Dark Kingdom Transgressions - Part 01 Fallen

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“Ugh…” Kunzite grunted as he wearily flopped face up onto his bed.

Nephrite followed a few steps behind him and silently fell face down on his own bed.

The room the boys now shared when they were staying at Endymion’s was large, with three more beds along the opposite wall. Soon, those beds held three more extremely tired and sore teenaged boys.

Zoisite sighed dramatically and muttered something.

For a few moments the only sound in the room was breathing, then Kunzite partially sat up to look over at Zoisite. He asked, “What did you just say?”

The others turned to look curiously and Nephrite questioned, “Who? No one said anything.”

“Zoisite said something,” Kunzite explained then looked at the younger boy again.

Hesitating, Zoisite also wondered what he had said, then remembered. “I said, ‘It must be a conspiracy,’ but I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Well, Prince Super-Brain, you might have something there,” mused Kunzite.

Nephrite rolled over onto his back with a groan. “A conspiracy, huh? That sure would explain a lot.”

Endymion and Jadeite were totally confused. “A conspiracy? By whom? For what?”

Zoisite answered, “By the Kings to keep us *really* busy and too tired to get into any trouble.”

Kunzite bitterly added, “And to keep us away from the girls.”

Nephrite slowly sat up. Once he was finally upright, he sighed. “Lately, when Nisha has friends over, I’ve noticed that Zoisite and I get shipped out until they’re gone.”

“Yes. And did you also notice that this all started right after *you* were caught kissing Princess Reianne behind the stables?” Kunzite sharply pointed out.

Nephrite protested, “Hey, this isn’t my fault! Beside, you were there also with my sister.”

Kunzite clarified, “True, but who was the one that was so absorbed with what he was doing that he failed to hear his parents’ hunting party come around the corner?”

Nephrite flushed as he remembered how much trouble that little incident had caused him. “Oh, shut up,” he mumbled as he flopped back down again. “I’m too tired to argue.”

Endymion encouraged, “My fifteenth birthday party’s in two weeks. The girls will be here for it.”

Kunzite sighed with exasperation. “Sure, they’ll *be* here,” he explained, “but we won’t be able to go anywhere with them.” He continued in a sarcastically formal tone, “Would you care to dance, Princess? How *nice* to see you. Would you like some refreshment? Lovely weather we’re having. Excuse me, Princess, but would you mind terribly if I cut my own throat out of boredom now?” He ended with another resigned sigh. Nephrite echoed Kunzite’s sigh and the other boys again looked confused.

Endymion asked, “What do you mean?”

Nephrite looked over to Endymion. “You haven’t got ‘the Talk’ yet?”

Now intrigued, Jadeite and Zoisite rolled over on their beds and looked up.

“The *Talk*? Endymion questioned. “You mean the one about sex and babies and such? I got *that* talk ages ago.”

Shaking his head, Nephrite slowly stood up. “Not that talk.” He walked over to Kunzite’s bed and put his foot on the side rail. Leaning over so his forearm rested on his knee, and faking a serious demeanor, he deepened his voice. “Kunzite, now that you are fifteen and practically a man, you have certain social obligations you need to fulfill. The time for running off has ended. You’re expected to stay and participate in the social gatherings from now on as befitting your position as Prince. What you do and say can have far-reaching impact either for good or bad on not only your realm but also on the entire world. I expect you to act in a decorous and adult manner at all social gatherings and to always keep the good of your kingdom in mind.”

Kunzite nodded. “Yep, that’s the talk. I bet you get it before the party, Endy.” He looked over at Endymion and saw the horrified expression on his face. Surprised, Kunzite asked, “Haven’t you noticed that Neph and I don’t go off with the others anymore?”

“Yes, I did,” Endymion admitted. “but…I thought you did it because you wanted to be with the older girls. I didn’t know…” he ended uncertainly.

“Well, now you do,” Kunzite concluded. They fell silent again as each was alone with his thoughts.

Eventually, Zoisite heard one or two of the others start to snore but his thoughts wouldn’t let him rest. Every once in a while, something would come up that made Zoisite think about his father. This was one of those times. He hadn’t been very close to his father and it surprised him that it could still hurt as much as it did. *He* wouldn’t be getting that ‘talk’ from his father when he turned fifteen.

Not that Zoisite really needed the talk. He already took his duties seriously. The knowledge that his coronation could have happened when he turned thirteen, whether he had been ready or not, often scared him sleepless. He was truly grateful for every day of the extra five years the council had given him to prepare. Even with the extra time, Zoisite wasn’t sure he’d be ready. He’d already trained under King Stanton, King Branor and King Galeron and now he was with King Savaric. He had learned a lot from them and he still had two Kings to go. Zoisite felt a lot of pressure to succeed. After all the effort the council had put into preparing and helping him, he’d never be able to forgive himself if he failed them or his kingdom.

The pressure Zoisite felt was one of the main reasons he didn’t pay attention to girls like the other guys did. There were a few girls he thought attractive, but he silently admired them and kept it to himself. To Zoisite it just didn’t seem smart to play the games he saw Kunzite and Nephrite playing and to be so casual about it. Right now, Zoisite felt chasing girls would be a waste of time he didn’t have. He had other things he needed to learn and do first. He eventually did want a family though, so he made a promise to himself. Once he was settled and more in control of his life, *then* he would turn his attention to girls, but it wouldn’t be anytime soon.

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The day of Endymion’s party was bright and sunny. The palace staff and Endymion’s parents were frantically dealing with last minute preparations and with the overnight guests who arrived the previous day.

As Endymion was getting ready he realized his father hadn’t approached him to have the infamous “talk”. It surprised him, but he guessed his father decided he should have one final taste of freedom before the boom of responsibility was lowered onto his shoulders, or maybe his father just forgot. Another option that hadn’t occurred to Endymion was that King Stanton might have thought Endymion didn’t need the talk, at least not quite yet. Endymion hadn’t given his father any reason to believe he would do the things Kunzite and Nephrite had been doing. It was those things more than their age that had prompted their fathers’ talks. Whatever the reason was, Endymion was relieved it hadn’t come up yet.

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Endymion felt like his face was going to crack and fall off if he had to smile and tolerate even one more person gushing over him and exclaiming how much he’d grown. It seemed as if every person on the entire planet felt the need to personally wish him a happy birthday. The ones who insisted on reminiscing, “I remember when you…” were the worst. Endymion now remembered why he had made a promise to himself last year to run away before his next birthday party came.

There had been a midday banquet and other party related things and now it was time for dancing. The party moved to a spacious ballroom where an orchestra had already begun to play.

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Queen Roselynn silently stood next to her husband. They had reached the moment she both cherished and dreaded. The orchestra began to play the traditional song and Roselynn watched her son step out and walk across the dance floor towards her. He was half a head taller than her and the black tuxedo and red satin-lined cape he wore enhanced his ebony hair, handsome face and strong body. As Roselynn watched him approach her, she marveled that he had once been her baby.

Endymion bowed to his mother then led her out onto the dance floor. She noticed how he held her easily, and effortlessly led them around the room. The boy, who just a year ago blushed and self-consciously faltered through this dance, was gone. In his place stood a confident man Roselynn felt she barely knew. He didn’t come to her for comfort or to confide in any more. He had his friends now, and probably someday soon, there would be a young woman he would turn to for those things. Roselynn glanced around at the princesses in the room as she wondered which girl Endymion would choose for his own.

Princess Celina was certainly pretty but she was a bit too old for Endymion. There was Marissa’s daughter, Princess Maria, but she was much too young. Princess Lynelle was his cousin so she was out, but standing beside Lynelle was Princess Nisha. Nisha’s wavy, chestnut hair was pulled back from her face and clasped with a daisy-covered clip. The rest of her hair flowed around her shoulders and over a demure, pastel-yellow dress that made her look like a ray of pure sunshine.

Roselynn suppressed a sigh. If she could pick her future daughter-in-law, it would be Nisha. However, Endymion hadn’t ever shown any interest in her and Nisha seemed even less interested in him.

Next, Roselynn’s glance fell on Princess Beryl of the Northern Kingdom. Beryl wore her striking red hair pulled up and a cascade of ringlets was artfully arranged to look as if they joyously danced around her face and head. The deep plum colored dress she wore was fitted down to her hips and plain, except for the slitted sleeves and skirt that allowed an ornately embroidered silver-satin layer to peek through. The neckline of the dress bowed from her shoulders and was low enough to be noticed, but was still just within decency’s limit. Silvery embroidered designs delicately edged the neckline and enhanced Beryl’s porcelain skin and graceful, unadorned neck.

Roselynn admitted to herself that Beryl was very beautiful and most likely would be the one Endymion picked. Sighing to herself, Roselynn again promised she would work harder at getting to know the girl better. Roselynn was determined to be as good a mother-in-law as Stanton’s mother had been to her.

Halfway through the dance others began to join them on the dance floor and Roselynn knew the song would end soon. She looked up and smiled at her son. Endymion smiled back and Roselynn could still see her happy, carefree little boy in his eyes. With a catch in her voice Roselynn quietly said, “Endy, you’ve become a fine young man. I’m proud of you.”

Endymion blushed and his smile widened. The song ended and Roselynn realized Endymion had danced them back to his father. Endymion gave his mother a kiss on the cheek and said, “Thank you, Mother.” Stepping back, Endymion bowed to his parents then turned and disappeared into the crowded room.

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Endymion was finally free but that was when he realized his dilemma. Kunzite, Nephrite and most of his friends were staying at the party. Zoisite, even though he was still younger, always stayed and either danced or talked with people. That only left Jadeite and some other much younger children to play with. Endymion felt like the odd man out in both groups. For now he decided he might as well stay at the party and dance.

Endymion looked around and spotted Princess Beryl with her parents. He decided to ask her to dance. When their dance ended, Endymion held Beryl’s hand and bowed a thank you. Beryl smiled and curtsied in return then turned and walked away.

Looking down at his hand, Endymion saw the small folded note Beryl had slipped into it. As he walked, he opened the note and the scent of Beryl’s perfume subtly wafted up from its folds. In meticulous script, he read, “I have a present for you. Meet me in the back garden. I’ll be waiting under the cherry tree by the palace wall.” Suddenly, dancing didn’t seem very interesting to Endymion any more.

Endymion managed to unobtrusively leave then took an around about route to the specified place. At first he didn’t think Beryl was there, then he saw her peek around from behind the wide tree trunk and turn back.

Endymion smiled and leaned his shoulder against the tree. “Hi,” he said. Without saying a word, Beryl reached up with both hands to grasp his lapels and tugged him down for a kiss.

The last time Endymion had been surprised by Beryl’s kiss, but this time he was ready for her. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he drew her closer to him. When Beryl started to release his lips, Endymion caught her bottom lip and gently sucked on it to encourage her to continue. Beryl gasped and Endymion took advantage of it to questioningly run his tongue between her teeth, briefly brushing the roof of her mouth. Beryl tentatively reached out with her tongue and they deepened their kiss. It was at that point both of them lost track of any coherent thought.

Beryl slid her arms up around his neck to pull him closer and Endymion responded by engulfing her in his arms and holding her tight against him. He felt the warmth of her breasts pressed against his chest and her soft curves under his hands. Endymion released her lips to nuzzle her ear and whisper, “Hmm…nice…”

Beryl felt him whisper in her ear and the electric tingles that traveled up and down her side made her shiver and giggle.

Endymion felt her shiver and then her quiet, throaty, giggled response. With a groan, he captured Beryl’s lips again. He suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to devour her…or to crush her in his arms until they could never be separated or…something. Endymion ran his hands up and down over her back and over the smooth curves of her body. His hands took on a mind of their own as they lifted her up and pushed her firmly against him until there was no mistaking the extent of his reaction to her.

Endymion was holding Beryl so tightly that it was almost uncomfortable for her. She began to feel as if she had been swept into something much bigger and stronger than she had expected. It was scary to her but not in a bad way…more of an exciting way. She only knew one thing. She liked his response to her and she wanted to continue provoking it.

Beryl felt Endymion start to kiss her neck and she instinctively leaned back to give him better access. He reached the crook of her neck and began to thoroughly kiss the smooth skin over her collarbone. Beryl whimpered with a need Endymion’s kisses aroused in her. Encouraged by her response, he continued down to trail kisses over the soft swells of her breasts above the neckline of her dress. Supporting her with one hand, Endymion’s other hand slowly slid forward over her ribs. That hand was coming close to reaching its unconscious goal when someone cleared his throat very loudly, interrupting them.

Endymion’s eyes flew open and he quickly lifted his head to see his four friends standing there staring at them. Their expressions ranged from amusement to curiosity to astonished embarrassment.

Kunzite valiantly tried to suppress the laughter in his voice as he said, “I’m sorry to have to interrupt your um…interesting get together, but there are a lot of people who are upset they can’t find either of you.” To his credit he didn’t snicker until after he finished speaking.

Endymion and Beryl were still holding each other and staring at the guys with dazed expressions.

Nephrite couldn’t take it anymore and doubled over sputtering with laughter. Jadeite, who tried to be a little more discreet, turned away and coughed into his hand to hide his chuckles.

Zoisite’s face was bright red. He wasn’t only embarrassed himself, but was also embarrassed for Endymion. Zoisite rarely lost his temper and the few times he had, he hadn’t ever initiated a confrontation with the other guys. Nephrite’s continued laughter finally did it though. Zoisite growled as he turned and promptly gave the laughing hyena a hard shove with his boot.

Taken completely unaware, Nephrite hit the paved path hard and slid up against a bush. He looked up at Zoisite with a stunned expression that matched the other guys’ astonished faces. It had become deathly quiet in the group. Zoisite glared and hissed, “Shut up! Just shut up!”

Endymion had let go of Beryl as he watched the drama between his friends. He understood and appreciated Zoisite’s attempt to get them to back off, but he could tell things were about to get ugly, or rather uglier, very quickly if he didn’t step in.

Beryl’s befuddlement from Endymion’s kisses had faded and was quickly replaced with fury. Nephrite’s laughing and Kunzite’s smirking expression mocked her. [How dare they!] she angrily thought. Beryl ignored what was happening between the boys as she focused all of her ire.

Endymion had stepped forward to attempt to slow Nephrite down and placate him. Kunzite had also partially turned and was about to step into the fray when all five boys suddenly felt, more than saw, a power building. Beryl released a fairly strong blast of energy and in Kunzite’s surprised state he hadn’t been able to completely dodge it.

Kunzite felt a searing pain cross the side of his face. Cursing fluently, he dropped to his knee and covered the injury with his hand. Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoisite completely forgot the original conflict as they stared with stunned disbelief at Beryl.

Endymion turned to move towards Kunzite when he again sensed Beryl’s power building and this time she was targeting Nephrite. Before she could raise her hands Endymion released a volley of crimson roses towards her. The flowers stuck into the ground at her feet, and her power was instantly neutralized.

With a shocked gasp, Beryl looked up from the flowers to Endymion and anything she was going to say died in her throat at his angry expression. In contrast to his previous words to her, the words Endymion now spoke carried a cold warning. “You WILL NOT hurt my friends!”

“Your *friends*?” Beryl chokingly whispered. Anger quickly blazed in her eyes as she spat out, “Your ‘friends’ are laughing and *mocking* us! *How* can you defend them? What am *I* to you then?!” With a last indignant glare at Endymion, Beryl pushed past Jadeite on the path and quickly left.

Endymion watched her go then turned to see how bad Kunzite’s wounds were. He knelt next to his cousin and noticed blood was running out between Kunzite’s fingers and dripping onto his shirt and sleeve. Endymion gently urged him to lower his hand then bit his lip to keep from exclaiming at the deep gash and charred and blistered skin surrounding it.

“That bad, huh?” Kunzite dejectedly muttered as he tried to cover it again. Endymion stopped Kunzite’s attempt to hide the wounds. Kunzite flinched away as Endymion reached out to touch the injuries but he persistently grabbed Kunzite’s head to hold it still. Endymion then gently covered the wound with his hand and a warm, golden glow began to caress the area. Kunzite looked up at him with surprise.

When Endymion withdrew his hand, there was now new, pale-pink skin where the injuries had been. Kunzite touched his cheek with his still bloodied hand and was amazed that the pain and wounds were gone.

“How…?” Zoisite croaked out in amazement.

Endymion examined his work to be sure it was completely healed as he quietly explained. “This is a part of my powers and my father’s powers. It takes a lot out of us to do so we don’t tell many people about it. If the wounds were big enough, it could kill us to heal them.

Looking at Endymion with concern, Kunzite asked, “Are you okay? This wasn’t too much was it?”

As he shook his head, Endymion answered, “It was deep but it wasn’t over an extensive area. I’m fine. I wouldn’t have done it if I couldn’t handle it.”

Kunzite looked relieved for a moment then looked down in shame. “I…I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I really botched things up here. I should have realized we were embarrassing Beryl too and stopped our teasing. She had good reason to be angry with us and now…”

Endymion interrupted Kunzite. “You guys were only teasing. I knew it and she should have known it too. She had no right to hurt you like that.”

“But,” Kunzite continued, “she was pretty angry. I don’t think you’ll be getting any more kisses from her for a while.”

Endymion icily answered as he stood to his feet. “That’s okay. After what she did to you, maybe I don\'t want more kisses from her.\" Consciously changing the subject, he added, \"Now, what were you saying about people looking for me?”

Before heading back to the party the boys tried to clean up in the fountain but there was only so much that could be done. The blood on Kunzite’s clothing and the rips in Nephrite’s were very noticeable.

King Stanton and Queen Roselynn met the boys at the ballroom door and they were obviously very unhappy. The King spoke, “Princess Beryl just returned in tears and insisted her parents take her home immediately, and now you five show up like this?! I’d ask what happened but I don’t think I’d get a straight answer. Go change, then return and I expect all of you to stay within my sight for the rest of the party. Clear?”

The five boys nodded and quickly left to comply.

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Later that night Endymion walked past his father’s office on the way to his room. King Stanton called him back then asked him to shut the door. Motioning for his son to sit, he thought a moment then said, “Beryl had refused to talk about why she was upset. I need to hear what happened from you, so start talking.”

Endymion hesitated as he considered whether he should lie and if so, how much. With a sinking feeling he realized doing so would only be digging a deeper grave for himself. With a resigned sigh Endymion told his father what had happened, although he did skip mentioning the note Beryl had given him.

When Endymion was finished speaking, his father sat silently thinking for a few moments. He decided his son was probably telling the truth since Endymion had admitted to being at fault for much of the situation.

Finally, King Stanton said, “Well, I’m not at all happy about some of the things you’ve said, but I do appreciate you telling me the truth.”

Endymion had just begun to think he might get out of there with only a reprimand, when his father continued. “Endymion, now that you are fifteen and practically a man, you have certain…”

Endymion dejectedly sighed as his father began to give him “the Talk”.

Continued...


Thank you for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it. If you did like my story, or if you have any (kind and gently worded) suggestions/comments about my story, please let me know. I truly appreciate feedback. You can email me at ndeblock@att.net .

This story was edited and enhanced by the great minds and imaginations of my three wonderful betas, Sophia Prester, Yumeko & Loki. Their help and ideas have been of great value to me! Each is also a fabulous Sailor Moon fanfic author. Sophia Prester’s and Yumeko’s stories can be found on Fanfic.net with an author’s name search (Yumeko\'s author\'s name is Heavely Pearl). Loki’s work is on AriasInk.com. I highly recommend reading all of their stories. ^_^

Bye, Luna Hope

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, her lover, her friends, her family and her enemies all don’t belong to me. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I just borrowed them for a little bit of fun. All original characters in this story do belong to me. ^_^