled into the seat of the cart by Serenity hugging onto his left arm, sobbing into his shoulder.

"Alright, okay, sweetie, we're back at the surface, that's enough," Endymion mumbled nervously, trying to push her off of his shoulder. "You've had your cry."

"Y-you SCARED me!" Serenity yelped, giving slightly and leaning back towards her seat. "I-I thought that...I-I t-t-thought…"

"I'm sorry, it was an accident!" Endymion said. "Now please, compose yourself—" Endymion glanced up, catching the eye of his loyal bodyguard Kunzite, standing by the exit the mines, arms crossed over his chest. "O-oh, you...you told him."

"Sorry your Majesty," Sergio said under his breath. "It just...it made sense."

Endymion stood up and reluctantly stepped over the lip of the cart, Serenity finally letting go of him enough for him to break away from her grip. Figuring to get it over with, he briskly crossed the few steps over to his guardian, a wry smile on his face.

"So...looks like someone isn't doing their job as royal bodyguard, huh?" Endymion said quietly with a joking vernacular.

"I'm not even going to say anything," Kunzite said evenly. "And I don't see any reason your father needs to hear about this."

"W-well, I appreciate that," Endymion replied quickly. "Seriously though—"

"I just hope you understand now," Kunzite interrupted. "And I hope you learned something."

"Oh, absolutely," Endymion said. "I learned quite a bit, we'll talk about that later." He reached up and clapped Kunzite on the shoulder. "Later."

Kunzite's left eyebrow drew up ever so slightly, but he didn't get the chance to inquire further. Serenity popped up at Endymion's side, wrapping her right arm around his back.

"A-alright," Serenity mumbled, wiping at the inside corner of her eyes. "I'm okay now, I'm okay…let's head on back, I'll call ahead and tell them to get the ship ready."

"W-well, let's hold off on that, actually," Endymion countered quickly. "T-the ship, I mean, don't call ahead, we'll...let's wait a bit."

Serenity looked perplexed, looking up at her fiance. "D-don't you wanna get back to Earth as soon as possible?"

Endymion shrugged. "I mean, I'm already here, might not come back for awhile...given the situation, I could stand to...stick around for a little longer. I mean, in a few cycles, my family will sort of...own this place, couldn't hurt to look things over a little more. It'll look good to the public, right?"

Serenity blinked a couple times, clearly surprised. "U-uh, okay, when do you wanna leave?"

"We'll see how it goes," Endymion said quickly, sidestepping past Kunzite. "Alright, back to the castle!"

"

"I know I said I wasn't going to say anything," Kunzite began, staying a step-and-a-half behind the Prince as he marched down the wide hallway, bright beams of light beating down on them through the windows along the wall to their left. "But it might not be a bad idea to remind you of who you are and how important you are."

Endymion didn't break stride, turning slightly to the right towards a small white door in the wall, quickly wrenching the knob open and stepping inside a pearly white chamber. Kunzite stopped at the threshold, arms crossing over his chest. Endymion turned to look over his shoulder as he grabbed the edge of the door.

"Well?" Endymion asked.

"I'll wait right here," Kunzite said flatly.

Endymion glanced behind Kunzite. "Don't you think in light of what happened earlier today...you might want to...accompany me?"

Kunzite managed to keep any sort of reaction from his face, the two of them standing there in the most awkward of silences.

"I...I'm serious, you should...you should come in with me," Endymion whispered. "Come on." He jerked his head in towards the interior of the room.

Kunzite stepped forward onto the tile of the small chamber, taking one step to the right so Endymion could close the door, again somehow keeping any sort of telling reaction from his expression. He did, however, glance over to the right, at the marble sink against the far wall and the pearly white latrine across from it.

"Right," Kunzite grumbled. Endymion turned around and pulled open a small door in the wall, revealing three shelves of various-sized towels. "Now, the Kingdom of Earth is arguably the most valuable in all the galaxy, and it's a rather compelling argument. You are the lone heir to this Kingdom. You're a single death, apologies for being morbid, away from being named King."

"Right, right," Endymion said under his breath, closing the towel closet and going over to the sink, all the while looking up at the walls and ceiling.

"So, when I advocate for caution in the future, I...w-what are you doing?" he asked, as Endymion spun the faucet-head on the sink, drawing a buzzing little stream of clear, cold water down into the drain.

Endymion turned away from the sink, beckoning Kunzite towards him. "Alright, I need you to focus for a moment." His voice was low, barely above a whisper.

Kunzite hesitantly stepped towards him. "I'm always focused, what are you—"

"Like I said earlier...I learned quite a bit down in those caves, and I think it might be...good to share that new knowledge with you."

Kunzite opened his mouth slightly, then shut it, letting his arms drop to his sides. Slowly, Endymion reached up to his inside chest pocket. His hand emerged in a closed fist, as he again glanced shiftily to the left and right, as if someone might suddenly walk in.

Finally, he put his hand out and opened it up to reveal the small piece of crystal in his palm. He held it up just in front of Kunzite's chest. Kunzite looked down at it for several moments.

"What is this?" Endymion asked, voice as low as he could get it.

"A piece of glass?" Kunzite suggested, reaching up and taking it from Endymion's palm.

"That's what I thought," Endymion said.

Kunzite pinched it between his fingers and lifted it up in front of his face. "Well, I think that's your answer." He spun it around a couple times. "Crudely cut, perhaps an amateur attempt at a decorative item."

Endymion reached up and pinched the end between his thumb and forefinger, sliding it out of Kunzite's hand, and moving it over towards the spherical light source on the wall behind the sink. The crystal immediately became reflective, taking the images around it and copying them back to the two men looking at it. Kunzite stared at it, watching as the little crystal mimicked his flat facial expression.

"Yeah," Endymion said, pulling it back from the light source, reverting it back to a transparent state.

Kunzite grabbed it back. "Where did you find this?" he asked, voice just fractionally louder than the sound of flowing water in the basin.

"Down in the mines, when I got separated." Endymion watched as Kunzite examined the mineral.

"Who else saw it?" he continued.

"No one," he answered. "I hid it before they found me." He leaned in closer to his guardian. "And there was a lot more of it. Now, I only know of one particular substance that reacts to a focused light in that manner." He gave Kunzite a meaningful look. "Am I forgetting something?"

Kunzite shoved the crystal into his front chest pocket. "Let's go find out."

"

Nothing on the Moon had been spared the wrath of repeated budget cuts, including the university. So Endymion wasn't overly surprised to find the condition of the laboratory substandard. The chairs, lined up by an extended counter in the middle of the room, didn't even match. He occasionally felt his shoes stick to the floor for a brief moment as he passed over what was likely the scene of a previous accident that hadn't been completely cleaned up. The shelves against the right wall supported the weight of glass beakers, dishes, and vials, some of them chipped and warped. Frayed and worn lab jackets hung from hooks along the wall. Two of the dozen light sources on the ceiling refused to spark to life, creating an uneven illumination in the room. As Endymion gave a close look at a mechanical liquid distiller in the back right corner of the room, he couldn't but think about his grandfather, harping on the importance of providing quality education to the populace to lay the groundwork for a thriving civilization a generation later. This didn't feel like the ideal setup to train the future Moon citizens.

"Don't they teach level eight and nine courses in here?" Endymion mumbled to himself, turning his focus to Kunzite.

"Yes." His guardian had slid open one of the glass cabinets against the right-side wall to pull out a cube-shaped device about the size of his head, a little black screen on one of the four faces and a small hole on the top. "Please try not to touch anything." He set the device down on the counter.

"Did we really have to come all the way out here?" Endymion asked, walking up next to Kunzite as his knight reached inside a small recess on the right face of the cube and pushed a switch. A tiny blue light flickered open right next to the mouth of the hole on top of the cube and the screen displayed the numbers '00.00%' in a bright red color. "Must have been a reader somewhere in the palace."

"If this is what I suspect, I don't want to be in the palace when we confirm it," Kunzite replied. He reached inside his chest pocket and pulled the crystal out. Quickly, he dropped the crystal through the hole, letting it slide to the bottom of the box. "There was more of it?" he questioned.

"I didn't get a chance to see how much more, but...there was definitely a lot more than just this," Endymion reiterated. "And, based off my probing, they don't seem to know about it."

"It just seems...highly unlikely to me that they could possibly miss something like this," Kunzite muttered as the cube buzzed to life. The numbers on the small screen starting to scramble and scroll through a variety of readouts.

"I doubt Queen Serenity would be aware of something this significant and not tell the Agency, it's not like her," Endymion countered. "And, not that I'm a geologist, but...have you ever seen it so clear and transparent—"

And then, the screen stopped running through numbers, finally settling on a result. Kunzite, for all of his training over the years on keeping calm in any situation, and not giving away anything, couldn't stop from going wide-eyed and gasping as the machine gave it's final answer.

Endymion was not quite so subdued, jaw dropping open as he spied the red numbers on the little screen.

They stared and blinked in awe, expecting that one of these times they might open their eyes and the readout might have changed to something more reasonable, more expected.

It didn't.

"Holy Mother of God," Endymion choked out, as he continued to take in the number displayed, a proclamation of tremendous magnitude.

99.42%