Stars in a New Sky

Chapter 1: Dreaming

Endymion...Endymion...Endymion!

Mamoru Chiba shot up in bed, panting and covered in a cold sweat. His heart pounded in his chest as if he'd run a mile. Shakily, he staggered out of bed and into the bathroom. He flicked on the light and stared at his pale reflection in the mirror. He'd had the dream again. All the doctors had told him nightmares were normal after the accident. Just a part of the trauma he'd suffered in the car accident that had killed his parents. He scoffed and turned on the faucet. Splashing water on his face, Mamoru hoped to wash away the dregs of the dream as well as the sweat.

The doctors were wrong. He didn't dream about the accident. Not even on the first night he spent in the hospital. That night Mamoru had been terrified of falling asleep, of seeing his parents' faces in his mind's eye contorted in fear and pain. However, sleep was inevitable. Especially, when they pumped a cocktail of drugs into his system. Sleep had pulled him under, but instead of the car accident, he dreamt of something else. Or rather someone else.

A princess. He couldn't see her face clearly, but she felt so familiar. There was a comforting warmth that soothed the fear and sorrow in his heart. The dream always started off the same. Full of light, joy, and love. Then, it turned dark. The princess was in danger. He was surrounded by death and chaos in a crumbling palace. A heavy sorrow and despair weighed on his heart. A sorrow that far out-stripped the grief he felt for his parents. It was overwhelming. Suffocating. He always awoke from the dream gasping for air.

In the light of day, it was easy to dismiss the dreams. Just some elaborate metaphor his brain cooked up. However, at night, the dreams were not so easy to dismiss. They didn't feel like regular dreams. They felt like memories. They haunted him. Who was this princess? Why was she in danger? More importantly, why did he feel a strong sense of guilt? As if he'd allowed something terrible to happen.

Mamoru laughed darkly to himself. Maybe I am going crazy. He'd mentioned the intuition he had to protect this princess to his psychiatrist. All he'd gotten in return was an elaborate explanation of how the princess was a metaphor for his parents and how much he wished he could have protected them. When he had insisted this was different, all he'd ended up with was a prescription he did not intend to fill. He'd taken care to avoid mentioning the princess or his guilty conscience.

Sighing, Mamoru returned to bed. He needed to get at least a few hours' sleep. Tomorrow he was starting a new school. A fresh start at a new school where people didn't look at him with pity in their eyes. A place where people didn't look at him and see an orphan. Even the few distant relatives who had attended his parents' funeral treated him like an oddity. Though a few had offered to take him in, Mamoru refused. Painful, though it was, he preferred to stay here in Juban. At least this place was familiar.

He lay flat on his back and stared at the ceiling. It seemed sleep would not come easy tonight. Figures. 

"Who are you, princess?" He whispered to himself. He never saw her face clearly. She was always backlit by starlight. Her long blonde hair shimmered like spun gold. Mamoru raised his hand to the ceiling. He could almost feel the silky strands of her hair wrapped around his fingers. Endymion. She called him Endymion. The name was familiar. He'd read something about that name in a textbook once. 

I can't stand by and do nothing!

Mamoru stiffened. The words echoed in his mind. A sweet voice filled with desperation. With one hand, he pinched the skin of his forearm. Wincing at the sharp pain, he confirmed he wasn't dreaming. He was wide awake. Tendrils of fear curled around his heart. Dreams were one thing, but hearing voices? That was something else. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.