Strongly worded Author's Note –

I will not be held responsible for any reader's mental, emotional or physical well-being if he/she reads this story without first reading my "Crystal Flaws" series. This story is definitely meant to be read after reading "Crystal Flaws".

If you already read, "Crystal Flaws" then you can laugh with me as we read the flame reviews left by the people who didn't read "Crystal Flaws" first.

Chapter 9 -

Endymion was cold, tired, hungry and more than a little pissed off. A "simple" assignment, he thought. Right! Endymion wiped the damp, light-brown hair, he now had as a magical disguise, out of his temporarily green eyes and sighed. He looked down at a soggy paper in his hand that his Commanding Officer had called a map. Endy balled it up and threw it on the ground in disgust. Some map! he thought, It doesn't even have 'north' marked! All he had to do was find the hidden camp without being detected, then report back to base and lead his group there. Endymion knew how to follow a map, but not a map like that. It was beyond useless. He decided he'd have better luck with trial and error.

Endymion walked a while until he came to a ravine. He thought it might be a good place to hide a camp so he followed a narrow trail to the bottom. The ravine was only about six feet wide and the walls rose up well above his head. Very little light made its way to the bottom but he didn't dare illumination. He searched the gloom then heard a noise up ahead. There was a blacker darkness that seemed to be a cave opening and that was where the sound was coming from. It sounded like it could be talking so he slipped in to investigate.

Immediately his warning senses told him the cave was powerfully warded. The power plucked him up off the cave floor and pinned him to the wall. It was pitch black and Endymion heard something moving in the darkness. He was certain by now that this was not where the secret military camp was, but what was here?

A voice hissed from right in front of Endymion's face, "Who are you?"

Endymion began to give his military identification and the voice roared, "Don't give me stories! I can smell your power! WHO ARE YOU?!"

The voice didn't sound distinctly male or female. Endymion decided that if this being was going to kill him, it would have done it already. For some reason it didn't want to, at least not yet, so Endymion had some negotiating room. "Give me some light and I'll tell you," he bargained.

Suddenly the entire cave was flooded with brightness. Endymion squinched his eyes as they tried to adjust. When he could finally see, his jaw fell open with shock. In front of him floated the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had long, flowing, silvery hair that fell to her feet. Her face was like an angel's and her red lips were full and alluring. The gossamer dress she wore appeared to be woven from moonbeams and it emphasized every perfect curve of her body. The effect was absolutely stunning and it would have been perfect except for one thing. Her eyes were cold, cunning and very alien looking. "Well?" she prompted.

"Could you please let me loose from the wall?"

The woman's eyes narrowed, then she sighed. Suddenly Endymion was on his feet and could move again.

She didn't say anything but Endymion could tell he had used up all the welcome he had. Standing at his full height, Endymion let his disguise dissolve as he stated, "I am Endymion, a Prince of Earth." So it wasn't the whole truth, shoot him for it.

The woman looked suitably impressed so he continued with a courteous bow, "and who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

The woman smiled and answered, "My name is Metalia. Well, well, Endymion, please come in. We just may have a lot in common."

Endymion stepped around a turn in the cave and came upon a very richly decorated woman's boudoir. A small table was set with tea and two cups and Metalia gestured for him to sit. She sat also and as she began to pour the tea she asked, "Would you like sugar?"

Shaking his head no, Endymion also picked up his cup and as she sipped he pretended to do so as well. Metalia put her cup down and noted, "Your power level is impressive."

Endymion smiled and said, "Thank you. You're obviously very powerful too."

With a cat-in-the-cream smile, Metalia purred her proposition, "If we put our powers together, we could easily rule this planet and none could stand in our way. Would you like to hold all of this world's riches within you hands? With me, you could!"

Endymion sat looking at her for a moment then started chuckling. He answered, "No thank you, Metalia. I already have as much of those things as I need.

Metalia sat stunned for a moment then with a sly smile she added, "If you think I'm beautiful, I could add a mutually satisfying physical relationship to the agreement."

Endymion looked like he was considering her offer for a moment then leaned forward and confidentially whispered, "It's the eyes. Sorry, but they just don't work with the rest of the package."

Metalia sat back with a gasp and incredulously exclaimed, "You still refuse me?!" Endymion nodded and suddenly the illusion vanished leaving a dank, pitch-black cave and a very angry creature. Metalia uncloak her evil aura and Endymion felt it pulse and swirl around him. Her power buffeted against him and the pressure made him choke and gag.

Endymion now knew this alien creature wasn't bluffing. She really did have the ability to destroy anything in her path and for the first time in his life the prince experienced true, heart-stopping fear. Edging his way back, Endymion urgently tried to think of a way to escape. He had to live so he could warn his father and protect their world. Endymion suddenly realized just how much he really did care about his planet.

Reaching out to Endymion with incorporeal hands, Metalia thrust her fingers through his skull. Endymion jerked in panic as he felt her talons violate his brain. Guttural chuckling reverberated off the cavern walls. "You're not so brave now, are you, little prince? I can taste the fear you're radiating and it's exquisite! However," Metalia regretfully sighed, "as much as I'm enjoying your fear, I can't indulge myself and drain you dry. I need a female of your species to posses and you're handsome. You will do nicely to lure one to me."

Endymion knew he had only one chance left as he desperately launched a full eight rose volley towards the voice.

Metalia screeched when the powerful flowers hit her. She desperately clawed at the painful spears that were leaching her life power from her.

Endymion felt Metalia release him and he trailed his fingers along the cave wall as he ran. His affinity with the Earth allowed him to sense its magnetic pull and discern his direction. The wall suddenly disappeared from his fingers and he slammed into rock. Looking up he saw the gray sky and realized he was back in the ravine. Turning, he ran for the end and almost reached it.

Metalia had finally removed the last rose from her body and realized her prey was escaping. She knew it would be a very bad thing if Endymion notified the other royals about her. She realized she'd have to stop him before he was completely out of her reach.

Metalia couldn't physically leave the cave without a host. She had to stay near the reserved energy she had in her capsule and the cloaking it provided. Her arms could reach quite far, but they lost physical and magical strength the farther they extended from her body.

Metalia's hands caught up to Endymion just inside the edge of the ravine. They enveloped his head and she forced him into unconsciousness. He fell to the floor of the narrow passage and Metalia attempted to pull him back towards her. Her hands kept slipping through him and she cursed. He was just a little too far away. She couldn't pull him back so she decided to kill him where he lay. Her hand reached inside his head and Metalia found that even unconscious, Endymion's shielding was strong. At that distance she didn't have the strength to kill him either.

The only thing Metalia could access was Endymion's short-term memory so she erased their encounter from his mind. Now all she could do was hope that he'd come closer to her lair on his own when he awoke. Metalia seriously hoped Endymion would return. His roses had weakened her and she had already spent a lavish amount of her reserve power on the illusion she created. It had been a gamble and Metalia didn't like it when she lost. She would at lease like to break even by taking his life energy.

Endymion slowly awoke with a splitting headache and sat up. As he tried to stand, his legs shook and he hurt all over. He felt as if he'd just been in a fight, and lost, but didn't see any physical evidence of it. Endymion looked at the forest ahead of him then turned to look behind. As he tried to peer through the darkness of the ravine, he suddenly felt a very strong and inexplicable aversion to the place. He hesitated then turned and stumbled out.

As Endymion leaned against a tree, he realized his disguise was gone. Whatever had knocked him out must have been pretty hard. His disguise was supposed to hold up under all but the very deepest of trances. He reactivated the disguise and turned back towards base camp. He knew he'd hear it for failing to complete the exercise but right then he just didn't care.

Metalia had seen Endymion look back then turn to leave. She cursed her ill luck and swore to herself that she would encounter Endymion again. When she did, she'd make him pay for rejecting her and for wasting so much of her time and energy.

Continued...

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it. If you did like my story, or if you have any (kind and gently worded) suggestions/comments about my story, please let me know. I truly appreciate feedback. You can email me at ndeblockatattdotnet.

This story was edited and enhanced by the great minds and imaginations of my three wonderful betas, Sophia Prester, Yumeko & Loki. Their help and ideas have been of great value to me! Each is also a fabulous Sailor Moon fanfic author. Sophia Prester's and Yumeko's stories can be found on fanfictiondotnet with an author's name search. Loki's work is on AriasInkdotcom I highly recommend reading all of their stories.

Bye, Luna Hope

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, her lover, her friends, her family and her enemies all don't belong to me. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I just borrowed them for a little bit of fun. All original characters in this story do belong to me.