Light From Above

Chapter 1

The days seemed to stretch on longer and longer as the summer wore on endlessly. This was the worst season of the year, though no one would ever ask Endymion for that opinion. Helia was in complete control of everything, just like she always liked to be. She would have the days stretch on for all time if she could manage it. 

The only thought he found comforting was that while he could sometimes muster the power to stay in the sky during the day, she could not muster the strength to remain in the sky at night. That gave him bragging rights when they actually met face to face. 

Those meetings did not happen often because even though they were twins, they could not truly stand to be in the same room. Endymion had never been to the surface to see Helia, and Helia rarely wished to waste her resting hours by appearing in the pristine glory of his home. Their meetings were not pleasant the few times they did happen.

This was why many of the times he began to feel the itch to make everyone's lives more interesting happened in the summer. When the days were longer, he had more time to sit and have the stars repeat the same things to him over and over. All of this was a recipe for chaos.

Endymion sat upon his stark Moonstone throne in the shining white Moon Palace, head propped up on his knuckles as he stared off into space. The room was filled with white light as the stars milled about the room, but they had lost his interest a long time ago. 

 Two of them were discussing...something. But if he were to be completely honest, he had not even paid attention when they had begun what was now escalated into an argument. He supposed he should stop it soon, before they started actually physically fighting, but at least some of the others looked amused. 

Stepping in could wait a bit longer. Besides, some flying fists would liven up the palace. Too bad he knew better than to let it get that far.

Luckily, the whole court managed to last through the afternoon without violence as the stars waited to begin lighting the night sky for the people of the surface. They provided additional ears to listen to the prayers from below, the most important of which were then passed to Endymion for resolution. 

 When he felt like it.

But recently, all of it seemed completely useless. He sat in his palace on the moon and just watched everyone move around like ants, flitting around their daily business, never doing anything that actually affected anything he did from day to day. He wanted to be free! To experience things for himself!

He had been born to guide the moon on its nightly journey, to listen for prayers of those wanting guidance and healing. But who was he to give them those things? He was just someone who sat around and did so little.

 Perhaps he needed to spend more time watching, observing, and learning more about the people who prayed to him. Perhaps he would go spend time among them. That would require more observation to choose a place, people he might interact with, their languages and habits.

Yes. That was a fantastic idea. Maybe when he returned he would be revitalized, more interested in his work, and far less bored.  

But no matter how appealing that thought was, it was nothing more than a wish. A whim that would appear now and again before disappearing as he returned to his senses.

That night, Endymion rose from his throne, and raised his hands, arms outstretched to either side as the light shining from his pale skin brightened. 

 "Go now. Attend your skies with glory and return to me at the appointed time. Soon we will be at our strongest and that that will be a day of celebration," he announced, voice echoing through the stone walls of the palace. It took only moments for the masses of stars to disappear to the darkness, leaving nothing but the remnants of their light fading in the hall.

After the grandiose release, Endymion sank back into his chair with a sigh. How much of his life was just a facade, used only for the appeasement of the stars? Tiredly, he pushed himself to his feet and stalked to the room he had set aside for his observatory. 

 He immediately dropped himself into the heavily cushioned, comfortable chair before a spreading sheet of opaque crystal. It was at that moment that he recalled a bit of advice Helia once gave him. He had laughed it off at the time, calling her crazy, but it had stayed in his mind anyway. 

Just take the time to watch them. They are the ones that pray to us, that give us the powers we use to watch over and guide them. They mill about and live their lives each day, and anytime you decide that you don't want to do the job you were born to fulfill, it is they that suffer the consequences, not you, not me, them. 

Maybe there was something to what she had said, not that he would never admit that to her.

A yawn left Endymion as he lay his head back against the chair, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. 

 If only he knew how to aim his crystal in such a way that he would certainly find what he wanted, even if he was not entirely sure what that was. But he would never find anything if he only sat looking at the blank expanse of crystal before him. 

Sitting straight once more, he murmured a word of command and the crystal fogged over momentarily. When it cleared, the land of the surface came into view. Almost immediately, a beach came into view.

He knew the water of the shore was one of the smaller seas upon the surface, dotted with islands featuring sparkling beaches, and lush vegetation. The humans named them Pearla Lustra, it was one of the few lands that valued the night sky more than the day. The few times he had ever truly slept, it was those islands that filled his dreams. 

He let out a soft breath, losing hope that he would find anyone awake at this time of the night. Maybe he would just give up, and find some new way to occupy his time...He had heard of this new thing called knitting. Perhaps someone would be able to teach him that skill.

And then, his gaze was caught by movement, and the whispered prayers that reached his ears completely left his mind. Instead, he focused harder on the sight that greeted his eyes. 

 There, upon the shining crystal shore of the ocean danced a girl unlike any he had seen before. For one thing, she was completely awake at a time of night that no one else was. For another, she was not one of his priestesses completing her nightly duties, nor was she kneeling in prayer. 

Instead, she was standing, moving about on the beach, dancing. He rarely saw someone alone and dancing, let alone on a beach, far from any village or some sort of guard animal. And she was lovely to his eyes, completely different from anyone he had laid eyes upon in his entire life.

Her hair shone gold, and around her legs swirled a gauzy skirt, moving lightly around her as she spun and danced, feet bare in the sand. And her face! Oh her face! It was beautiful, with finely chiseled features filled with joy at being out beneath the open sky. 

 The freedom of her movement was inspiring, and caught his attention for the whole night.