A/N: This beginning was slow, and I have a feeling that this whole story is going to be churned out slowly but surely. I'm starting it with a super ego since I won Alicia Blade's writing contest, so this could be my best writing ever or just my cockiness put into quotations. You tell me.
Also, I would like to apologize for not posting any stories lately! I just got back to boarding school and classes have started so I'm really busy now.
Disclaimer: I only own Sailor Moon when I'm asleep and dreaming.
When Time Collides
"Everyone, let's start today's lesson with the greatest mystery of all: the passage of time. As you know, time moves in…" The monotonous voice of the white-haired professor was lost in the back of the student's minds as they idly sketched in their notebooks. A couple sighs and a few yawns chorused throughout the large room. Heads were down and backs were slouched against the hard chairs.
Only one green jacket sat straight and poised, the scratching of pen on paper cutting through the dull clamor.
Darien Shields sat calmly in the front row of his classroom, struggling to pay attention to the drawling professor in front of him. Every once in a while he would take a few notes to keep the impression that he was not at all bored and that, in fact, he found timelines to be quite interesting, thank you very much.
This façade of his fooled everyone around him, making him the "Golden Boy" of the classroom. In every classroom he had ever been in, as a matter of fact.
Consistency ruled the life of the dark-haired boy, leading him in a lifestyle that was both repetitive and strangely comforting. Get up, go to school, stop by the arcade, and go to the apartment, do homework, go to sleep. The process would start back up in the morning, as simple as that. No surprises, no casualties to the schedule, and certainly no time wasted.
The youth took an odd pride in his routine. This was partly because it kept the cool, calm demeanor on the outside that he had strived for. Everyone saw him as being ideal, faultless, and that pleased Darien to no end.
No one knew what he did when the sun went down. His nightly escapades were a mystery to everyone around him, giving the dark-haired teenager a thrill that rivaled anything that he had ever felt in his life. He was aloof, he was mysterious, and he was seemingly all a girl could ever want. With or without the top hat and cape.
Darien was snapped back into the classroom. Amidst the teachers droning he thought he heard snoring in the back of the classroom. The nasal hum didn't last for long.
"Pay attention, Lee! Now, as I was saying…"
And just like that, it was back again.
Darien rubbed his temples and sighed, willing the clock on the wall to tick just a hair faster. He let his back slump ever so slightly, and it didn't take long until he started to zone out in his signature blank stare.
After a minute of absolutely no moving, he let his arms and muscles stretch out in a yawn. Just as his arm muscles stretched above his head, a chorus of sighs rang out behind him. Darien stopped, hands still in the air, and turned his head around slowly.
He was met with six pairs of batting eyelashes.
The brunette on his left blew him an enthusiastic kiss and a blonde in the back gave him a long wave and a wink. Darien's face flashed a bright red before he twisted around and sunk a little lower in his seat. He waited patiently for the disappointed sighs to go away and settled back into his note-taking posture.
He then followed his fellow classmate's examples and was lost in his own imagination. Before long his professor was turned into the man from Back to the Future, arms flailing around and drawing a skewered timeline on the chalkboard. He then hopped into a red sports car and drove off in a trail of fire and smoke. Who was to say that Shields was unimaginative?
The corners of his lips were pulled in a smile when the snorting laughter of his real professor shattered his thoughts.
"You know, class, time is a funny thing." The professor wheezed and gave another snort. "Some people say that time exists not in a line, but in different planes piled on top of one another. This means that at this very moment, on another plane of time, a caveman might be discovering fire! Perhaps George Washington is chopping down that infamous cherry tree, or my great-great-great-great granddaughter is having her wedding…" The old man put his hand to his chin in thought. "My own mother used to say that whenever goose bumps prickled your skin that someone was walking on your grave in the future. Two planes touching for a moment, if you will."
Darien gave a shudder at this thought, and goose bumps formed on his skin. He stared at the hair rising on his arm and imagined a stranger walking past a crumbling gravestone. Eyes wide, he furiously rubbed them away and sat lower in his seat. His professor turned once again to the blackboard and went back to his droning. The black-haired student let out a deep sigh of relief.
He continued counting the seconds on the clock, and they seemed to mock him by lasting longer than ever before. With every sharp jerk of the hand, the thought of time haunted him. His fist clenched on his desk until his fingernails left red marks in the palm of his hand.
This is going to be one long day… Darien thought. He absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair and paused when he felt a piece of paper stuck in the ebony locks. Slowly picking it out and bringing it to his desk, he was horrified to see that it had a big mushy heart on the front drawn in pink sparkle pen. His hands shook as he opened it up and read the curly letters.
"Darien-kun, I'm in such awe of your amazing awesomeness. Meet me after school so I can buy you coffee and talk about all your deep problems? Always yours… Onii-san"
Darien furrowed his brows and reread the letter. He twisted around in his seat yet again to see which girl reacted to his search. Every girl in the place sighed a little, but nothing out of the ordinary. Darien rolled his eyes and looked closer.
A blonde with green eyes sat in the back, making kissy faces and frantically blowing them with both hands directly at Darien.
Darien turned around to put his hand over his eyes and shook his head.
"Andrew! Will you please stop making those obscene faces toward Darien! I will not have such tomfoolery going on in my class!" The professor snapped, slamming his meter stick down on the nearest desk.
Andrew gave one last swoon that nearly threw him out of his seat before sitting back down and making a big show of taking notes. The teacher made a grunting noise and returned to writing nonsense on the blackboard.
Where did Andrew even GET a pink sparkle pen? Darien contemplated. He shrugged his friend's fruitiness off and traipsed once again into to dull boredom, only accentuated by the occasional giggle of an 'infatuated' Andrew.
After an hour and a half, students stared as a flash of green and black bolted out of the classroom and out onto the sidewalk, quickly followed by a blonde streak.
"But wait Darien! We were DESTINED to be together!"
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The jingle of keys resounded in Darien's apartment as his foot crossed the threshold. He stood there for a moment, door gaping open behind him, before hoisting his heavy backpack higher onto his shoulder. Using his foot, he slammed the door shut before trudging to his couch.
He felt a shudder creep its way up his spine where it chilled his bones. Subconsciously wrapping his arms around himself, he let his bag slide down to his elbow. He took a glance down at his arms and saw the hair rise and little goosebumps form on his toned skin.
"Get a grip Darien. There is no way someone just walked over your grave. You're standing right here." He muttered to himself. Logic always gave him a little more confidence, and he used his little self-induced ego boost to rub his arms smooth of the creepy lumps.
With that, he stretched his sinewy body on the couch and unzipped his overly packed book bag, eyeing the homework that needed to be completed. His hand seemed to take on a mind of its own and turned to the dull professor's homework he had given out at the end of class.
Right before Andrew lost control of his hormones. Darien smirked and released the tension in his limbs that he didn't know was there. He moved his lanky arm closer to his face to read the handouts the professor had assigned for that night.
The thought that time existed all at once was incredibly silly to Darien. Time ran in an orderly fashion, one event occurring one right after the other in a line.
Still, the ebony-haired youth couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu that was slowly creeping into his skin. Sometimes he did things or said things that seemed to be repetitive, like he had gone through that situation in another life. Perhaps someone, on some different level of time, was the person he was before reincarnation occurred, like a past life…
Stop being so impractical Darien! You're acting like a child!
With a grimace, he fished around the bottom of his bag until he found a pencil. Never taking his eyes off the sheet of paper in front of him, he absentmindedly chewed on the little pink eraser. His eyes glinted with a set determination as pencil collided with paper and his evening's routine began.
On another plane of time…
Prince Endymion carefully latched the end of the forest green arrow onto the taught cord of his bow. Lifting it so the shaft was parallel to his midnight blue eye, he quickly took an aim at the target in front of him. He breathed in and out slowly, totally concentrated on the ring of circles in the distance. Nothing could distract him. Crowds of people surrounded him, watching the sun glint off his black-and-silver armor. He could feel their eyes glued to his toned back, he could sense their anticipation. Their intent gaze saw every move, ever slight tremor through his body. He knew this.
So, he flipped his hair.
The effect was instantaneous. The ebony locks shone as they flew back out of his eyes, making the feminine half of the crowd sigh and clutch their hearts. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips before he turned his head and gave the whole crown an over exaggerated wink. With his head still turned, he nonchalantly let go of the bowstring.
Masses of people sucked in their breaths as they saw the arrow fly out of the man's hands. Many shielded their eyes, thinking the prince had made a fool of himself by not looking at the target. Only when they heard the noise of wood hitting wood did they look up.
The dark green arrow stuck straight out of the center of the bull's-eye.
The prince closed his eyes and listened as the crowd behind him roared and cheered. The tiniest smile played on his lips before he opened his eyes. He turned around to glance at the crowd as they pleaded with his four generals to let them talk to him. One woman got on her knees and laced her fingers together, begging to see the Crown Prince of Earth. The general before her had long silver hair that flowed past his shoulders, his tanned skin in contrast with the pale strands. He wore the official grey uniform of a general, his cape swirling around him as he desperately tried to hold back the crowd.
"Kunzite!" Endymion shouted, catching the man's attention for a second. He briskly walked toward the people, who quieted with each step the prince took. When he reached the crowd the silence hung in the air.
"Zoicite, Jadeite, Nephrite." Endymion cocked his head toward them. "Come here." The three other men looked at each other uncertainly before leaving their posts.
"What is it, Endymion?" Zoicite questioned his long blonde ponytail swishing as he turned his head around. "Do you sense any threat?"
"No."
"Would you like to retire for the day, your highness?"
The prince smiled. "No"
Nephrite scratched his brunette head in a very ungeneral-like manner before letting his pale hand palm the back of his neck sheepishly.
"What is it then, your majesty?"
"These people," he gestured his arm in an arc towards the crowd, "want to talk to me, do they not?"
The four men stood there baffled before one of them spoke.
"Yes, sire, they do… but your safety is of the upmost-" Jadeite was cut off by a wave of his prince's hand.
"I understand that Jadeite. But," he added with the quirk of his mouth, "I highly doubt these people have the weapons or the skills needed to assassinate me."
Jadeite's blue eyes silently ran over the crowd and the others could almost see the gears turning in his head, summarizing and evaluating all possible plans of attack these people could do. He turned back to his liege, his cropped gold hair windblown and a twinkle in his eye.
"I would agree, Endymion."
The prince nodded his head in a mute understanding and turned to face his people. His eyes instantly fell to the woman who had been on her knees when he had first addressed Kunzite.
She was dressed plainly, with a loose black blouse draped over her shoulders and a skirt that was tan on the top but changed to a black fabric midway down. Three belts were slung around her waist, each one mismatching the other. But what was most striking about the woman was her hair. It was a fiery red, a color the prince had never seen before. It fell in waves and curls down to her waist and only accentuated the piercing green of her eyes, which bore into the prince's face. He had to admit she was pretty.
Pale hands wrenched together as she watched the iron-clad man advance toward her. Her gaze never left his eyes, and the prince was a little put-off by her intense stare. He stopped about five feet away, giving a good distance between him and the woman.
"Did you need to speak with me?" The prince said in his most regal voice. The woman grinned wickedly and curtsied down as low as she could go, revealing some of her cleavage. The prince kept his eyes glued to her face, a nauseating feeling overcoming his stomach.
"Prince Endymion," she purred, "I've been looking forward to this moment for a long time. But-" she looked around and took a few steps closer, shocking the crowd around her, "I was hoping would could discuss in private, just you and me." She traced her finger along the smooth curves of his breastplate. "You could even spend the night at my humble abode, if that was what your majesty wishes."
"A… lovely offer, but I'm afraid I have to decline." The prince took a step back and her hand fell back down to her waist. Her eyes flashed and narrowed as she took a step forward to keep the close distance.
"Don't tell me that your too busy, prince darling. You need to rest and relax." Her hand once again rose and she traced a finger along the prince's jaw line, and he flinched and backed away again.
"Madame, you will address your crown prince with respect." Zoicite stepped forward, right in between the woman and Endymion. The woman just glanced over the general's shoulder and smiled.
"We'll continue this another time, your highness." With that, she took a step back and flipped her red locks over her shoulder.
"I…" the prince faltered. He was so tempted to decline. "…if my schedule doesn't forbid it." He gave a polite smile. "It was nice to meet you miss…?"
"Beryl." The woman said before disappearing through the crowd.
Okay! Chapter one is finally done!
My chapter's aren't very long, so if you'd please review and say if I should write more or if it's the perfect length.
If it hasn't already occurred to you, this is going to be many chapters long, reflecting the two lives of mostly all our main characters.
Review please!