Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Silver Dreams ❯ Chapter 1 - The Call for Help ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

: Chapter 1 :

The Call for Help

Endymion, twenty-three year old Lord King of the Golden Kingdom of Earth, glanced up from the huge map spread before him at someone's entrance. He stood in the large study that had been his father's a short five years ago, was now his. The young man stood up away from his reports and sighed.

“Yes, Helios? What do you need?”

The young, pale-haired boy bowed respectfully before him. He had taken over his father's position as Head Priest, after the man's death last year. Though only twelve, he had uncharted healing abilities and a wisdom that went well beyond his years. Helios straightened now and his chestnut eyes were solemn.

“Forgive me for disturbing you my Lord, but we've just received a transmission from the Kingdom of Lunara. The Queen, Lady Serenity, is requesting an audience with you.”

Endymion felt his eyebrows fair shoot up into his hairline. What was this? The high and mighty Moon Queen wanting to speak with him? The end of the universe must be closer than he thought.

“I sent for the Four before I came here,” he continued softly. “I thought you might like to discuss this with them ere you spoke with her.” Endymion nodded, then frowned, coming away from the table completely.

“Did she tell you what she wants to speak to me about?” Helios shook his head, but a sneering laugh sounded behind him afterward and then a tall and lanky form shoved his way past.

He was pushing six feet, with brilliant red-gold hair left to tumble loose down to his thighs and a pair of snapping green eyes so pale they were nearly white. This was Jorowyn, crowned Prince of Phaeton, a planet now dead thanks to the Silver Alliance and their stubborn refusal to aid them when they needed it most. Jorowyn, only nineteen at the time, and a handful of Phaetonians had been on Earth when Phaeton was destroyed. Grief-stricken, bitter and resentful, Jorowyn grew to passionately hate the Alliance and anything having to do with it. Nothing had changed in five years' time, other than the fact that he had become a raging alcoholic. Oddly enough the drink did nothing to deaden his razor sharp mind or deadly fighting skills . . . it only served to make the cynically sarcastic man even more of a grump than usual.

“There's only one thing her precious majesty could possibly want from us,” he droned lazily, coming to plop himself down into a chair near-by and take a long pull on the silvery flask he always had near-at-hand. He stared at it for a moment, waiting as four other men slowly filed inside behind him before he continued.

They were the four Warrior Kings of Earth, Endymion's top Generals and most powerful fighters. They were also his closest friends. Malachite, Warrior King of the North, so stern and unbending. Nephrite, Warrior King of the West, frowning and brooding. Zoisite, Warrior King of the East, his sharp and intelligent eyes immediately drifting to his inebriated cousin with a pained look. And finally Jadeite, Warrior King of the South, his expression unreadable as he came and sat on the other side of the room.

Helios bowed again and departed once more, softly closing the double doors behind him.

“As I was saying,” Jorowyn slurred slightly. “There's only one possible reason why Her Mightiness suddenly wants audience with the savage Earthlings,” he repeated. “And that is because she has no other choice in the matter.”

“Which means . . . what exactly?” Jade demanded with a scowl.

“The sudden drawing away of the Youma these past two years,” Zoisite clarified helpfully, tone pensive. “We speculated that there had to be a reason for it.”

“Has the Negaverse finally moved on the Alliance?” Endymion questioned and Jorowyn nodded.

“My father predicted that this would happen, but the stupid fools wouldn't listen. The youma no doubt gained just enough of a foot-hold here on Earth to allow a planetary transport into the Alliance. Their soldiers are nowhere near battle-tested enough to withstand full-scale war. They've no doubt been losing abominably. And now guess who they come crying to!”

Jadeite sneered. “Yah, to hell with that,” was his snapping response, tone rough.

“They abandoned us,” Nephrite agreed coldly. “Why should we come to their aid?”

“How conceited can you get?” Zoisite murmured in disbelief, shaking his head.

Jorowyn snorted. “Oh, you'd be amazed,” he droned, motioning with his flask.

There was a moment of heavy silence, then, “well I can't simply ignore this call,” Endymion announced suddenly.

“And why the hell not?” Jade demanded, but it was Malachite who answered.

“Because despite what the Silver Alliance wants to believe of us,” he rumbled, “we are not barbaric savages incapable of diplomacy. If we simply ignored their plea—if that is truly why the Queen has contacted us—then we prove them right and show ourselves to be no better than they believe we are.”

“If joining forces is what the Queen has in mind, then I am certainly not against it,” Endy announced fervently, gleaning stunned looks from those around him. He scowled. “I hate the Alliance and what they've done to us just as much as you do . . . but I think you'll agree with me when I say that I hate those Negabeasts even more. If banding together is what it takes to drive these bastards out of our homes and lives for good then I'll do it. I'll do anything to see that things go back to the way they were.”

“They'll never go back to the way they were,” Jorowyn snapped, but then he sighed and took another draught. He wiped his chin with the back of one hand, then abruptly declared, “however, there is potential here to get a significant amount of subtle revenge. If they're this desperate for our help—as they must be, to even contact us—then Endy now has a very powerful trump card in his hand.”

“What?” Endymion demanded, crossing his arms. Jorowyn smirked.

“There isn't anything the Queen of Lunara values more than her precious daughter, Princess Serenity.” Endy's eyebrow twitched upward.

“And?”

Jorowyn's smirk widened into a full-blown grin. “Isn't it about time you thought about marriage, Endymion?” His eyes widened at the implications.

“What? Endy marry the Princess of Lunara?” Jadeite burst forth, eyes wide.

“You four as well,” Jorowyn insisted, sitting up and setting his flask aside. Jadeite's brow puckered.

“All . . . five of us marry the . . . Princess of Lunara?”

“No you idiot!” Zoisite snapped, rolling his eyes. “He just means that all five of us should marry a princess.” He turned and locked eyes with his cunning cousin once more. “What I want to know is why he would think that.”

“It's quite simple really. Princess Serenity is the only living heir to the Silver Alliance. So, married to Endymion—,”

“After the Queen was gone, he would become the Praetorian of the Alliance,” Nephrite finished in a stunned whistle.

“Heh, wouldn't that just stick it in real good,” Jade laughed. “Earthlings at the top, large and in charge.” Endymion was silent, expression thoughtful. “But why us four?” Jadeite continued after a moment. “Why should we get married?”

“The Alliance works very much like a council,” Jorowyn explained lazily, sitting back again. “The Queen presides over it as Praetorian, but in the end every major decision that is ever brought up before the Silver Alliance is always put to a vote. After Earth is inducted and after marrying Serenity, Endymion would carry two planetary votes; one for Earth and one for Lunara—which technically counts as two votes. So there's three in and of itself. With all four of you wedding a Princess and being named King of your respective planetary Kingdoms . . . .”

“We'd have the majority over the entire Silver Alliance,” Zoisite breathed, stunned.

“Which is dangerous,” Malachite spoke up disapprovingly. “Petty revenge aside, we know nothing of the other planets or how they're run.”

“We don't, but he does,” Nephrite countered, motioning to Jorowyn, who had recovered his drink and smirked around it as he took another drink. “What are the prospects?” Jorowyn muffled a belch, then began listing them off one by one.

“Pluto is a planet of monks studying the time flow and guarding the Gates of Time. It's temperate there, but dark almost all the time. Uranus is a female-led culture of windy meadowlands, Neptune a water-world of endless islands and man-made floating cities. Saturn is somewhat similar to Earth, but with a completely different culture. Less swords, more magic. Jupiter is wet. Really wet, it rains almost all the time, and is a huge, planetary-wide, coniferous forest. Their culture is based even more off of battle prowess than you are. If any of them are holding their own right now, my money would be on the Jovians. Mars is a big red desert, and Venus is a tropical sauna. All of Mercury is based on the dark side of it, under huge city-sized force fields interconnected with one another. Inside the domes is a hell of a lot more warm then outside, but even then it's chilly. And Lunara itself is beautiful beyond words if you like polished white marble and gray stone architecture. It has almost no natural vegetation whatsoever. Aesthetically beautiful but practically dead.” Jorowyn paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Last I heard, all the Kingdoms had eligible daughters. Some more eligible than others.”

“What does that mean?” Endy questioned and Jorowyn snickered.

“Well the Plutonian princess is forever locked away with the Time Gate, as per the pact the Royal Family made eons ago with Cronus, the God of Time” he began, sitting back. “Not exactly wifely material. The Saturnite princess would barely be pushing twelve, if memory serves. And the princesses of Uranus and Neptune . . . well . . . they're kinda . . .” Jorowyn paused for a moment, then wiggled his hand. Jadeite frowned.

“What the hell does that mean?” he questioned, imitating the gesture.

“He means they're gay,” Zoisite helpfully clarified with a roll of his eyes. Jade blinked.

“Oh.”

“Lovers together, actually, last I checked,” Jorowyn further added. “So unless you want an even bigger fight on your hands on your wedding night, I'd leave Princess Amara and Princess Michelle to their . . . whatever,” Jorowyn motioned again with a sigh. “That leaves Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter. I don't know much about the princesses of those kingdoms except that they're all around the same age, eighteen or nineteen or so now I'd guess.”

“What about Mercury,” Zoisite questioned and Jorowyn's expression darkened.

“What about it?”

“Wouldn't you know a little more about that princess?”

“How come?” Nephrite wondered aloud before Jorowyn could answer.

“He was engaged to the Princess of Mercury, if I remember correctly,” Zoisite pushed and Jorowyn growled beneath his breath.

“I was engaged to her, Z. Was. The moment her father refused to help us, right along with the rest of that damned Circle of Monkeys, the betrothal was kind've broken off. Besides, I had never actually met her before, so no. I don't know any more about her than I would the others.”

“So Endy marries the Princess of Lunara,” Nephrite murmured slowly, “where would you pair the rest of us off?” Jorowyn thought for a moment, taking another drink.

“Well, like I said, Jupiter is a planet of warriors—in theory at least if not in actual practice. Princess Lita is their gem, and they would value strength and skill in battle most in a King. You would want to have your strongest warrior there.”

“While none of you are slouches on the battlefield,” Endy murmured, “our strongest would definitely be Malachite.” Jorowyn nodded his agreement to this, then continued.

“Mars is a planet of desert-dwelling soothsayers. Along with Princess Raye, they value empathy and wisdom above anything else.”

“Nephrite,” Endymion inserted and again the Phaetonian Prince nodded.

“Mercury is, of course, the planet of intellectuals. At least they think they're intellectuals. Using my father's Crys-Tech gives them a hell of an edge, but I'll grudingly admit they've got some half-way intelligent scientists in residence. Obviously Princess Ami and the rest of them value intelligence in a leader.”

“That'd be Z,” Endymion murmured. “Unless of course you would—,”

“Don't even think it,” Jorowyn sneered. “I wouldn't touch that bitch now with a ten foot pole.”

“Well that leaves me with Venus then,” Jadeite called after a moment. “What about them?” Jorowyn grinned.

“They're naturally beautiful, the whole lot of them, said to be among the greatest lovers in the solar system. A non-Venusian rarely has enough stamina to keep up with their heightened sex drives. They've actually accidentally killed other people during sex.” Jadeite's eyes got really round, letting out a low whistle of astonishment. “They're also a bit flighty and air-headed by nature, which includes their Princess Mina, and I'd say that makes them just about perfect for you Jade,” he finished in a mock salute, laughing at the golden-haired man's growling scowl.

Endymion nodeed.

“Very well then. We'll see where this course of action takes us. Let us go and say hello, shall we?”

Jorowyn led the way into the communications room. The communicators were somewhat rigged together, but functional nonetheless. A mass of wires and tubes crisscrossed about the chamber, connected to the five by five foot circular pad and then the smaller, raised one slightly above it.

“Just step onto the pad, Endy,” Jorowyn instructed, moving over to the control panel and punching a few buttons. Endymion did as instructed, with Jadeite, Malachite, Nephrite and Zoisite taking up positions behind him. Jorowyn continued to punch buttons, but nothing happened.

“Are you sure this hunk of junk is gonna work?” Jadeite demanded after a moment, to which Jorowyn scowled.

“I built it, of course it works!”

He paused, then suddenly reared back and kicked the control console viciously, three times. On the third kick it suddenly came to life, lights blinking myriadly. He grinned triumphantly, then went back to pecking at buttons.

“This oughtta be good,” he sneered, just before twisting a dial and then flipping a switch. The pad beneath Endymion's feet hummed slightly and then began glowing softly with a pale white light. At the same time the smaller one before him flickered a few times, and then there was a miniature holographic image of a woman seated on a throne before him.

She was much older than he was, yet still quite beautiful, dressed all in white. Her silvery hair was done up in an odd fashion; two fist-sized buns on either side of her head, ending in long thin ponytails that floated down to the ground on either side of her. Her gray eyes were sharp, mirror-like, her expression giving nothing away. What caught Endy's attention the most was the golden crescent shaped marking on her forehead, and the aura of power that seemed to exude off of her in waves. She straightened a fraction as soon as contact was made, and folded her hands gracefully in her lap.

“Ah, King Endymion I presume?” she called, her voice authoratative and terse. He nodded. “As you no doubt have guessed, I am Serenity, Praetorian of the Silver Alliance and Queen of the Lunaran Kingdom.”

“I have heard of you,” he confirmed, standing tall and confidently, arms clasping behind his back. “I've also experienced first-hand your lack of interest in myself and my entire planet,” he continued tonelessly. “So forgive me, but let us cut through all the false pleasantries and get right down to business. Why have you contacted us now, after centuries of ignorance?”

The Queen sighed a small sigh, her expression unchanging. “As you wish, King Endymion. I shall come straight to the point. For the past two years now, the evil that awoke on your planet has begun spreading into the rest of the solar system like a disease. I am not sure how, or why, but the attacks have been merciless and swift. The Kingdom of Pluto has all but fallen, and Saturn cannot be far behind. The Silver Alliance has recognized that we—that all of us—stand a much better chance of survival if joined together in a united front.”

“Begging your pardon, my Lady,” Endy sneered, “but we have been doing just fine without the help of the Alliance for five years now. So if anyone is in desperate need of survival, my guess is that it would be you and your precious planetary coalition.” He saw her face tighten slightly, but otherwise there was no reaction to his words. Endymion braced himself. If he was going to pull this off, he'd have to be his most cunning self. There was too much at stake to screw up now. “Therefore,” he continued, “I see no reason why I should be interested in your proposal at all. You have nothing to offer me.”

“Earth would, of course, be allowed entrance into the Silver Alliance,” she announced slowly, her tone gone brittle. Endymion bit back a laugh.

“Again, my Lady, I am only hearing one-sided benefits for yourselves, when it is you who need our help. It would be to your benefit to induct us into your alliance, not the other way around.” There was a long moment of silence, and he heard her sigh again. He thought he saw her hands tighten around the arm rests of her throne, but he couldn't be sure.

“Very well, sir,” she begrudgingly murmured. “What is it you would ask of the Alliance?”

“First let's clear up exactly what it is we would be giving you,” he insisted, and she motioned somewhat impatiently for him to continue. “The use of our troops, the retraining of yours, the benefit of our extensive knowledge on the Negaverse and how it operates—,”

“You presume much to offer to train our regiments,” she snapped suddenly, interrupting him. “We have lived for centuries longer than you have been—,”

“And that matters very little,” it was Endy's turn to cut her off with a scowl, “since we have managed to beat them back on several occaisions and hold the Negabeasts at bay for twice as long as you have been losing to them. That tells me that your troops are obviously in need of a few new tactics.”

She had no reply to this, merely scowled.

“In return for these services,” he continued, “and after other conditions are met, Earth will agree to enter your Alliance and aid in the defeat of the Negaverse.” The Queen's steely eyes narrowed.

“And just what are these other conditions?” Endymion took a deep and fortifying breath.

“In return I demand your daughter's hand in marriage, and the marriage of my four Warrior Kings to four other planetary princesses.”

“Preposterous!” the Queen snarled, sitting away from the throne now, her icy mask finally cracking to show an expression of utter, indignant fury. “You have to be completely insane to think that I would even consider such terms!” The Queen made a sound of disgust, shaking her head ruefully. “You think to gain the majority of the Silver Alliance after this is all said and done, do you? Perhaps you Earthlings are more cunning than we originally gave you credit for. However, my child is not a bartering piece I am willing to trade with!”

“Those are my terms,” Endymion declared coldly, expression firm and voice deadpan. “You turned your backs on us five years ago and left my people to die, they who were guilty of nothing more than where the fates had placed them at birth. You should be damn grateful, my Lady, that I have not done the same to you and yours outright. This is the price of your arrogance and your narrow-minded cruelty of the past. Take it or leave it.”

With that he stepped off the communicator, and the link was immediately severed.