Author's Notes: There are many questions floating around in your heads. I know because I read minds. Heh, and I read reviews… So I know everyone has a lot of questions; most of the questions I can't answer not because I'm rude, but because I want to sustain the suspense. Get it? Instead of getting at the obvious point in my notes let me get to the more abstract point that is the point of me adding notes at the beginning of this chapter; I'm trying to start off by saying that no, this new installment (ch.5) is not a continuation of a character we have already visited. On the other hand, I introduce to you Artemis and Luna—I hope the thought that you must have of me leaving them out can be banished now. They're kind of a boring pair, since they're already together together. Nonetheless they play such a crucial role in bringing all the characters together. Besides, I need brains in this story and Amy does not count because she's going to be too busy flirting with a very perverted bishie. Oops, didn't want to give away Amy's beau before the chapter's even published, but too late. Train of thought keeps going and the next thing I know I'd be telling you the next chapter will be Mina oriented. That's no secret either. I've planned the best stories to go with Mina. Oh, she's going to be one of the most captivating characters to join the crew of most captivating characters; but a character is only captivating in that it is the author's magic pen that makes such a task perhaps possible. Then, it takes great readers to judge whether I'm right or wrong. Enjoy Artemis and Luna's story and please judge by reviewing. I love that new button with the obvious green text "Review this Story/Chapter." Them reminding you to leave a word for me urging me to update as early as tomorrow (perhaps), which is better than the impossible-to-find "Review" trigger in that pathetic drop-down menu in the previous format of this website.

I really want to digress and talk about movies with you folks, but I believe you came here to read this chapter, so I won't hold you up. Hehe, I sound like a vault robber in a middle of a heist. Get it—Hold up? No. That's okay, I don't get me either. I'm not funny when I'm cracking lame jokes, but I betcha all would laugh if they see me fall flat on my face. If you have a heart cringe for me.

Chapter 5: House of Artemis and Luna

It was a quiet morning for the private couple once of the palace life. The woman was in her late twenties, her hair a cascade of violet curls down her back. Ever since she left the palace, her face became paler and her eyes lost their luster. She sat on a stool by the fire with a book in her lap and a shawl over her shoulders. Luna was studying by the fire place again, when she heard a door creak opened.

Her husband, Artemis, slim and lithe, carefully came out of the laboratory holding a compass in his hand. He brushed his long white hair back with his fingers and moved to the shelves of books, leaving the object on an empty shelf in the corner. He leafed through some of the books and if he could not find anything, he searched along the bindings of the others to find what he needed.

"Shouldn't you be resting a while, Luna?" Artemis suddenly asked in the middle of his work.

"You're not going to force me into bed if I don't."

"Of course not."

Luna shifted from the fire place, her shawl slipping a bit, to show the tiny swell of her stomach. "I'm not sick, just pregnant."

Artemis glanced back at her, knowingly. "Weren't you feeling down in the dumps this morning?"

"I've been feeling like that for a while, now."

Artemis nodded, pacing behind Luna as he flipped through pages of Magical Objectives.

"Are you still working on it?"

"How else would I use my time wisely?" Artemis answered with a question of his own as he stepped behind the front counter of their little mini-shop. Artemis cleared some of the gleaming objects that were in his way to settle onto the flat surface with his book under his nose.

The place was quiet again, except for the crackle of the fireplace. Artemis started beating his bare feet against the countertop as he perused through a book and imitated the look of concentration in his wife.

"Artemis?"

Artemis looked up from his reading.

"I think I know what's wrong with it."

"Mm."

"It can't be fixed."

"Where do you get that notion? Anything can be fixed. It just takes time and study."

"But it says here, that not everything is made by mechanical means. Sometimes, these objects are made of something beyond human comprehension."

Artemis fixed his grey-blue eyes on his wife critically. "What have you got there?"

"If I told you, you would throw a fit again."

"Luna!" Artemis leapt from his place, throwing his reading down. He hustled to where she sat and grabbed the title from her

"What?! No—don't!" Luna gasped.

Artemis flipped the cover over and read the title aloud, Silver Magic of Selene. "Luna!"

"Oh, hush, will you?!"

"If we are caught with this…"

"I know. We are already under scrutiny. One more problem would end us up in unimaginable trouble."

"If you know this is bad, then…"

Luna barred her teeth at him in a ferocious manner, not fit for her image. "Don't give me a lecture! We are helping men right under The Queen's nose!"

"Yes, but that is unavoidable, seeing as it is a righteous thing to do."

"And a little research from the 'good' book is not right?"

Artemis kneeled in front of his wife, laying his pallid hands on her lap. "You know how much we're risking for this family already. I just don't want anymore trouble or anymore likelihood for trouble. Do you understand?"

Luna did not respond, but the tinkle of the bell at the front door signaled them outside to greet the customer.

"Hi, Madam!" Artemis greeted, bounding to his feet and huddling by the counter again.

The woman, who entered was barely a woman at all. She was short and shivering terribly, it seemed, from overexertion. Her hair was a strange combination of white and chestnut locks that swayed just at the shoulders.

Luna came up behind Artemis and the both of them gasped in one breath.

"Serenity?!"

The disguise faded. Princess Serenity's hair grew back to its normal length and faded out to the normal, brilliant, silver-blonde. Her hair was loose and not in the usual royal hairstyle. The sharp shape of her face fell into the heart-shaped look again. Even her skin color was back to its pale perfection. However, the dark shadows under her eyes were proof that she had been holding up her disguise too long with her powers.

"Serena!" Artemis cried, leaping up and catching the girl before she fell to the floor from exhaustion. Meanwhile, Luna had maneuvered her way passed the two, to bolt the entry again.

"Why, in the name of Celeste, have you decided to come all the way out here without contacting us before hand? Are you out of your mind?" Artemis questioned in outrage as he felt the princess sag some more into his arms. Her head fell against his shoulder.

"I just had to come because I could think of nowhere else to go," she whispered, her eyes half closed.

Artemis and Luna exchanged looks. Together they heaved the young woman into the next room for her to rest.

"I must say this is the most unpleasant surprise," Artemis managed to say through clenched teeth. "Off on a heroic spree again, Princess, or just going for a walk on the edge of the planet?"

"Going for a walk on the edge of the planet," Serenity sighed in sedated contentment, settling into the couple's soft mattress.

"This is awful, Artemis! I'm closing early, so we can take care of this," Luna cried in discontent. "We mustn't let anyone know she is here."

The tranquil setting was gone from the atmosphere and replaced with raw fear.

"It's okay, Luna. No one knows I'm gone," Serenity assured her.

"Serena, this is about the most absurd thing you have ever done! Worse than donning a Sailor Senshi uniform and calling yourself a super hero. You are out of you mind."

"Wait, Luna."

"—of all the things…"

"Luna."

"What is it now, Artemis?!"

"Do you hear that," he asked.

The two of them leaned their heads forward to the sound of a melody, a tune, just outside the door. It was Artemis, who actually led the way to the storefront again with Luna holding his hand behind him. They stopped by the shelf, where Artemis had left the compass and peered at the thing in curiosity.

They exchanged glances the moment they saw that the said compass, which was actually a locket, glowing and playing a melody. It was at the refrain again, repeating the gloomy, lulling, melodic theme that Artemis had heard first. The little yellow rays danced across their eyes and the walls of the shelf.

"Huh?" They both sounded.

A banging at the door woke the two from their dream state. Artemis ran into the room where Serenity laid and bolted the door behind him. Instantly the tune from the locket stopped. Luna picked it off the shelf and went to answer the door as the knocker remained persistent and impatient.

"Coming!" She slipped the locket in her apron and answered the door.

She gasped when she encountered the familiar navy cloak in the daylight. The customer stepped inside. Hastily, Luna shut the door behind him and re-bolted it.

"Thank, Celeste! I put up the 'Close' sign, so anyone would have just walked on by. I knew it was either you or the inspection officers."

"Artemis?" He questioned softly in his deep, throaty voice, ignoring the woman's quickening chatter.

"Ah! Sick with the cold. Awful isn't it?!"

He nodded, dropping his hood and studying her with his strict, midnight, blue eyes. "Has something happened?"

"Yes, something miraculous, Endymion!"

"What?"

Luna fished the object out of her pocket again and showed him his locket. "It fixed itself."

Endymion picked it out of her hands by the chain, carefully. The star spun in the air for a while before Endymion settled the object in his palm. "It feels the same. No life."

"It had been playing, though…"

It was not as if Endymion doubted her, but he had more important matters in hand. "May I see Artemis?"

"Oh dear, no! What if you get what he has! It's too risky. We can't have the general sick, you know."

"I suppose, I can sit here and wait until he must step out even for a moment from his sickbed."

"Uh, Endymion, you mustn't."

"Why, it isn't exactly fixed, yet. I want to also consult the both of you about some other matters."

"Perhaps I could just relay it to him…"

"No."

His firm objection got Luna rolling her eyes. Stiffly and with a slight limp, she went to the door and knocked ever so lightly. There was shuffling on the other side before Artemis stepped out, barely opening the back door. He looked exhausted, and ashen. A kind of cold sweat broke out leaving sheen across his forehead.

"General… I… Do not think this is a good time." Artemis said with a slight mean grimness that he never used toward Endymion.

"It's urgent."

Artemis maneuvered to the counter, stepping over some boxes laid out in the back. "What is it?"

"First off, get better."

"I beg your pardon?"

Luna cleared her throat. "… The cold, dear."

"Oh right!" Artemis faked three horrible coughs, glancing once to Endymion's solid stare. The general seemed not to care whether he was really sick or not. He also did not seem to notice that Artemis and Luna were hiding someone in their room.

These two shopkeepers were once the Moon's finest Lunar mages and the queen's closest counsel. Like a lot of the court after Queen Selenity's death, they took cover at the edge of a small town a little ways from their palace. Men were not allowed to live within palace walls free and Luna had always been married to Artemis. There was no way she was going to turn him in, so the husband and wife struck a deal with their reigning queen. In exchange for Artemis's freedom the two would move out, give up their titles, and follow the new laws.

Artemis was basically placed under house arrest. Without warning there would be inspections done by officials of their shop and living facilities anytime during the late mornings to early nights. Living in such recluse had made them wary with their magical dealings. In order to continue their livelihoods, they had decided to open a shop that specialized in magical objects. They repaired things and, on occasion, invented new items for use. Usually the objects that were made had to be hidden away during inspections to be safe from confiscation.

Ever since Endymion had befriended the two about a year ago, he understood why they lived in so much fear. The two of them looked over their shoulders way too often and daily developed their distressful talk and movement whenever Endymion crossed their threshold. They were scared everyday, but somehow Queen Beryl did not scare them enough to make them cowards, who did not reach and defend the freedom of all peoples. They were good people because they put their lives on the line when they were in the middle of starting a family.

For the welfare of these people he kept his meetings with them a secret. His short absences as a general did not bother his men much, since they were well aware that he was more than capable. There was never rising suspicion or heavy skepticism when it came to the general and his indulgences in hobbies other men have not the chance to attend. He was their general, their leader, their prince, who played the leading part of their rally for peace and liberty. He was gifted in both the arts of war and diplomacy, so no one ever objected to his thinking. No one ever questioned his whereabouts.

"I thought you might want to know that Beryl has taken leave again. It seems she has sent an army against one of my officers just before she slithered away."

"She goes on her trip to the Dark Kingdom often. I think it is some form of recluse and recuperation for her. She has always been that way in order to replenish her magic and strength. I believe she also consults some characters there, as well."

"The Dark Orb… Tell me more about it." The general stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Artemis shook his head in consternation. "What I've told you is all I know."

"It does not break with a sword."

"Of course not," Luna interceded, "Nothing can break it, not even with the Sword of Terra in which you are in ownership of."

Endymion's shoulders fell and his eyes sparked. "I cannot believe it!"

"Well, believe it! You mustn't try!" Luna cried.

Endymion leered at her.

"Endymion, don't tell me you…"

He didn't say anything.

"You rebels these days!" Luna huffed. She ran into the room that she and Artemis shared and slammed the door shut.

Artemis cringed. "Do not mind her. You have come at a particularly untimely matter. When you do even the slightest bit to worry her, she throws a fit."

"Tell me about it." Endymion rolled his eyes at the man.

"I don't quite understand your logic, either. You don't know that you're value here at the front is more than significant. People depend on strong leaders, so you cannot do something rash like this again."

Endymion yanked his hood over his eyes. "Don't tell me what to do."

Complacently, leaving the locket in Artemis' care again, he left the cabin. He begrudged Artemis and Luna much that day.

Artemis flipped the worn CLOSED sign on the door to OPEN again a few minutes after Endymion left. He was worrying thus his mind was elsewhere, so he was less careful than usual and permitted a toe to barely cross the porch. The dark etchings on his right ankle flared to life. Hissing, he hit the floor forming a bracelet with his pale fingers around the black lines circling his ankle. He couldn't move again as red ran thick and heavy across his vision. Gravity pulled him harder to the floor and pain washed over him.

"Artemis!"

Luna's light footfalls fell near his ears and he felt his tired wife pull him next to the fire place.

"Curse this deal," Artemis hissed as his wife embraced him and wept silently.

"Don't scare me like that. Don't go near the door again."

"I let it happen again. Cursed this mark Beryl has left on me."

"Hush, let me ease your pain," Luna murmured, kissing his ear and his face.

"Don't overdo it this time. Can't have us both immobile in a situation like this," he grumbled.

Luna laughed quietly running a hand over his eyes. "Rest, My Love."

"Maybe someday this ankle bracelet can be uplifted. Black magic taints me," he whispered drowsily as he steadily fell into a slumber that would last days.

Gracious, Luna was certainly beyond fatigue. Not only was her husband unconscious, but another body in the next room was also in that same state.