[Pokémon] Ocarina Maiden Of The Festival Of The Moon

Melody

I was not happy about that extra bit at the end of the prophecy. Yes, Darien and I were destined to be together, even without the dumb prophecy, soulmates and all that jazz. That did not, however, mean I don't wish we had actually gotten a choice in the matter.

Yes, I know that doesn't make any sense.

But if you wait a minute, I'll start from the beginning.

Okay, here's what happened. Everything started when the annual Legend Festival rolled around on Shamouti Island, a small island in the middle of the Orange Archipelago. Considering the festival celebrated the sacrifice of the Moon Princess and the Earth Prince, I could care less. It wasn't that I didn't care about their sacrifice; that wasn't it at all. No, I just didn't particularly want to be reminded that I had lost everything I cared about seven thousand years ago.

I usually spent the time playing the rebel, the bored teenager who didn't see the point of a stupid centuries old tradition. Unfortunately, as of this year my older sister Carol was too old to be the Festival Maiden anymore. Given that we were descended from the Island's very first Chief, and the granddaughters of the current Chief, that meant that I had to take her place. Which meant that I couldn't keep pulling the rebel act, although I really wanted to. I raised a big stink about it, citing that we had cousins, and that I wasn't the only person who could take the role, but Carol was having none of it.

She told me that I needed to honor the sacrifice of the Moon Princess, and that Serenity and Endymion had given up their lives so that the people of Earth could be free from the control of the witch Beryl and the monster Metalia.

Except that wasn't why I did it— in all honesty, the idea of sacrificing myself hadn't even occurred to me. I didn't go down in some heroic showdown that I tragically lost but was able to free everyone from Beryl's control in the process. Instead, I was picked off from behind. Endymion and his Archeops had jumped in the way, but they weren't able to stop the monster. Because I had "stolen him away" Beryl made sure that I was killed first. If at all possible, she didn't want her precious prince to die or even be harmed in any way.

I had to bite my tongue— hard— against the urge to retort that Carol's precious moon princess hadn't gone down in some epic, heroic showdown to free the people of her lover's planet and had instead been picked off from behind by a particularly cowardly, albeit cunning, monster. She wouldn't believe me for one, because no one here believed in reincarnation. Yeah, the legend said that she would return (which I had) but that was the part that everyone was skeptical about. It was a very heavily debated topic every time the festival came again.

Instead I just muttered a "Fine. But I'm not doing it to honor the moon princess or anything. I'm doing it because it's our family's duty. Just don't expect me to be happy about it."

Carol snorted. "If part of the requirements to play the Festival Maiden or the princess was being happy about it, then basically no one would ever have the role. Even I wasn't happy about it at first, but I did come to enjoy it after the first time. I'm sure it isn't that bad."

I sighed. "Fine." I muttered with no small amount of reluctance.

Two days later, I wondered if some god was interfering— because there were two black haired boys on the boat belonging to my sister's friend. One of them, the younger brother, had spikey black hair and brownish amber eyes. The other boy, clearly the older brother, had smooth black hair and brilliant sapphire blue eyes that put the sky to shame. He also wore a rather unusual outfit, even for a Trainer: a blue-green long sleeved shirt that fit him well but didn't seem to hinder his movement at all, a pair of black pants, and a forest green cape held with a pair of golden clips. At his hip was a sword— a real one, not just some imitation made to look good displayed on a wall. And I would know, with how often I had snuck out to watch the blacksmiths in action in the Moon Kingdom. He definitely looked like a prince.

And Lady Luck was actually on my side for once, because they were both Trainers. The blue eyed brother had an Archeops as his starter, while the amber eyed brother had a Pikachu. Seriously. Was Arceus or some other Legendary interfering? Did they do that?

Because what were the odds that Endymion would get here just in time for the festival dedicated to the two of us the same year that I took up the mantel of Festival Maiden?

"We sure are lucky." The younger brother commented.

"If we hadn't found this place, we'd be in real trouble." The redheaded girl added.

The green haired boy paled as he happened to glance in the direction of the tribe. "Uh, I think we still might be." He stammered. A few at a time, the people jumped down. Endymion's hand flew to the hilt of his word as he took a defensive stance, clearly prepared to draw it.

"Maron, how are you?" My sister greeted, removing her mask. "It's been a while."


"Carol, I can't believe it." The green haired boat driver greeted cheerfully in return, smiling from her place atop the boat. "It's great to see you."

Carol wanted to know what Maron was doing here, and she mentioned that they got caught up in the storm and blown off course.

Fortunately or unfortunately (at this point I had no idea which it actually was), they happened to get here right as the festival was about to start.

As she explained to her friend that I would be taking over for her this year, I took that as my cue and leapt down from my perch.

"Well, well, well," I drawled, circling the two brothers with a smirk. "Do mine eyes deceive me? I believe I've officially found Endymion."

My prince tensed at the name. "What do you mean?" It seemed to be a struggle for him to keep his voice even. "What do you mean you've found Endymion?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" I feigned a gasp. "I'm sorry, I'm used to everyone knowing. This festival is dedicated to the sacrifice of the Moon Princess and her prince. The legend says that they stood bravely against Queen Beryl and the servants of the Dark Kingdom, and their hideous leader Queen Metalia. Supposedly, according to some old legend or something, they'll return when the world needs them the most." I shrugged. "Never quite believed it myself, but who knows. My luck can be atrocious at times, so it'll probably come back to bite me in the ass. But supposedly, in honor of their sacrifice, one of their few supporters on Earth, a commoner girl by the name of Melody— that's who I'm named after— created three glass balls reflecting the powers of the Legendary Birds. As for what this has to do with the price of hops in Germania, according to the legend, well, supposedly the princess called upon the aid of Lugia and the Birds at the end." Well, I'd called upon Lugia's help in the name of our ancient alliance (the Lunarian Royals had had an alliance with the Elemental Birds' trio master for a whole bunch generations when I was born last time), but the Legendary Birds had been a pleasant but still hopeless surprise. "It was the first Melody who became the first Chief of our tribe. She built the temple to Lugia and predicted that the two would return."

"Sacrifice?" The reborn prince just barely managed to keep the scoff out of his voice. "Well, I've heard a different version of that same legend, except the prince and princess didn't die in a heroic showdown, but instead were picked off from behind. I can't say about the other part, though. The version I heard ended with their deaths."

"Good luck convincing them it's true." I waved a hand to indicate the rest of the native Shamouti Islanders, who went wild when the brothers, Ash and Darien (that was Endymion's name in this life, as it turned out) were introduced and mentioned to be Pokémon Trainers. I heard a screech from somewhere above me and raised an eyebrow. "That your Archeops, then?" I asked, pointing upwards.

"No, mine is still—" Darien began, checking his Pokéball, only to cut himself off with a groan. "For a bird, I swear he's a ninja sometimes." He muttered.

"A ninja?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't your Archeops still in his Ball?" In response, the once and future Prince of Earth held up a Pokéball with the Rock and Flying type symbols and it opened to show that it was empty. I blinked. "Huh. How'd he do that?"

Darien just shrugged. "He must have let himself out when we landed. That bird, I swear," The Prince of Earth went on a muttered tangent about what he was going to do to Igneous when he got his hands on the sneaky Archeops, ending with "Were he not my starter . . ."

Our Chief approached the brothers and pronounced Ash the Chosen One who would save the world (the Earth would turn to the Chosen One to save the world; the exact wording of the prophecy was thus the Earth shall turn to Ash) and named Darien the Prince who would help his brother accomplish the task set before him. When Ash and Darien looked a little freaked out, they were assured that it was just for the tourists.

Given that Endymion was really here, I doubted this would be an ordinary Legend Festival.

The native Shamouti Islanders still cheering and playing their instruments, Chief Hashirama led the way up the stairs. "So," I began to Endymion. "That's a rather unusual outfit that you've got on. The only other Trainers I know of who wear capes are Claire and Lance of the famous Blackthorn Dragon Tribe, and that's part of their culture. If I didn't know better, I'd think you really were the Prince of Earth, what with that sword and everything. Given that you have an Archeops as your starter, I doubt you're among their ranks. Especially because your brother, Ash, has a non-Dragon Type starter as well."

"That doesn't mean anything." The former prince retorted, a touch defensively. I hid a smile. "What are you getting at, anyway? To borrow your phrase, what exactly does this have to do with the price of hops in Germania?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well I'm not going to tell you outright, not here and not now, so I'll give you a hint: Serenity did indeed call upon Lugia in the name of their ancient alliance, but the elemental trio accompanying him was a hopeless surprise, I suppose you could say."

His teeth ground. I had to smother a laugh; Endymion never did have any patience for riddles. Probably never would, either. "What the hell does that even mean?!"

I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, Endymion, you're smarter than this!" I told him exasperatedly.

"How would you know?" He demanded. "Do I know you?"

I grinned. "Yes. And we're meeting for the very first time right now." I replied, and then sped up until I was at the head of the group and talking to Chief Hashirama, knowing that my rather confusing answer was bound to drive him up a wall. If he couldn't figure out exactly who I was, how I knew him, and the person that I used to be, then that was his own problem, not mine. How in the world had he not figured it out yet?

One way or another, I hoped by night's end, my once and future betrothed would realize who I was and then we could begin our relationship anew. But before that, I had a feeling that the trouble my namesake had predicted was brewing, and knowing my status as the reincarnated Moon Princess, I was going to end up right in the middle of it all.

Melody

Later on that night, I changed into the ceremonial dress, headdress and sandals that the Festival Maiden was supposed to wear, and on Chief Hashirama's signal I danced onto the stage playing the ocarina. Even if I played the rebel, even if I didn't like being reminded of the fact that I died— picked off from behind by a coward— I still knew the Song of Lugia by heart.
Thankfully, unlike in my previous life, I had been gifted with an ear for music and a talent for playing it. I had never quite gotten the hang of it as Serenity. Though it could have had something to do with my name— Melody. Names did, supposedly, have power.

I randomly wondered where the idea of names having power had come from, but as the song ended, I pushed that thought away and stowed the ocarina in the pouch for it.
I ran off the stage, arms outstretched, towards Ash and Darien and their friends. "Hear ye all!" I proclaimed, speaking the ceremonial words that I had heard my sister recite so many times. "In honor of the sacrifice of the Earth and Moon, from the trio of islands, ancient spheres shall you take. For between life, and death, all the difference shall you make. O Chosen One, My Lord Prince of Earth, you must climb to the shrine to right what is wrong, and the world will be healed by the Guardian's Song!"

"So what do we do?" Ash questioned.

"She just old us, Ash." Darien replied patiently.

I nodded. "What you have to do is travel to the three islands of the Legendary Birds: Fire Island, Ice Island, and Lightning Island. On each of the islands, there'll be a glass sphere in the color of their element. You have to get it and bring them all back here to the shrine on the hill, and I'll celebrate by playing the song again." I raised the ocarina to my lips and played a few bars of Lugia's Song for emphasis. "And then the Festival is over until next year."

"Do I get to wear a cool costume?" Ash asked hopefully.

I snorted, smiling. "Sorry, but it's come as you are. Wouldn't want some nice ceremonial outfit getting ripped and torn from the various hazards you could encounter."

"Okay!" My prince's younger brother declared. "Get me a boat and I'm ready!" I resisted the urge to sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, telling him that tonight was for the party since he and Darien had all day tomorrow, and that he should stay, take a chance to relax and have some fun. Ash retorted that some things were more important than fun. He said that he was the Chosen One and that he had to be responsible.

"I think you're taking all of this a little too seriously." I deadpanned. "It's not that important."

Unfortunately, as my sister's friend Maron decided that she liked Ash's attitude, Pikachu and Igneous proceeded to make off with Ash's hat and Darien's sword respectively. Both took off running after their respective starters.

And then they took off to the islands. When I got my hands on Endymion I was going to wring his neck for being so reckless. And for letting his little brother be so reckless— he was the older brother. He was supposed to set a good example. After several minutes of staring out after my prince and his brother, I finally went and exchanged the ceremonial headdress for my favorite bandanna and threw on a shawl over the dress, and wiped off the makeup as well. I came back and stared for a while but finally, I realized that I couldn't wait anymore and announced to my sister that I needed to borrow her boat. Endymion was caught in that storm because of a ritual intended to honor the two of us, indirectly because of me and the part of the Festival Maiden, and I had a feeling they were going to need me.

So, as fast as I could, I ran to the docks where the boat I'd begged Carol to learn to drive was docked and hurried to get in and start the engine. Misty and Tracy ran along behind me. I wanted to know what they were coming along for, and Misty announced that she was coming to find Ash. I noted that she seemed awfully close to the younger Trainer in question, but she dismissed me— Ash was a boy and he was a friend, but he wasn't Misty's boyfriend. Or so the redhead claimed, anyway. Somehow I wasn't so sure of that.

I was suddenly supremely thankful that I had gone to the three islands for day trips before. I might not have been interested in the legend but I was interested in the homes of the three Pokémon who had helped defend my home seven thousand years ago.

"Do you know where we're going?" Misty yelled over the storm.

"I've taken day trips to the three islands before." I yelled back. "I know exactly how to get to all three of them. They probably went to Fire Island first because it's the closest. If I'm right about this then they'll go to Fire, then Lightning, then Ice Island."

"How do you know?" She protested. "How can you possibly know that that's what they'll do?"

Because that's the order they were taken out of the fight eight thousand years ago. I thought, but didn't say it out loud. And Endymion knows that. And he would probably decide on that order because of what happened last time, just to prove to himself that it doesn't control him. Ash, being the impulsive hothead he seems to be, would probably just follow his brother's lead.

Shortly after that, the boat flipped upside down, making Misty forget her previous question as the three of us struggled desperately to hold onto the boat. Thankfully, we were soon righted and were able to get back on course. Just in time, because just up ahead was Fire Island and as we drew closer, I could make out Maron's boat. Which meant that the idiot prince and his brother were here as well. I was so going to chew them out for going out in this weather. Seriously. What were they thinking?

We accidentally crashed into it as a wave forced us onto the beach and left us stranded on a rock. Well, luckily, I had come prepared for such a situation. Don't ask me why Carol thought that it would be a good addition, but her boat actually had sails. And I knew how to work them.

"Ash and Darien should be up this staircase and at the temple." I announced.

"Let's find out." Misty agreed.

"Yeah. Good thing Ash has his girlfriend on the way." I teased.

"But I'm not—" The former Gym Leader of Cerulean City protested.

I grinned. "Well, like you said, you are a girl and you are his friend, aren't you?" I'd used this tactic with Carol a hundred times— usually whenever she brought home some new friend who happened to be a boy but supposedly 'wasn't her boyfriend.' We continued to sail up the stairs until we finally found the temple and the two brothers. "Well, I hope you're happy." I snapped at Ash. "Had you just stayed at the party instead of going out in this mess, we wouldn't be here. And you," I rounded on my idiot prince, who seemed to be trying to hide a smirk. "Don't think you're not at fault here either! You could have stopped him, as his older brother. You're supposed to be the older brother! You're not supposed to let your younger brother go out in a mess like this! Oh, if I didn't need you two idiots to put this damn mess back in order again . . ."

"You can scold them more later." Misty suggested. "For now, let's get out of here."

I sighed. "Right. Alright, you idiots, get in. And so help me, one more bout of idiocy and I throw you to the Lycanroc— there's a sizable population of them on Shamouti, and I'm positive that they'd love a good meal of idiot." It was an idle threat, of course, but my idiot prince and his idiot younger brother didn't need to know that. They didn't need to know that I would do no such thing, no matter how vexated with them I was.

Unfortunately, before they could get in the boat and we could head for the next island, Zapdos appeared in all of its lightning glory. It swooped in over us, shooting lightning bolts everywhere. At one point, Pikachu shot a bolt of electricity at the Bird of Lightning, and the Legendary shot one at the Mouse Pokémon in return. Zapdos then lighted down on the shrine built to honor Moltres. Was Pikachu trying to attack Zapdos, or was something else going on?

I had a bad feeling about this— what was Zapdos doing on Fire Island?

It electrified the area, and our hair started to stand on end. Pikachu crawled forward to the front of the boat and shot several volts of electricity at the Lightning Bird. One of the members of Team Rocket commented that Pikachu was tough but Zapdos wasn't even feeling the attacks.

She was promptly informed that those weren't attacks; Pikachu was trying to talk to Zapdos. The Mouse in question was inquiring about what the Bird of Lightning was doing on Fire Island and where Moltres was. Moltres, according to the Meowth acting as translator, used to rule here, but now Moltres was gone and Lightning would rule over Fire. The Bird of Lightning claimed Fire Island as his own. No wonder I had such a bad feeling.

The lightning got more intense, but suddenly, it was all directed upwards and from the clouds descended some sort of flying ship that looked like it had come out of a sci-fi movie. All we could do was stand there and gape at it, unsure of what to do next.

After a minute, the lightning petered out and hatches in the ship opened and shot out these weird electrified diamond shaped capture devices which tried to trap Zapdos.
As it evaded, two of the rings picked up the boat, Team Rocket, Ash, Darien, Misty, Tracy and I. We got put into a cage of some sort, and I saw an old tablet like the one I'd seen at Shamouti's old temple on the hill a few times.

As soon as I began to read the writing on the tablet, the man who was our apparent accidental captor deigned to see us, coming down on some kind of ridiculous spinning chair contraption. "Well, this certainly is a pleasure." The blond man commented. "Though an unexpected one. What do you think? Moltres, the Bird of Fire, and Zapdos, the Bird of Lightning. Of course, without Articuno it's not a complete set, but—"

"That's disgusting!" Misty spat. "The way you talk, Pokémon are just things to collect, like dolls, or stamps! What kind of Trainer are you?!"

I didn't pay them much attention as I continued to look over at the tablet, inscribed on which seemed to be a prophecy. One about Ash and Darien, if I was reading it right. 'The Earth shall turn to Ash.' Thinking about it, I suspected a double meaning— Darien would turn to his younger brother to save the world but the earth would literally turn to ash if the Pikachu Trainer in question failed. Well. That could be a problem.

Our captor pushed a button on his chair contraption, and the cage holding us opened up, dropping us about a foot to the ground.

"Sensors indicate Articuno is changing course." A female monotone announced. That was probably the computer that ran this thing.

"And now you'll have to excuse me." The blond man whose name I didn't know continued. His chair contraption turned upwards, probably back to the ship's main controls. I stared after him for a moment, and then turned my attention back to the stone tablet which resembled the one at the Shamouti shrine. Until now, I honestly hadn't given two shits about it. Why should I? It wasn't like it was ever going to happen. Except now it had happened.

"The legend . . ." I murmured aloud. "Could it be . . .?" Everyone turned to look at me. I didn't say anything, but instead went over to the tablet, looking at it to make sure I had read it correctly; I'd never cared much about it. The others went to go look out the window.

"This sure beats an in-flight movie." The female Team Rocket member commented.

"Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning," I read, and the others turned to me again, running over to see what I was doing, crowding around the tablet to look. "Lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the Water's Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song shall fail, thus the Earth shall turn to Ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea." I didn't look up from the tablet, my unusual blue-gray eyes fixed on the writing. "The ancient legend— what if it's coming true?"

"All intelligent life will be destroyed." The male TR member breathed. "And I'll be . . ."

"You will be fine." Their Meowth snarked, and I had to stifle a snigger.

"We have to set Moltres and Zapdos free!" Misty declared.

"Yeah, but how?" Tracy protested. A determined look crossing his face, Ash ran at the rings holding Moltres, only to be forced back by some kind of unseen forcefield. Before he could do anything else, his brother got an Idea (had Endymion's new life addled his brains? Because he was being an idiot): run up and try to stab the forcefield with his sword.

I facepalmed. "Honestly." I muttered, standing over his prone form. "I could have told you that wasn't going to work. Has your new life addled your brains or something? What in Selene's name actually made you think that was a good idea?"

"And who are you to lecture me?" The once and future prince of Earth snapped.

"Really?" I deadpanned. "You still haven't figured it out? Well if you haven't figured it out, I'm not going to clue you in. You have to figure it for yourself. But honestly, who do you think I am? Are you really that clueless, Endymion Jason Aurum Terratan?"

Standing up, the once and future prince's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I repeat: who do you think I am?" The idiot I had once called my lover scowled and released his Archeops, having him join Pikachu and Charizard in the attempted breaking of Moltres' cage. Misty turned to me and asked if I was going to send out my Pokémon. I sighed. "If I had any, I would have already done that. I'm not a Trainer."

"Why not?" Tracy asked. "You mentioned that there are wild Pokémon on the island."

"One: no Pokéballs with which to capture them. Can't afford them. Two: Carol won't let me be a Trainer. She says my time is better spent doing other things instead of training. But don't we have more important things to worry about?" I reminded. So everyone returned their attention to freeing the Birds of Fire and Lightning. After several long minutes, Moltres was finally set free, and then proceeded to fire a stream of flames at Zapdos' cage. The two of them then busted out of the ship and proceeded to wreck the propellers.

Wonderful. What the hell were we going to do now?

Melody

The ship crash landed on Lightning Island and we had to hastily run down the makeshift ramp caused by some of the debris. At one point, we actually started rolling but we managed to find our feet again and then kept running, only to be knocked off of our feet by the force of the ship crashing into the temple of Zapdos, which held the Treasure of Lightning. Ash picked up the treasure and we hurried to get to our feet again.

It was a good thing that Carol's boat had been dropped with us, otherwise we wouldn't have any way out of here. Unfortunately, we were then hurled backwards off of a waterfall created by large chunks of dropping ice. We were caught by some kind of massive moving whirlpool or something, and I heard a noise that sounded quite a bit like the first few bars of The Guardian's Song. "What's that sound?" I wondered aloud. The whirlpool thing carried us all the way back to Shamouti, back to the temple on the hill, then tossed our boat in such a way that we had to get off because the thing was going to fall. Sure enough, the boat fell and was completely wrecked. Hell's bells. Hopefully Carol wouldn't be too mad at me for getting her boat wrecked. Although in my defense, I wasn't expecting something like this to happen when I borrowed it.

Seeing a Slowking, I blinked as it spoke. "Take the treasure, and put it there." He said to Ash. Taking the Orbs of Fire and Lightning out of his pockets, he ran up to the shrine where there were three spots for each of the Elemental Orbs. Looking through the holes, Ash realized that he could see the Islands out the holes and realized where the Orbs were supposed to go. But he didn't have the Orb of Ice yet. "So, you're Ash." Slowking commented. "You're one treasure short." Endymion's younger brother jumped, seeing that the Psychic Type in question was right beside him. Ash said that he knew, but wanted to know how Slowking knew his name. The Royal Pokémon didn't answer. For a few moments, we watched the three Titans of the Elements clashing overhead, and I had to remember the prophecy's opening lines.

Ash ran over to them and yelled at them to cut it out, but they didn't listen. And then that big whirlpool thing appeared again, and this time, I saw the shadow of the Pokémon who had been an ally of my family for ages. Then the whirlpool broke apart and the Water's Great Guardian, the Diving Pokémon himself appeared in all his glory. He then made a sound that sounded very much like the first few bars of his song. "That sound!" I gasped, reaching for my ocarina. The Titans of the Elements chased after Lugia, but he easily evaded them by diving under the water, then forming a whirlpool and coming up again. The whirlpool was frozen by Articuno, but he easily broke the ice and continued to evade the Legendary Birds. Watching them fight, I murmured "Though the Water's Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song shall fail, thus the Earth shall turn to Ash."

"This looks bad." Slowking groaned. And it did indeed— because barely a minute later, the Titans of the Elements finally managed to land an attack on Lugia and he fell, injured, into the water. Soon, hundreds, thousands, of Pokémon had assembled on the ice in front of the shrine, all hoping that there was a chance they could do something to help. I wasn't sure if any of them actually could do anything to help, but at least they were there and waiting to be called upon if we needed them. We stared out at them, and then finally, Slowking told us that only the Chosen One could unite the treasures that helped the Water's Great Guardian.

"And the Chosen One is Ash, right?" Misty guessed. "The Earth shall turn to Ash. Darien has to be the Earth— I heard you calling him Endymion a few times."

"It's a double meaning." I explained. "Darien will turn to Ash to keep the world safe, but if they fail, the world will literally turn to ash."

"So no pressure then." The younger prince of Earth muttered; even if Ash hadn't been around in the time of the Moon Kingdom, he was Endymion's younger brother this time around, and since Endymion was the Crown Prince, that made Ash the High Prince.

"Right." I agreed cheerfully, nodding. The motion brought my ocarina into view, and then remembered why I was holding my ocarina. "Lugia! The sound it makes is just like the song from the ceremony!" I raised it to my lips and began to play, focusing intently on the music and shutting almost everything else out for the moment. I was no Maestro, so I had no idea if this was going to work or not, but since it was Lugia's song, and this was the harmony disturbance spoken of in the prophecy, maybe I didn't need to me. Maybe, this time, just playing the song would be enough. I doubted it would be at any other time, but for now, I thought it would be enough to at least get Lugia back on his feet, so to speak, so that he could help Ash with his part in this mess (which, why was I not surprised that it was caused by human hubris? I might be a human myself, but the sheer hubris of my race never ceased to amaze me sometimes, especially where rare and unusual Pokémon were concerned).

Right as I finished the first verse, Lugia burst out of the water in a rainbow glowing whirlpool, healthy and ready to help save the world. Huh. That worked even better than I thought it would. "The song," My family's friend and ally began. "The song has restored my strength. But it alone cannot bring harmony to the three Warring Ones." Ash asked what he meant, to which the Diving Pokémon replied "When the treasures of Fire, Ice and Lightning are aligned, my song shall harmonize with their powers and tame the Beast both above and below the sea. But this can come to pass with the help of the Chosen One."

"But what can I do that someone else can't?" Earth's High Prince protested.

"Only in the hands of the true Chosen One will the Ice Sphere glow like the others, its power awakened." The Water's Great Guardian answered cryptically, as if that actually made sense. "But this can come to pass only with the help of the True Chosen One."

Ash gulped. "I have to go . . ." He looked out at the Warring Ones. "Out there?"

"The choice is yours." Lugia replied. "You must go only where you heart leads." Earth's younger prince had a moment of doubt, but his partners were all there to reassure him that yes, he could do this. And more importantly, they would help him. So he announced that he would do whatever it took to get the third treasure. But he still doubted himself.

I nudged Endymion, jerking my head towards his brother. 'The Earth shall turn to Ash.' I reminded him, mouthing the words so that Ash didn't hear.
'Right.' Darien mouthed back, and then turned to his brother. "Ash," He began. "Can I count on you to save this world for me? This world which we are both the prince of?"
Ash blinked. "Wait, both of us?"

"You're my brother, right?" Darien said by way of explanation, but his brother only looked more confused. I nearly rolled my eyes; that wasn't going to clear up Ash's confusion at all. In fact, it probably just made him more confused than before. Had this new life addled Endymion's brains or something? Because he really should have known that he needed to explain things better.

"You're Endymion's brother, even if you weren't in the time of the Moon Kingdom. That makes you a prince. But, since he is still older and you weren't around back then, that makes him the Crown Prince of Earth." I put in. "That means that your title would be High Prince. If anything happens to him before he produces an heir, that means that you have to take over ruling."

"Eh?!"
I chuckled. "But that's not likely to happen— Darien is a formidable fighter and isn't going to go down without one hell of a fight— so you don't have to worry about it. Anyway, you should get going. They don't look like they're gonna stop anytime soon. If anything, they'll keep going until something, or someone as the case is, makes them stop."

Determinedly, my prince's younger brother nodded. "Right." So he set off, Lugia flying above him. Quickly, he noticed the wrecked remains of Carol's boat (fingers crossed she didn't get mad at me since it kind of was my fault for taking it out into the storm) and pried off a relatively intact piece to use as a sled, which was pulled by his Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charizard. Once Ash had become a speck in the distance, Darien asked to talk to me.

"Who are you?" He demanded. "And why do I feel like I know you?"

I snorted. "I'm not making it that easy for you." I deadpanned. "Thought about my clue any?" He scowled, and I shook my head. "Really, who else do you know that calls you by your name, not your title? I really don't think it's that hard to figure out."

"Again with the dancing." He grumbled.

"Well, if you want me to stop dancing, maybe you should stop singing." I retorted automatically. I'd lost count of how many times I'd told that to my sister, or to him, or to Mother. There was a reason Mother often said I would make a good politician; getting information out of me when I didn't want to give it was like pulling teeth.

Endymion looked at me suspiciously. "I know I've heard that somewhere before."

I didn't answer, turning back to watch the direction that Ash had gone in, hoping he would come back soon. Instead of standing around worrying, I brought the ocarina up to my lips and began to play The Heartbeat of the Planet, another old song dedicated to Lugia, but one that had been around in the Moon Kingdom. I wasn't sure if anyone else even knew about the song, but in this life, music had always kept my mind off of worrying. After that was done and there was still no sign of Ash, I moved onto a song called Tears of Life. It was a song used by Maestros (people who could use music as magic for all sorts of different things) as a healing spell. I wasn't a Maestro, so it was just a song for me, but it still helped me take my mind off of worrying about Ash. I noticed Darien looking intently at me, seeming to try to figure me out, but I kept playing, ignoring him and basically everyone and everything else.

If he managed to figure out that I was Serenity based on the songs I was playing, then at least something got through his thick skull. How had he not realized that I was Serenity yet?

Finally, after several long minutes of waiting, I spotted Lugia approaching with Ash on his back. But then, the unthinkable happened: triangular capture rings shot out of the collector's ship and trapped Lugia, and he was forced under the water with Ash on his back. How was the prophecy supposed to be fulfilled if Ash drowned before he could complete it?

I supposed that all I could do was wait, wait and hope that somehow, some way, Endymion's younger brother would pull through.

Melody

I looked at Misty, debating if I should go try to rescue Ash myself, or let her do it. Deciding that she was probably the better swimmer, I told her "You need to go rescue Ash. Legend or no, he can't do this alone, and he'll drown or get hypothermia or something if we don't get him out of there soon. You're the stronger swimmer, given that you grew up in a Water Gym, and you don't know how to play, so that means that you have to be the one to go get him."

Misty nodded. "I understand. Just give me a rope or something that I can use to pull him back to shore. I don't know if I can pull him all that way, not with those currents."

"Okay." I agreed. So we found a rope and gave it to the Water Type Gym Leader and had her swim it out to Ash, and she tugged on it when she had him. Then, Tracy, Endymion and I all yanked on it and pulled them both to shore. But he didn't seem to be breathing— not good. Quickly devising a plan, I shoved everyone out of the way. "Get out of the way. I think I know what to do to help him, but I need room."

Everyone hastily moved out of my way. "What are you going to do?" The redheaded Water Trainer questioned, trying and failing not to look worried. I didn't answer her, focusing on what I was about to do. I seriously hoped this worked; I hadn't practiced doing this much in this life.

Instead, I knelt down over him and placed my hands on his chest. Since I wasn't a Maestro, it was better if I had direct contact (or at least mostly direct contact; though clothes worked well enough for this particular spell). I took a deep breath in and centered myself (Maestros had several somewhat scientific laws that they had to keep in mind, the first of which was a spell can charm or do great harm; clear the way before you play. They rhymed, I suspected, to make it easier for young children who discovered the gift to remember the laws).

"Flower, gleam and glow,
Let your power shine;
Make the clock reverse.
Bring back what once was mine."

The younger boy's eyes fluttered open, but I wouldn't let him get up. The healing song was the most effective if the singer could complete the whole song, rather than just the first verse. Besides, after what he had been through, he needed all the healing he could get. I was no Maestro, but thankfully certain songs didn't need a person to be a Maestro. This was one of them. Thank everything Mother had decided that I needed to know songs like that, just in case. It wasn't likely that I would be on the battlefield (or so she thought; I had disguised myself as a soldier several times and taught myself how to fight) but she thought that there was a decent chance I might need the Healing Song in particular. Mother's intuition was kind of scary with how accurate it could be at times. I idly wondered if she ever knew that I had disguised myself as a soldier so that I could fight, and as a commoner so that I could learn more about the lives of the non-noble citizens of the Moon Kingdom (even before I started my jaunts into the city I had noticed that there was a massive gap between nobles and non-nobles, and that people were starting to be Not Happy about it), but dismissed that thought for the time being. Even if Mother had discovered my rule breaking, my un-princess like behavior, I had more important things to worry about right now. Such as making sure that the only person who could get us out of this mess could do what he needed to so that this mess did end.

"Heal what has been hurt,
Change the Fates' design;
Save what has been lost.
Bring back what once was mine;
What once was mine . . ."

A golden glow surrounded Darien's younger brother and he sat up, looking quite a bit better. Hastily, he reached into his pocket to make sure he still had the Sphere of Ice (which he did, thankfully) and breathed a quick sigh of relief when he pulled it out and it glowed like the others. Unsteadily, he rose to his feet and stumbled towards the shrine. He stumbled and fell down more than once, but he seemed determined to get there on his own. I couldn't say why, but I supposed that Ash thought that he had to do it himself, because he was the Chosen One. Which was complete nonsense, because the prophecy didn't say anything about doing it himself, but I guessed that was how he felt.

He wouldn't let Tracy or Misty help him, but he didn't say a word of protest when his brother came up to him, putting an arm over his shoulder and helping the amber-eyed boy the rest of the way up to the temple. Probably because Darien— if I had judged him right— wouldn't stand for that kind of nonsense. Especially not from his own younger brother.

Ash might be stubborn, but Endymion was equally stubborn.

After more than one near-fall, we finally made it back up the stairs to the temple on the hill. Slowking asked if Ash had the last treasure, which he did, and informed the youngest among us that he had to be the one to put it with the others; he was the Chosen One, after all. So Ash made his way up to the altar and put the Sphere of Ice with the others. Once he did, they began to glow in their respective colors, and the altar holding them glowed green. Runes covered by snow on the stone floor glowed a similar shade.

"What in the . . ." Darien breathed as the snow was blown right off and glowing green water began to flow from the base of the shrine. It flowed into the carved cracks and up the pillars, giving them the appearance of crystal.

I looked around in awe. "Wow. I never thought this would happen." I looked around for a moment more. Who would have ever thought that something like this would happen?

"The song." Misty mentioned.

"Right." I quickly made my way up the steps to the glowing shrine and raised the ocarina to my lips for the final time that day. Interestingly, as I played each note, one of the seven crystal pillars, likely corresponding to the notes, lit up.

All around us, the unnaturally harsh weather began to disappear.

The green water, whatever it was, flowed down from the altar onto the temple floor, over the side of the cliff and out onto the ocean and the snow. Not into the ocean, but on top of it. How did that even work? Well, as long as it was helping, it didn't matter.

Nearby, I could see that Endymion's Earth sigil was showing— was my own sigil showing? I hoped not; I had no desire for everyone to figure out who I was. If Darien figured it out, great, but I didn't want everyone and their mother to realize that I was the once and future moon princess. Especially not the members of my family who thought that the moon princess heroically sacrificed herself for the sake of her lover's people when in fact that couldn't be further from the truth. At that point, the only thought in my mind was how in the world I was going to make it out of that mess alive. Obviously I hadn't, because I was standing here, now, as Melody and not as Serenity, but that was beside the point.

The Three Titans took flight again, but they weren't fighting this time. Finally, their differences seemed to have been settled. And then, as the green water disappeared and the clouds began to vanish and the weather returned to normal, Lugia appeared in all of his whirlpool glory.

He landed a short distance away from the temple, and gestured for Ash and Endymion both to get on. They did so gladly, and Lugia took flight, Endymion's Archeops flying alongside them. As they flew, the underwater river that originated in the center of the four islands rose up behind them. It stayed there, seeming to be suspended in the air for a few moments.
The Three Titans flew alongside them as well, as the Pokémon who had assembled began to leave. Finally, as the song began to draw to a close, the river descended into the ocean again, the Birds flew back to their respective islands to live in peace, hopefully not to be disturbed again, and the seven pillars lost their crystalline appearance.

And when it was done, and the altar stopped glowing, I fell to my knees, suddenly feeling exhausted for no apparent reason. Did it have something to do with playing the song when the Three Treasures shone in the presence of the Chosen One? Carol had never mentioned anything like this, so I could only assume that this time was different than normal. And didn't that just figure; sometimes, I swore nothing ever went according to plan when I was doing something important. I was positive that some god or Legendary or something had put some kind of luck curse on me, because things rarely went according to plan. It wasn't quite may you lead an interesting life/live in interesting times but it was close.

As the sun began to set, Lugia flapped his mighty wings and was hovering above us after two flaps. He looked at Ash, Darien and I in turn, but didn't address me, thankfully.

"The beast of the sea has been tamed." He announced. "The fate of the world could not have been in better hands." He dipped his head deeply in my direction, about as close to a bird-like Pokémon such as him could get to a bow, and took off, diving back into the sea.

For what seemed like ages, we just stared out into the distance, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere until a woman's voice called Ash and Darien's names.

"Mom!" The brothers exclaimed in unison. Amused, I paid close attention to the seemingly formidable woman who had given birth to Darien in this life. With brown hair and brown eyes, she looked little like her sons, but I could see a few resemblances in the shape of her face and eyes. She had the exact same look in her eyes that Queen Demeter always had when she was scolding Endymion for doing something particularly stupid.

Hands on her hips, she glared down at both of them, although that wasn't by much in Endymion's case. "Alright," She growled. "Start talking. You two are in big trouble." She somehow seemed to loom over them, look down her nose at them, despite only being a couple of inches taller than Darien was. It was an amusing sight I was never going to let him live down.
Misty tried to protest that the two of them just saved the world (Darien had his own part; the Earth shall turn to Ash. Ash might have done the actual saving, but Darien had to entrust him with the task of actually doing so), but the enraged matriarch was having exactly none of it.

I didn't pay much attention, instead walking back to the shrine. I knelt down to pray to Selene, and to thank her for everything working out alright, ocarina clutched tightly in my hands.
I thought that now that the world had been saved, this would be the end of my story. Or at least the conclusion to this particular chapter. But unfortunately, that wasn't the ending.

But this particular part of my life hadn't quite ended yet. Because there were still an extra few lines at the end of the prophecy that still had to be fulfilled.

And it was going to be so very annoying.

Melody

Two days later, Ash, Misty and Tracy were getting ready to leave, but Darien had decided to stay for a few more weeks— why exactly, he didn't say. I said goodbye to them and was about to go back to the temple on the hill when Darien cornered me.

"So," He began. "How long were you planning on hiding the truth from me, Melody?"

I raised an eyebrow. "So you finally figured it out, then?" I asked instead of answering. "Well, good for you. Certainly took you long enough."

"You're dancing." Endymion snapped.

"Then stop singing." I retorted.

The once and future prince sighed. "There's a very good reason your mother said you'd make a good politician." He muttered. He shook his head. "So how long were you planning on not telling me? I have a right to know who you are."

"As I told you before, Endymion, if you can't figure it out, then it's not my problem." I replied. "When have I ever made things easy for you? It's not like I was actively concealing the truth from you, I just wasn't making it readily apparent who I once was."

My prince let out a sigh though his nose. "I really, really want to hate you." He muttered.

I beamed. "I know." I said cheerfully, and chuckled. "So how did you figure it out, anyway? Certainly not through my hints." I teased, knowing full well that it was true.

"During the ceremony at the temple on the hill, when you were playing that thing," He nodded towards the ocarina in the pouch I was now carrying with me at all times. "Your sigil was showing. That and all the songs you were playing when we were waiting for Ash to come back. In hindsight, the hints were pretty obvious." He blushed.

I snorted. "Has your new life addled your brains or something?" I questioned. "Because, really, who else do you know that calls you by your name? Stars and stones, for that matter, who else would actually know your full name as Endymion? Everyone else who could possibly know it is dead."

"Good point." He sighed. "So how do we approach this?"

"The same way we did last time, of course. I love you, but I don't really know you." I told him. "So we go about courting like we did last time. Sound good?"

Darien breathed out a sigh of relief. "I thought you might say something like that, or at least I hoped, but I wasn't sure. Thank Gaia." He muttered, and then shook his head. "I don't know why I even thought you might not say that. You always have been the sensible one." I grinned, adding that I was sensible despite being a princess, and asked when our first date would be. "Let's say, one week from today." He decided. "That gives me time to plan everything."

"You don't have to." I reminded.

"But I want to."

I shrugged. "Whatever. Your choice, I guess. But I'm planning the next one." So I headed back up to the temple on the hill, danced some, practiced a few old hymns I knew to various Legendary Pokémon in case I ever needed them (you never know) and then went back home.

The next morning, as I was about to head out (to the temple again, naturally), Carol stopped me. "So, how are you handling all of this? Hard to believe the legend was actually true, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but I think I'm handling it alright. It was a shock, sure, but the proof was right there. I've been practicing old hymns to other Legendaries, just in case. I mean, I know that Shamouti only worships Lugia and the Titans, but you never know."

Carol smiled. "I'm glad." She held something in her hand and it was then that I noticed it was a rag. Faster than I expected her to be, she grabbed me, and pressed it over my nose and mouth, and I passed out, wondering what this was about.

When I woke up, I was tied naked to a big stone slab, the temple on the hill just barely visible over in the distance. Ah, the old chloroform rag to the nose trick. I thought mutinously. Just what the hell is going on here, and why the hell am I tied up like this?

I glared at my sister when I saw her. "Alright, what is the meaning of this?" I demanded.

"You see sis, there are a few extra lines at the end of the prophecy that only became apparent after the main part was completed." My sister began.

"Should the Chosen One succeed, the Maiden must offer her hand to the Earth in marriage in order to ensure the stability of the world." Chief Hashirama recited.

"The hell?!" I demanded. "You're saying that I have to marry Darien to ensure the world stays safe? What the fuck are you all smoking and where the hell can I get some?!"

Carol poked me in the forehead. "Be happy it's not worse." She scolded. "There are some people who've thought that the Maiden should be reduced to being a mindless pawn of a baby factory for the Prince of Earth. Now are you going to behave yourself and marry the prince like you're supposed to, or are you going to fight?"

"I'll behave and go along with this stupidity, on one condition," I answered. Someone started to protest that I was in no position to make demands, but I silenced them with a glare. "I'll have you know that I'm most assuredly in a position to make demands." I snapped. "So you can either hear my condition, or try to force me to go along with this and have me fight you."

Chief Hashirama nodded. "I will hear your condition, Granddaughter." He announced; yep, the Chief was my grandfather, though it rarely mattered. "But do remember to be reasonable."

"My condition is this: I will marry Darien, but until I am older, it's in name only." I declared. "I'll go along with this, but I refuse to go beyond courting with the knowledge that I will never court anyone else. Yes, this is my destiny, but I'm still only thirteen."

"Reasonable. And sensible." My grandfather decided. "The intention was never to force you into adult situations before you are ready. The prophecy states that you must give your hand to the Prince of Earth, but prophecies can be interpreted in a multitude of different ways. I believe the Prince has likely made a similar condition."

I hid a smile; that sounded like Endymion alright.

"In which case, I, Melody Custos Shamouti, as the Princess of the Moon, I accept my marriage to the Prince of Earth." I announced, my voice clear and strong.

Several people looked shocked, but Carol just nodded. "Slowking said your— sigil I think was what he called it— was glowing during the ritual. He told us that you were the princess of the moon, and that you remembered your past. Should have known based on your calling Darien by his previous name. Who else would call him that?"

I smirked. "His new life must have addled his brains; I have no idea how he didn't realize who I was based on my calling him by his name."

My sister chuckled. "Don't ever change, little sister. Don't ever change."

"I think I can manage a few centuries." I teased.

"Well, then, as the Princess has now consented to join with the Prince, it is time that she receive her traditional markings." Chief Hashirama announced. "Melody, it is time you take your place as a true member of our tribe as your lineage dictates."

"This is gonna hurt, sis, but it should only take a few hours, since the designs aren't complicated." Carol added. She waved a few people forward who had what looked like tattoo machines. "But you're not the only who's had to do this and you won't be the last, so don't worry about it."

"Small miracles, at least." I muttered, thankful that I wasn't the only one who'd had to do this.

Thankfully, the tattoos I was getting were just for show. Unlike other tribal tattoos I had read about (even if I wasn't a huge fan of the festival, I still knew about the Islanders' culture) these ones just marked me as a member of Shamouti Tribe, and marked the fact that I was the Moon Princess who was wedding the Earth Prince. Others I'd read about served much more sinister purposes— like the ones that were supposed to turn a girl into a mindless pawn of a baby factory. There were still some tribes that did that making sacrifices to the Legendaries. Thank Arceus Shamouti didn't do that. No idea if they ever had (the records I could find didn't go back far enough for me to know for sure) but if they ever had, they had stopped before what recorded history I could find. Unfortunately, some records were destroyed when Galar tried to colonize us.

The tattoo artists came forward and started to tattoo my stomach first with a crescent moon inside a triangle composed of the Spheres of the Elements. It hurt— like a bitch— but I bit my lip against the pain, reminding myself that it didn't hurt nearly as much as being stabbed from behind and torn to pieces had. It hurt a lot but I'd had worse.

I was briefly released from my bindings and turned over onto my back (mostly to keep me from squirming, thus making the artists mess up) and they repeated the process, though with an Earth sigil this time. Upturned crescent moons were also tattooed onto my palms and Earth sigils on the backs of my hands. Finally, I was released. Then I was given a dress that resembled the one I wore for my part as the Festival Maiden, but green where the ceremonial dress was red. The skirt was embroidered with Endymion's Earth sigil, while the upper part was heavily embroidered with crescent moons.

In addition to the ceremonial dress and sandals, I had a similar head dress to the one I'd worn as the festival maiden. At least I didn't have to wear a veil. They were supposed to convey complete submission and obedience to a bride's husband. And me? Submissive and/or obedient? As if. I was very, very good at being a rebel, both this time and in the past.
I'd regularly given my tutors and my Scouts apoplectic fits because I refused to be a good little princess and do as I was told. Whether it was skipping my lessons to people watch (observing people was a rather fascinating thing to do), skipping lessons to study books that gave me uncensored information that my tutors wouldn't, sneaking down to Earth at first because I wanted to see what Terrans were really like and later to see Endymion, accessing "Spronk," forbidden, information, dressing as a soldier to fight in the war, or disguising myself as a commoner to compete in various non-noble festival events, I'd been the epitome of a rebel, albeit with a good reason for being one.

After being made to rest and relax for the rest of the day, early the next morning Carol woke me up and made me get dressed. Then she helped me do my hair and made me put a bit of makeup on (it was my wedding, she told me, so she wanted me to look absolutely amazing; never mind that I would have cheerfully gone my whole life without wearing it).

After I was dressed, I was led to the temple on the hill, where Endymion waited at the altar, dressed in— how did he get his armor back? Oh, I envied him so much right now. I'd had my own armor in the past, and even if it was made out of leather (only nobles got metal armor, and since I'd been going for the commoner look so that no one recognized me, I had used leather instead of metal) it was still mine, and I still really wanted it back.

Endymion, the bastard, smirked when he saw me; clearly he knew what I was thinking.

Slowking stood at the altar as well, standing in front of Endymion, while Lugia hovered above it. What was he doing here exactly? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was a member of the Shamouti tribe, and they revered him? Or did it have something to do with my previous life in the Moon Kingdom? Spotting a second Legendary, Terrakion, the Cavern Pokémon, a member of the Swords of Justice, I was inclined to think that it was the latter.

Whatever the reason, I was sure it would be made apparent soon. And it was, as Carol took hold of my hand and led me up to the altar, letting go once I was up the stairs. "You take care of her, you hear me?" She told Endymion. "Don't you dare hurt her. I don't care if you are the Prince of Earth, I'll still hunt you down and kill you if you ever hurt my baby sister. Got it? Believe me, I can make your life miserable if you tempt me."

My prince smiled. "I wouldn't dream of it." He promised.

My sister nodded. "Good." She bowed to Lugia and gave a deep nod to Slowking and then stepped back, looking like she was trying not to cry. Not a surprise, considering she had basically raised me after our parents died in a storm when I was four. Even though Carol was my sister, at times she was more like my mom, because I didn't remember my parents at all.
Slowking cleared his throat. "We gather here today to celebrate the union between Princess Serenity of the Moon and Prince Endymion of Earth, joined together by fate and the Prophecy of the Chosen One. If anyone here has a reason why these two should not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold their piece." Silence was his answer. "Very well then. May these joined hands be a symbol of their everlasting love." Rings, made out of a material I had never seen before, floated down from the sky. Upon closer inspection, the one closer to me which I assumed was mine seemed to be made out of a Moonstone, probably a used up one. The other was plain stone so I wondered if it was made out of a Hard Rock or something similar. Still fitting, considering there wasn't an evolutionary stone for Rock or Ground Types and Endymion was the Prince of Earth. My hand raising on its own, the Moonstone ring slid onto my finger and the Hard Rock ring slid onto Endymion's as Slowking joined our hands together at the altar.

"Do you, Endymion, swear on your bond with the Earth to take Serenity into your heart, to care for her and to protect her, to support her and comfort her, until death do you part?" Lugia asked of Endymion, his voice still having that mystical quality that it had when I first heard it.

"I do." My prince's voice rang out, clear and strong. I felt something around our joined hands and looked down to see a ring of psychic energy encircling our wrists.

"Do you, Serenity, swear on your bond with the Moon to take Endymion into your heart, to care for him and protect him, to support him and comfort him, until death do you part?" Terrakion continued in a voice that rumbled like the earth.

"I do." I answered, hoping my voice was even half as clear and strong as his. A ring of stone encircled our wrists, and then the two joined together and seemed to sink into our skin, leaving no sign it had ever been there aside from a slight discoloration. Weird but still cool.

"Then, by the power of Mesprit, the Being of Emotions, I declare that these two are one." Slowking announced. "May your love endure, and may you always remember that you are one." And then, surprisingly, Endymion leaned down and kissed me.

Even if I hadn't wanted to do this originally, somehow, that moment made everything worth it.

Melody

A week after the wedding, Darien took me on our first date. Yes, we were married and if we chose to, we could have done away with courting, and yes, we loved eachother. But we didn't really know eachother. Not in this life. We might have known eachother in our last life, but we didn't in this one. We could have both been really different, for all we both knew. And that would have made going farther than the usual public displays of affection really awkward. Especially given that we'd never had a chance to go that far during the Moon Kingdom.
Not that we had ever really wanted to.

After talking about it, we had decided to go ahead and court eachother, remembering that we were married in the eyes of the Shamouti Tribe, but acting like we weren't.
Basically what that meant was that we were going to act like a normal couple going on dates and stuff but we'd never be interested in anyone else.

Thus, Darien taking me on our first date, which he claimed he had all planned out. Depending on what he had planned, I might have to adjust my own plans for our second date.

"Alright, so what's this big surprise you supposedly had for me?" I wanted to know as he took my hand and led me out of the town and out to a field of flowers.
The once and future prince who was technically my husband (and wasn't that weird) reached into his subspace pocket and brought out a picnic basket. "This." He answered, holding it out with a flourish. "We're going to have a picnic. I would take us to the temple on the hill," Like me, Darien had taken to calling the old shrine from the legend the temple on the hill. "But it's supposed to be a sacred place, not a dating spot."

I smiled. "Yeah, somehow I don't think that Lugia would be very happy about us using his temple as a spot to have a date." I agreed. "I mean, I've gone up there basically every day since the festival but that's because I was practicing my ocarina."

"Speaking of, will you play me a song?" Darien requested. "And on another note, why are you allowed to keep the thing with you, anyway?"

"Because even if I am technically married now, I'm still the Festival Maiden. I have a few cousins who could take the role, but their bloodline isn't as direct as mine and Carol's is." I explained. I shrugged as he began to set out the picnic blanket. "That, and after all of the crazy shit that happened . . ." I broke and blinked, realizing how little time had actually passed. "Wow, was it really only a week and a half ago? It feels like longer."

"I'll say." My prince muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. I decided to ignore that comment and not dignify it with a response. Instead, I decided just to pretend that I didn't hear him and continue with my previous point.

"But, returning to my previous point, with everything that happened when you and your brother got here, Carol and the Chief both agree that it might not be a bad idea for me to learn the sacred songs of other Legendaries. Never know when you might need them. And this isn't our only ocarina. Just the newest one that's in the best condition, and the one that plays the best." I smiled. "And yes, I'll play you a song. Any requests?"

"Well, you said you've been learning the sacred songs of other Legendaries, so how about one of the Three Titans?" The once and future prince of Earth suggested.

I nodded. "Alright." I agreed, sitting down and pulling out my ocarina. "This one is called The Titans Three, and it's a hymn for all three of the Elemental Birds, as I'm sure you've more than likely guessed from the title." I raised the instrument to my lips and began to play the song dedicated to the Three Warring Ones.
Darien started to clap when I was done and I stood up and took a bow.

"Nice." He said, and then gave me a teasing smile. "Guess your name has influenced you a bit in our new life. You had three left ears in the Moon Kingdom."

I flipped him off. "I wasn't that bad." I muttered. "I couldn't play music but I wasn't that bad."

"If you say so." My prince shrugged. "So, know any other songs?"

I thought for a couple of seconds. "Oracion." I decided. "It's a song from Sinnoh, called the song with the power to soothe the fiercest rage. Obviously it wouldn't have worked during the incident because it was the Three Titans that we're talking about so only Lugia's song would have worked, but in most cases, it's a surefire way to get someone to calm down. Although in Luna's case when she was in lecture mode, I don't think anything would have stopped her. Our ever annoying Meowth advisor practically had a lecture fetish, I swear."

My boyfriend snorted. "Yeah, she did give off the appearance of having enough wood up her backside that if she bent over, the Shodai could grow a new Konoha." He agreed. At my raised eyebrow (he didn't strike me as the type to enjoy that kind of series), he shrugged. "Ash is big into Naruto and dragged me into watching it with him more than a few times. I don't know much about the series, but I have picked up a few things."

"Ah. That explains a thing or three." I grinned. Sitting down again, I began to play Oracion. As the sweet high notes filled the air, a feeling of contentment washed over Darien and I. Like with the last song, when it was done, my boyfriend clapped.

"Do you mind if I try playing it?" He requested.

I handed it over. "Just don't break it." I warned. "Moon Princess or no, sister or no, Carol will kill me if it gets broken. Especially because I don't know how to make them just yet. And if she'll kill me, she'll probably do worse to you, Prince of Earth or not."

Paling, my prince crossed his legs, having an idea what I meant. "Duly noted." He said, his voice amusingly high. "So, uh, how do you play this thing, anyway?"

I rolled my eyes. "The fingers of your left hand go over the holes." I instructed. "And your right hand goes on the dial. Cover the holes and turn the dial to get different notes." Darien tried playing a few songs that he likely had been forced to learn as the Earth Prince (I recognized a few of them from my visits to Earth) but as the instrument was made for a young girl's hands, he couldn't play very well. He did get the hang of it a little, but he would probably never be able to play the ocarina as well as I could.
It was made for the Festival Maiden, after all.

Maybe, if Carol ever taught me to make one, I would make a larger one that he could actually use. But for now he would just have to make due.

And I would get to tease him about it.

We ate the food and teased eachother a bit, and were just about to pack up when a Purloin wandered into the clearing. At first I wondered if it might be Luna, reincarnated as a Purloin rather than a Meowth (not an Alolan one, just a black Meowth) but it wasn't. It was a Purloin that just happened to wander into the clearing.

"Huh." Darien mused thoughtfully. "I was hoping something like this might happen. Here." He handed me a Premier Ball. "If you want to catch it, use this."

"Don't I need to weaken it first?" I asked.

"Just try throwing the ball at it." My prince suggested. "If it breaks out, you can borrow Igneous to battle it with. Sound good? I mean, battling with Igneous might be a little overkill."

I raised an eyebrow. "You know what I'm going to say."

The Prince of Earth rolled his eyes. "There's no kill like overkill." He recited.

I grinned. "Exactly."

He sighed. "Just throw the ball first and then I'll let you borrow Igneous."

I shrugged. "Alright, but if it does break out, I reserve the right to say I told you so." I threw the Premier Ball at the cat-like Pokémon which had stumbled onto our picnic and crossed my fingers as it was sucked inside. It shook once, twice, three times . . . .

Ding.

"Looks like it went in after all." Darien commented, smirking. His tone practically screamed "I told you so," the bastard. Just because the Purloin was caught without me having to weaken it didn't mean that he needed to gloat about it.

I was so going to prank him for this.

I scowled at him, picking up the ball. "Oh, piss off and stop, you." I threw it, and the Purloin reappeared, and I knelt down it its level. "Hi, Purloin." I greeted. "I'm Melody, and I'm your new Trainer. I'm not traveling or working towards some kind of goal, but I'm pretty sure that there'll be some kind of trouble I have to fix sometime soon. Are you interested? I promise to train you well and treat you even better. What do you say? Are you interested in being my partner?"

The Devious Pokémon considered for a moment. "Alright." She decided. "Yeah, I'm interested. But one question— what do those marks on your hands mean?"

I held up my hands. "These? Oh, they're the marks that show I'm a member of the Shamouti Tribe and that I'm now considered an adult rather than a child."

"I know about that— a few other Purloin I know are Trained Pokémon who belong to members of the same tribe and they've mentioned it. Yours are different, though— you've got those moon and earth symbols inside the triangles. Normally it's just the triangles."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're well informed." I commented, interested. "Okay, well, I don't know if you'll believe me, but these are representative of the fact that I'm the reincarnated Moon Princess. You've heard the legend of Serenity and Endymion? I'm Serenity. He's Endymion." I jerked a thumb backwards in the direction of my prince. "Remember the crazy weather we had recently? Apparently there were a couple of lines at the end of the prophecy that basically said I had to marry this idiot—"

"Hey!"

"To ensure the stability of the world." I finished, ignoring Darien's protest.

"That sounds weird." The Purloin muttered.

I snorted. "Yeah, you're telling me." I grumbled. "So, can I count on you to help me save the world from Beryl and Metalia? They'll be back eventually. I'll probably have to be the one to stop them, for good this time, 'cause the Silver Crystal seems to be the best weapon we have to kick their asses. Will you help me?"

"You bet your ass I'll help." The Devious Pokémon declared. "Saving the world? That sounds like a way faster way to get stronger."

I grinned. "Okay then. So, you got a name?" She shook her head, so I thought for a moment. "Well, then, how does Bast sound? Bast was the Egyptian cat goddess who was the sun god Ra's lieutenant and his eye, sometimes the instrument of his vengeance. Sometimes she was also depicted as his daughter. Mythology is weird like that."

Purloin considered it and nodded. "Okay." She agreed. "Bast. Kind of ironic that the sun god's lieutenant is the partner of the moon princess."

I smirked. "Isn't it?" I agreed. "I think in some later depictions, when Bast became Bastet after getting mixed with Artemis by I would assume the Greeks, she was also a moon goddess, but Bast is the original form. As far as anyone knows, anyway."

"Nerd." Darien teased.

"And don't you forget it." I agreed, and looked at Bast. "So, what all attacks do you know?" Smirking, Bast showed off Scratch, Growl, Fake Out, Sand Attack, Quick Attack, and Slash. I nodded. "Not bad, not bad at all. I can definitely work with that. Hopefully by the time Beryl shows her ugly face again you'll have a good grasp on a few more attacks."

Bast nodded. "You bet your ass I will. Beryl won't know what hit her!"

I laughed. "I think that you and I are going to make a wonderful team, Bast of Shamouti." I said, deciding that my new starter would be of Shamouti. I held out my hand, and Bast held out her paw. I took it and shook it, and that was the start of my amazing partnership with Bast the Purloin, the best partner a girl could ever ask for.