Chapter 30: Don't Call It A Comeback

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one as well...life got busy. Should be faster for the next month or so.

"

Princess Serenity pushed her long blonde tails of hair over her shoulders, sweeping them behind her as she marched down the hallway. Expression neutral and flat, her physical energy had seemingly been redirected into purposeful, efficient motions designed to accomplish goals, rather than the more vertical, bubbly, exuberant vigor she had typically displayed her entire life. Such loss of innocence and playfulness was an obvious side effect of being forced into such an awful and inescapable situation.

She could hardly see the ornate, gilded hallway around her anymore, no more than she could see the luxurious bedroom that she spent much of her time in. The expensive construction and priceless decor was lost on her more and more with each passing day. It all started to feel like dull concrete barriers and cold metal bars. Only by forcing herself to be numb to all of it could she put up a good front. And despite how unhappy she was, she did realize the necessity to put up a good front.

She went over to the door to Endymion's bedroom and wrenched it open, intent on quickly grabbing a couple of Chibiusa's picture books and leaving, spending as little time around Endymion as possible. However, that plan was quickly ruined, as on her entry, she was forced into a surprised gasp. She froze a half-step into the room, momentarily forgetting her intentions to be as quick as she could.

A couple paces in front of the bed, two stacks of sealed luggage sacks had been erected, giant leather containers which were visibly bulging with the size of their loads. Endymion, turned away from her, was sitting at the foot of the bed, a peaceful smile on his face as he looked over at the stack of luggage. Serenity's eyes darted over to the bedside table, noticing that most of her things, such as a couple of picture frames and her communicator charger, were gone. She then made a brief glance over up at the wall to the left of the bed, seeing that the dagger she had received from Princess Venus as a gift had also been taken down. Slowly, she looked over at her husband, who got to his feet.

"You can look around, see if I missed anything," he said quietly. "I'll drop you off."

She was struggling to believe it, not wanting to misinterpret anything and get her expectations up based off of them. Staring at Endymion, she squinted a bit and tilted her head. "Drop me off? Where?"

Endymion turned towards her. "Home."

"

The anti-gravity pad powered down, slowly settling the piles of luggage down on the carpeted floor in Serenity's bedroom, right by Serenity's left foot. She slowly looked around her semi-abandoned and neglected bedroom, arms crossed over her chest, mind quickly populating the barren chamber with the contents of the leather sacks next to her foot. She closed her eyes, taking in a huge, heaving breath, then gradually pushing it out.

A light giggle from behind her snapped her out of it, and she turned around to find Endymion kneeling in front of a baby carrier, right hand reaching down towards the toddler within, running his fingers along her cheeks and chin. She felt that the situation was so delicate and fragile, she refrained from getting upset at him. Endymion glanced up, and on seeing that Serenity was looking at him, he got back to his feet and approached her.

After getting a couple steps from her, he stopped, and the two just stared at each other. She didn't dare let her guard down enough to actually display any degree of happiness or warmth. Endymion, by contrast, looked relaxed and content.

"I'll have the midwives moved here in the next few days. Assuming you're ready to house them," he began, breaking the verbal silence that the two had been holding since boarding The Bastion for the quick flight over to the Moon Palace. "If I find anything down there that belongs to you, I'll send it here."

She dropped her head down a bit, giving him a suspicious glare.

"Obviously, people are going to ask for the details. So I figure, we just keep it vague. We're not getting along, things aren't working it, um…what's that phrase they use? Irreconcilable differences? That's what most couples that break up say, isn't it?" Endymion shrugged. "Something like that."

"I thought we couldn't separate," she said.

"We aren't," he clarified. "But just because we're married doesn't mean we have to be around each other. We've already produced an heir, so the base function of a royal union has been resolved. At this point, you can just stay in your palace, and I'll stay in mine."

There was a flat resignation in Endymion's voice. Serenity was tempted to take him seriously. Her crooked eyebrows evened out a bit.

"When you married me, you didn't sign up for being with someone who...has done the things that I've done. And it's not fair for me to ask you to force yourself to be okay with it after the fact," he admitted. "So, we'll just stay married officially, the union will hold, Chibiusa will be heir to the throne, everyone's happy...and we'll keep to ourselves from now on."

"And what's stopping you from having some...mood swing tomorrow, or the next day, or whenever, and come barging in here?" she asked, still not all the way to being able to trust him. "If we're still married, then you have a...what was it? 'Right' to be around me?"

Endymion gave a thin smile. "Right. Well, I have a few things for you." He quickly stepped over to the stack of luggage, identifying one on the top of the right stack and pulling the side pocket open. He pulled a few sheets of paper from it, holding it up in front of him. "I understand that you might have difficulty trusting me to hold up my end, so I had this made for you. I had Zoisite get it drafted, so you can trust that it's going to hold up." He went back over to Serenity and extended the trio of sheets towards her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it and looking over a long document of small black text.

"It's called a mutual restraining order," he explained. "Once that document is filled out and filed, it will be illegal for me to be within a hundred haplouns of you."

She flipped up the first page, looking at the second, eyes darting around the small writing. "W-who would enforce something like that? You're the Crown Prince of Earth. It's not as if...you'd actually get arrested, or anyone would actually force you to leave me alone." She blinked a couple times, glancing up to give Endymion a stern gaze.

"It'll be enforced," he said, giving a couple quick nods. "There's a reason why it's called a mutual restraining order. Check the last page."

She did as he instructed, finding another page of text, with a couple of lines meant for signatures at the bottom. One of them held Endymion's fancy sequence of pen-marks. She couldn't help but have her eyes go a little wide.

"With my signature on that document, as well as yours, it will be understood that this is what we both want. So, all relevant law enforcement agencies will enforce it to the letter. We'll still be married, but I won't be allowed to go near you." He gave a sweeping nod. "I know it's not perfect, but it's the best I can do."

"What about our parents?" she asked, being pushed and pulled between the desire to simply accept her victory and take yes for an answer and the desire to make sure her Kingdom would be safe through this. "If they find out there's a restraining order that we both signed, then...well, they're not going to just accept that." She swallowed down a lump in her throat, fighting back waves of strong emotion. "They're going to want to know why this happened. They won't just accept 'irreconcilable differences'."

"We'll keep them at arm's length. We're both adults, they'll have to respect our right to make decisions of our own volition, as well as our privacy." He shrugged. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy or fun, but...it has to be better than you being miserable all the time down on Earth."

Gradually, with a couple of blinks of her large eyes, Serenity's face wrinkles started to smooth out.

"Just one more thing, and then I'll be gone," he said, going back over to the luggage case he had taken the documents from, unbuckling the straps holding it closed. "Had things been done by the book, and the imperium vein reported to the agency back when I first found it, the Moon would have received a payment. So, in the interest of being fair, I want you to have this."

Serenity came over in time to see him swing the lid of the case open, and she released an audible gasp. The container was loaded with pink diamonds of assorted sizes.

"We can't determine what the agency would have given the Moon, but...well, this should at least put a dent in it. They're pretty stingy these days, so I imagine this should cover it, actually." He looked up at her. "You have that vault in your closet, right?"

She gave a little nod.

"Keep it in there for now. You can ask Zoisite to help you launder it into the treasury or the vaults if you'd like. But once I'm named High King, it'll be much easier, so if you could just hold onto it until then, that'd probably be for the best. But I want you to have it. You're at the very least, entitled to this much."

Serenity stared down at the gemstones, visibly shaken and affected. She squeezed her eyes shut and gave her head a couple shakes, looking over at Endymion. "I-If I...take this. Knowing where it came from. That would make an...a, uh...an attachment after the fact."

"Accessory," Endymion corrected with what could have passed as a playful grin. "So let's just say that it was a pathetic, desperate attempt on my part to earn your favor back with a gaudy gift, if anyone finds out about it. Which they shouldn't."

Tightly pressing her lips together, she glanced back at the jewels, rubbing her chin. "Endymion, I...I don't know."

"Serenity, I've done enough bad things to you already. I don't want to add robbing you to the list." He reached forward and put his hand on her right shoulder. "I know it's not ideal, but at this point, it's the best I can do."

Serenity, with some effort and time taken, nodded. Endymion reached forward and closed the container back up, re-strapping it.

"I'm sorry, Serenity. I love you, and all I ever wanted was to make you happy. I never, ever, wanted to hurt you. But, I did." He turned back to her. "So, you're out now. Forever. Just try to make the best of things from now on. And if you ever need help, need anything at all, I'll be there for you. Just ask."

She slowly let her arms drop back down to her sides.

"Just, one thing. I know you don't want to see me anymore, and I understand. But...Chibiusa. I'm her father, and I'd like to be able to see her sometimes. I love her, and she means the world to me. If you could just consider some sort of arrangement where I get to see her every now and then, I'd really appreciate it. Just think about it." He looked over his shoulder at the bedroom door. "Well, I think that's it. Sign those papers, file them with the Moon Palace Guard, they'll circulate it, and that'll be that. Call me if you want to discuss something." He cleared his throat, looking at the far wall of the room. "Alright, I...I suppose that's it. If you don't want to ever see me again, then after today, you won't have to. So...this is goodbye." He nodded over towards her graciously.

With that, he turned and strided off towards the door, Serenity left standing there in mild shock. She rubbed her eyes, expecting the luggage cases to suddenly vanish and her surroundings to puff away and be replaced by Endymion's bedroom back on Earth, but no such thing happened. She had gotten what she wanted, and gotten it for no other reason than the source of her suffering had decided to give it to her.

"Hey."

Endymion paused, twisting around to look at his wife, who was giving a hesitant look over at him. The papers held at her side, she made a couple expressive little gestures with her eyebrows, highly conflicted.

"...thank you," she muttered, unable to settle on anything more meaningful.

He nodded, then a few steps later departed the room, leaving Serenity to stand there, lifting the documents back up in front of her to read them. However, her eyes did little more than just vacantly scan the words, not taking in any information, still too wrapped up in the significant happenings of the last couple minutas to really absorb information.

"

"Each tube furnace has a maximum capacity of just over twenty-five congii," Viluy explained, gently tapping her palm on the top of one of the long, rectangular pieces of equipment that stretched across the floor of part of the laboratory. Four identical pieces of shiny lab equipment were laid out alongside this one, each one connected via thick tubing to a large steel vat in the middle of the room. "More than enough power down here to run all five at once."

"We'll need far more power than that," Kunzite said flatly, going over to the tube furnace Viluy indicated and carefully cracking open the hinged lid, peering inside the tube-shaped body.

"Absolutely, and you'll have it," Viluy assured him. "We did a test run yesterday, all five furnaces were running at full power, the ventilation system was at maximum, we even had all the lights on. No problems." She nodded proudly. "Not any great surprise, we were using plenty of power down here when it was me doing the synthesization."

"I'll believe it after a few full days of operation," Kunzite insisted, closing the top of the furnace. "A test run wouldn't even scratch the surface of the strain we're going to put on the wiring. Your boss wants five thousand libras every ten days, so we're going to be drawing massive amounts of power over ten percent of the time going forward. Wouldn't shock me if we had to swap out the wires every cycle."

Viluy picked up a small tablet on top of one of the other furnaces, looking down at it. "In any case, twenty-five congiis translates to two hundred and fifty libras per furnace. That's one thousand and a quarter libras per batch, the vat has a maximum capacity of exactly that, so four batches every ten days."

Kunzite shook his head. "Cutting it too close. Filling everything to maximum capacity introduces some difficulties that affects the purity. Your boss insisted on ninety-nine percent minimum. We go five batches, a thousand each."

"Up to you," Viluy conceded. "Now, we've confirmed we'll have unlimited access to all the substances and materials you requested." She pointed over across the room at the far wall, where several yellow barrels were stacked. "That's the boron fluid, I know that's the most important thing. Salium is in the jugs in the right corner back there."

"We need eight culeuses of boron fluid per cycle, that's sixteen of those barrels," Kunzite warned.

"Not even a concern," she assured him. "So, Kunzite, I...I couldn't help but apply some basic critical thinking when you submitted the required substances. I assume that the salium is for soaking the catalyst bed."

Kunzite was hardly paying attention to Viluy, marching across the large room to look over the barrels and jugs that she had just indicated. She dutifully followed him over, a slanted smile on her face.

"But I couldn't help but wonder, doesn't the salium dry up too fast? I've worked with it before, of course, and my experience is that it tends to dry out rather quickly, and given the need of the catalyst bed in something like imperium synthesization...well, how does it work?"

Kunzite kneeled down by the rows of shelved jugs, pulling one out from the bottom and unscrewing the cap. He lifted it up underneath his nostrils, taking a light sniff before resealing it.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I...I suppose you have more important things on your mind right now," she said. "My apologies, I'm just...I love lab work! I love working with chemicals, it...it makes me feel alive, you know? And knowing that there's some...magic formula out there that synthesizes imperium almost perfectly that nobody can figure out, it's just, I can't help but be curious! I'm really so excited to have the opportunity to learn all about it, and...look, if you'd like to see my certifications in this field, then I could definitely bring those out. They're among the finest in the galaxy, I assure you. I can guarantee you will have no issues with me as a lab assistant."

"How many people were involved in setting this laboratory up?" Kunzite asked, having no reaction to any of Viluy's energetic declarations or assumptions. "How many know about this lab?"

"O-oh, the setup was...supervised by me, and handled exclusively by Cronus's most trusted lieutenants. I promise you have nothing to worry about on that front, knowledge of you working here in this capacity will be kept entirely to half-a-dozen people total." Viluy clapped her hands together in front of her.

Kunzite nodded. "It's sufficient, then. That's all I need from you." He reached down towards his left hip, removing the communicator from his waist.

"Ah, communicators won't work down here, actually," she said eagerly, pointing up towards the catwalk. "We have to go above ground."

Kunzite glanced up at the door leading back up to the facility, then hoisted the communicator up in front of his mouth. "We'll see about that." He quickly tapped a couple of buttons and switches on the front of the disc. "Your Highness, are you receiving?"

"Loud and clear," Endymion replied, drawing a little jerk of reflexive movement from Viluy.

"Wow!" she gasped under her breath. "That audio clarity, you may as well be outside!"

Kunzite shot her an annoyed side glance. He held his thumb down on a button on the side of the communicator. "As I just said, that's all I need from you."

"O-oh, I'm...sorry, I...right," she said, voice kicking down a couple octaves. She scrambled across the room over towards the spiral stairs leading up to the catwalk, shoes loudly clapping on the hard floor as she moved with urgency.

Kunzite watched her retreat for a moment, then released his finger off the communicator's side button. "We're all set up here, Your Highness. We can start at any time." As he spoke he whipped the earpiece out of the communicator as well, pushing it into his ear.

"Oh, great. Thank you," Endymion replied. "I handled things over here with Serenity."

Kunzite's eyes tracked Viluy as she quickly traversed the catwalk out towards the laboratory's lone exit. "And how did that go?"

"I'm actually...feeling quite good about the future," Endymion said tentatively. "It went well. I think it's best for everyone, and we'll all be happier for it."

"That's...well, certainly one way to look at it," Kunzite said gruffly. "Have you spoken to your father yet?"

"I'm having dinner with him tonight, I'll handle it then," Endymion replied.

"

Endymion sidled up next to Kasios, craning his head down towards the table surface where the High King was indicating a sheet of paper that contained a bullet-pointed list on the left side and a detailed sketch of a tall, thin man wearing a tuxedo, plus a masquerade mask on his face, on the right side. Although the Prince couldn't help but tense up at the sight of the detailed, fairly accurate depiction of himself, he was quick to relax as Kasios's demeanor remained friendly and amicable.

A pair of mostly-cleaned dinner plates lay abandoned in front of the two royals, marking evidence of a recently-concluded meal, and attention was now focused on the heavily-inked document Kasios had presented.

"I didn't know what to do, so I went back to the start," Kasios explained. "Librum. That's the first place this Tuxedo Mask started showing up, when he was just selling a couple uncias at a time. Figured, maybe there was some reason why he started there. Was as good a lead as any."

"So, you don't think this guy is dead?" Endymion asked. "You said that's what a lot of the council thinks right now, and...I mean, based off what you said, it makes sense, right?"

Kasios gave an irritated grunt. "It's certainly a popular theory right now. A lot of assumptions being made. More than one person up on The Savery implied I was wasting agency resources by combing through Librum. I guess I just don't want to believe it. Maybe I should, but there's just too much we don't know yet." He tapped his index finger on the drawing in front of him. "So anyway, we didn't really find much. If he lived there before, doesn't seem like he lives there now, his product isn't on the streets, nothing like that. But check this out. We found a guy who swears up and down that he saw Tuxedo Mask up close and personal, back when he was first starting. See, back then, he was actually selling his product in-person, out in public. I mean, right after he became notorious, a bunch of jokers started impersonating him, but this guy, he's sure that he saw him before all that happened."

Endymion tried to casually prop his elbow up on the table and rest his chin against his palm. "So, he saw...Tuxedo Mask...and drew a picture of him?"

Kasios gave a little laugh. "No, not exactly. As it happens, this guy we found has one of those eidetic memories. If he sees something, he packs it away in that brain of his and it never fades. So he says, anyway. He came forward while we were going through Librum, said he had a physical description. Check it out." He dragged his finger along the left side of the document. "Top hat, twenty-four and a half pollexes around, so kind of a big head. Brand of the hat an Ornstein or a Folwick, based off the description. Mask, seemed to be made out of cloth. Tuxedo, a golden three-button Sterling with sharp tips. Undershirt, three buttons. Cape, black outside, red inside, Sterling. White gloves. Black pants, brand impossible to determine. Black shoes, might be Asus or Rolant. Took us like four minutas to reason all this out based off his descriptions, but it's pretty detailed, isn't it?"

The fingernails of Endymion's right hand were digging into his thigh now, as he tried to redirect all of his discomfort and concern into this act. The image he presented to his father remained one of mild interest.

"I-I mean...I've heard that those eidetic memories are kind of a myth," Endymion said quickly, glancing over to his right briefly. "Some people have better memories than others, but...I don't know, actually thinking that someone can tell how big someone's head is by looking at their hat for a little bit? I'm not sure I buy it."

"Oh, I'm absolutely not married to any of this, I'm not nearly stupid enough for that," Kasios said dismissively. "My point is more, I used two hundred agency operatives, spent like three million creds, and this is all I have to show for it." He shook his head. "Hey, maybe you'll be seeing me around a lot more soon, I might get fired."

Endymion's right arm relaxed, his fingertips extracting themselves from digging into his skin and moving to rest in his lap instead. "Ah. Well, you have to be willing to waste some time and resources when you're investigating a complicated case. I'm sure they'll understand."

"I just can't believe how bad this Tuxedo Mask is making us look," Kasios said darkly. "I've been doing this for awhile now, and there hasn't been a single smuggler or chemist who we weren't able to put on his or her heels within a couple of cycles, but this asshole...it's unreal."

Endymion unconsciously reached over and put his hand on his father's right shoulder. "He's not making you look bad if he's dead. Maybe it's just that simple."

"Bah," he grumbled. "I didn't want him dead. I wanted him in handcuffs." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, thanks for listening to all that, I just wanted to...to go over this stuff with someone who wouldn't just tell me I'm being obsessive and wasting time."

"I'm always here for you, dad," Endymion assured him.

He sighed, staring down at the drawing. "You know, if you're willing to give this eidetic memory guy a bit of credit, then one thing you could say is, this guy must have been doing pretty well for himself beforehand."

"How do you figure that?" Endymion asked.

"Ornstein hat, Sterling tuxedo and cape, Asus shoes, you don't find that stuff on the discount rack. Those are high-end, tailored clothing brands, expensive. Even by the standards of a tuxedo, Sterling is about as good as it gets. You know, my tuxedos are Sterlings. Some of them, anyway. Yours too."

Endymion, mouth going slightly dry, nodded.

"So, i guess we could add that to the character profile. Was rich before entering imperium smuggling."

"Or maybe he stole some nice clothes," Endymion said, casually shrugging.

With a wry smile, Kasios shook his head. "You see how complicated this shit is? You try to make one assumption, one educated guess, to narrow it down a bit, and it takes about two beats to rip it to shreds."

"S-sorry. Just saying," the Prince said sheepishly.

"But hey, here's what I figure. I convince the agency to devote all their resources to doing a search of every single closet in the entire galaxy, trying to find people who have Ornstein hats, Sterling tuxedos and capes, and Asus shoes. Should take about four hundred years, and when we're done, we might have the suspect list down to three million people." Kasios bit down on his lower lip. "What do you think, huh? You think the Grandmaster would go for that?" he asked with a laugh.

Endymion was able to produce a thin smile.

"How about we start with your closet?" Kasios said with a playful smirk. "Hey, you've got a pretty big head, don't you? Twenty-four and a half around sounds about right."

Endymion, with a sarcastic roll of his eyes, released Kasios's shoulder and put both of his hands up in the air above his head, palms out. "Oh boy, looks like you're on to me," he said jokingly.

"I mean, that's honestly one of the best ideas I have right now," Kasios said. "Just start searching closets." He looked up at the empty, forgotten dinner plate. "Aw, wow, you know...son, I'm sorry, that's more than enough about me. Gods, I spent the whole dinner blathering on about agency crap, what's going on with you?"

"Hey, it's fine," Endymion assured him. "Your work is plenty interesting. I'm fine. I do have one pretty cool thing to tell you about, but, it's so damn insignificant compared to your work, don't even worry."

"Oh, go ahead," Kasios urged.

"W-well, you know Cronus, obviously. You introduced us at the opera on Neptune," Endymion started. "So—"

"Oh yeah, definitely, know him well," Kasios said.

Endymion cleared his throat. "He offered me an apprenticeship at their new laboratory on Deimos, learning under his finest scientists. Said my test results and scores were so good, he couldn't stop himself from at least making the offer. He thinks that after a year, I could get a diamond certification in medical science."

Kasios looked rather taken aback at this. "W-wait, you're thinking about accepting?"

"I am accepting," Endymion said, absentmindedly tapping his fingers on the table surface in front of him. "Already decided. I took a look at the schedule I'd need to keep and the work I'd be doing, and I think it sounds like a great idea."

"Oh, s-son, I...I agree, it sounds like a great idea, but...are you sure?" He raised an eyebrow at his son.

"It's not like I have many duties around here, what with you being a workaholic. All I do is meet with governors and diplomats every now and then when you need someone to fill-in for you. I want something productive and meaningful to do with my time, and you've said before it's a good idea for members of royalty to prove they're capable and intelligent on their own merits. What could be better than a diamond certification? And next year, who knows, you might need me around here more, or I might even be on the throne. I should do it now."

"Well, yes, all that sounds fantastic, and normally I'd be completely behind you, but...you just got married not that long ago, and last I checked you were having problems. You just had a kid, too! Are you really sure you want to be spending a bunch of time away from the palace right now?" Kasios spread his hands to his sides for a brief second.

"Ah," Endymion said uneasily. "Okay, you're going to be tempted to panic a little bit, just...just try to stay calm." He put his left palm out towards him. "So, here's the thing. I let Serenity move out with Chibiusa."

Endymion saw Kasios's entire body jolt a bit at that revelation, so he quickly thrust his palm out towards him. "Don't panic, don't freak out, just...hear me out."

"Endymion, what are you...are you serious?!" he asked. "W-why would you do that?! What's going on?!"

Endymion sighed, a crestfallen frown on his face. "Dad, she wasn't happy and things weren't getting better. I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but it was getting to the point where it was cruel for me to force her to stay. I'm giving her space now, it's the only thing to do."

Kasios gave a rattling little huff. "Endymion, I...jeez, what the hell happened? What, exactly, is she so upset about? This doesn't make any sense!" He hunched over the table, putting his hand up to his forehead.

"I'm not comfortable discussing that with anyone yet," Endymion said sternly. "It's between me and her."

"Well, Endymion, I hear you on that, but...it affects me too, you know. It does! Your marriage changed things a lot, and...and I mean...if this is headed some place permanent, then that's something I need to know about! That affects me!" He gave his son a bit of a desperate look. "Just, if you could just let me in on this a little bit, maybe I could help! Or at least, let me know what's going on so I can prepare to deal with the fallout."

Endymion, with some effort, didn't display any emotion. "Dad, the answer is no. This is a private matter with me and my wife. I can promise we're not going to get legally separated, and the Kingdom already has an heir from our marriage. That's all you need to concern yourself with."

"A royal couple that doesn't even live in the same palace is a bad look," Kasios said. "When it gets out that you two aren't even on the same planet anymore, there are going to be a lot of questions. Just, please, tell me that this is eventually going to get better."

"I can't promise anything in that regard. All I know is that right now, she needs space." Endymion stood to his feet. "She could come back tomorrow, could never come back in a hundred years, I can't say. But she was perpetually angry here, and I didn't want to force her to remain in that state anymore. So, back to the original point, I think me spending some time away from the palace might actually be the best thing for everyone."

Kasios, with a lazy drooping of his shoulders and a stretched-out grunt, finally gave a reluctant nod. "I...I suppose so. A-alright, um, sure. Yeah, apprenticeship under Cronus, that's a great idea for you. Sorry, son, I just...I just can't help but wonder what's going on with you and Serenity."

"Oh, believe me. I'm still wondering myself," Endymion said.

"

Endymion reached down to bring the right arm of the bright orange jumpsuit up so he could shove his right arm into the sleeve. With a tug on the front, he started to zip the protective gear up his chest.

"Him being upset is fine," he said, looking over his shoulder, then reaching behind him to grab the orange hood attached to the neck of the suit, pulling it up over his head. "I knew he was going to be upset, I just need him to back off."

Kunzite, already in his protective suit, was checking the seal around a breathing mask, closely examining the rubber along the outer edges. "Do you really believe he'll be able to stop himself from demanding answers after six cycles of Serenity living in the Moon Palace? A year? Your plan doesn't seem to be taking the long-term into account."

"He can demand all he wants, this isn't his business and he'll have to respect that," Endymion replied coolly. "Besides, I did the right thing, didn't I?"

Kunzite paused for a moment, setting the mask down on the long silver table in front of him. "I suppose."

"If I'm going to get back into this business, I can't possibly justify keeping her there," he said quietly. "I'm sure it's the right thing, Kunzite. And sometimes the right thing isn't easy."

With a quiet little squeaking accompanying each step, Endymion went up to a large red square container on the table next to Kunzite, sliding the lid open and peeking inside.

"I hope you're not already hungry," Kunzite said. "We're going to be here all day since we have to learn how to use the new equipment."

"No, no, just checking," Endymion said. "So, anyway...let's get started."

Both young men startled a bit as the distinctive sound of the above door opening sounded off, each of them glancing up at the above catwalk to find Viluy quickly scrambling across it.

"D-don't start without me!" she said, practically sliding down the spiral stairway. "Let me suit up, I want to be part of every step!"

Endymion stared at her as she managed to go from the door to the floor in record time, then slowly gave Kunzite a confused look. He wordlessly pointed over towards her as she sprinted over towards the steel lockers in the back left corner.

Kunzite gave a reluctant little sigh. "Right. So, we might need to discuss this first."