Selene fidgeted in her chair, trying to ignore the cold nasty fluttering in 
her stomach.  
	Maia reached over and squeezed her arm gently, "Are you alright, Lena? You look 
a bit queasy." 
	"It's physics!  I have a huge test today! in fact its our only test, so if I 
don't do well..."
	"Endymion wins?" Maia smirked.
	"Well, so far we're tied." She sighed, curling a strand of hair around her 
finger nervously, "Everything comes down to this one test!  And what if that arrogant, 
stuck up-"
	"Incredibly good- looking-"
	"-smart ass does better than I do?"  She rubbed her forehead, "this amount of 
stress can't be healthy.  I'm just glad I don't have to compete against you!  Thank the 
gods you've graduated!"
	Maia smiled, "Well, I do claim some reputation in the academic field... " 
she laughed, flipping her long pale blue hair.  
	The bell rang.
	"I'm going to be sick," Selene wailed as she bolted off.

	After an hour of scrawling answers and sketching diagrams, Selene handed her 
test to her balding teacher who looked entirely too pleased at the affliction he was 
causing his young students.
	She walked out of the room and leaned against the wall, breathing deeply.  A 
young man with dark hair ran up to her.
	"How did you do, Selene?"
	She looked up into intense blue eyes and had to catch her breath *damn him 
for having this affect on me*  "Umm... I think it went well."
	He grinned, "Then we'll both be top scholars!  To be honest with you, I'm 
glad we don't have to compete anymore, Lena.  I'd rather we could be friends."
	Selene choked, "Are you sure you're Endymion?  Isn't this the place where 
you say something disparaging, and then I say something obscene, and you start 
laughing at me?"
	He shook his head, sending tendrils of black hair across his forehead, "Little 
Lena and her never ending supply of sarcastic comments.  Seriously though, what did 
you get for the velocity of the wheel when t=5 seconds?"  
	After a few more seconds of comparing notes, he ran off.
	Selene closed her eyes, and clapped her hands over her cheeks, trying to 
physically suppress the blush that suffused them.  She looked up to see her friend 
Psyche stumble out of the classroom, her face pale, and her golden curls awry.
	"I hate physics!"
  
	Later that day, Selene watched the fencing team with half hearted interest.  
She was more interested in one of the combatants than the actual match.  As she 
watched Endymion's lithe body flex and twist around the blade of his opponent, she 
wondered why he disturbed her so much.  She drifted back to the first time they had 
met.  What was it she had felt?  So long ago, so many emotions, it was impossible to 
tell.  No, she shook her head, she remembered.  Childishly enough she had thought it 
love at first sight.  Of course, her impulsive affection was more likely piqued by 
his gleaming black hair, sculptured face and dark blue eyes.  But her admiration had 
been won by his own merits; his intelligence, his strength, and his will.  And then 
suddenly she had to be anyone other than the quiet, dreamy (be honest, airheaded!) 
girl he barely noticed.  
	She was surprised at what she had found in herself.  Academics, once she managed, 
painfully, to focus, came easily, english especially.  Eventually she began to 
rival him.
	But there the daydreams of his dark blue eyes ended.
He had always teased her ruthlessly about her occasional ditziness in class.   While 
she understood that occasionally she made comments that were less than precise... 
and admittedly somewhat airheaded, it seemed that Endymion was always there to catch 
her at it.   Although she was smart, she had a tendency to daydream and get distracted, 
thus leading her to ask silly and trivial questions.   Sometimes she rather though she 
hated him, but other times she couldn't deny she was attracted to him.  After all, 
not only was he the only student that matched her intellectually, but he was also 
very,  very handsome.   
	Her reverie ended when Endymion smoothly disarmed his opponent.  
	Psyche and Maia, who were sitting next to her in the arena began to 
applaud.  Psyche was a merchant's daughter from the planet Venus.  Although 
Venus had been conquered by the lunar empire many years before, making Selene 
her superior, the blond girl felt no inferiority near her friend.  Psyche was 
one of those people who have an innate sense of confidence and an open hearted 
enthusiasm for everyone.  
	However, her enthusiasm occasionally waned when it came to men.  Men 
regularly fell in love with Psyche, due to her large blue eyes and shining amber 
curls.  The shallow lust and obsession of strangers wore on the girl, until she 
had developed a hearty disgust for men in general.   
	Maia was eighteen, as were the other girls, but she had graduated from 
the academy a year earlier due to her incredible intelligence.  She was currently 
taking private lessons in theoretic math and philosophy.  Apparently, they were 
the traditional subjects for a princess of the planet Mercury.  
	"Selene, I noticed you were watching Endymion very intensely," Psyche 
whispered coyly.
	"I was hoping his opponent would beat some humility into him, however, 
I was disappointed," Selene mock sighed.
	"He likes you," Maia said sagely.
	"He likes to tease me."
	"Talking about me again, I see," Endymion interrupted.
	Selene felt her face turning red and inwardly groaned.
	"Lena, why don't you let me get you a drink"
	"S-sure," She slid off the bench and followed him.  As she walked off, 
Maia and Psyche's giggles wafted behind her.

	Endymion looked down at the blushing girl beside him.  Her pale hair 
threw off the sunlight as they walked beneath the trees.  "Selene, have you 
ever considered putting your hair up into two buns?"
	She giggled nervously, "I would look really silly." She protested.
	"You would look cute"  He cupped a hand under her chin, tilting her head 
back.  Her lips parted in surprise as he kissed her quickly.  He paused to see if 
she had minded the intimacy.  Her face suffused with pink, her eyes were wide and 
startled.  Then she smiled.
	"Endymion... " she whispered.
	He cut her off with another kiss *gods, how I've waited for this!* he 
thought.  Suddenly his dream flashed through his mind.

	Ruins of a palace rose around him, swathed in mist.  The earth glowed blue 
off the horizon.  Framed in it's light stood a girl, with long, pale trailing hair 
tied up into two buns.  She turned to face him and a tear sparkled in her eye.
	"Serenity…"
	He pulled back from Selene.  *She looks just like the girl I dream about.* 
	
*	*	*
Several days later	
	Maia sat in her room in the large dormitory, tuning her harp.  Her room 
was spacious and comfortable, due to her advanced status at the academy.  
Psyche threw herself out on the bed, arms flung wide and sighed dramatically.
	"I can't believe I failed my magic final."
	Maia, lounging on the floor, blinked at her, "You failed?  I know your spells 
aren't always perfect, but you didn't deserve to fail."
	Psyche groaned. "The council decided to test on illusions this year, it's my 
weakest area…  Why couldn't they have tested alchemy or something?" she whined.
	Selene walked in, catching the end of the conversation, "What's Psyche 
whining about now?" she teased.
	"I'm not whining--"
	"Her magic final," Maia answered, "she failed."
	Selene started laughing, shaking so hard that she finally had to sit down.	

"What's so funny?" Maia asked.
	Psyche scowled.
	"Well, if Psyche hadn't done an illusion of the headmaster without any 
clothes on---" she burst out laughing again.
	Psyche held up her hands, "It's not my fault! I got nervous, and they taught 
us in speech class that when we got nervous, we should imagine that the audience is
 naked, and---"
	Maia interrupted, "-and because your concentration has always been weak 
to begin with…" she started to giggle.
	Selene was rolling on the ground by now, "She did it in front of the 
entire council, too. Their eyes were just popping," she giggled again, "gods, 
you should've seen it!  I was laughing so hard, I almost messed up my illusion, 
too."
	"Can we not talk about this?" Psyche asked huffily.
	Eventually they stopped laughing and Selene sat up.
	"So Selene," Psyche began slyly, "Were you out with Endymion again?  You've 
been seeing him an awful lot, considering you hate him."
	"Yes," Maia asked, as she began to pluck at the harp strings, "how do you 
defend yourself against that charge, Lena?"
	"He's cute," Selene grinned mischievously.
	The girls began to laugh again. 
"Oh, I almost forgot," psyche almost cooed, "Look what I made for my metal 
working mastership!" She held up an engraved, crescent shaped compact.
	"That's pretty!"
	Maia agreed.
	"But that's not the best of it!  I made something for you guys too."  She 
handed them each a tiny package. 
	Selene unwrapped hers to reveal a small, golden, circular brooch that was 
engraved with a crescent moon.  A white gem was nestled into the cup of the moon.  
"I love it Psyche, thank you!" Selene immediately pinned it onto her dress.
	Maia held up the contents of her package, a blue enameled pen with the symbol 
of the planet mercury perched on the end of the cap. "Despite your lack of luck with 
magic-"
	"Not to mention physics," Selene interrupted.
	"---You certainly are good with metal."
	Psyche smiled beatifically.
	A red haired girl poked her into the room, scowling at the girls.  "You're 
going to be late for the athletic finals if you keep sitting there like that."  She 
shut the door abruptly.
	Selene frowned, "She's so rude... "
	"Lena, the only reason you don't like Athena is because she kept beating 
you at hand- to- hand combat," Maia reminded her.
	"Well she didn't have to do it so vigorously," Selene protested, rubbing 
her rear end, which still remembered meeting the ground frequently due to Athena's 
skill.  
	Psyche bounced off the bed and grabbed Selene's arm, "Come on, I don't want 
to be late, I know I can do well on this final!"
*	*	*	*
	Selene stared into space, trying to collect her thoughts.  Form the corner 
of her eye she saw Psyche racing down the track, her amber curls streaming, clearly 
ahead of all the other runners.  Across from Selene stood Athena, whose flaming 
hair, caught by the wind, whipped around her athletic figure.  Selene, all 
curving slenderness, could not be called athletic.
	The couch signaled for the fighting match to begin.  
	It ended rather swiftly, and predictably, with Selene landing rather hard 
on her bottom. 
	The couch gave Athena a ribbon, and the red haired girl moved on to the 
next event with a cocky stride.
	Endymion walked over to Selene, who was still sitting on the ground, 
"Aren't you glad athletics don't count for valedictorian?" he quipped.
	Selene stuck her tongue out, then winced as she tried to get up.
	"Oh, poor little Lena, are you alright?" Endymion grasped her waist 
and lifted her gently to her feet.  
	Selene sniffed, "They shouldn't make short people fight… isn't my fault 
I'm weak!  I try and try and try, and then some tall amazon just picks me up and 
drops me, and the whole fight is over," she whined pitifully.  
	Endymion smiled and patted her head, "I know.  But look, the next event 
is the discus, and you love that!"
	
	After waiting for several people to finish, it was finally Selene's turn 
to throw the discus.  She hefted the cool metal circle in her right hand.  Facing 
away from the field, she quickly, shifted her feet, spinning, gaining momentum, 
then leapt.  Whipping her arm around, she sent the disk out flat, cutting through 
the air.  It fell far past the last mark.  Selene smiled.  It had been a good 
throw.  It almost compensated for getting beaten up again. 
*	*	*	*
	That night, Selene dropped into her bed, exhausted.  She gazed out 
through the window towards the new moon.  She sleepily blew a kiss toward her 
home before she fell asleep.
Ruins of a palace rose around her, swathed in mist.  The earth glowed blue off 
the horizon.  Framed in it's light stood a girl, with long, pale trailing hair 
tied up into two buns. A tear sparkled in her eye as she turned to face someone. 
A man approached, his dark cape sweeping like a shadow through the thick swirls 
of fog.  
"Serenity!" he cried, his voice piercing the odd stillness.
"Endymion!" the strange girl answered, running toward him with outstretched arms.

Selene bolted upright, her legs tangling in the sheets.  She looked around, 
disoriented, and focused on the warm light of the moon.  "Endymion," she 
whispered sadly, "who is Serenity?"


*So that was the first chapter!  What did you think? E-mail me with comments 
at firefly9@glaive.zzn.com   Please be kind, I'm really sensitive about my 
writing!  Also if you have any suggestions or questions about the mythology 
and how it all ties in to Sailor Moon, please contact me.  I know there isn't 
much action yet, and things are a bit slow, but trust me, it'll pick up.  It's 
just the obligatory exposition part of the story.  (Being that the characters 
aren't the usual Rei Ami Minako Mako and Usagi, I have to introduce people, 
establish characters, etc.)  Gomen, and thanks for being patient!