The next day, as Helia sailed through the sky with the sun, Endymion returned to his throne in the Great Hall, eyes brighter than they had been the day before. This gave the stars a bit of hope that perhaps they had avoided another disaster. The hope was fleeting though as no one seemed able to catch his attention for long.

There didn't seem to be a single thing they could do to draw him out of his mind. Even when two of the younger stars staged a dance they had seen done by some of the priestesses once involving silk scarves and whirling motions. Never had this dance failed to make Endymion smile and laugh. 

But this day it failed.

Eventually, Endymion rose from his throne, hours before the normal time. With a wave of his hand, and murmured permission for the stars to remain in the hall socializing until the proper time, he strode toward the exit. He disappeared from the room without answering any of their startled questions, heading for his seldom used bed chambers.

These rooms could easily be called his favorite in the entirety of his home, even if he rarely used them. His bed was the main feature of the room, large enough for at least six people, soft enough to sink into and not want to leave, and covered with soft down pillows and blankets. Stretching overhead was a dark canopy dotted with crystalline diamonds that echoed the shapes of the stars when viewed from the earths surface. In fact, there was little space for anything else in the room besides the bed.

Without a thought or word, Endymion threw himself onto the bed, looking up at the sparkling crystals, and for a moment, felt small with them stretching above him. Was that how the girl he had seen felt every time she looked up at the night sky?

His contemplation had just begun when the door he had closed behind him opened once more, letting in a rush of air. In a show of his complete disinterest, Endymion did not even shift to look in that direction. Besides, he already had a guess as to who had followed him: Polaris.

"Was there anything you needed to talk about?" Polaris asked, concern clear in the North Star's voice as he closed the door behind him.

There was truly a reason why this was the star that had led the heavens before Endymion had arrived. His gaze was clear, his course steady. He had a knack for seeing potential issues, and did all he could to lessen anything that would shake the heavens.

That included making sure the Moon, his leader and friend, did not slide into the most disastrous of his moods.

After letting the silence stretch between them for a long moment, Endymion shifted on the bed to look at his friend, his eyes almost as sad as they were far away.

"I am tired," he answered after another long silence. "Is this my fate? To watch over the dreams of those beneath us and never know the pleasure for myself? To never truly rest?"

A slender eyebrow lifted toward the star's hairline. Polaris had never heard his friend complain of tiredness before.

"Everyone must rest, Endymion," he answered gently, perching carefully on the edge of the bed. He knew that if he fell back onto the soft surface, it would be difficult to escape without a nap.

"You do not need to hold court all day if you wish more rest, though I do not know how to get you pleasant dreams. Even mortals do not often remember the entirety of their dreams except with your help. But I have a feeling that was not truly what you wanted to ask me. It did not sound like you, my friend."

"I don't feel like me," Endymion sighed, curling up on his side with a pillow clutched tight against his chest. He waited a moment to see if his friend would say anything to that or just let him continue.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. But I don't plan to do anything crazy. It's not boredom. I'm not going to intentionally do anything to hurt the world or anything on it. I am just feeling pointless.

"I hear all these prayers, and I don't know why they are being said. Am I truly someone that people trust that much? Should they trust me like that? How can they truly think I can heal people? Who started it? Did my powers come first or did the prayers? How can they live as they do, knowing there are people out there more powerful than them? Do they feel like the bits of grass at their feet when they look up at the sky?"

A large sigh left Endymion as he forced himself to stop giving voice to his list of questions. Polaris had surely understood the point he was trying to make. "These are the thoughts that have distracting me today. I think that I am just in the strangest of moods. I am sure that it will pass."

"I hope it will pass. It seems like the most serious mood I have ever seen you have," Polaris agreed.

This was far more serious than he had thought. If the Moon kept sliding further into this mode of thought, he may unintentionally put them all in danger. A bored Moon was one thing. A Moon that felt despondent might lead to the neglect of all his duties.

Drastic measures had to be taken before that could happen. It took only a moment to decide his next action: to lay on the bed facing his friend.

Endymion blinked with surprise at that sight. Polaris had never joined him on his bed before. He had always chosen to complain about just how luxurious it was, that if he lay upon the soft mattress, he would never want to return to the sky.

"Have you thought about visiting the surface?" Polaris asked seriously, hoping he did not sound too insistent. He knew that if he sounded too commanding, Endymion would not listen to a word he said.

"I know it is well within your power to do so. Just set the Moon on its course, or let me do it for you, and manifest down there. Even us stars have gone down to the surface to explore. If it makes you feel better, do it during twilight, when you sister has set, and before you take her place. Just come back when it is time for your light to sail the sky. We will live through one night without you working yourself to the bone," Polaris assured his friend, trying to tease him a bit at the same time.

"After all, how long have you sat in that chair of yours without a break? And you can't count the times you caused chaos either, as you did not leave this palace."

An exasperated noise left Endymion as he flopped over onto his back to stare up at the canopy. It was all so hopeless. "I don't know if that's a good idea. We don't know what would happen if I leave the Moon."

"No, we don't, but I do know that the heavens stayed right where they were each time I visited the surface. And there was a while that I spent quite a bit of time on the surface," Polaris reasoned.

"I promise to think about it," Endymion murmured, eyes still fixed on the spreading canopy, obviously finished with the conversation.

That only lasted a moment before he jumped at a poke to his side. A fierce glare was leveled at the now laughing star. "What? I promised didn't I? What else do you want from me?"

"I have succeeded!" Polaris laughed with a grin, poking his friend's side again to make him squirm even more. "You've been far too serious. I didn't think you could laugh anymore, let alone smile."

With more laughter, he rolled to his feet and gave a jokingly elaborate bow to his friend, grin still on his face.

"And with that I'll leave you to your thoughts. Just please remember your promise, and I will take care of soothing the stars' worries. You'll see, all will be well." He then disappeared from the room, leaving the air as empty as it had been full of his presence moments before.

Endymion could do nothing but sigh and quietly consider his friend's words. Eventually he managed to take a short and restless nap before returning to his observatory shortly before the rise of the Moon.

His best thinking was done in this chair, and he devoted the time before the moon-rise to fulfilling the promise he had made his friend. Polaris was right, he needed the chance to go down to the land, stretch his legs, experience life.

He would start the heavenly light's trek across the sky and then, if he saw that girl again, he would try to make a quick jaunt to the surface. Just getting the chance to talk with her might return his focus to his duties. Endymion decided that no one would truly mind the moon appearing a few minutes early, and with a smirk on his face, he put the Moon in the sky.

With a murmured word of Power, he watched the crystal wall fog over before clearing to show the land below. A thought was all it took to focus his field of vision back to the beach from the night before.

His breath caught at the sight of the foam tipped waves dyed red by the light of the setting sun. That was the last bit of convincing he needed.

Even if the girl never appeared, he had to go down there: see the sea for himself, feel the light of his sister on his own skin, feel the warm sand beneath his feet. It sounded like the Heaven of which people told stories.

With a bright laugh, Endymion pushed himself off the soft cushions and stepped to the crystalline wall. He closed his silver eyes for a moment to draw his power close, and lifted a hand to place flat against the cool surface.

Frost spread from around his hand like ice growing on a pond. When it had grown enough to cover his body, he stepped through, breath catching at the icy feeling. That had been colder than he had expected, but it had worked.

Endymion's feet connected with a solid surface. It was the sand of the beach under his boot. He laughed again, spreading his hands wide as though daring his sister to catch sight of him. For a moment, he felt completely free. He could not decide what to do with himself first.

And then he heard the sound of someone singing.