"Do they think they are gods? Why do they look upon us? Down on us? From the sky? Their own Olympus! Do they believe they have the right to look upon us? Like ants? Like insignificance they can brush off when they become bored with us?"

"Are we to begin sacrifices? Offerings? What will they take from us? When will it begin? What are we to them? Why are they monitoring us?"

"Because they do believe they are gods. And we, their pawns. They watch us to know us. To control us. Will they take our food? Our land? Our daughters to whore? Our sons to slave?"

......
Heaven ablaze in our eyes
We're standing still in time

"And what of it? Will you stop them? Will you help me? This is not about power. Or control. It is about Earth. It is about our home. _Our_ home. Their home does not interest me. But mine interests them. I'd rather damn theirs than give up mine without a fight!"

The roar of approval began in the front, and by the time it reached the back, people did not know what they were approving, only that they were.

......
The blood on our hands is the wine
We offer as sacrifice

"He'll not come quietly."

"Then, we'll make him! We'll make him see. He's lost in his world of love and must be set right once more."

"There are none so blind as those who refuse to see."

"Then, we shall make him see." Jadeite was adamant. He would not leave his liege; he would not fight his liege.

"There is no way to have this fight without him knowing where we stand. This is not something we can do behind his back and then explain later." Kunzite ran a hand across his face. Weariness wore him. "He _must_ join us. We cannot lose him."

"And we will not," Zoisite amended. "But how do we convince him when he is so deeply in love?"

"Turning him against his love will not work," Nephrite warned. "He will accuse us of twisting its purity."

"We've no reason to twist its purity." Jadeite sneered the last word.

"He'll believe us to do that before he'll believe the regard the princess holds us in."

Zoisite spoke slowly. "So, we'll leave the princess out of it. We'll speak of the prosperity of Earth."

Kunzite caught on quickly enough. "Earth does not need to be monitored or guided. Earth is perfectly capable of surviving on its own. The Moon need only be concerned with itself, but why does it concern itself with us?"

......
Come on, and show them your love
Rip out the wings of a butterfly

Endymion laughed. "Because the Moon wants to help us. It is the kind of people they are."

The four glanced at each other briefly, darkened gazes subtly conveying the kind of people they thought Lunarians to be.

"But Endymion," Nephrite tried again, "they don't actually do anything for us. They say they're guiding us, but they aren't even allowed to have contact with us. I don't understand how that benefits us."

Endymion took pause, and the shitennou saw that as a good sign. "They're making sure we don't wander down the wrong path, and we haven't so far," he finished cheerfully, though he seemed to be trying to convince himself at the same time.

......
For your soul, my love
Rip out the wings of a butterfly

"This conversation is over!" he raged. "I'll not do this again! You are in service to me!"

Gritting his teeth, Kunzite held back a particularly vulgar retort, and managed, "This is _our_ planet! Your selfish actions are putting the entire planet at risk!"

"The planet was never at any risk! How dare you question my abilities? You think I would so carelessly throw away the lives of my people?"

"They are our people as well, Endymion!" Nephrite said. "And you placed your princess before them long ago!"

Endymion whirled on them, eyes blazing blue flames. "She would never hurt anyone. She would never hurt me."

"And her mother?" Jadeite challenged. "The woman who holds a weapon powerful enough to destroy the universe?"

Endymion frowned. "Why? Why would they do this to us? They are prosperous on the moon! They are peaceful creatures!"

"They are hidden from us!" Kunzite could not believe Endymion was so dense. "We don't know what they're doing, what they're planning, what resources they have-"

"There's no, need, to know!" Endymion stressed.

......
This endless mercy mile
We're crawling side by side

"We can't do this."

"He'll never forgive us."

"Will you forgive yourself when the Moon conquers us? Will our people forgive us when we fail before them?"

"He'll see, and he'll understand. He _will_ forgive us."

"This is not just for him. This is for Earth."

"This is for us."

"This is a mistake."

"And yet, it is the only way."

......
With hell freezing over in our eyes
Gods kneel before our crime

Endymion had never known such rage.

"You bring me here! To her! TRAITORS!"

"Endymion," she soothed. "We want to help-

"Back wench! Or give me a reason."

Her smile dropped. "The Moon seeks to conquer us. With your power, we have a better chance against the moon queen."

Endymion turned to the men blocking his exit. "You'll part. And you'll let me through. And you'll never show yourselves again."

They did, and he walked past them, sword still drawn, enraged that they had brought him into Metallia and Beryl's stronghold to 'discuss peace with foreign powers.'

Endymion leapt upon his horse and rode it hard. He leaned close to its neck, arm at the ready and did not relax even when he was in his own bedroom.

He would not sleep for days.

......
Come on, let's show them your love
Rip out the wings of a butterfly

"So, we fight him?"

"Beryl wants him."

"Metallia doesn't care."

"I care."

"We _all_ do."

"So . . ."

"He is still our liege. Even if he is in the wrong."

"Do we still protect him?"

"He'll try to kill us when he sees us!"

"We do not kill him. We still protect him . . . Just make sure you are protecting yourself from him."

......
For your soul, my love
Rip out the wings of a butterfly

"Don't do this."

It was wrong to them that he begged. He was a proud man. A monarch and a leader. And yet, he was begging.

"Don't make us."

He shook his head slightly, still disbelieving.

Were those tears?

......
For your soul
Rip out the wings of a butterfly

They closed in on him. They had him cornered.

"Come quietly, Prince," Nephrite asked in a low voice.

Endymion shook his head again, silent still.

"Prince, please."

Now, they were begging. The irony did not escape Zoisite.

Endymion whispered the last word they would hear him speak in this lifetime. "Traitors."

He did not accuse them, or name them. He said it to himself, to let himself know what he thought of them.

Kunzite was pained. "No-"

......
Don't let go

"PRINCE!"

In moments, the shitennou still formed a square around Endymion, but now they faced a wall of flame as tall as they.

Venus's chain wrapped around Endymion's middle and reeled him in quickly through Mars' wall of flames. Still patting some flames from his shoulders, Endymion disappeared with the women.

......
Rip out the wings of a butterfly

Kunzite's eyes glittered.

"To the moon."

......
For your soul

end

Title and lyrics from HIM's "Wings of a Butterfly." Fabulous song.

Theme: Butterfly (#37) – theme taken from 101_Kisses themes list