Chapter 59: Evidence of Absence

Gingerly running his right index finger over the spot by his eye that Kasios had punched a few secundas prior, Endymion grumbled. He didn't need a mirror to know that the wound was visible on his skin, and it was likely going to be obvious to anyone who looked at him for more than a beat. Hoping he could at least get down to the hangar and onto his ship without being seen, he put his right hand on the doorknob and mentally prepared himself for the short, yet important, journey. With all the other things threatening to bring his rule crashing down around his ears, he did not need to add a mysterious facial injury leaking out to the public to the mix.

He gave a final glance over towards his father, twisting his head to the left, exchanging one final heated staredown, not an ounce of tension between the two of them having melted away yet. He twisted the knob, the lock disengaging, and slipped out into the hallway.

The High King quickly surveyed his surroundings, relieved that the hallway was vacated, and pulled the door shut behind him. The moment he did this, he took off on a hurried walk down the hall, hand plunging down to his waist to pluck his communicator disc off his hip.

"Gods, unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable," he mumbled under his breath, shoving the earpiece into his right ear and spinning the outer rim of the communicator around before jabbing his right thumb onto the center button. "Come on, come on, come on," he grumbled, keeping his head down, hoping that it might make his new injury less obvious if he ran into someone.

Thankfully, he soon heard a feminine voice in his ear. "Hello?"

"Serenity, he knows!" Endymion said in a hushed tone, through gritted teeth, purposefully trying to keep his voice as quiet as he could, holding the disc up close to his mouth as he marched through the primary living room of the residence.

"W...what?" Serenity asked. "Who...who knows what?!"

"Kasios! He knows, okay?!" he continued, eyes darting back and forth as he passed through the massive, but thankfully empty, lounge room, making his way to the opposite hallway back to the hangar. "Kasios knows!"

"What?!" Serenity gasped. "You...you don't mean...how?!"

"Long story, I'll explain later," Endymion grunted, mentally groaning at the thought of having to admit that it had been his 'disguise' that had ultimately been the lynchpin to it all. "He's going to call you any moment now probably, he's going to try to get you out of the Earth Palace to meet with him. Ignore him, do not answer. I'll be there as soon as I can, and we'll figure this out, but right now, all you have to do is ignore any call you get from him, got it?"

"U-uh," Serenity babbled, her fear and tension clearly being transmitted over the audio-connection. "U-uhh, h-how did—"

"Serenity, please, just tell me you understand!" Endymion hissed, almost jogging down the hallway back out to the hangar. "There are time-sensitive matters here, just tell me you understand!"

"I understand," she said tentatively. "I understand."

"Love you, just wait in the room, ignore any calls from Kasios," Endymion said. "Be right there." The High King severed the communication line with a push of his thumb into the center of the disc, then started rapidly rotating the outer rim of the device again as he rammed his shoulder into the double doors out into the hangar.

Still keeping his head down, aware that it was very possible that the traffic controller was observing the garage from a surveillance system, he marched over to the right-hand side of the large concrete chamber. The damage done by the crash had been patched and covered up, as if it had never happened in the first place.

"Of all the...Gods…" he muttered, again stabbing his finger onto the center of the disc, the back ramp of The Bastion falling open as he approached.

"Earth Palace Security, good afternoon Your Majesty, how can I serve you?" The monotonous, almost-robotic voice answered his call almost immediately after he placed it.

"Security clearance alpha zero eight zero three seven four," Endymion recited immediately, still keeping his voice down as he ascended the ramp. "I need clearance for identity omega five seven zero four zero three wiped and deleted from the system immediately."

"O-oh," the voice said, immediately sounding far more human. "Um, did you say wiped and deleted?"

"Yes," Endymion answered, slapping his palm on a panel by the wall inside the ship. The ramp began to retract back into the ship behind him. "Do not freeze or flag it, I want it deleted completely, right now."

"Um...alright, pulling that up...t-that's High King Kasios's clearance, isn't it?"

"Former High King Kasios, and yes," Endymion said tersely, quickly sliding into the pilot's seat and bringing the ship's engines to life. "There's been a potential breach with that clearance, time is a factor here, I don't want that clearance code to be able to so much as open a jar of candy in the palace right now. Delete it, and we'll figure it out later."

"R-right away."

Endymion gently pulled his ship off the docking station and engaged the auto-pilot, allowing the ship's computer to automatically orient around to face the exit.

"A-alright, Your Majesty, omega five seven zero four zero three has been completely deleted from the palace security system." The man on the other side of the call cleared his throat. "D-do you want me to start the process of creating a new security alias for...former High King Kasios?"

"Not right now, that'll be all," Endymion said, taking the earpiece out and terminating the call with a push of a button on his disc. Replacing the communicator back on his hip, he leaned back in the pilot's seat and closed his eyes, very slowly working through the first full breath he had taken in quite some time.

"

Serenity, hand curled into a tight fist up in front of her mouth, stared down at the vibrating communicator disc on top of the bed blankets right in front of her. She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the giant mattress inside the palace's master bedroom, trying to figure out what to do, knowing she had a very limited amount of time to decide, paralyzed between the various decision points.

Finally, she reached her hand out and jabbed it into the center of the device. "H-hello?!" she called out.

"Serenity." Sure enough, it was Kasios, just as Endymion had prepared her for moments prior. "I know everything."

"...uh, huh?" Serenity said slowly, trying to act as if she hadn't been warned about this. "What are you talking about?"

"Endymion, I know all of it," Kasios said quickly. "T-the imperium, Cronus, I know everything, alright?! L-listen, we don't have time for a long conversation, Endymion's headed back to the Earth Palace, he'll be there in a few minutas, get Chibiusa and get out of there!"

"Uh...h-how did—"

"Serenity, not now!" Kasios snapped, Serenity sliding off the edge of the bed and grabbing the communicator. "We'll discuss all this after you're safe, he's headed there right now, once he's there you lose your chance to get away from him!"

"Okay okay!" Serenity said, looking around the room, still trying to put together her next moves. "W-what, do I...where do I go, to your house on Mercury?"

"Uh, yes...well, no, actually, no, I don't want to...Endymion might see that coming, we need to be very cautious right now, uh...okay, let's meet on Venus. Public place, a restaurant. The Mariner Venera, you know it?"

"I can find it," Serenity said, falling to her knees by the foot of her bed and pulling her shoes out from just underneath the skirt. "You'll meet me there?"

"Yes, and...um, could you possibly not use your personal spaceship? Endymion might have installed remote overrides on it for all we know, use a...maybe try to use another one?" Kasios asked.

"S-sure," Serenity said, running over to Chibiusa's crib.

"Don't worry about taking anything unless you think you'll need it in the next day or two, or you don't want Endymion to get his hands on it, just get out of there," Kasios said, starting to sound more calm now. "See you soon. Make sure you're out of the palace before he gets back." The call abruptly ended, Serenity shoving the disc into her pocket.

She leaned over the railing of the crib, grabbing Chibiusa by her hips and lifting her up into the air. "Alright, sweetie. We're gonna go see granddad."

"

The Mariner Venera was one of Venus's oldest and most prestigious restaurants, exactly the kind of place a former and current royal could meet without it being the biggest news story of the day. The place had played host to many a celebrity and powerful ruler over the years, famed for the rich selection of seafood that could cost more per dish than a small apartment's monthly rent. So, the former High King of Earth coming in without a reservation and requesting a small table in the public hall wasn't the planet-shattering event it would have been at most other locations.

With the handful of patrons eating at the Mariner Venera on this particular early-afternoon having been told by restaurant staff to not approach Kasios or do anything that might constitute an invasion of his privacy, the Earth elder sat at a small circular table. Though the small surface was decorated in the same manner as every other table in this hall, with mood lighting, cutlery, and porcelain menus, he very much doubted he'd be having interest in eating anything right now. He hadn't even glanced at the menu since sitting down, and he fully intended to immediately wave off any restaurant staff that approached him.

Eyes glued to the main entrance, he spotted the blonde-haired Queen the moment she entered the large room. He had to fight the urge to not just jump right out of his seat and race over to her, reminding himself the importance of keeping up appearances and not giving anything away in public. With any luck, the whole universe would know everything about Endymion by this time tomorrow, but before then discretion was crucial.

Serenity took a quick beat to survey the room of restaurant patrons before locking eyes with Kasios, quicking abandoning the short conversation she was having with Maitre D to rush over. Kasios winced, hoping that nobody would notice her odd behavior.

As she approached, he subtly put his left hand out towards her, encouraging her to slow down a bit. She seemed to catch on, placing her hands on the shoulders of Chibiusa, who was suspended against her mother's chest via a harness, and slowed her gait. She glanced around, suddenly aware of the significance of the public place they were in.

He gave a gentle nod as she came up to the table. "Hey," he said, smiling for the first time in what felt like years.

Serenity kneeled down next to Kasios, quickly undoing the straps on the chest harness that kept Chibiusa secured to her before setting her down. The precocious pink-haired girl stood there, observing as Serenity stood up and embraced Kasios in a large hug. The elderly man returned the gesture, the two of them holding it for several beats.

"Oh, Kasios…" she said softly. "I'm sorry."

"No, no no," Kasios replied quickly. "No, I'm sorry. Gods, I...I don't even know what to say."

"W-wait, wait," Serenity said, glancing back to Chibiusa as she broke away from Kasios. "Let's...um, excuse me!" She waved her right hand towards a uniformed restaurant manager, who immediately rushed over.

"Yes, Your Highness?" the short, brown-haired man asked. "How can I assist you?"

"Um, m-my daughter, she, uh...she'd be bored with us, is there any chance someone could keep an eye on her, maybe entertain her for a little bit?" Serenity asked.

"Oh, we have a playroom for young children, Your Majesty," he said cheerfully. "I'll see to it that a watchful eye is on her at all times as well." He kneeled down before the young Princess. "Oh, you're just the sweetest little thing I've ever seen!"

Serenity nodded, looking a little relieved herself. "A-alright, sweetie, say hi to granddad." Chibiusa stepped forward, placing her arms on Kasios's thigh and looking up at him. Kasios looked down at his grand-daughter, stroking the top of her head.

"Hey, sweetie," Kasios said, trying to sound soft and affectionate but slightly distracted. "Good to see you."

Chibiusa nodded, quickly getting swept up in Serenity's hands.

"Alright, let's get you someplace a little more fun," Serenity said, turning around and following the manager away.

"

Endymion practically kicked the door down as he stormed into his bedroom, followed closely by Kunzite. The white-haired general made sure the door was securely closed behind him before saying a word. "How much does he know? What did he tell you?"

"Son of a…" Endymion, clearly not paying attention to Kunzite's questions, scanned his massive bedroom, immediately alarmed when he didn't see his wife. "Where is she?!"

"Your Majesty, we need to get on top of this, right now!" Kunzite said sternly. "I need to know exactly what happened, right now. If Kasios knows, there's...there's probably an army of agency forces headed here right this moment!"

"No, no, he has nothing!" Endymion spat, running across the room towards the closet. "Had nothing, we need to find Serenity!"

Kunzite withdrew a small tablet from his belt, pulling it up in front of his face and quickly manipulating the screen with his thumbs.

"I told her to stay here!" Endymion hissed to himself as he pushed his way into the closet, flicking the light on and glancing about. "All she had to do was stay here, and everything would have been fine, I…"

"Her ship is still parked in the garage," Kunzite said. "Hasn't moved today."

"Tell the palace guard to find her," Endymion ordered. "Keep it quiet!"

"Um, there was a...a ship did depart a short while ago from the garage, completely unplanned," Kunzite reported, eyes darting back and forth on the tablet readout. "Two passengers. I'm looking into it now."

"Gods…" Endymion sprinted back over next to his general. "Why else would she leave at a time like this?!"

"The takeoff was approved less than a secunda before it left." Kunzite grimaced. "No purpose logged."

"Oh, Gods," Endymion said, stopping right next to Kunzite's shoulder and looking over it at the screen. "It has to be her and Chibiusa. She's running right to him!"

Kunzite swallowed down hard. "Seems likely, yes," he admitted.

"Get the others up here now!" Endymion said. "We have to move the money to somewhere she won't know about! If the agency finds that, it'll be over!"

Kunzite grimaced, nevertheless quickly pulling out his communicator and rapidly pressing his fingers into the buttons along the outer rim. "Um, Your Majesty, I'm afraid there's no way to do that. There's too much to move. If Serenity intends to turn you in to your father, anything we could do to move that money would either take too long or be obvious. Besides, we have nowhere to put it."

"So, what, we just...sit here and wait for the agency to invade the palace?!" Endymion snapped, fuming as he marched over towards the bed and sat on the bottom edge of the bed. "Serenity was the one who put all the money down there in the first place, she'll take him right to it!"

Kunzite sighed. "T-there was a reason why I advised against involving Serenity directly," Kunzite said under his breath.

Endymion hung his head down low. "I can't believe it. She couldn't wait to get out of here!" He shook his head, his tone deflating with rapid speed. "I...I guess I must have scared her, I...I should have prepared her for something like this."

"I'll call the military in to protect the palace," Kunzite said, mind scrambling to try to find a feasible path forward. "We'll spin the arrest as a partisan attempt by the agency to get a ruler more pro-agency into power on Earth."

Endymion sighed. "Oh, what's the point? We'll be able to muddy the waters for a cycle or two, but...if they find the money, it's over."

"The others are coming up, we'll figure out something," Kunzite said, unable to bring himself to protest the general point his charge was making, no matter how true it probably was. "The military can at least buy you time to escape if the agency comes. I'll prepare an emergency getaway vessel if it comes to that."

Endymion nodded lazily, head still bowed in defeat.

"

"It was clean in there?" Kasios asked as Serenity took her seat across from him.

"Y-yeah, it was great," Serenity said quietly, glancing around. "Couple other kids, Chibiusa will be fine for a bit."

"Um, S-Serenity, I'm...I'm so sorry," Kasios said under his breath. "All these years, right in front of me, I never even considered it. The...the suicide thing, you must have just been praying that someone could have figured out something was wrong from that, and I…" he shook his head. "How many hundreds of times you must have been screaming out at me in your head to put it together, it...it makes me sick to even think about. I don't know what he did to you to keep you quiet, but...Gods, I really am sorry I didn't see it."

"Don't blame yourself," Serenity said. "He was very good at it. It took me cycles to figure it out myself."

"Sending Chibiusa to live with me, that...I should have been able to realize what was going on from that." Kasios grimaced. "Um, I don't know what you know, but...the things he's done. You can't even imagine."

"I know enough," she admitted.

"W-we'll have plenty of time to compare notes later," Kasios said quickly. "But, Gods, it's awful. It's not just the laws he's broken, either. Not even the damage he's done to this galaxy by enabling so many bad actors, that's just the start. The lives he ruined on the way, not just even a body count. Thinking about it, it doesn't even seem possible that one person can do all of that. And he's right there, someone we thought we knew."

Serenity nodded, glancing around the restaurant nervously.

"B-but, look, it's all over now, I can promise you that. He can't hurt you anymore, he can't hurt anything or anyone you care about anymore. I'm going to see to it. From this moment forward, you have nothing to worry about." Kasios leaned forward towards the young Queen. "We're going to get through this together, whatever it takes, and it'll end with you and your daughter never having to see him again."

"S-so, he's under arrest?" Serenity asked. "You...you have him? You're about to have him?"

"W-well, no," Kasios said quickly. "We'll have him by tonight, we're not...we can't do that quite yet."

"You said you knew everything about what he's done, uh...how did you find out?" she asked, leaning in herself, keeping her voice down. "If you know about what he's done, why isn't he...uh, already under arrest?"

Kasios grimaced. "Uh, well...it's a little strange, how it happened. But, I had my suspicions, and...earlier today he came to meet me. And, well, the things he said and the...the way he said it, I know. There's no doubt in my mind. But that's, uh, not enough for anything to happen, obviously." He gestured at her. "I just want you to know that there's no scenario where I spend a few days raiding the Earth Palace, find nothing, and shrug my shoulders and give up."

"But, you can't prove it?" Serenity asked. "You mean you don't have any evidence?"

"No, no, not yet. W-well, I have his stupid 'Tuxedo Mask' outfit, that's not really going to convince anyone. Probably couldn't even get a warrant. Especially when I...took it out of his room and took it back to Mercury with me." He winced. "So yeah, I...look, in a few minutas, I will have something, that's what matters right now." He stuck his right hand into the left inside part of his jacket, removing a small black box. "So, here's the plan. Right here, right now, you tell me everything. You give me your side of the story, all the way from the start, all the way up to today. I'll record the whole thing. That's our evidence. Testimony, from you, will be more than enough to get the agency to take this seriously."

Serenity glanced down at the black box. "U-uh, right here?" she asked. "Right now?"

"I mean, the sooner the better, obviously. We can go straight to The Savery from here, the safest place in the galaxy for you right now, and you and Chibiusa can stay there until we bring Endymion in." Kasios nodded. "I don't care how smart he is or what connections he has, he won't be able to get anywhere close to you in there."

"S-so, my testimony will get Endymion charged?" Serenity asked.

"Right! That's why we need to get it on the record right now, it's...it's the only way the agency will entertain this. Your side of the story will be enough to get the agency to launch a full investigation into Endymion, and from there, well...there's no way he's cleaned up everything, we'll find something that sticks. So, yeah, just...tell your story, and he'll be in our custody by the end of the day."

Serenity stared over at Kasios for several beats, blinking slowly over towards him. She glanced down at the little recorder box. And then, she slid over to the right, pushing herself to her feet and off the chair.

"U-uh, Serenity!" Kasios hopped to his feet and, with a speed and dexterity that he rarely displayed, darted around the table. "W-what's going on?"

Serenity turned away from the table, prompting Kasios to come up behind her and grab her arm. She turned back towards him, looking judgmentally down as Kasios's hand.

"Oh, uh, sorry." Kasios quickly released his grip on her arm, putting his hands behind his back nervously. "Of course, uh...bathroom break, obviously, right? Good idea, once you get started, I understand it might...take awhile."

She gave Kasios a reproachful look. "N-no. I, uh…" she swallowed down hard. "...I'm getting Chibiusa, and I'm leaving." She turned away from him, marching a few steps away, not especially surprised when she felt him run up behind her again.

"Oh, okay, uh, you can...give your statement on The Savery! That's perfectly fine, uh, you can leave your ship in the dock, we can go together on mine!" Kasios encouraged.

"No," she said, nervously trying to put some distance between her and Kasios without drawing attention to themselves. "I'm going back to the Earth Palace."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Kasios grabbed Serenity's right shoulder and spun her around, halting her in her tracks. The hushed and peaceful conversation taking place around them was suddenly paused as the actions of the former and current royal couldn't help but draw attention. Kasios winced at the feeling of so many pairs of eyes on him, but kept his focus intently on the young Earth Queen in front of him. "S-Serenity, I'm sure he's back there by now, and...if you go back to him, he'll never let you leave again! Why would you go back?!"

Serenity didn't reply, instead glancing back and forth between his face and his hand on her shoulder. Kasios eventually forced himself to take his hand off of her.

"Serenity, please, you can't go back there, this is our one chance! You go back, you're under his thumb for as long as he wants! You have to come with me, now! I-if you've forgotten something back on Earth, you can go get it tomorrow when Endymion's in agency custody!"

"I understand." With nothing but that entirely useless statement, Serenity again turned around and started walking away from Kasios. The former High King couldn't help himself, and once again sprinted behind her, uncomfortable with any distance being put between him and the one person in the galaxy who could actually get his son charged.

"Serenity, I—"

"Kasios." The Queen turned around powerfully, stopping Kasios before he could reach up to grab her again. She looked up at him with a piercing stare. "Either arrest me, or let me go."

Kasios was shocked, staring down at his daughter-in-law, unable to find appropriate words for what he was currently feeling. Serenity gave him a handful of beats to try to find them, but eventually, turned away once again and quickly walked off. This time, Kasios did not pursue, watching her walk away with his mouth hanging slightly agape.

"

"I'm still a little confused, how did he find your clothes?" Jadeite asked. "What, did you have it out for some reason?"

"I don't know," Endymion groused, still hunched over and looking down towards the carpeted floor. "I'm sure it was in my closet, I...it doesn't matter now."

The High King had not moved from his seat at the foot of the bed, still not particularly motivated to try and do anything to combat what now seemed to be inevitable. His four generals were milling about around him, the combined braintrust of the Earth Palace's regime attempting to come up with some brilliant idea that might make all of this go away. Mostly, the room was stuck in an awkward, thick silence, as none of the generals felt it would be useful to point out how bad Endymion's immediate future looked, but also did not think Endymion so naive that he would respond to any empty platitudes of comfort and assurance. So, they had been holding largely useless conversations for nearly half a dozen minutas now, playing with hopeless scenarios before abandoning them.

"Well, if we need to evacuate, it should take less than three secundas to go from here to The Bastion and be out the door," Nephrite said. "It's all stocked up. And as long as we can get clear of Earth's orbit, the agency will never catch us."

"Until we run out of imperium to fuel the engine," Zoisite muttered. "If we're going to start accepting that scenario, the interesting part is to figure out how to hide, not how to run."

"There are plenty of places to hide outside the asteroid belt," Kunzite said dismissively. "The really interesting part is how we avoid having to go on the run, actually."

"Oh, what's the use?" Endymion said, finally picking his head back up and levelling his gaze over at Kunzite. "Kunzite, I appreciate you trying, but let's not pretend. Honestly, we should probably just...get out of here now. Kasios has everything he needs, the agency is probably gathering forces as we speak." He shrugged. "Why should we put the lives of our military at risk by asking them to hold the agency off, let's just...let's just go now."

Kunzite pulled the small tablet off his waist, quickly pulling it up in front of his eyes and scanning the front of it. "She's back."

Endymion perked up immediately. "E-excuse me?"

"Uh, well, that is to say, the ship she left on, it just started a docking procedure in the palace garage."

Immediately, the three other generals turned towards the balcony outside the High King's room. "We should evacuate. Immediately," Nephrite said.

"No, no no, there's...that's all there is," Kunzite said slowly, thumbs rapidly going up and down on the tablet screen. "Two life forms aboard, no other ships approaching. Not seeing any unexpected activity anywhere in the skies or in orbit around Earth."

Endymion quickly scrambled up next to Kunzite, peering over his shoulder. "W-well, who is it, then?! Why would she come back by herself?!"

"Is it even her?" Zoisite asked, crowding in on the other side of Kunzite.

"Whoever it is, they had a clearance code," Kunzite said.

Endymion wasted no time sprinting over towards the glass door out to the balcony, nearly slamming right into the see-through pane before roughly throwing it open. His four generals were on his heels as he nearly fell over the railing, leaning over it to watch the glowing transportation tube, trailing down the side of the palace all the way down towards the ground floor garage area.

The quintet waited in silence, watching the tube, looking for any sign of it sparking to life and being utilized. They stood there for several secundas, a length of time that they probably should not have spent on effectively doing nothing when the situation was potentially so dire, but none of Endymion's generals believed that their charge could possibly be peeled away from this right now to begin an evacuation.

Finally, they were able to make out a figure dressed in white rapidly zooming through the high-technology transport. Endymion pushed off the railing and ran over to where the elevator would open up onto the balcony, able to feel his heartbeat in his neck.

"Your Highness, we might want to be cautious here," Kunzite suggested, suddenly remembering his job as he placed his hand on the High King's shoulder. Endymion reacted as if he was about to quickly throw Kunzite's hand off of him, but halfway through seemed to think better of it. He slowly backed away from the railing, putting several steps between him and whatever was going to emerge from the tube in a moment.

As the transport pushed its cargo out onto the porch, however, there seemed to be no false pretenses. Queen Serenity, Chibiusa in her arms, stepped out onto the elevated platform, looking far too calm and collected given the situation.

"Serenity." Endymion stepped forward. "Um, look...I'm not mad, you got scared, and that's fine. I understand, that's fine." He went up right in front of her, immediately forgetting Kunzite's suggestion of caution. "I know you went to my father, and you made a deal, and...it's my fault."

Jadeite snuck past the two and went to the railing, leaning over to watch the transport tube that snaked up the side of the palace. Kunzite continued to watch his tablet screen, looking for signs of disturbance on the many sensors in the area around the capitol, or even anywhere on or above the planet.

"I...I should have had a plan for something like this happening," Endymion continued. "S-so, whatever you told Kasios, whatever deal you made with him, j-just...it's fine. We'll get through it."

Jadeite looked back to the High King and shook his head, managing to catch his eye as he did so. Endymion took the opportunity to glance over to Kunzite, who gave his charge a quick shrug, eyes still glued to his tablet.

"Um...I'm sure you gave me up, I just hope that...um...w-what are you doing here?" he asked, finally bringing his planned speech to her to a halt, as it became more and more obvious that things weren't nearly as dire as they would have assumed.

Serenity set Chibiusa down on the ground, giving her a gentle push over towards the balcony door. The toddler quickly took off towards the open doorway, ignorant to the heavy subject matter being discussed around her.

"Serenity, what's...what's going on?" Endymion asked, as Chibiusa galloped inside.

"He doesn't know anything," Serenity said quickly. "He's got nothing. He hasn't told anyone, and I don't think he will."

"Uh...what?" Endymion asked. "Serenity, what are you talking about? Where did you go, where have you been?!"

"I met with your father, and...um, I think our best move would be to just do nothing. He has his suspicions, but nothing he can actually use. As long as we keep quiet, I think we'll be fine." She nodded, and turned to pursue her daughter into the bedroom.

"Wait wait," Endymion said, quickly darting in front of her. "Did you...did you go to meet with my father just to see what he knew?"

"I needed to hear it from him, personally," Serenity explained in a soft voice. "You, he might try to deceive, but not me. He was completely dependent on my testimony, and without it, he can't do anything."

Endymion let loose a massive exhale of relief. "Oh, Gods." He covered his face with his hands. "Serenity, do you have any idea what's been running through my head ever since I got back?"

"I'm sure you'll live," Serenity said, maybe with a touch of snark, before sidestepping around him. "I didn't tell him anything," she said over her shoulder. "Don't make me regret it."

"Oh, uh, yeah, yes." Endymion straightened up, having nearly crumpled over from relief. "Uh, thank you, Serenity." He motioned to his four generals as he followed her, prompting them to line up behind him.

"

"So, uh, Serenity. Just out of curiosity, if my father had actual evidence against me, what were you going to do?" Endymion attempted to broach the subject as casually and innocuously as possible, internally wincing.

"I don't want to talk about it," Serenity said impassively, sitting cross-legged on the corner of the bed.

"Mm, I...suppose I don't either," Endymion acknowledged timidly. "Alright, alright, well, this certainly changes everything." He took a seat on the opposite bottom corner of the large bed, looking down towards the carpet in thought.

"So, it's over then," Jadeite said. "We should be celebrating!" The High King's generals were congregated in a semi-circle close to the royal couple. "Kasios has nothing, there's nothing for him to get, it's over."

"Nothing for him to get?" Zoisite repeated incredulously.

"We're not active anymore," Jadeite pointed out. "We have nothing to do with the imperium business anymore, he could watch all of us every day for the rest of his life and not find anything!"

"It's not as if we killed everyone who ever dealt with us," Kunzite said sternly. "Even off the throne, Kasios is one of the most powerful men in the galaxy, and he now knows that Endymion was Tuxedo Mask. That's dangerous."

Jadeite, cowed, crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Mm, yeah, I suppose. He's not exactly one to just give up and let things go either."

The room was silent for several moments, the tension thick and mood dour enough to make it seem as if Queen Serenity hadn't just firmly sided with her husband in the last few minutas, saving him from immediate danger.

"Wow, unbelievable," Jadeite murmured, meandering over towards the High King and sitting down on the bed next to him, getting Endymion to shoot him an odd look. "I...I can't believe it's come to this, but I want to be very clear about this now." He looked Endymion straight in the eye, clearly attempting to add some gravitas to his words. "Your Majesty, I serve you, and there's nothing else to it."

"What are you talking about?" Endymion asked, looking at Jadeite with a look of almost anxious confusion.

"I'm just saying, even though I wouldn't feel good about it, and...Gods, knowing the consequences if the general public ever found out, plus what it might mean for my soul...you can count on me to help have your father killed," Jadeite said.

Endymion, as if a switch had been flipped inside of him, recoiled a bit from Jadeite in shock. But just as quickly, his demeanor flipped again, as he narrowed his gaze at his general, taking on a slight air of menace.

"I can feel it, that's where this is headed, and I want to say it now. You can count on me," he continued.

"Oh. Well, how considerate of you," Endymion said dryly, voice thick with sarcasm.

"Well, I just—"

Endymion's right hand lunged out towards Jadeite, reaching up towards Jadeite's left ear. He grabbed the lobe and gave it a sharp tug downward, the general yelping in pain and leaning back away from the High King.

"AAHHHH!" Jadeite grunted as he pulled away, quickly scrambling up to his feet, putting himself out of range of Endymion. "Hey!"

"I am not killing my father," Endymion growled through gritted teeth, still staring daggers over towards Jadeite. "Have you lost your mind?!"

"I said I wouldn't feel good about it!" Jadeite protested defensively. "And, well, what else can we do?"

"Not that," Endymion retorted sharply. "And I had better not hear about it again, that goes for everyone. I'm not having my father killed, and that is final." He again shot a nasty look up at Jadeite. "Maybe I'd have you killed, if you keep talking like that."

"We were all thinking about it!" Jadeite snapped.

"In fairness, it does seem to be your favorite maneuver," Serenity said from her spot on the bed, voice clipped and biting. "Having everyone who gets in your way killed. And it's worked very well for you in the past."

"Serenity," Endymion said, now sounding a little hurt as he turned around towards his wife. "Listen to me. Kasios is family. And that means something to me. There's no circumstance where I'd have anything to do with Kasios being killed."

Serenity turned so she was looking at Endymion, trying to judge his level of sincerity. "Easy to say now, in your room, surrounded by your guardians. What if it comes down to you or him?"

Endymion's nostrils flared, but his response was virtually immediate. "If it comes to it, then I'd rather spend the rest of my life in a cell. I can promise you that."

"It's not going to come to that," Kunzite said firmly. "He can't go to the agency with this until he has something concrete, and without the agency his resources are extremely limited. For now, we make every effort to stay inside the palace at all times, where he can't get to us. Nobody touches the money inside the Moon Palace, he can't get to it in there without a warrant. Stay away from anything that could connect us to the imperium trade."

Endymion sighed, nodding. "He'll be desperate for anything that he could use to justify a palace raid, so everything has to be perfect around here for awhile." He turned back to look at Serenity. "And...thank you, sweetie. Really. I mean it."

"Just don't make me regret it," Serenity said in something just above a mumble.

"

Kasios's left index finger was digging so hard into his forehead, it was almost as if he was attempting to burrow it in. He was practically laying down in his chair, his posture and position mangled. Sitting in the dark, maybe half a dozen paces away from his bed, he had nothing to do but simply stare at the decorative jewel-encrusted plate on the wall.

Not once in the last several years had he felt as close to finally catching Tuxedo Mask as he had just a few minutas ago. There had even been a moment back at the restaurant where he had mentally locked it in. For just that brief few secundas, it seemed as if Endymion may as well have already been locked up on board The Savery. To have that snatched away from him, and in such an unexpected way, was downright cruel.

Being tricked by Queen Serenity, of all people, was just adding to the bitter low he was currently feeling. It was as if all the people in his life that he trusted implicitly were turning on him in rapid succession.

"Good evening."

Kasios lazily twisted his head to the right enough to see the elder Serenity standing in the doorway of his bedroom, holding onto the frame.

"You rang?" she asked. "And what's with that posture? Either sit up or go to bed."

Kasios smiled weakly, before forcing himself up into a normal position, with no small amount of groans and grunts on the way. "You got some time to talk about something?" he asked.

"I've got nothing but time," she said cheerfully, obviously completely unaware of the severe conflict going on in Kasios's mind. "What's going on?" She took a step into the large bedroom.

"Um...just in case, c-close the door," Kasios said, pointing a single finger towards the door behind the former Queen. "And, uh, this could take awhile, so if you've got something else to do, now's the time."

Serenity's smile faltered, now sensing that Kasios wasn't calling her in here to say something positive. "Uh, no, I'm good." She reached behind her, grabbing the doorknob.

"Yeah, it's about our...our children," Kasios said, Serenity slowly bringing the door flush to the frame, snapping it closed with a click.