<simone@coastal.net.au>

A fan fic by Caleyndar.
Rating: PG.

Notes:

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me; only the
few I make up. The story, however, is mine.

The Name Endymion...

Part Two: A Deeper Truth...

Chapter Three...

        Sweet sixteen. Time passes so fast. It's like the
magical sand in an hour glass. It can't help but fall
away, slowly, but surely, slipping a little faster now and
then, until you find all of it is gone. No more golden
sand. Only empty glass.
        My eyes drifted away from the large hour glass
floating in mid air above the desk in my study. A year
passes so fast. But I was content with what I had achieved
within it. Was I not the top student at Armand's little
academy? Could I not destroy entire worlds with my powers
if I wished it? And today, well, we finally get to do
something fun.
        I set the hour glass down on the table. Armand had
given it to me some time ago, saying the one thing we
could not do, even with all the power we possessed, was
travel through time. It was an old yet elegant thing, with
hand blown glass and carved wood. The sand was golden,
and at times looked almost to be magical, as time was.
        Sailor Pluto. Did she not have the power to travel
through time? One of the Outer Scouts that belonged to the
Moon Kingdom court. Perhaps one day, I would go and visit
her. See for myself if such a thing as time travel was
possible. But it did not concern me now.
        Yesterday had been our 'graduation' into the next
stage of our training. No party of course. Just a formal
presentation to us with our first rank stripe which we had
attached to our colourless uniforms. It had been quite a
boring ordeal, with approximately two hundred students.
        I stood up and moved to stand in front of the full
length mirror in my room. I had grown taller in the last
year, and my frame was filling out too. Quite unavoidable
with all the physical training we had been receiving. It
had been harsh, but as the saying goes; 'no pain, no
gain'. My eyes were always darker than the emptiness of
space, filled with a contentment at the knowledge that
one day, my one and only wish will be fulfilled. My body
glowed, a silvery blue allure surrounding me from the
power within. I smiled, feeling the power swell inside me.
        With a flash of light, I teleported to the mess
hall. No one else was there yet, and a comfortable silence
filled the large room. I got my food and sat down at metal
tables with their cold surfaces and chairs to match.
        Students soon began to enter the hall, and noise
soon drowned out the quietness. Did I miss the friendship
they had found from each other? Perhaps, deep down, a part
of me did. Nick and Dawn never talked to me anymore. In
fact, no students ever talked to me. I was too cold, to
full of hate constantly. And if I was not, well, I still
never cared for company. I was a loner.
        I saw them, Nick and Dawn, glance over at my small
and empty table as they entered, hand in hand. They were
the perfect couple these days. I smirked at that. Love.
It will always hurt you in the end. Nick's eyes lingered
on me, still concerned about his 'best friend'. Then he
glaze left me as he was swept up by the black sea of
people.
        When breakfast ended, I walked to class. It was a
new class, filled with the top students from the two
hundred. Like the other classes, there were only ten in
this one. This class would begin a new section of
training, specialising in surgical attacks on the higher
ranking people on the opposing side. I was much looking
forward to this because it would gave me a first hand
look at how I could defeat Serenity. I smiled at that
thought. Yes, I had waited a long time, but at last, my
one dream, my one wish, would be granted. Die, Serenity,
die.
        The classroom was large, divided into sections.
One held desks and chairs, another training equipment,
and the third, viewing screens and computers. The teacher
stood with his back to the door when I entered, looking

around the room. His figure looked familiar some how.
Thin and tall, with a head full of luscious golden blonde
hair tied loosely back at the nape of the neck with a
black silk ribbon. And unlike all my other teachers I had
encountered through the previous year, this one wore a
long royal blue coat, velvet of course, with a silk shirt
underneath, and dark blue breeches.
        "What do you think of this place?" the teacher
asked me without turning around.
        I was a little shocked that he knew I was standing
there. "It does not really matter to me," I answered.
"It's a room, nothing more."
        "I think it's a little dull. More colour. Plants,
paintings. Yes, one must have inspiration," the teacher
said, gesturing with his hands. "If only Louis was here.
He may be a little dull, but he has good tastes," he
muttered to himself.
        He certainly didn't sound like a teacher. He was
too open. And Louis? That name sounded awfully familiar.
Where had I heard it from? Maybe I had read of it in the
library.
        "I'm hurt. The great Prince Endymion of Earth
doesn't remember me," the teacher said, finally turning
around to face me. He smiled at me. "Remember now,
mortal?"
        "Lestat?" I whispered, surprised. Damn! I had let
my guard down. I closed my mind up. "You're Armand's
friend. What are you doing here?"
        "I thought seeing the destruction of others would
be amusing. And you, my dear Prince, are very amusing,"
Lestat said, smiling. "And Endymion, Armand is my friend.
I am not his. I do not belong to this kingdom. I choose
to be here. And as you already know, I am a vampire. So
please, don't try any of the little mind tricks you play
on your other teachers. I won't hit you, I'm not that
cruel," he smiled evilly. "So tell me, what do you think
would suit this wall? Armand has enough paintings. Perhaps
he can spare one or two."
        "You're teaching this class?" I asked, still a
little surprised, ignoring his question.
        "Yes. Why shouldn't I be? I'll teach you what you
need to know about killing. After all, I am a killer
myself. But you want to know what I think? About your
little obsession with killing the Princess of the Moon
Kingdom? I don't think you'll be able to hurt a single
strand of her hair, much less kill her," the vampire said
thoughtfully, a smile playing on his silken lips.
        "You think so?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "You
don't hate her as much as I do. Your parents weren't
killed like mine was. You kingdom wasn't destroyed!"
        "I also don't love her as much as you do," Lestat
said softly.
        "Love?" I asked. "Love! I don't love her! She has
caused me pain. Why would I love her after all she's done,
after how she's hurt me!?"
        Lestat said nothing, but kept on smiling.
        Other students came in then, Nick being one of
them. We said nothing to each other, but Nick looked at
me with a worried glance as we passed each other. Lestat
watched this, amused.
        We were asked to take our seats when everyone had
arrived. Lestat began by explaining what we would be
learning in this lesson, and began it by teaching us about
each and every one of the possible opponents we may have
to face.
        The Inner Scouts of the Sailor Soldiers or other
wise known as Serenity's Court. They consisted of Mercury,
Mars, Jupiter, and Venus.
        Mercury had the power of water and ice, and was
the weakest of the four scouts. She was also the most
intelligent of the four.
        Mars had the power of fire and spiritual strength.
She could sense evil or other forces, and was psychic. She
was the second in command of the Sailor Soldiers.
        Jupiter had the power of lightning and thunder,
and was physically the strongest of the Sailor Soldiers.
She was the most loyal to Serenity.
        Venus had the power of light. She was the
strongest of the four, and was also the leader. Her
physical appearance was very close to that of Serenity.
        The Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. She had
no elemental powers, and was not directly part of the
Sailor Soldiers, but had great mental powers such as
telekinesis, teleportation, and was also psychic. She had
a crescent moon symbol on her forehead, with an earth
inside of it. Only the royal line had it, and the symbol
can also be made to be invisible to any prying eyes. Using
the Imperium Silver Crystal, she had to power to heal and
to destroy almost anything. Only she and her mother, Queen
Selenity, could use it.
        The Prince and his relatives of the Black Moon
Kingdom; Prince Diamond, his brother Sapphire, his sisters
Emerald and Ruby. They all had great power, and were
considered to be a considerable force to contend with.
They were easily recognisable by their upside down black
moon symbol on their foreheads, which could be made to be
invisible. The sisters were weaker than the brothers, and
Prince Diamond was the strongest of all of them, and could
use his third eye, which was only visible when in use, to
hypnotise any opponent.
        The Leader of the Shadow Kingdom and his
relatives; the three Weapons; Blade, Sabre, and Sword.
Blade was the leader, and he and Sabre were identical
twins. Sword was the younger sister. They did not have
any powers, but they used technology against any attack.
They were the most advanced kingdom in technology, and
could use it to counter any known attack of any of the
kingdoms. The Weapons were also very skilled in hand to
hand combat, and could use the weapon they were named
after like it was an extension of themselves.
        Lestat dismissed the class early that day. It must
have been our first early mark ever at this school.
Everyone was also surprised that no one was hurt today.
It seemed to me that no one else but me knew that Lestat
was not human. He certainly acted human, more so than the
other teachers. At least he did not beat us like animals.
He even smiled sometimes.
        Everyone was in a good mood after class that day.
Even I wasn't so filled with hate. I returned to my rooms,
for once looking forward to tomorrow. Lestat had promised
us something special, and I could not wait to see what it
was.
        I had a dream that night. For the first time since
I had changed.
        A garden, beautiful, filled with flowers. Roses.
Red roses. Love. It was night, and a full moon hung in the
sky above. Such a clear night. So many stars. Thousands,
millions. She was there, within my arms. I held her tight,
afraid that if I let go she would disappear.
        "I won't ever let anything hurt you. I will always
protect you. I love you," I whispered to her, holding her
still, kissing her forehead.
        She looked up at me, eyes large and innocent. "I
love you too."
        Why did I dream that? Why did I say those words?
        'Because they are true,' a soft voice said from
within me.
        I shook my head and dressed for the day's class.
        "What do you think?" Lestat asked me as I
teleported into the classroom. "It's Armand's. He always
did like Heaven and Hell. He had similar paintings in that
'Theatre of the Vampires'. I hated that place. But he must
have taken that from Marius, this obsession with
paintings. He loved to paint."
        I reconsigned the mural. It was the one that had
hung on the wall in the hall just outside his throne room.
The one of Hell and Heaven merging and becoming one. "It's
an interesting piece of art work," I said softly, walking
up beside him.
        "Heaven and Hell. Do you believe in such places?
Do you believe in God and the Devil?" he asked, gesturing
to the painting, grey eyes still locked on it.
        "No," I replied. "Not in the way you mean. I do
believe places can be like heaven or hell, and that there
are people who have such power that they might as well be
gods and devils. But I do not believe in them as they are
portrayed in religion and the bible."
        Lestat laughed softly. "You do not sound sixteen,
my young friend. You sound more like a friend of mine. He
was mortal when I fell in love with him. He's a vampire
now, wondering the ages as I am. He talked as you do now."
He fell silent then, eyes dropping from the mural and
turning to look at me. He smiled. "I promised all of you
a surprise today. It's part of your training, but I
thought it would interest all of you. I'll show you in
real time just what these Sailor Scouts can do."
        A pain clutched my heart then. 'I won't ever let
anything hurt you. I will always protect you.' I shook my
head, my black hair falling over my dark eyes.
        "And how will you do that?" I asked, trying to
hide the pain I felt.
        "Through modern technology," Lestat replied,
waving his arm towards to viewing screen and computer.
"They train every day. It will give you an idea of their
powers. And Serenity will be there. Don't worry about
that," Lestat added with a smile.
        I looked away from him. My eyes lightened for a
moment. They became their natural deep blue. Did I care
for her? Did I love her?
        Lestat laughed, turning my head so I faced him.
"You care! You love her!" he said gleefully. "Ah, did I
not tell you so? You don't hate her!"
        My eyes darkened, and I flung him away from me
with a powerful blast of my energy. He slammed into the
wall, but was not for one second dazed. He was still
laughing.
        "Endymion is in love! Endymion and Serenity,
sitting in a tree," he started singing.
        I glared at him. He kept on singing. I
materialised a rose in my hand. It was steel tipped, and
the bloom was as black as midnight. I threw it at him. It
flew through the air, a black streak, and it buried itself
in the wall next to where Lestat sat, slumped against the
wall where he had landed.
        He stopped singing and looked at it with wide
eyes. He pulled it out delicately and held it in his thumb
and fore finger. "Black is for hate, Endymion," he said
softly.
        "Hate for her, Lestat," I replied coldly. "I will
kill her."
        Lestat merely looked at me, and then back to the
rose. It bursted into flames. The ashes fell from his
hand. They had a finality to them.
        Everyone arrived then, and Lestat turned his
attention to them, rising effortlessly. Nick came in,
forcing himself not to look at me. Lestat told them what
the agenda was for the lesson today, and then began it.
The view screen came on, static at first, and then the
picture became clearer.
        Observe their powers, their tactics, their
weaknesses. They are strong, but everyone has a weak
point, and that was where one must strike in order to win,
Lestat instructed.
        The picture became focused, and we found ourselves
in a high walled garden. The area that surrounded the five
figures was enclosed by stone walls, covered here and
there with leafy vines. The garden looked very much
unkempt, and resembled more of a jungle or rain forest
than a garden. There were no fountains pouring fourth
sparkling water, no bright coloured flowers arranged in
attractive patterns. Only random plants, big and tall,
providing cover.
        Five figured became clear. Serenity, dressed in
her white flowing gown, her golden hair done up in those
tight twin balls with two long streamers flowing from
them. The Inner Scouts were dressed in their Sailor
uniforms; blue for Mercury, red for Mars, green for
Jupiter, and orange for Venus. Their skirts were rather
short, and produced a few wolf whistles from the boys in
the class.
        Any other teacher might have yelled at them for
that, but Lestat only smiled. I only watched, silent,
thinking their behaviour inappropriate.
        The Scouts streaked with surprising speed through
the wild garden, leaping from tree to tree, branch to
branch. Their training had them fighting each other, and
everyone was trying to attack the other whilst staying
safe themselves. Serenity stood on the ground, her sceptre
holding the Imperium Silver Crystal held in her hand.
Shining brightly from her forehead was the moon and earth
symbol.
        A voice called out in the dense undergrowth.
"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" A flash of blue light and then
the whole area was covered in a heavy fog. Serenity's
figure was lost, as was almost everything else. There was
a scream of surprise, followed by a large splash. Someone
had fallen over in a large puddle or pool.
        "Damn you, Mercury!" Mars's voice rang out. "Mars
Fire Ignite!" A ball of fire shot out from the fog, and
blasted into a tree, missing the intended target. The mist
began to clear, revealing everyone's positions. Mars stood
on the ground, looked very annoyed and soaking weak.
Mercury was not far from her, standing on a branch up in a
tree, smiling.
        "Jupiter Thunder Crash!" a strong voice shouted,
and a bolt of lightning struck Mercury from behind,
sending her flying from her branch. A moment passed, and
then a well built girl dressed in green, white and pink
ran to where Mercury laid. "Oh, I am so sorry, Mercury! I
didn't mean to hurt to that much!" the tall girl cried,
helping Mercury to her feet.
        "I'm alright, Jupiter," Mercury said, giving her
friend a weak smile. "Please, you don't have to apologise
for hurting me in training. We're suppose to get hurt.
That's why Serenity's here."
        Jupiter bit her lip, still looking guilty.
        "Venus Love Chain Encircle!" another voice yelled.
A gold chain of linked hearts shot out and wrapped itself
around Jupiter. "Yeah, Jupiter, we're suppose to get
hurt!" the blond said, stepping out of her cover and
holding the other end of the chain.
        Jupiter grinned. "Jupiter Thunder Crash!"
Lightning shot out from Jupiter and along the chain,
electrifying Venus who wasn't quick enough to let her end
of the chain go. "Well, are you hurt enough, Venus?"
Jupiter asked, pulling the chain loose.
        "Yeah, plenty," Venus said weakly.
        "Alright, that's enough," Serenity's soft voice
cut in. "You all did well today, up until you began to
joke around. Mercury, learn to watch your back. Mars,
don't yell so much. Jupiter, stop apologising. And Venus,
don't let your guard down."
        "Yes, Serenity," they all chorused.
        Serenity lifted her Imperium Silver Crystal from
it's place in her Moon Wand and held in up in her hand.
"Moon Crystal Healing Activation," she said loudly. Bright
golden light came forth from the crystal, and enveloped
the four Scouts. When the light faded, they were healed
of the injuries. Serenity replaced the crystal on the
Moon Wand and dematerialised it. "Well, let's go and have
ice creams," she said, grinning. "I think I'll have a
triple chocolate hot fudge sundae with sprinkles and
chocolate ice cream. Oh, and I want cream and a cherry on
it too!"
        The four scouts sighed.
        "With all she eats, it's a wonder why she doesn't
get fat!" Mars whispered to Mercury.
        "I heard that!" Serenity yelled back.
        The five of them made their way to the exit,
talking amongst themselves. They were about to leave when
a deep menacing voice stopped them.
        "Leaving so soon, Princess?" the voice asked,
mocking Serenity. "Why not stay awhile long and meet a
little creation of mine?" A dark figure appeared standing
on the wall. "You know, your security wasn't at all hard
to breech. But then, how can you prevent something from
entering when you can't even see it?" The figure laughed.
A closer look revealed him to be a young man with longish
black hair and green eyes. A scar marked his face, over
his left eye.
        The four scouts immediately took defensive stances
around Serenity.
        "Who are you!" Venus demanded.
        "You don't know who I am?" the man asked, fake
hurt in his voice. "I am so hurt, dear Venus! Why, I am
Blade, leader of the Shadow Kingdom." He smiled evilly as
they all gasped.
        A sudden ball of energy appeared in mid air,
within the garden's walls. It was bright green and
crackled with energy. It suddenly launched itself at the
Scouts and at Serenity. All of them jumped clear as the
energy ball impacted with the ground, sending up dirt
every where, and leaving a large crater.
        Blade laughed. "I'll leave you in the company of
my lovely machine. I would stay, but I have other matters
to attend to." With that, Blade jumped off the stone wall,
disappearing over the other side.
        Another ball of energy appeared, gathering
strength.
        "Mercury! See if you can take down the cloaking
shield on that thing! We can't attack it if we can't see
it!" Venus ordered, leaping out of the way as the ball of
energy came flying towards her. "Venus Meteor Shower!" she
cried when she landed, sending out multiple beams of light
in the direction where the ball had come from, hoping that
one beam would catch the monster.
        Mercury had a clear blue visor over her eyes, and
a hand held computer in her hand, and was tapping away at
it. "I've got the position of it now," she said, not even
looking up from her computer. "Just a few more seconds and
I'll have the shield down."
        "Well, we don't have a few more seconds!" Mars
yelled as another ball flew towards her.
        "I've got it!" Mercury called out.
        A section of the air shimmered, and then a dark
metallic shape appeared. It was a human shaped robot or
droid. A huge sword like weapon was in the place of where
an arm should have been, and the other arm was nothing
more than a claw. It's metal head held red glowing eyes,
and it's entire body was covered with thick armour.
        "Selene, look at the size of that thing!" Jupiter
gasped. "Jupiter Thunder Dragon!" she shouted when she had
over come her shock. Lighting flared out from her and
formed into the shape of a dragon, which drove right at
the metal monster.
        The beast saw it coming and lifted it's sword arm
and sliced the dragon in half.
        "Mars Celestial Fire Surround!" Mars yelled. Six
balls of fire appeared and gathered into one within her
hands. From that, she shot out disks of fire at the
monster. They hit the robot head on, but the thick armour
absorbed the fire and did not harm it.
        The metal gargoyle then launched another attack,
this time directed at Serenity.
        Time stood still, and then noise tore from my
throat. "No!" I screamed.
        A flash of blue and silver light enveloped my
vision, and I was suddenly teleported to Serenity's home
world. A cape flowed behind me. A sword hung at my side.
Silver armour adorned my tall body. High stone walls
suddenly surrounded me. Shouts of surprise assaulted my
ears. The shadow of the machine fell over me, enfolding me
in darkness.
        And then the ball of green energy was hurtling
towards me.
        I face it full on, and it slammed into me with
such force that I was knocked backwards. The energy
dissipated over my body, leaving me shocked and
momentarily in pain.
        But everything was alright. Serenity was safe.
She was unharmed.
        The pain was gone. The silver armour I wore had
absorbed the force of it, and I was not damaged. I smiled
at the monster, and then held out my arms, wrists
together, palms facing the monster. "Goodnight, Sweet
Prince," I said softly to it. Power shot out from my
hands, a silver and blue stream of pure energy, hitting
the monster with such force that it ripped the armour
apart and blasted the mechanic within it until it ripped
a hole right through it.
        An explosion tore threw it, and I dived away from
it and on top of Serenity's body to protect her from the
flying derbies. I held her tight within my arms, preying
that nothing would hit her, and she would be unhurt.
        The fire ball died away, and all that was left of
the metal robot was soot and ashes, and the destruction it
had left in it's wake.
        What ever had taken over me in that instance when
Serenity was in danger was gone. Had my eyes returned to
their deep blue, they were now once again black as the
darkness with in me. And had my heart once again broken
loose of the anger and hatred inside of me, it was once
again imprisoned in my dark and lonesome soul.
        I stood up and watched with a cold expression as
Serenity pulled herself up. She was looking at me with
wide eyes. Almost pleading, and always so innocent.
        The four Scouts looked on, unsure of what to do,
so surprised were they of my sudden appearance and my
saving their Princess.
        I gave Serenity an icy smile and materialised a
rose in my hand. I held it out to her, smiling, and
tossed it at her feet. The rose was a black rose.
        And then I was gone in a flash of silver and blue
light.

End of Part Two, Chapter Three.


