Chapter 27: Cornered Rabbit
Serenity gently shifted her head around on her pillow, eyelids fluttering open. She had finally had enough of laying down in a semi-conscious state, drifting between dreams and reality, and decided to firmly plant herself on the latter side. Blinking away her drowsiness, she lifted her head up, glancing around her bedroom, finding it largely vacated, as she had when she had fallen asleep.
Rolling over, she found her way out from underneath the sheets, her half-naked body tilting up into a standing position as her feet found the carpet. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through her loose, long hair, instinctively reaching up to try to locate the spherical buns atop her head, not yet there until she actually made them.
She turned towards the bathroom door, gaze passing across the back of her room, briefly glancing out the balcony door, at her husband slowly getting to his feet on the deck. She took a couple of slow steps towards the bathroom, pushing her long strands of hair out of her face, before she froze in place, eyes going wide.
She whisked her head back to look at the balcony, where Endymion was slowly rising to his full height. She blinked down hard a few times, expecting that one of these times he was going to disappear and she could get back to her morning routine. But all he did was turn around, look at her scantily-dressed figure, and give an awkward smile and wave.
"Hi," he called out, voice muted by the thick panes of glass.
Serenity was so shocked, she still couldn't come up with any words, just staring with her jaw halfway to the floor. Endymion glanced about, looking a little sheepish and meek.
Finally regaining control of her body and remembering how furious she was with her husband, Serenity stalked over to her balcony door. "Endymion?!" she gasped out, jaw clenched, still too shocked to summon up the amount of anger that she would have liked. She stopped just a couple steps away from the door, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Morning," Endymion called out.
"You...what did you...how did…" she stammered, glancing around at the back balcony for a moment, as if expecting to find something else that might explain things. She then gave her husband a quick examination with her eyes. "What's that in your hair?!"
Endymion reached up, pushing his fingers into his thick head of black hair. He managed to push a couple of small twigs out, sending them clattering to the ground.
"Uh, thank you," he said, still trying to fix his hair, which was uneven and pressed down.
"Did you...did you climb up the tree?!" Serenity demanded, pointing at the large branch looming right by the balcony guardrail.
"Yes," he replied matter-of-factly, giving up on his hair, and looking down at his front. He started pulling loose leafs out of his tunic, Serenity just watching in abject shock.
"Are you absolutely insane?!" Serenity snapped, putting her arms out to his sides. "You climbed the lemon tree?!"
"It's a pretty sturdy tree," Endymion replied conversationally, pointing at it over his shoulder with his thumb. "I might have snapped the branch a bit on my way over though, sorry. I think it'll be fine."
"You...Endymion, I, what in the…" She gave her head a violent shake, blonde hair fluttering in every direction. "What are you doing here?!"
"I wanted to see you," Endymion answered. "Can I come in?"
"Wh-No! No, you can't come in! I don't want you here!" she shouted. "I don't want to see you, go away!" She emphatically pointed over towards the tree branch. "Go down the way you came!"
"Oh, no, sorry sweetie, I don't think that's a good idea." He turned around, looking at the massive tree, spying a couple lemons hanging from the end of the branch. "I don't think that'd be very safe."
Serenity scowled, hands curling into fists at her sides. "You climbed up that way, you can climb down that way!"
"No, no, I'll...I'll just hang out here," Endymion said, stepping back slightly. "I'm okay out here."
"What?!" Serenity snapped. "No, that's not...no! Go away! You can't stay here!"
"Serenity, I'm not climbing down this tree!" Endymion said, sounding almost jovial. "It's fine, I'll be alright by myself!" He walked over to the balcony railing, reaching up towards the branch towards one of the hanging lemons.
"Hey, w-wait!" Serenity cried out, Endymion neatly plucking the lemon from the tree. "You can't...that's my—"
Endymion began to dig his thumbnails into the lemon's skin, peeling the thick outer layer off to expose the soft, juicy insides. Serenity watched, mouth open and forehead scrunched in mild disgust, as Endymion lifted the lemon up to his mouth and began to gnaw at the soft pulp.
"I...how can you stand that?!" Serenity asked, almost in awe of her estranged husband as his face scrunched up in protest of the strong, sour taste. She couldn't quite take her eyes off Endymion for several beats as he sucked the juice from the small lemon, but then finally remembered that she didn't care, and spun around on her heel, looking around the room frantically.
She stormed over to her bedside table, quickly coming up next to it and grabbing her communicator. She was about to twist the dials on the outside, but just before her fingers began, she froze, tilting her head down in thought. After a moment's consideration, it seemed rather unlikely that the Moon Palace Guard would be willing to toss Endymion out, given that he was now the Prince of the Kingdom just as much as she was the Princess. She frowned, closing her eyes to try to think.
A rattling series of knocks caused her to jump and spin around, finding Endymion tapping his knuckles against the glass door. "Hey, Serenity?"
"What?!" she snapped, putting her hands on her hips after setting the communicator back down.
"I, I, uh...I kind of…" he furtively pointed over towards the bathing chamber door on the right side of the bedroom. "I need to…"
She gave a very loud groan of frustration. "Endymion!" She stomped her bare foot into the carpet beneath her.
"I mean...I can go over the rail, but someone would probably see, and that would look strange and be hard to explain," he said. "It's up to you."
She fumed, staring daggers over at Endymion, who seemed unfazed by her overt anger. After a few beats, he just shrugged.
"Uh, alright, I'll just…" he turned around, stepping over to the ledge of the balcony. Serenity quickly stomped over to the glass door as Endymion started to reach down towards his waist.
"Stop!" she shouted, grabbing the knob and practically ripping the door open. Endymion froze, twisting to look over his shoulder as she poked her head outside, scowling deeply.
"Hm?"
She stared at him for a couple beats, finally forcing herself to concede a small degree. "Use my bathroom, and then go away," she said sternly.
"Thank you," Endymion said, giving an earnest nod as he came back over, grabbing the top of the glass door. Serenity tried to hold it close to her, glowering up at Endymion's face.
"I mean it," she said. "Use my bathroom, and then go back to Earth."
"Serenity, I hear you," Endymion insisted, which was enough to get Serenity to release her grip on the door. As he entered her room, she ran out onto the balcony, looking over at the lemon tree. She bent forward over the railing, looking up and down the length of the towering trunk.
Unable to find any obvious damage, she straightened herself back up and inhaled deeply, trying to push her annoyance and frustration out with a massive huff of breath. She glanced down at the assorted leaves and twigs that Endymion had scattered about with his intrusion.
Shaking her head and murmuring to herself, she walked back inside, shutting the door behind her, just as Endymion was closing the bathroom door behind him. She went over to the round table a few steps away from the back balcony door, falling back heavily into one of the leather chairs surrounding it.
"
Kristen handed the awake and alert Chibiusa over to Princess Serenity, smiling cheerfully as she bowed. "Only woke up once the whole night, Your Highness."
Serenity gave a quick nod. "Yes, good, we can discuss how she's doing later, if it's nothing urgent." She jerked her head forward. "I'm in the middle of something."
Kristen's smile shrunk by a couple teeth, blinking in confusion. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, taking a couple large steps back out of the bedroom.
"No no, it's not you, I'm just a little...stressed, don't think about it, it's not your fault," Serenity said, sounding distracted as she hugged the young child to her side. Kristen nodded, reaching over to shut the door. Serenity, bending over to kiss Chibiusa's head, turned to scowl over at her bathroom door.
Out of patience, she marched over, careful to keep her daughter steady in her arms as she swiftly crossed the room. "What is taking him so long?" she muttered to herself, aggressively lunging forward to grab the knob and open the door.
As soon as the inside of the chamber was visible to her, she gasped. The large bathing basin, a pit sunk into the tiled floor, was filled to near-capacity with water, the surface covered by a layer of white soap bubbles. Endymion's head and shoulders were visible above the soap, the rest of his body submerged in the bath. All of his clothes was piled up in the corner of the room.
"Hey!" she snapped, holding back on unleashing her full verbal capabilities due to Chibiusa being in her arms. "What are you doing?!"
"What you told me to do," Endymion replied. "I'm using your bathroom."
"I...I meant...I didn't…"
"Serenity, I climbed up a giant tree and slept outside all night," Endymion complained. "I've got hardened sap everywhere, I slept in my own sweat, I can't just walk all through the palace looking like this!"
"Sure you can," she said darkly, Chibiusa wildly fidgeting about in her arms at the sight of her father.
"Hey, how's my little bunny?" he asked, waving his hand over at Chibiusa after reaching his arm up above the water level.
She frowned, but backed out of the bathing chamber nevertheless. "Alright, finish up and get out of here." With that order, she winged the door shut.
"
Serenity leaned her right elbow against the surface of the wooden circular table, head resting in her hand, a scowl on her features. Every handful of beats, she would glance over at the white door that separated her bedroom from the bathroom, stare at it briefly, and then turn away. Chibiusa was about a half-dozen paces away, in a fenced-off little playpen, crawling around, entirely oblivious to the tension between her mother and father.
Serenity sighed, watching her daughter push a large white ball across the floor, watching it roll to the opposite side of the pen, then go chase it.
"By Diana, I hope you didn't get his mental stability," she said quietly.
Finally, the bathroom door swung open, and Endymion emerged. He was tugging on the front of his tunic, pulling it downward. Serenity crossed her right leg over her left.
"Alright, Endymion, congratulations, you've ruined my morning, now get out of here!" she hissed, his casual, friendly expression only irritating her more.
"We should have left a couple of my outfits up here," he thought aloud. "Nothing's worse than having to put dirty clothes back on right after bathing."
"You took forever," she muttered through gritted teeth.
"Well, Serenity, it's not easy to get tree sap out of hair," Endymion said informationally, strolling over to the table that Serenity was seated at. He stopped by the pen, looking down at his daughter for a moment, then reaching down towards her. Serenity jumped to her feet and ran over, grabbing his long, slender arm and pushing it away.
"Stay away from her!" she demanded crossly, trying to shove herself between her husband and the pen walls.
"Serenity, come on," Endymion said exasperatedly. "She's my daughter too. What do you think I'm going to do?" Nevertheless, he backed away from her, instead opting to go over to the table and reach over to the bowl of fruit, plucking a plump orange from it.
"Endymion! What do you think you're doing?!" Serenity said, keeping her voice down while maintaining a decent degree of maliciousness in her hissing tone. "I told you to go away, now go!"
"Serenity, all I had for breakfast this morning was a lemon," Endymion said, fingernails making quick work of peeling the soft outer shell of the orange away in large strips. "Give me a break." He sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the table.
"Are you forgetting everything we've talked about recently?!" she snapped. "Endymion, I don't want you here! I don't care about your breakfast! Please, just leave!"
Endymion's playful smirk fell off his face, and he sighed deeply. "Um, right. About that, Serenity." He looked over at his wife. "That's just not going to work for me."
The anger lines were whisked off her face, replaced by abject shock at his outright dismissal of her demands. "Excuse me?"
"Serenity. We're still married. I'm still your husband. And I have every right to be here if I want to be. This palace is just as much mine as it is yours now. And more than that, I certainly have the right to be around my daughter if I want to be," he said, voice now low and neutral, almost gentle.
"We...we are getting a separation!" Serenity huffed indignantly. "I thought I made myself clear last time we spoke!"
"Well, I'm not going to agree to that," Endymion replied, picking up a tiny fruit knife from the table right next to the fruit bowl. He began to carve a slice of the orange out of the sphere. "It's not in either of our best interests." He gave her a meaningful look. "And I think you realize that."
Serenity's glare faltered a bit as she gave a helpless look down at the floor, but just as quickly she regained her anger. "Maybe, but...that doesn't mean I want you around!"
"Be that as it may, I have a right to be around if I want to be." He put a wedge of the orange into his mouth.
"Endymion. Are we really doing this?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
After swallowing, he gave a slow little nod. "I don't really know what 'this' is supposed to be, sweetie, but...well, I'm not agreeing to a separation, and I'm not accepting any scenario where we remain married but I'm not allowed to see you or my daughter." He shrugged.
"Fine." She marched over to the bedside table, moving with purpose and urgency. "I tried to be fair, I offered you a good deal, but you leave me no choice." She ripped her communicator up off the charger and then went back over to the table where Endymion was slowly consuming the orange.
"Serenity, think very hard about what you're about to do," Endymion said slowly.
The Moon Princess came up right in front of her husband, holding the communicator out towards him. "No, you think hard about what you're about to do! Because your freedom depends on it. I am going to call down to the mines, right now, and tell them to go investigate section three-one-four."
"How are you going to explain that?" Endymion asked.
Serenity blinked a few times, glancing around at the table in front of her. "You've got bigger problems than worrying about that. Because, after they find what's down there, I'm going to call your father. And I'm going to tell him everything."
Endymion gave a quick nod, slicing another portion of the orange off. "Very well."
"I mean everything, Endymion," Serenity continued. "I'm going to tell him what you've been doing. Do you understand what that'll mean for you?"
Endymion gave an eased, casual smile. "Do you understand what that'll mean for you?"
She gave him a frustrated look, then began to spin the dial on her communicator. "Alright, fine! Well, you can't say I didn't warn you." She pulled the cord out of the side of the device, plugging the earbud into her ear.
Endymion finished off the orange, glancing back over towards Chibiusa, still blissfully unaware of the high-stakes threats being tossed back and forth just a few steps away.
"Morning, this is Princess Serenity," she said into her communicator, holding it up in front of her mouth. "No, no, not today. No, I have a request." She paced away from the table a bit, turning her back to the Prince.
Endymion stood up, meandering over to the pen again, bending over and picking up Chibiusa.
"There's something...something down there that I want to be investigated, as soon as possible," Serenity continued. "Section three-one-four." She paused for an extended period of time, slowly turning back around and jumping up a bit at the sight of Endymion holding the young baby. She hurried over, waving her free arm over towards him, pointing emphatically down at the pen. "Put her back!" she hissed in a low whisper.
"Serenity, I'm her father," Endymion said pleadingly. "Come on."
Serenity gave him a nasty stare, but ultimately turned back away from him, lifting the device back to her mouth. "I...I've been having dreams lately, about that area of the mines. Several nights in a row now. I just want to see if anything is actually down there. If there is, maybe I have some...you know, mystic powers that I don't know about, you know?" She again paused for several long beats. "Yes, section three-one-four, investigate it and see what you can find. Call me back as soon as you've finished searching the area with your results, I'm...I'm interested to see if maybe I have some sort of abilities. Thank you." She pressed the center of the disc, yanking the earpiece out of her ear.
"You're pretty good at that whole lying thing yourself, actually," Endymion joked.
"Shut up! And put her down!" She demanded, pointing over at the pen.
"Serenity, I should be allowed to hold my daughter if I want to," Endymion insisted, rubbing her back and hugging her close to his chest. "I'm not here to hurt her or take her away from you, I would never do that."
She gave a rattled, extended sigh. "Well. I guess it doesn't matter. One way or another, you'll be out of here soon." She walked over to the bathroom door. "I'm going to go clean myself up. You're free to come to your senses any time now and leave." She spun around, pointing powerfully over towards Chibiusa. "Not with her!"
Endymion nodded. "Understood, sweetie."
"And stop calling me that!" she ordered, heavily swinging the bathroom door open. "Endymion, I'm not joking around. Any time now, the miners are going to find that imperium vein. As soon as they call me about it, I'm calling your father, unless you leave. I will ruin your life, Endymion. Think about that while I'm in here."
With that, she stepped inside the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her, the crack of the impact startling Chibiusa enough to make her a little anxious. With a melancholy little smile on his face, Endymion began impassively trying to cheer her up.
"
"You used up all the hot water," Serenity grumbled, marching out of the bathroom, hair now done up in her trademark buns, wearing a casual dress gown.
"Hey, you know where there's a bathroom that has unlimited hot water?" Endymion asked, watching her angrily storm back over to where he was seated. "My bedroom on Earth."
"Shut up!" she barked, staring him down. He had, at the least, put Chibiusa back in the playpen, but his undesired presence remained. She stopped by the fence of the pen, crossing her arms back over her chest. "Are you really going to do this?" She swung her arm over towards the bedroom door across the chamber. "I am giving you an out! How can you honestly—"
The communicator began ringing, giving off a series of little tones. She quickly rushed towards it, scooping it up off the table surface and hurriedly pressing the center of the device. "Hello?"
"Princess Serenity, is that you?" a male voice came out from the speaker, the communicator projecting the audio out in all directions with the earpiece not being activated.
"Yes, yes, Princess Serenity here!" She gave Endymion a triumphant look, finally feeling as if she had turned the situation in her favor.
"Your Highness, I'm calling to follow up about your call earlier this morning, asking us to investigate a certain area of the tunnels," he continued.
"Yes, I remember, what's up?" she asked.
"Well, after our conversation this morning, I did some research. Turns out, that area was marked as unstable and potentially dangerous quite some time ago. We had a slew of miners go down that way and never come back."
Serenity swallowed visibly, glancing over at Endymion. "Alright."
"So, it took us a little while. We had to get out a mechanized rover and have it lead the way. Doesn't work that well down there, all the rock interferes with the signal from the remote. Sorry it took us so long to get back to you."
"Not a problem, no trouble at all," Serenity said quickly. "So...what's down there?" She again turned her gaze over to Endymion.
"Well, I've got the report right in front of me. Good news is, nobody died or went missing, everyone who went down is accounted for. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything of note."
Serenity's confident smile faded, head jerking away from the communicator slightly. "I-I'm sorry, what?"
"The report said they found a giant cavern, and obviously they have to do some drilling to actually find out what's underneath the rock, but...initial findings are nothing of note."
Serenity turned away a bit, looking at her husband out of the corner of her eyes. "Uh...h-how long will it take for you to finish your search through the section?"
"Oh, if you mean an initial exploration, we've already completed that. Ran into a dead end and everything, it looks like," he explained. "If you'd like, I can keep you updated on our progress as we dig deeper. This was actually an area we planned on searching cycles ago but put it off, so this didn't inconvenience us or anything."
Serenity put the communicator up in front of her face, staring at it, mouth dropping open. "B-but...wait…"
She startled a bit when Endymion placed his hands on her shoulders, leaning up over her head towards the device's microphone. "My apologies, sir. Princess Serenity has a very active imagination. Seems to have gone to a pretty bizarre place this time." With that, he reached underneath her arm and pressed the button on the center of the disc, ending the call. "Hm, looks like that career as a mystic you were considering might not be going anywhere, honey."
Serenity, briefly stunned into silence, slowly came around to square up to her husband. "Endymion. W-what is the meaning of this?"
Endymion backed up over to the table, falling back into the chair heavily. "You heard the man, honey. Sounds to me like there's nothing down there."
Gradually, she brought her right hand up in front of her, pointing at Endymion. "Endymion. If. If this whole thing was some kind of...if this was some form of joke. If this was all just an act. A...a prank. Then I'm going to, somehow, find a way to be even more furious."
Endymion gave an easy little smile, reaching over to the fruit bowl and pulling out a purple plum. "No, no joke."
"Okay, then you lied about where the imperium is," she said simply, coming over to the table and putting her palms down on it, leaning over towards Endymion. "Endymion, where is it? You owe me the truth. Where. Is it?"
Endymion, after using the little knife to cut a slice of the plum off, just gave an impish shrug. "Well, Serenity. How should I put this?" He thought for a moment. "What I told you was true at the time that I told it to you. And now it isn't."
Serenity's face began to go a light shade of red, the frustration of Endymion's evasive answers and carefree mannerisms starting to wear on her. "What?"
"The imperium vein was there, now it's not," he explained. "I've had it moved."
"Endymion, I can just call the agency and tell them that I have reason to believe that there's imperium down in our mines, and they'll have ten thousand people here today to start drilling until the whole Moon is hollow," Serenity said tersely. "It's going to be found, whether you like it or not, just tell me where it is."
After popping the plum piece into his mouth, he turned to her. "I don't know where it is, actually. Not a clue. Not on the Moon, I know that."
"Endymion, start making sense," she said through gritted teeth, starting to squeeze her fingers unconsciously down into the table surface.
He gave a sweeping glance around the room. "Sweetie, I'm making as much sense as I can. I had the imperium moved to another location, and I'm not aware of what that location is, so—"
Frustration boiling over, Serenity grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl in front of Endymion and reared back with it in her hand, chucking it right at Endymion's head with a grunt. Endymion barely had time to lean back away, and the orange caught him full in the nose, bouncing off into Chibiusa's playpen.
"Ow! Ow!" he whined, reaching up to rub his nose. "Serenity, really?! Throwing things?!"
The Moon Princess took a moment to look down at her right hand, slightly embarrassed over being reduced to such a low-class display of anger.
"In front of my daughter, too," he mumbled.
She gave her head a violent shake. "Endymion, I am not stupid! It is impossible for you to have moved the imperium, not with how much of it exists, according to you! So you were either lying then, or you're lying now! Which is it?!"
"I'm not lying on either count," Endymion said, sounding more serious now, cowed slightly by her orange-throwing. "And it wasn't impossible to move the imperium. Just very, very difficult."
Slowly, Serenity eased herself down into a chair across from her husband, narrowing her eyes over at him. She placed her hands down on the table, folding them together.
"Half-a-cycle ago, I instructed my generals to have all of the imperium in that vein moved from the mines, placed onto a freighter ship, and driven out into deep space. I don't know where the ship is. It moves constantly, controlled by an advanced autopilot system. Only Kunzite knows where it is at any given time." Endymion let his forearms lay flat down on the table.
"That's impossible!" Serenity retorted. "You said...okay...you said there were millions of libras! You expect me to believe your generals could...no, no, you are not lying your way out of this one!"
He nodded. "Millions doesn't even do it justice, actually. But, you're right. My generals could never have moved that amount in that short a period of time." He looked over at her. "So, they had help. A lot of it."
She slowly tilted her head to the right.
"Prison inmates awaiting execution, or with iron-clad life sentences," Endymion explained. "They went around from prison to prison, offering payoffs to their friends and family members in exchange for half-a-cycle of hard labor and an immediate execution after. Most of them were chomping at the bit to say yes, the concept of taking care of your family before you check out is very appealing. And honestly, most of those death sentence prisoners are probably thrilled to get their execution over with. There were over a hundred of them, working constantly, stopping only to eat and sleep. Using massive, state-of-the-art drills to carve the imperium off the cave walls, thousands of libras at a time, then slice it up into little chunks that can be fit into barrels, then moved back up to the surface through the secret entrypoint Kunzite made...quite an operation."
Serenity's neck now began to twitch, boiling over yet again.
"By the Gods, it couldn't have been easy on them. Three men, forging documentation for a large-scale prison labor project that involved great danger for the participants. Keeping control of over a hundred hardened criminals who would take any opportunity to try to escape. Sneaking massive pieces of equipment down there, piece by piece, assembling it on site. Forcing the assembly line to keep moving, no matter what. Sneaking over a million barrels up to the surface at night. Pouring acids all over down in the cavern to simulate erosion so it's not obvious that the entire place has been drilled out. Painstakingly covering up every shred of evidence that anyone, much less over a hundred people, were down there. Handing out a mass execution to every last one when they're done, then disposing of the bodies. Making an F-class freighter ship disappear for us to use. I truly don't know how they pulled it off. Can hardly even consider it. Maybe I don't want to." He shrugged. "But you didn't give us much of a choice. Had to do something to protect you."
"Protect me?" Serenity said, starting to seethe.
"Expensive too," Endymion mused, giving little credence to Serenity's building rage. "Fortunately, I...happen to have a lot of money right now. All that drilling equipment, the barrels, the payoffs, put a real dent in profits." He gave a wistful little sigh. "But, you were being irrational, so I had to take drastic, desperate measures."
"I'm being irrational?" she questioned. "I'm the one being irrational? Which one of us was the one that decided to become an interplanetary criminal for no reason?!"
He dipped his head slightly. "Well, be that as it may, that vein was far too valuable to simply hand over to the agency. And if you were thinking straight, you'd realize that, but you're far too caught up in your anger towards me. Once you realize that, then we can have a conversation about what to do with it."
"Endymion," Serenity hissed. "It was on the Moon, you found it before we got married, it's not your decision!"
"Well, I'm doing it for you own good," Endymion insisted. "I'm still your husband, it's my job to protect you. And, technically, all I did was what you told me to do." He paused for a moment. "You said get rid of all the evidence that I was ever down there."
She picked up the entire bowl of fruit in both hands, cocking it up behind her head, Endymion quickly shielding his face with his arms.
"NO! No! Serenity, do not!" he demanded, Serenity just stood there, the bowl high above head head, arms wound up to throw it at him. "Serenity. Don't you dare."
Finally, she brought the bowl back down and set it back on the table. "You know what, Endymion? It doesn't matter!" She picked her communicator back up. "Because I'm turning you in to your father, and if you won't tell me where the imperium is, maybe you'll tell an interrogator aboard The Savery!" She began to manipulate the dials on the device.
He gave a curt nod. "Alright, then."
"Endymion, I'm going to tell him everything! I mean it!" She pressed the button on the center of the disc, holding it up to her mouth. "You're going to spend the rest of your life in a prison cell!"
"I heard you the first time," Endymion assured her.
She stared at him in shock and surprise, waiting for the communicator to connect. "You...you are…"
"Hello?"
"Um, hello, Kasios?" Serenity nearly dropped the communicator in shock. "Hello, um, I'd like you to come to my room in the Moon Palace as soon as you can."
"Oh, Serenity, afternoon. W-what's going on? What's in your room?"
She gave Endymion a side glance. "Your son is in my room. I'd like you to tell him he has to leave, I don't want him here."
The communicator emitted nothing, Serenity pacing away from her husband, impatiently awaiting a response. Endymion glanced over, noticing that Chibiusa has taken an interest in the orange that had bounced into her pen, rolling it around.
"Hello? Kasios, you there?" Serenity asked.
"Y-yes, I'm here," Kasios replied, voice clearly wavering. "Serenity, I don't really understand."
"Your son is trespassing in my room, he does not have my permission to be here. Please, just come here and help me!" she demanded.
"Well...Serenity, it's not that simple," Kasios said uneasily. "What is he doing, exactly? What is this about?"
"I-it's…" she swallowed down hard. "It's not necessarily about anything, I just don't want to see him, and he's here without my permission!"
"Um...well, here's the thing, Serenity. If he's just there, then he's not really trespassing, he's...he's got a right to be there. You two are married, and the Moon Palace is as much his as it is yours. And, I...this is tough to explain, Serenity, but I treat my son like an adult. I can't just ground him or tell him what he has to do or anything like that. Unless there's something else you can tell me."
Serenity sighed, giving a frustrated glare over towards her closet door.
"I mean, Gods, I hate to even ask it, but...he hasn't hit you or anything, has he?"
"No, no! No, this isn't about any kind of physical violence, he hasn't hit me. I just don't want to be around him." Serenity bit down on her cheeks.
"Well...Serenity, I'm sorry, I don't know what to tell you. This is between you and him, I'm not comfortable getting involved in something like that. If you like, I could have a talk with him."
Serenity huffed out an exhausted breath. "Can you hold on for a bit, please?" She tapped a button on the communicator, the soundwave being projected above the device turning red and freezing. She turned to Endymion, planting her hands on her hips. "Endymion. Last chance. Leave now, and I'll keep your secrets. You can go back to the Earth Palace, go live out the rest of your life however you want to, inherit the Kingdom in a few years, take on as many mistresses from Venus as you want, just so long as you stay away from me. Otherwise, you're going to lose everything."
Endymion wiped his right hand over his mouth. "No, Serenity. I have nothing to lose. You're the one who needs to be weighing the ramifications."
She gave him an incredulous look. "You have nothing to lose?! Have you lost your mind?! Endymion, you're going to spend the rest of your life in a cell! All of the power and money you stand to inherit, gone forever! Gods, you...you could have any woman you want as a mistress! Any one of the hundreds of millions of women on Venus who are all prettier than me, and would probably be totally fine with you being a criminal! Come to your senses!"
He sighed, looking up toward the ceiling, frowning. "Serenity, I don't care about any of that power and money. I don't care about other women. The only things in this galaxy that I care about are you and my daughter. Without those things, it doesn't matter to me if I'm in my room on Earth or in a cell on The Savery. So, I say again, I have nothing to lose. Do whatever you have to do."
Serenity stared at him for several long beats, then lifted the communicator to her mouth, pressing the button she had just hit moments before. "Kasios, I...your son is…"
Endymion stared over at her, fingers unconsciously clenching into a fist underneath the table.
"Is…"
A bursting little screech from the playpen caught Endymion's attention, breaking the tension in the room slightly. He got to his feet and went over to the pen, stepping over the short fence delicately to enter the little play area.
"...is really irritating me lately," Serenity managed to force out, watching as Endymion kneeled down and picked Chibiusa up.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Kasios replied after a brief silence. "But don't you think it's time that you and him started trying to work on some sort of reconciliation?"
"No, I...I really don't want to do that," she said, her voice starting to get just a little choked up. "I...I'm really upset with him, and I don't think I'll be wanting to make up with him."
"Hey, look, Serenity, I'll talk to him later today, alright? I'll try to set him straight, help him understand whatever he's doing wrong, and put him on the right course! You two, you two are great together, and it's really best for everyone if you two start patching things up."
Serenity closed her eyes, huffing a strong breath out of her nostrils, squeezing her communicator in her small, slender fingers. "Well. Alright, then," she said in a quiet, low voice. She pressed her index finger down on the center of the disc, tossing it to the side in frustration. Quickly, she marched up to her husband as he high-stepped over the fence, reaching out towards him with both of her hands. She grabbed onto Chibiusa's body, and Endymion quickly released his hold on her.
"Congratulations," she said with a cold smile, taking her daughter and cradling her in her arms, turning away from Endymion. Endymion met her rebuke with a sad little frown and a wistful sigh, eyes flickering towards the ground as she walked away.
"Alright, Serenity," Endymion announced, putting some firmness into his voice. "We can stay here, or we can go back to the Earth Palace. It doesn't make any difference to me. But, most of your things and most of the midwives are on Earth still, so I think it does make a difference to you and to Chibusa."
Serenity turned around, glaring daggers at her husband, every bit of anger and frustration being conveyed in her hateful stare. It hurt him to see, but he took it.
He shrugged. "It's your choice, but as long as we're married, I am going to be a part of your life."
"
Serenity hugged her arms tight to her chest, a heavy scowl on her face, visibly pouting. Sitting up on Endymion's bed, head resting on a stack of pillows, she was clearly displeased with the corner Endymion had placed her in. Had this been over her not getting to eat as much dessert as she wanted, it would have been cute, but the Prince knew better than to take any amusement out of her frustration.
He was sitting on the corner of the bed, head bowed and looking down at his lap. Chibiusa was in the care of Kristen for the moment, leaving the struggling couple alone for a bit. Despite everything that had happened that morning that had so clearly demonstrated how helpless and powerless she was, she was not letting up in the slightest on being as cold as possible towards her husband.
Endymion finally looked up, twisting to look over his shoulder. "Serenity. We're stuck together, and we both know it. And I'm not going to agree to an arrangement where I never see you or my daughter. A separation devastates you and cripples the Moon Kingdom. So, by process of elimination, the best thing we can do is work through this, talk this out, and start making up."
She didn't even look over at him, just staring straight ahead at the wall on the opposite side of the room, arms so tightly constricted around her chest it almost looked painful.
"I know you're upset. You have a right to be. But you need to understand that I was put into a difficult, complicated, unexpected situation. And I acted in a way that is not me. But that's the key phrase. Not me. The things that I did, the person that I became, that's not who I am. I was trying to protect you, protect things that rightfully should be yours from being taken. Yes, it was a mistake, but what I did, I did with good intentions."
Slowly, she cranked her head over to the right slightly, glaring over at Endymion.
"I wanted the Moon to have the opportunity to rise up again as a superpower, on its own merits. I know that you're familiar with the history of your Kingdom, you know what it used to be. I did what I did so that it could climb to those heights again. There is nothing else down there in those mines worth much of anything, we both know that. This vein, this find, was all that it had left to give. And I didn't believe that it was fair that you would be forced to give it up for practically nothing. Yes, I shouldn't have done something as foolish as getting involved in black market imperium smuggling. But I didn't do it because I'm an immoral person. I did it because I love you, and I wanted to protect you. Just like I'm protecting you now."
Serenity turned away from him again, sighing.
"I know, right now, you're frustrated. Angry. But it fades with time. Eventually, you'll feel differently about me. You'll come to realize that I'm right. That I'm still the man that you married, the man that you've known for years. The man that you fell in love with. The man who, because of his love and devotion to you, did something he never should have done. But that can't happen when we're not even on the same planet. I'm sorry about forcing my way into your room this morning, I know it was a dirty trick on my part, but it was necessary. We have to start patching this up. For the sake of not just us, but everyone. Any longer, and my father would have started asking questions that would have ruined everything for all of us."
He got to his feet, accepting that he wasn't going to get any verbal replies from her right now.
"I'll let you work your way into it. I'll be out for most of the day today, give you a bit of space. Just think about what I said. Don't worry about saying anything to me right now, I get it. But we need to start fixing this." With that, he moved over towards the bedroom door. "I'll see you tonight."
With that, he slipped out of the room, leaving Serenity to her thoughts.
"
"So, uh, do you want to tell me what this is about?"
Kasios placed his hand on Endymion's shoulder as the two slowly navigated their way down the wide, high-ceilinged hallway, giving his son a concerned, weary look.
"Oh, there's not really much to say," Endymion said quietly.
"Endymion, buddy, I know women," Kasios said, letting his hand drop back to his side. "I get it. They get emotional, they overreact, they act out, but this, this is very, very strange, son." He pointed down the hallway back in the direction the two had come from. "I feel like I know your wife pretty well. I'm not going to pretend I know her better than you, but this is bizarre for the Serenity that I know. She's been crazy about you for years now! And I get having fights and needing some space, believe me. But actually calling me and trying to get me to come and basically ground you?"
Endymion stopped, tapping his shoes against the spotless tile floor for a second, tilting his head up to look at the ceiling. "Dad, I...I messed up. I wasn't being the most attentive husband, I was ignoring the signs of her being upset, and she decided to, I guess, do something drastic to get my attention."
"Sure, I understand that part of it, but holding on to all that anger after twenty days?" Kasios put his hands on his hips. "Son, if you think your wife needs, like, a professional therapist or something, we can definitely set that up. Maybe she's having some sort of, what do they call it? That thing where a woman gets all depressed and emotional right after giving birth?"
"If I feel like that'll help, I'll definitely look into that, but I don't think that's what it is," Endymion said softly. "It's just normal marriage problems, and I am handling them. She wasn't receptive to anything when we were living separately, so I had to...jam myself in there. I gave her space for as long as I felt I could, but nothing was going to get better if I couldn't be around her. I know it's a bad look, just trust me when I say it had to be done."
Kasios grunted. "Well, the bad look was you two living in different palaces, so I support your decision entirely." He gave a furtive glance down the hall. "Just, resolve this. I did what i could to suppress leaks, but there were definitely rumors that got out about her living in the Moon Palace. That kind of shit, it's not good. I don't need the whole galaxy wondering about something like that, I don't need to be answering questions about it. What I'm saying is, get this under control."
"Believe me, that's all I want as well." Endymion pursed his lips and nodded. "And this how I get that."
"The sooner the better." Kasios clapped Endymion on the back. "Anyway, I did promise Serenity that I'd talk to you about this, so...good talk, I suppose." He pointed at Endymion's face. "Resolve this."
"
Serenity pressed her fingers into her temples and swirled them around, trying to ease the headache borne of aggravation that was currently distracting her. Slowly, she twisted her head around, looking about the massive bedroom that she currently alone occupied.
Crossing her right foot over her left, her mind flitted about between assorted ideas on how she could regain control of her situation. As soon as they entered, they exited, each one easily dismissed as untenable no matter how angry she was.
Suddenly, the snarl of anger flitted off her face, eyes going slightly wide. After a few beats of thought, she reached over to the table by the head of the bed, grabbing her communicator. Quickly, fingers working fast, she spun the dials around.
"
"I can not believe you bet your life on a hunch," Kunzite said exasperatedly, looking at his charge with exhausted eyes, not even able to summon up the stern vexation he would typically express at the Prince on putting so much at risk.
"Not a hunch, Kunzite," Endymion insisted. "A logical and education read of the situation, which by the way, came from one of the smartest people in the galaxy."
"I am quite sure that Zoisite, when he said what he said, was not suggesting that you should go and play a high-stakes game of chicken with Serenity," Kunzite protested. "In fact, I'm sure that he would have vehemently been against you doing such."
"Kunzite, I had an advantage, and I decided to press it," Endymion pointed out. "Like Nephrite said. I made sure that she was aware of the consequences of turning me in, I told her that I didn't care if I went to prison, and I bet on her being rational enough to realize that her hands are tied."
Kunzite heaved a sigh. "You had no guarantee that she would be rational," he huffed, sitting down on the bottom left corner of his bed. "All she had to do was slip up and say a few words to your father, and everything would have been exposed."
"It was a risk I was willing to take," Endymion said, finality in his voice. "Now, let's focus on the relevant parts of things. She didn't turn me in. She had every opportunity to do so, and she couldn't do it. So, she's no longer a concern."
"Yes, for the moment," Kunzite said tersely.
"Well, if not now, when would she ever turn me in?" Endymion asked. "She had my father on call, I was basically daring her to do it, and she didn't!"
"She could very well give in if she has a moment of frustration, Your Highness, don't believe you can control her," Kunzite warned. "I really wish you had listened to me when I said to leave her alone for awhile and give her more space."
"That wasn't an option, my father was close to forcing himself into the situation. Kunzite, this is the way it had to be. I'm sorry it wasn't completely vetted out and guaranteed to be successful, but it had to be done, and ultimately, it worked. And, it might take some time, some effort on my part, but things are going to go back to normal. She can't possibly stay mad forever, it takes too much energy to do that."
Kunzite gave a half-hearted shrug. "Well, what about the imperium? If we're out of the business, then what are we going to do with it?"
Endymion blinked rapidly several times in succession. "I don't know yet. I need to think about that. I still have no intention of re-entering the black market, but...giving it all to the agency at once, that's out of the question. I had to move it out of Serenity's control before she did that, but past that, I don't have a great idea. Possibly, we arrange for the agency to come into possession of it a little at a time, so that they never realize their full leverage. I'm still working on that part."
Kunzite grimaced. "I wish I could say I had a good solution, but...nothing comes to mind."
Endymion nodded. "You just relax for a few days. You've worked very hard lately, and I deeply appreciate everything you managed down in the mines. Honestly, I feel bad for even asking it of you."
"It wasn't as bad as you might think. Cutting-edge technology is capable of some pretty amazing things," Kunzite said casually. "Just, please, Your Majesty, tread lightly with Serenity. Once again, do not assume that you can control her in all areas just because you can control her in some."
"
Serenity fidgeted with the cone-shaped, grey device, about the size of her forearm, twisting the tip around and pressing a couple of buttons along the thick base. A couple of blue indicator lights flashed on along the cone's outside, the tip freely spinning around. She set it down on the table at the back of the room, aiming a lens on the tip over towards the four-poster bed. She slowly moved a little knob back and forth, getting a couple little red beams to emit from the tip and spread away from each other slightly.
Finally satisfied, she tapped a button on the base, getting a light right on the tip to go solid blue. She stood up, then heard a couple of loud knocks at the door.
"Come in," she called out loudly. A moment later, the door swung open, Jadeite entering.
"Afternoon, Princess," Jadeite said casually, looking around the room. "Where is he?"
"Not here," Serenity replied. "Won't be back until later tonight."
Jadeite's forehead wrinkled a bit. "I...I don't understand, I thought he needed me."
"No, it's me that called you up here, not him," she replied, reaching up and undoing her left hair bun.
"Well, sure, I know, but I thought you were...well, nevermind. You need me for something?" he asked, scratching the back of his head, giving her a perplexed look.
"Close the door," she instructed. "Lock it." She tugged the ties out of her other bun as well, letting her long blonde hair hang loose down her body.
Jadeite did as he was told, turning around and shutting the door. He slid the locking bolt into place as well. "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but how long is this going to take, you think?"
"Oh, not long at all," Serenity replied, reaching to her shoulders to undo the straps on her gown.
"Sorry, it's just I had some plans, and—"
Jadeite turned around just in time to watch as Serenity unclasped her dress, letting it fall to the floor at her feet, pooling into a pile on the carpet. The maneuver left her half-naked, and Jadeite standing there, gaping in surprise.
"...Princess?"
"
Endymion pressed the door open with his back, pulling a hovering tray into his bedroom, a silver lid covering the contents for the moment. "Alright, honey, I brought dinner."
Serenity, who had been sitting on the bed reading, impassively turned to watch her husband easily slide the tray over towards the middle of the room, shutting the door behind him. He glanced over to see Chibiusa playing around in her pen, a mechanized ball automatically rolling around and giving her something to chase.
"It's pork. Breaded, I know you like that," Endymion continued. "We'll eat it together, like a couple. Because that's what we are."
Serenity got to her feet, silently watching as Endymion went over and pulled the large lid off the dishes of food. A large pile of breaded strips of pork were accompanied by various steamed vegetables and potatoes.
"If you're not ready to start mending things, then I understand. No hurry. I'll just continue to be the good, honest person that you fell in love with, and eventually, you'll see." He gave her a confident smile, setting the lid down on the floor. "This'll all just seem like a bad dream."
She moved right past the food trolley, still giving him an emotionless, flat stare that he couldn't quite read into. She went around the bed, hugging near it, going up to the right bedside table.
"Well, if you're not hungry, that's fine too," Endymion said, picking up an empty silver plate from the tray. "If you don't mind, I'll start without you. But really. I, for one, am feeling very good about where things are going."
Serenity still said nothing, instead reaching over towards the cone-shaped device, now sitting upright on the bedside table. After a couple of button presses, it began projecting a crystal-clear hologram right above the bed sheets. Endymion watched as an image of her and Jadeite came into focus, eyes knitting together in confusion on seeing Serenity's hair being down, out of her trademark buns.
"Sorry, it's just I had some plans, and—"
"Uh…" Endymion muttered, watching Serenity back away from the projector, then turning his focus back to the hologram. Just in time to see her remove her dress and let it fall to the floor, Jadeite shocked into silence at the sight. Endymion's reaction mirrored that of his general.
"...Princess?" Jadeite's voice was clear and unmistakable, the Earth general taking a half-step back from the now scantily-clad young woman. "W-what are you doing?"
"Don't worry, it's okay," Serenity responded. "Come here."
Endymion slowly twisted his head around, watching Serenity retreat over towards the baby pen. She cast him a flat look over her shoulder, still not indicating any sort of emotion that he could read, and then she stepped into the pen to pick Chibiusa up. "Alright, sweetie, time for your bath," she said quietly, turning her focus away from her husband completely.
"Um, Princess Serenity, I...what…" Jadeite babbled.
Endymion returned to watching the recording.
"It's fine." Serenity aggressively approached Jadeite, Jadeite backing into the closed door. "Come on, let's go."
"Um...what?!" he gasped. "Let's go what?!"
She placed her hand on Jadeite's shoulder, trying to comfort him. "He suggested it, this was his idea."
"What?! You've got to be kidding me," Jadeite whispered hoarsely. "He...he actually…"
"It's some kind of tradition. Earth royalty shares their wife with their generals every now and then," Serenity assured him.
"I've...I've never heard of anything like that," Jadeite said slowly.
"Neither had I, until a few days ago," Serenity pointed out. "Now come on, let's go." She jerked her head over towards the bed."
Endymion jaw may as well have been resting on the floor for how wide open it was. The plate in his hand slipped from his fingers, falling to the floor. He twisted around just in time to see his wife disappear into the bathroom, Chibiusa in tow.
"Serenity, are you sure you didn't just misinterpret what he meant?!" Jadeite asked, looking a little panicked as Serenity began to run her slender hands along his uniformed chest.
"Yes, I'm sure," Serenity insisted, leaning up and pressing her lips into Jadeite's cheek. He visibly tensed up at this. "Now, are we going to do this, or am I going to have to call Nephrite up instead?" she asked after pulling away.
"U-uh...w-well...if it was his idea, then…" he exhaled out. "Alright." Quickly, he became the aggressor, roughly slamming his body into her and guiding them over towards the bed. Serenity's hands were quickly working on undoing his uniform, ripping his collar down. He was undoing her bra as he violently pushed her into the bed, all the while pressing his lips into hers.
Endymion's expression was one of abject terror, mouth still hanging open, eyes as wide as saucers. His arms hung slack at his sides, beyond shocked and completely appalled. As he watched Serenity's hands reach down towards Jadeite's waste and begin to unbuckle his pants, finally, an emotion besides distress.
Anger.