Different World of a Different Time
by Moonlight Eternal

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Chapitre 3

Rini was sitting up in the unfamiliar bed, wiping tears out of her rose-red eyes. She had not screamed because she didn't recognize her surroundings. On the contrary, now that she looked at them she rather liked the darkness. Most children couldn't stand it, but the dark blue hues all around her faintly reminded her of one of her favorite rooms of her palace. Her father adored the midnight sky, and so did she. In turn, she adored the color of midnight. The observatory tower he had so fondly made use of over the years had become almost a secret hide away for the King and Rini. Sometimes, late at night, when Rini was sure every soul in the palace but her father's slept, she hurry to that room. Endymion always worked there in the late nights. And even if he had an early morning council to attend, even if he desperately needed time to think on a pressing matter of the kingdom, he always welcomed Rini's presence without a moment's hesitation. Under the open skylight, or even on the roof, together they had spent hours admiring the constellations and planets, while Endymion told Rini stories of ancient gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, until her eyes became heavy with sleep and she drifted away into dreams.

And all around Rini now, in this room, she felt the familiarity of those dark nights on the roof with her father rushing back to her. She could almost see the stars blinking around her, almost smell the fresh scent of her Papa... More tears came, and she felt those memories, and the ones she'd just relived in a dream, pressing against the back of her mind painfully. She shut her eyes, attempting to block them out.

Loud footfalls alerted her to the presence of others. Opening her eyes in mild curiosity, she found herself surrounded by six men, their eyes all like those of worried elder brothers, even those she'd held as the most stoic. Endymion approached her side, sitting next to her wrapping his strong arms around her. Rini wondered faintly if this was his chamber... His finger wiped a stray tear away.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Rini shuddered at the question, then nodded. It was more than a dream, though, she heard that nasty part of her say. It is what you left... Rini clamped her eyes shut again. 'Please go away...please go away!' she begged of those thoughts, those words, those truths.

Helios drew up next to Endymion, who Rini now furiously clung to. In an odd way, Endymion had bonded with the child, that was the most obvious conclusion anyone could draw. This little girl, who'd fallen into a lake (from where she came from or how she'd managed to land in the center was anyone's guess) just a couple a turns before...this child had managed to find a way into the Prince of the Earth's heart. That took more than a mysterious power...

As such, the High Priest almost felt hesitant to ask. But he shook the nurturing and kind part away from himself for a moment. If it was for the safety of one he loved... "What happened?" he asked seriously. Rini opened her eyes, brimming with fear and hopelessness, almost out of shock. Helios winced inwardly. Whatever this was, he was sure it hurt her...Despite himself, that caring part of him came back to say 'Satisfied?'

After a moment, the mood surrounding the child changed. She glared at the High Priest defiantly, as if to ask him what right he had to pry. 'She's right, you know...' 'Be quiet!' he shot 

back at himself.

"Helios," Endymion said, picking Rini up, "is that really necessary?" Of course, he had to make things difficult. Helios gave his prince and best friend a withering look.

"Yes," he stated coldly and simply. Endymion set Rini back down. If Helios looked that mean, then it must be important, he told himself. But still...he disliked that uncaring look his High Priest was giving the young girl who lay shivering in his arms. "Rini," Helios kneeled down to look her straight in the eye. Rini stared back at him with an indifferent, stone-like face. "Please tell me what your dream was about."

Suspicion crept onto the stone. "Why do you want to know about a child's nightmare?" she asked with skill, voicing everyone in the room's question. Helios had to admire her discipline. To be able to control herself enough to sound like this was a discussion about the latest fashion when she was obviously this upset was quite an achievement, especially at her age. It also pointed to training in politics and diplomacy… Helios tucked that away as another clue to her identity.

"Curiosity," Helios shrugged and continued. "And...a lot can be said," a misty, unfamiliar look came into his turquoise eyes, "about the past and future from a dream. Especially a child's dream. Children know more than even they give themselves credit for."

"..." Rini was glaring at Helios with a fervent dislike. Tears fell down her scowling face, and then it crumbled. Endymion glanced quickly down at his High Priest, worried. Usually, tears would receive an immediate reaction from the priest. After all, he was probably the most nurturing and emotionally in tune of all the garren and he. Even combined, Helios was probably more sensitive. So how could he stare this child a quarter of his age down, with absolutely no emotion in his amazingly cool eyes? This was the side of Helios no one had seen. Endymion was beginning to suspect he would severely dislike it.

"My mama..." Rini finally sobbed out. "She...she..."

With a small bit of satisfaction coming from somewhere, Endymion saw Helios strain to stay neutral. "You don't have to tell us about your mother, Rini." Helios spoke, the slightly soothing tone back as he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"That was what my dream was about though!" Rini yelled, knocking his hand away. The hurt that flashed briefly through Helios's eyes was nothing compared to the frustration Rini felt with the question and that she knew she should answer. "And it's all my fault!!" Even Jadeite, the most spiritually unaware of all in the room could feel the massive wave of energy coming from Rini now. Endymion scooped Rini up without a thought, regretting it as he felt her emotions swirling into him again... He felt himself go limp on the bed as she spiralled down into herself, taking him with her. A sudden slap across the face brought him back to himself and a very white faced Malachite.

Forcing himself to stay upright, he glared down at Helios angrily, forcing him backwards 

a step with nothing other than his anger and strength of will. Despite this, he gently rocked Rini in his arms. "Come on, we have to get to dinner." The Crown Prince stomped out of his bed chamber, closely followed by Malachite (who needed to be ready to catch the said prince if he fainted) as well as Nephrite, Jadeite, and Zoisite. Helios remained behind, giving himself time to stand, seemingly in a trance, allowing his mental powers to fill the room before leaving it and heading towards The Temple. Dinner was tempting, but other worries came first. Especially when they were worries connected to this child.

- -

"How was dinner?" Helios asked, not even bothering to glance up from the LiKana board three hours later. Even with attempted stealth the garren still hadn't managed to enter unheard.

"You have about 5 seconds until he comes back," Malachite said, grabbing a book off the humungous stack on one of the tables. Zoisite had already emersed himself in a thick tome nearby, though he was really trying to hide behind the stacks and prayed to Selene he would go unnoticed. Jadeite scurried in quickly, hoping to not be seen as he also snatched up reading material. Even Nephrite's stroll was a little uneven as he hurried to his usual spot, safely hidden from view by a large ornamental vase of flowers. "We all agreed about three seconds ago that you're in for it and good luck. We hope you don't die, as we would all miss you and we aren't quite sure who could perform the funeral service. We suspect Quartz might be up to it but-"

"Helios," Endymion's voice interrupted Malachite's whisper. Soft and deadly, it scared the garren more than if he had shouted at the top of his lungs. The door closed quietly behind him. Assumedly, he'd already tucked the girl into his own bed as Rini was conspicuously absent. She had already seemed to forget her nightmare ordeal while Endymion, obviously, hadn't. But then, he wasn't a five year old entranced by chocolate cake. "WHAT were you thinking?!"

Helios, in return, looked up from the LiKana board. "I just wanted to see if I could get Serenity past Prosperity. You don't have to-"

"You know that's NOT what I'm talking about!" Endymion seethed.

"Endymion, don't get so testy, Helios didn't do-" Malachite sincerely hoped Helios would at least remember he'd tried to help him. It wasn't his fault, he muttered to himself, his voice gone thanks to the glares he'd received from both parties due to his "interference", that neither the Prince nor the Priest was susceptible to any sort of rational reasoning once they were angry. The head garren glanced back to Jadeite and Nephrite, and around the book stack at Zoisite. All three were equally as baffled about the response. But no one else would make any attempts to say anything, that much was obvious...they'd all wanted to get OUT of there before this started! And as they were forced to stay, they were not going to draw attention to themselves until this was all over.

"What in the name of Ceres were you up to?!" Endymion asked Helios again, standing stiffly in front of the priest. His voice froze the room and Nephrite had a sudden wish that Jadeite would set the couch on fire again, just to break up the tension.

In response, Helios shrugged just as before, looking back to the board. "I already told you. You can tell a lot about a person's-"

"You made a five year old child CRY over something so trivial?!" Endymion's voice broke and he started shouting.

Any sparkle of humor in Helios's blue eyes was instantly replaced by cold anger. "She has a past she's trying to escape. I won't be the fool who lets his guard down for a child who could harm everyone around her." His fingers brushed over the jewel representing chaos on the board. The symbolism was not lost on Endymion.

"I already told you she does not-"

"Did I say INTENTIONALLY, your Highness?" Helios lashed out, standing. The garren sucked in their breaths, all stunned. Even when in the middle of an argument, Helios was always in control, but the waves of power rolling outwards from the High Priest said he was anything but in control of himself. Malachite suspected it was because he was feeling guilty himself about what he had done, even though he had claimed it was necessary, making it ridiculously easy for Endymion to get past Helios's barriers.

"You certainly implied it." Endymion replied just as coldly.

"We don't know anything about her your Highness other than she comes from the future, is about five, and doesn't mean for destruction. Unfortunately, the fact is that destruction follows her like a pet dog. I don't intend to forget that fact, and neither should you, no matter how much of your younger sister you see in her." Malachite sucked in his breath through clenched teeth as he saw the look on Endymion's face blacken to deep rage at the mention of his sister. Maybe Helios had taken it a little too far with that one. Before Endymion could utter another angry word, Helios bowed stiffly. "Your High Priest takes his leave." Endymion might have been blinded by fury, but Malachite glanced worriedly at the priest as he caught what Endymion would have if he had been a bit less angry: The significance of Helios's words and their phrasing…

Helios walked with his usual, trained grace with all the room's eyes on him. Endymion's were glaring in anger, Malachite's in worry, as well as a bit of awe (he'd never managed to make Endymion so angry, in case you counted he and Helios's joint effort to get Endymion to date Lady Leralai), Zoisite's in horror, Jadeite with fear, and Nephrite shock. Their expression might have frozen like that had Helios not tripped over the table leg and gone flying through the air. All members of the royal guard allowed themselves marvelous laughter as Helios's sprawled figure lifted itself in shock. Endymion kept his face stiff, though his mouth did twitch a bit. 'I hope you broke...okay, fine, at least SPRAINED something!' he thought grudgingly.

"Nice, Helios, VERY nice. Way to break the tension," Jadeite laughed, approaching Helios, who was recovering slowly from his loss of balance as well as pride. Everyone else attempted to sober themselves. Jadeite glanced over at Endymion hopefully. Maybe now the two 

of them could actually talk without shouting?

"Helios?" Malachite asked, chuckling still, as Helios remained on all fours for more than a moment. Were his arms...trembling?

Helios emitted a painful cry, then collapsed back to the ground, head hitting the coffee table on the way back down, causing a cut to start bleeding stark red against Helios's naturally pale skin. "Helios?!" Zoisite sprang up, knocking every book over on the table. With loud crashes, they hit the floor, pages flying as the binding's landed the wrong way up. Helios made no reply. Something was definitely and obviously wrong. The four garren rushed to the High Priest's side, Nephrite reaching him first and checked for breathing before running to get a cloth to wipe the blood off with. Endymion stood back hesitantly, allowing himself to shut off from the world. His connection with his priest was only around the corner of his mind...

"Helios? Helios?!" Malachite rolled Helios's unconscious body over and brought him to a semi-sitting position. Helios responded somewhat, opening his glazed eyes halfway to watch the blonde's face swim in and out of focus before he allowed darkness to swallow him.

"He's burning up!" Zoisite's voice rose out of panic.

"We have to get him to The Temple!" Nephrite said, grabbing an overcoat quickly.

"No, wait, he's going cold...!"

"Endymion, HELP us here!" Jadeite cried, looking over at the prince who seemed frozen. "Endymion?!" Jadeite cried as the prince's eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped back onto the couch.

"Oh, great, not him too!!"

- -

Endymion stormed through the snow-white marble halls, not caring that he was causing an almost deafening amount of noise in what he assumed was usually a silent area. Actually, the childishly petty part of his mind enjoyed it. He really wasn't bothering to look at anything at all in the high ceilinged enclosure, or for that matter where he was going. In fact he wasn't even aware at all of where he was, only that Helios was somewhere around and he had to find him so he could kill him. The Crown Prince rounded another large pillar, and spotted the priest in the center of the room.

"HELIOS!" Endymion stomped angrily towards the High Priest's kneeling form. He seemed to be praying, not that Endymion cared. Perhaps Hades would be kind to Helios in death then, as Endymion was surely not going to be kind killing him. "NOW what are you up to?!" he shouted, directly over the silver-haired priest.

"I should have known you'd come, Your Highness," Helios added the address at the end, not even opening his eyes to acknowledge another presence. The slightly icy tone to his voice reminded Endymion that there was an unfinished argument between them. But he'd deal with that later, after he'd killed Helios for this latest development.

"Oh stop that. I should have known you would pull a stunt like this!" Endymion cried. "I can't believe you didn't even warn us! The others are going crazy! None of them have ever seen this before if you'll remember. If it hadn't been for that time Rose did this to me on purpose, I'd have been right there, fooled with them as well!"

"If they take me to The Temple, they'll figure out what I've done," Helios said simply. "It's you who they'll really worry about; Crown Princes are a lot harder to come by than High Priests. Why did you come, you who so hoped I would break something?"

"I said SPRAINED and-GAH! I HATE it when you read my thoughts!!" He threw his arms up in frustration. Helios's form didn't even flinch.

Seeing the High Priest wasn't going to hold a real conversation, Endymion took a few moments to cool down. Only one person could really make him show boiling anger, and that person was kneeling and praying. The only way to solve this was to go with the flow and hope Helios got done before Endymion went crazy. He knelt next to the priest, mimicking his body's stance.

He gently began the breathing exercises of meditation, and felt himself relax, mentally and physically. "So, what are we doing?" he asked after a moment, his voice back to calm, his anger dissipated.

"YOU, Your Highness, are going to go back before they bring Rose in," Helios replied. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Rose will only try to wake me up, she won't kill me..." Endymion brushed it off.

"Endymion," Helios's voice warned. He finally opened his eyes, and turned his head towards his only superior.

"I thought I'd cursed you...I was worried," Endymion grumbled, hating to admit that he'd been worried about the very person he'd been imagining painful deaths for. Had it been Malachite Endymion was admitting this to, a hearty laughter would have echoed through the empty halls.

But this was Helios. His curiosity appeased, the priest simply turned back to prayer. "Well, I'm fine obviously, I just have something to do. Shouldn't take too long. You can now go back to grumbling about me and my insensitivity in peace." It was a blatant and obvious dismissal.

"This something would be...?" Endymion made no signs of movement.

"Must you always be so nosy?" Helios muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry?" Endymion smiled.

"Endy, trust me, you don't want to know," Helios stated.

"At least give me a hint?" Endymion became petulant. Helios groaned as he realized that Endymion was not going to let this go without knowing exactly what was going on. This was what he'd been trying to avoid: Endymion at his most stubborn.

"...I'm looking into someone's dream," Helios said after a long moment.

"Do I want to risk a guess?" Endymion asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Considering your reaction to my inquires earlier..."

Endymion jumped up, aghast. "Helios!"

"I knew you'd overreact," Helios sighed. He was still in prayer stance, although he'd stiffened somewhat at Endymion's reaction. Endymion could almost see the cold mask coming back over Helios's feelings.

"You DO remember the entire blowing up the LiKana board lesson, right?" Endymion went to whirl Helios around to make him look him straight in the eyes but found his hands went through the mental projection.

"Prince, you worry too much," Helios didn't even flinch, but at Endymion's quiet pleading, he softened and relaxed his body. He had begun some odd sort of rhythmic hand movements. Endymion almost wanted to be quiet and watch-he had only ever watched Helios at "work" during religious ceremonies, where Helios was surrounded by acolytes and such, as well as was draped in ceremonial robes and being watched by thousands of people. Not to mention Endymion too was weighed down by jewel encrusted ceremonial clothes of his own...

Still, he managed to shake himself back into worried anger. "Helios, if she has ANY walls-" He ground his teeth at the thought of what would happen to both Rini and Helios if her mind had any protections around it. Not to mention himself…

"Ah, see, finished. Now go back," Helios said, taking no notice of Endymion's frantic looks.

"Not happening," Endymion said loudly. Perhaps going into Rini's dreams hadn't been how he'd intended on spending his night, but it didn't seem that he could do a thing about it now. And his curious side was just aching to see what Helios thought was so important. He had the feeling that whenever Helios relayed these little adventures of his to Endymion and the garren, the priest left out any sort of details that might frighten all the others further. As Endymion thought about all the things Helios might have kept from him over the years, the hall the two men had previously occupied swirled out of focus, although Endymion and Helios's position remained the same.



"Deep breaths, Endy," Helios said humorously, sensing the prince's tension. "If you're going to crack under this little pressure..."

"CAN you breathe here?!" Endymion cried, panic beginning to set in. He'd never done this before…All the stories and dangers suddenly flooded over him and he moved closer to Helios for reassurance.

"Oh Endymion..." Helios sighed helplessly.

An image of Rini spiralled cinematically into focus in front of the two. "Helios," Endymion said nervously when he noticed the other wasn't going to do anything, "We shouldn't be DOING this..."

"Like I've said before, Endymion, you worry too much. We're simply having her relive a dream without having her tell it," Helios said, as the image of Rini sleeping faded into a dark fog. "It's better than trying to force the answers out of her."

"It's not RIGHT, Helios," Endymion almost growled. Didn't Helios have any morals?

"She won't feel a thing, nor will she remember this dream when she wakes up. There's no danger to her-"

"There's danger to you!"

"You too unless you leave about now... And I believe the danger for ME is worth it if I can help her. She's a future princess who needs all of our assistance. But I can't help unless I know what the problem is that she needs assistance with!"

"What do you mean me! Do you really thing that I'm going to, wait- Future...what?!" Endymion looked wildly over towards the calm priest.

"You can be so slow on the uptake sometimes... She's a princess, obviously. She had no control over her powers, meaning no training, so she can't be a priestess-in-training. The only other way she could've reached the inner circle is by being a royal or one of those very few who are flukes. She has Terran royal power and the royal Lunarian insignia, and you yourself commented on the fact that she is accustomed to being called Lady, not to mention the fact that someone has given her lessons on disciplining her voice and stance when conducting an argument. That's politics 101, Endy. Someone is training her to be something and it involves diplomacy. I think that basically ensures she's of royalty. Rini is a princess of a future kingdom...actually come to think of it, she could conceivably be your daughter, Endymion."

Endymion gave Helios a horrified look. "Don't say things like that," he said shakily.

"What, it could be true," Helios said thoughtfully. "And even if it isn't, she must at least be one of your descendents. It would certainly explain why her father looks like you and why her powers are so strong."

"I'm 20, Helios. I don't even have an idea of who I'll marry, although my guess would be my parents are silently planning my demise right about now...children are the last of my priorities." Endymion felt like banging his head against...something. This was not what he wanted to talk about right now, or ever, for that matter. He had made it QUITE obvious to his guard and Helios that this last year was going to be a year he ignored any sort of duties. Of course, it hadn't quite worked out that way. He'd not mentioned to his parents that he intended to forget his throne for a year (he was quite sure they would not be pleased.)

Helios chuckled softly. "I'd love to see the look on your parents' faces if you told them that. You're scheduled to be crowned on your 21st birthday after your father steps down; that's in less than a year. Surely they must have SOME way planned for your smooth transition into the monarchy...?"

Endymion frowned as the discussion got more involved. "I'm sure they do have a plan and I don't doubt a wedding is probably at the top of their list. I think I'll imagine I'm a fish this time as they explain it to me. Fish don't have to listen to and understand the complexities of ruling and getting engaged to a "suitable Lady of noble stature and grace". And don't lecture me, Helios. I have to go to Amaranta in a couple of days, I'll hear enough of it then even IF I believe I'm a water dweller and incapable of understanding. A wedding would certainly work, you have to admit."

Helios winced. "Don't envy you there..." he couldn't help but say.

Endymion nodded, though he was distracted by something else. He glanced around at the still thick fog. "Is it supposed to be like this?"

"No," Helios's tone turned serious. "In all my experience this hasn't ever-"

"MAMA!" a child's scream pierced the dense fog.

- -

This chapter is shorter than the others, I realize, but this was the best cut off place, or else this chapter would have been something like 30 pages long ; I'd also like to mention that i know it seems, so far, that this story focuses around Endymion, his Garren (this might also be a good time for me to point out that I use the term 'garren' with license, I was getting very tired of calling them just the generals when their service in my story is somewhat different), Rini, and a couple other characters. It won't be for another few more chapters, but by the end of this story, most ever character of the Sailor Moon universe come in somehow.

Thank you for reading!

Moonlight Eternal