One after another. Each new monster that was sent out was turned to dust by the accursed Moon Princess. It was annoying before she awoke, but it was more agitating as they were no closer to getting the Silver Crystal to give to the great ruler. The short days of energy grabbing had to be extended through the many months, but the longer it carried on, the angrier Beryl had grown.

She was not a happy Queen. She's nearly beaten the last general to death over his failures, along with a few of the monsters roaming the halls that dared to cross her path during her time of rage.

The only good thing just happened to be the fact that Beryl still held control over Endymion. He was defiant with her at times, mainly since his focus was clearly on the Moon Princess and getting the Silver Crystal, but he still did as ordered.

Beryl stormed into the meeting room of her castle, where Endymion was already there, observing old manuscripts from the library. He had taken an interest in the old literature that was unavailable in the libraries open to the rest of the people of Earth. He listened as the doors flew open, slamming against the wall, her heels hitting the marble floor loudly.

"Another failure has occurred! Kunzite cannot seem to handle managing the monsters well enough to rally them against the moon brat who is still running around!" Had she actually stomped her feet in beat with her words, Endymion thought he would have mistaken the grown woman across from him as a child.

"Maybe you just haven't given him the most powerful underlings in your possession? I'm sure there are better alternatives that you haven't made available?" He was not asking to be helpful, he just loved being antagonistic to the Queen. With all her not-so-subtle moves towards him, he found it preferential to annoy her so she would leave him alone.

"I've provided all that I can! His incompetence is the only problem here! He is one of the former generals from over one thousand years ago, and he had great strategy then! I do not understand what could possibly make now any different!" She roared, the negative energy of her power permeating the room. Endymion was not one to easily be intimidated by this, however.

"Well, beating it into him certainly won't help your case, seeing as he's now being forced to rest to recover from your near-fatal blows. He may yet prove useful, and we don't need your outbursts causing us to lose another general." He could care less that his tone came out harsh. When he was never on great terms with the general, Kunzite was bright in other areas, so they could not simply write him off so easily. Beryl treated them all like disposable toys, and it was evident to him that she had no clue on how to properly manage the many hidden uses.

"I had to teach him a lesson somehow. Now he'll know he needs to be more efficient if he doesn't want to fall like the last three before him." She waved her hand so casually, showing her unwillingness to understand or even consider Endymion's words. It annoyed him, but he did not bother to even glance up from the manuscripts to give her the time of day. It infuriated her further.

Endymion had begun formulating his own plans for a while now, but he couldn't include Beryl in those plans. He often tried to bring up potential ideas, even if they were to simply gain energy for Metalia, but she was often denying his opinions. She was certainly one to speak about "incompetence" when she was wholly unaware of her own.

"Okay then, Endymion. If you're so clever, why don't you come up with a plan to kill the moon brat and her little underlings? Hm? How come you haven't taken possession of her crystal yet?" She yelled. "If you cannot come up with a plan to get that crystal by the end of this week, I'll make sure you stay dead this time!"

He smirked at this. "So does this mean that anything I do to achieve this goal is fair game?" He asked, finally looking up and combating her sharp gaze with his one of assuredness. Playing into her overt obsession with him, he gave a simplistic yet affectionate look.

As angry as she was with him, she was still fairly smitten with the man. "Yes, fine. Whatever you need to do that is necessary for our ruler Metalia in getting that crystal." Turning on her heel, she left to go talk with the said ruler.

A wide smirk crossed Endymion's face as now, he could thoroughly consider and go through on his plan. He had no care for Metalia other than what power she could provide. His only interest was getting the crystal to regain something he had lost. He just couldn't remember what he was looking for, and the voice in his head that would pop up every now and again to spew nothing but nonsense could likely be silenced with its power.

Getting up from his spot, he left the scattered pages to be read later. He now had to consider his plan, and what he would need to do, or how he could follow through on his plan efficiently. Beryl may be incapable, but she did have the most power bestowed upon her by Metalia.

"As powerful as she is, she doesn't put it to good use." His voice echoed as he walked through the halls of the castle, dark interior decorations at every turn. The Prince eventually came to the room of the coffins where he saw the jewels of Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicite through the glass. There was a fourth one prepared for Kunzite.

How presumptuous of that woman, making such unnecessary preparations. Kunzite could be incompetent, of course, but to be prepared to kill him and lay his gem to rest was cruel. Endymion knew he never really held any feelings of friendship towards the general, but even despite the animosity, he could not force himself to want him dead. Even he had to admit to the silver-haired man's usefulness, if used properly as a pawn, and not just as a vessel for sending out monsters. The others, frome what Endymion heard from Kunzite, certainly had their own capable abilities as well, Beryl just did not know how to utilize their abilities to her advantage. It was truly a shame he could not be brought in before they all suffered at her hands. For now…

"Perhaps if one were to... get rid of her, in a way... and just take all of Metalia's power..."

All he had to do was plan her demise.

"Metalia will undoubtedly betray her..." His mind figured seeing as he had seen that they had no idea what they were doing. Then, a smirk slowly crept onto his face. "I just can't let her beat me to it."

The problem that arose for him, however, was that he did not have the power to rid Beryl of her form and power. For now, he had to look at available options. The library manuscripts he got to read spoke of a hidden region on Earth, only accessible to the royalty of the planet. Beryl often spoke to Metalia, calling him the "Prince of Earth" which was surely not in reference to them ruling together… Had that been the case, she would have said "King." He had suspected his own blooming powers, so far only manifesting in his black roses and abnormal strength and healing abilities.

Leaving the room of coffins, Endymion cemented his thought process. Using his connection to the planet, he would find that secret sanctuary. It would undoubtedly grant him the answers he needed to his many questions, and maybe even show him the power he knew he had deep within himself.

Usagi skipped happily to Hikawa Shrine, as late as ever. So far, today had been one of those days where things just tended to go right. Her mother had allowed her to sleep in after such a long night of practicing cleaning up art for a current popular manga artist, then topped off her morning with a big brunch to greet her as she arrived downstairs. Cleaning up the messy sketches and defining the poses and details for the page print versions could get exhausting after a couple hours, but she had her headphones on to jam out as she worked. Her favorite station played a lot of her favorite song as she worked, so when she went to bed, she was nothing more than pleased with her good work.

Being semi-late after a nice and fulfilling brunch would be worth any annoyance on the others' end. She knew she'd get an earful from Rei, but hey, not even she could bring down her mood.

Walking to the door, she slid it open and her smile instantly fell. She wasn't greeted by the girls, but by Yuurichiro talking with... Mamoru.

She stood in shock as the two had yet to notice her standing there, as the terror of the last few months of their encounters left her frozen with fear. He was also the man she slowly got to know and develop feelings for while outside of costume… Seeing him outside of the battlefield made her heart hurt, as it was clearly not the man she knew before, but just a vessel to be controlled by Beryl.

"Oh, hey Usagi!" Yuurichiro greeted, having noticed her standing there and staring.

"Hey, Yuurichiro... Um, where are Rei and the others?" Usagi asked, feeling Endymion's eyes on her, but she focused her attention on the other male in the room. She could not stand to look him in the face any time they would cross paths.

"Oh, right, they actually went to look for you. Said it was something urgent."

She understood why. "...Okay, I'll go look for them! Thanks!" She took one glance into Endymion's red eyes before taking off to go find the girls. Seeing 'him' using Mamoru's eyes to look at her left Usagi more panicked than before.

She had also encountered 'Endymion' on several occasions before, as fate could never let them not run into each other so frequently. Even brainwashed, he was much like Mamoru with how they would interact, only he had gotten significantly more… affectionate? His hands would touch her hair, or place the odd hand on her shoulder. If she dropped something, he was often the one there to pick it up and hand it to her, their brief contact sending a shock through her system.

He even used her name in a sickly sweet tone when she had never told Endymion anything beyond the fact that he could not call her "bun-head". It left her feeling confused when she would head to her classes as she knew he had been turned to work for Beryl for the crystal, but she could not manage to pull away from his advances either.

Amidst her running thoughts and memories, she spotted her friends standing outside of Crown Arcade, worried looks across their faces. They soon noticed her approaching and she slowed her running.

"Girls! Sorry! I took a different route than the one I normally take..!" The others visibly relaxed as they had worried something happened while they were not there to protect their princess.

"Endymion-!" Rei started to speak, but Usagi interrupted her

"Is in the city... I know..." She sighed. "I ran into him when I got to the shrine. He was talking to Yuuichiro for some reason…" She figured he would not hurt the other without proper cause, but she should have maybe done something to get the innocent party out of the situation.

"Yeah, he strolled up to the shrine and just… looked around. We were worried and ran out to find you since he most likely was looking to bump into you. So, what are we going to do about him?" Minako asked, checking around them, making sure no passerby was listening or staring at them.

"Let's go to the... center. It's better to speak in secret. We can't risk going back to the shrine with Usagi right now." Ami spoke up. "Minako, isn't there a back way to the center?"

"Yes. Of course." She nodded, leading the girls to the back of Crown Arcade through the alleyway. "It would be dumb to not create a way around all the busy people during the day." What would have been doors to a cellar was actually another access point to the underground Command Center. It was locked, and only Minako had the key.

Opening the doors, they filed down the stairs, doors shutting closed and locked behind them. Minako was at the princess' side, aware of how shaken Usagi seemed when she ran up to them. Anything regarding Mamoru as a subject always got her down, so they often only discussed him and the predicament before Usagi showed up. As an enemy currently, he did need to be involved in the discussion topics, but they could not stand to see their friend so down about it.

They soon turned to talk about Endymion's appearance. The others ran through ideas on how to either turn him back to normal or what his plans of being in town could be. Usagi tuned out most of the conversation as her mind wandered to the memories of Mamoru Chiba before he was turned into Endymion.

Sure, their relationship was off to a rocky start. It started over a year ago, shortly before she started her stint as Sailor Moon. She had failed one of her college quizzes and she chucked it behind her where it hit him in the face. From then on, they knew each other as "bun-head" and "idiot Mamoru". They would run into each other, toss a few insults, and then leave. That had just been their pattern for a good month or so before they both accidentally got involved with a few of the victims of the Dark Kingdom.

The holders of the rainbow crystals were always involved with one of them. They both got to learn and talk more as they helped the other person, giving each other a perspective on the other. Then their encounters went from mean insults to flirty teasing, poking fun at what they had come to learn about each other.

At the same time, she would have her nightly escapades as Sailor Moon, running around and fighting monsters, she would be saved by his alter ego, Tuxedo Mask. They also had their moments there, early on when it was just her for a while. They would discuss their teamwork and how she would protect him just as he had done for her. His smile as he told her he believed her… The fond memory only hurt her heart even more.

Even when their past was revealed to them both and her friends with the emergence of the Silver Crystal, non of that mattered to her, as long as she could save him after he had protected her so fervently. She wanted him as who she got to know as Mamoru Chiba, regardless of whatever past they had. The day she lost him to the Dark Kingdom, all she could do was cry late at night so as to not disturb her family.

"Usagi!" Rei shouted in her ear, bringing her out of her own thoughts.

"Ow! Sorry!" She covered her ear as she shook her head and blushed a bit, embarrassed. The girls had all stopped talking and Ami was working the console in the room.

"We're on high alert now! A monster has been released into the city!" Ami said as she read the contents on the screen. Usagi immediately stood up with them and they transformed before heading into town where the monster was causing terror.

"Welcome, Sailor Guardians!" The jumbled voice proclaimed, its wobbling limbs everywhere, ready to attack. Endymion looked over the chaos from a building above them, eyes on Sailor Moon. He was sure to send in a monster that could easily be defeated. All he needed to do was follow Moon to wherever she went when she was done doing whatever it was she did for the day.

The more he thought about his plan, the more he realized his limitations. While he could sense the location of the sanctuary, he needed pure power to reach it. His body had anything but purity with the evil of Metalia flowing through his body. The priest who lived there would most likely figure out his intentions and kick him out. He needed a backup plan if he could not get in easily.

The Moon guardian radiated nothing but purity, so should he be unsuccessful alone, he could use her strength and light to fool the priest. It would be beneficial for him to easily be able to find her and capture her when her guard was down. He figured that the best way to do that would be to stay hidden and watch to learn her identity. Then, he would be able to find her easily whenever he would decide he needed to have her.

Endymion was certain he needed her crystal, or at least an equivalent of power to it, to be able to get rid of Beryl, but the Moon Princess would not simply hand it over to him of all people. When he found a viable reason beyond his current plan, he was going to drag her with him. Regardless of what happens, he would like to have her Silver Crystal.

He watched as the monster was turned to ash, the guardians rejoicing at the simplicity of how easy it was to defeat it. Moon's loud cry of how it must have been so easy because they had gotten more powerful. It made him chuckle in amusement.

Following their group, he watched as they disappeared into an alley, the five women walking out. He assumed all looked the same to their magical counterparts and his eyes focused on who he had come to know as Usagi Tsukino. Her hairstyle never changed, so he wondered why he could have never seen it before. It must have been the magic that radiated off of them, serving as a delusional buffer to everyone around them.

Endymion had run into her several times since he woke up in the Dark Kingdom. It was not explainable, but he just always felt oddly drawn to her. He could not understand his actions toward her, but he enjoyed the reaction he got when he would tug her hair or lean down toward her. Her red face as she backed away each time was always fun to observe. He either made her mad by just speaking or even coming into her sight. Her quick reaction to run away earlier was an indicator of such familiar behavior to him, and he found it rather endearing she could not stay in his presence for any longer than a few seconds.

The only drawback to his actions was that voice in his head… It sounded like him, but the words it spoke most definitely were not what he would think. It would be an angry tone it took, telling him to leave her alone. Of course, he did not want to listen to what was only just a voice at the end of the day, so he always made sure to interact with her. The voice was never pleased whenever Endymion had any thoughts related to the blonde, so she often found himself drawn to her, as the voice clearly had an attachment. Annoying it was pretty fun at times, though.

He followed behind the group from a reasonably far distance so he would not be noticed. They all seemed to disappear into a building, getting a meal. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of all the food he saw the bun-haired woman put away. It both amazed and confused him.

The group was there for a good hour, talking about whatever it is women discuss, and then got up to leave, all turning to walk in different directions. He moved along above the buildings, following the Moon Princess all the way to her home.

How none of the other generals thought of this, he had no idea. Maybe once they would come under his control and if he could figure out how to revive the fallen three, he would have to see which of them was more skilled in strategy.

Once he saw her enter her house, he jumped down and hid by the wall. He noticed the name plate read "Tsukino" and he took in the surrounding area, watching the front of her home. He lept up to the balcony and could see into her room. The light was on, but she was not in. Her loud voice rang through the window as she seemed to be approaching the room and he disappeared, returning to the Dark Kingdom. This was enough knowledge on the Moon Princess for now.

Returning to his quarters, she delved back into the sprawling texts of ancient, yet familiar languages. As he uncovered more secrets about the planet, he smirked to himself as he better understood that of the relationship between the people of Earth and The Moon.

He decided he may just make a visit to the Moon Princess soon, out of curiosity or need, but he would have to wait and see which it would be.

As he had left her balcony, Usagi had turned to look out at her balcony as she entered her room. The whole way home, she felt like she was being watched, but no matter how much she looked, she could not pinpoint an observer. She sat down at her table and pulled out last night's drawings to fix any details she missed. Just remembering Endymion at any capacity left her depleted of energy, and the panel she stared at about an evil prince was not helping to distract her like she thought it would.

"Usagi. I heard about what happened from Minako..." Luna said as she walked in through the door and kicked it shut. Jumping onto the table, she sat next to the open book.

"Yeah..." Usagi's eyes scrolled over the illustrations, but nothing stood out as she could only focus on Endymion and the Dark Kingdom. What could he suddenly want, wandering around town, talking to Yuuichiro? What plan does Beryl have in mind for him to be skulking around mysteriously? She sighed, realizing she would not be getting any work done.

"Do I have a morning meeting tomorrow…?" She asked herself, pulling her schedule from her bag. No deadline to return her portion of the panels or any check-in meetings, and nothing to do in the afternoon. "Sweet! I love not having much to do in a day!"

"Those meetings are important for your dream, Usagi… Don't celebrate too much." The cat scolded lightly.

"Oh, I know, but all this 'saving the world at night' work is pretty tiring. I can't help but be so sleepy every day." Usagi stretched. Closing the book, she got up and set her clock alarm for the morning hours. "I get back so late sometimes."

"Once you all defeat the evil, then you can rest all night. Aren't you going to draw something?" The cat asked, watching Usagi organize and file the papers away.

"No… I can't really focus on it right now. I'll read it tomorrow before I have to go to class. I want to sleep now." The blonde turned her light off before crawling under the covers of her bed.

Her dreams were often haunted by Mamoru and his face, but she hoped she could dream peacefully this time around.

Endymion had set about establishing a connection with the planet. It was difficult when the planet was hesitant, seeing as it could sense what was flowing through his being. The Earth also had its own protective light that had taken him by surprise. It was golden in nature, and shined similarly, if only dimmer, than that of the Silver Crystal. That made him sure he was going down the right path.

After a long while of fighting against the planet and its concerns, he gained access and felt more strength than he had originally. However, he still felt pretty limited, like there was part of him that he had no access to, and it was bugging him. Nevertheless, it felt right, like he had truly claimed his right to the throne of Earth as its prince.

"You cannot possibly believe that you are who you believe to be, right?" That accursed voice.

"What is it to you? It may be your body, but you were too weak to gain control months ago when I took over. I would assume you'd have learned to shut your mouth by now." He argued, already annoyed.

"And there's the problem there… It's still my body and I still exist in it. You can't lock me out."

"I'll find a way eventually… I can't have you in my ear constantly while I try to take over. Now, shut up, I'm trying to find Elysion."

The voice had no response, but Endymion could sense its bristling annoyance and rage. Maybe he could find something to eradicate the voice once he reached the sacred hidden spot of Earth.

Tracking down where Elysion resonated with had been no easy task, especially with Beryl's constant intrusions when he was trying to do so in the private quarters she gifted him: The Kings' Chambers of the castle. Were he not as aware of her many failed advances, he would have found it flattering, but he was not fond of the close proximity to her and her own room.

Kneeling with his hands on the floor, he put his energy into focusing once more. He could feel that he was close to getting a direct point on Earth. Somewhere, in the depths of the planet's own magic, but not within the Earth itself. A place where the dreams of the people of Earth filter through, overseen by a priest… Enshrouded by a golden light of protection, as offered protection by that of the Royal Family of Earth.

He could feel the pull of that protective light. It had always been there, asking for him after he got his memories once more of the past. At least, memories it thinks he has. Endymion has no recollection of anything beyond the past few months, but he was certain those memories had more to do with the former name of his body.

Following the pull of that light as closely as possible, he could feel the purity that radiated from Elysion. It got closer and closer, until…

"Welcome, Prince Endymion.

He looked up, his gaze making contact with the young priest.

"I see you have gained your memories once more and have returned to seek out answers. I shall explain any questions you may have. Again, I welcome your return, my Prince." He bowed respectfully.

Endymion smiled as he observed his new surroundings. It all radiated the sickeningly blessed glow of pure, positive energy. The dreams of the people of Earth.

"The pleasure is all mine, sacred Priest of Elysion." The prince bowed in turn to the young man, hiding his smirk of accomplishment.

"Please, Your Highness," The priest even had a bright smile, "Call me Helios."