Ok, this is a crossover between ummmmm……ummmmmm….the Tamora Pierce series and Sailor Moon. Hehe. Anyway…this is another cure for my stoopid writer's block…KATIE…so I'm going to put my other fic on hold. I think there's gonna be some action between Darien and me ;-). ROMANCEY hehe…ok…this takes place thirteen years after Page. I'll shut up now, so you'll be happy. Oh, and please PLEASE review!!!!! By the way, Darien speaks Common because I want him to, the story wouldn't make much sense if he didn't, would it? I didn't think so.
stipulation:
Tamora Pierce owns her characters (duh!) and Naoko Takeuchi owns hers…so I own me and here we go!
A/N:
*******- means change of POV, or time change
words mean thinking.
*word* means stressed word
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I had been staring at the night sky, thinking, when something fell onto the ground beside me. My mare, Silverstar, snorted in surprise. I stood up immediately and grabbed my sword in one motion. I approached the groaning figure cautiously, my sword held out before me protectively. My heart in my throat, I asked: "Who are you?"
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Darien had been lying in his bed, asleep, when he had suddenly been sucked through a gaping black hole at the foot of the bed. He landed sometime later with a thump in a strange land. Rolling green hills cupped a small meadow dotted with tiny star-like flowers upon which he was currently lying. He heard a horse whinny behind him and then someone with a long sword that glimmered faintly in the dim light approached him and asked, "Who are you?"
She was about 5'9, with jet-black hair that flowed past her waist, shining green eyes, and milky skin. She looked to be about 18 or 19. He gulped, her emerald gaze was piercing, and struggled to sit up. "I…I'm, Darien, who are YOU? And where am I? Does Alan(sp??) or Anne have anything to do with--" the girl raised her hand, stilling the tide of questions. She sheathed her sword and said, "My name is Alexandra, I am a knight of Tortall, and you are currently just outside the city of Port Legann, a few day's ride from Corus. Who are Alan and Anne? There is no one that I know of by that name, but there are new people at court all the time."
"Tort…Tor…whatever. I've never heard of any of these places. And knights?? WOMEN knights?? This is too medieval! I can't believe it!!" Darien was starting to panic. "I want to go home! I'm not sure how I got here but I don't like it! I'm in a place I've never heard of with a girl who was pointing a sword at me just a minute ago! I have no idea how I got here and those two evil peeps are probably overrunning the place by now and I'm stuck here!"
"Listen," she said, beginning to get worried, "why don't I take you back to Corus with me, and the palace? There's a mage there that's very powerful, he can probably figure out why you're here. If not, you can stay as a servant or something." She saw the look on his face, and said quickly, "Or not, there's always something you could do!"
She began to leave, letting him mull over what she had told him. "Wait!" he said, "Thank you." She smiled and nodded, and left quietly.
Darien couldn't sleep. He kept thinking over what had happened to him, and seeing the girl's face before his eyes. How her eyes had lit up as though a fire had been kindled in them when she smiled. (SAPPY!!!! Hehe..its my fic, I can do what I want.)
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My first impression of the odd young man that had fallen out of the sky was not especially favourable. He complained far too much and he obviously wasn't very calm. Oh well.
We *have* to get back to the palace. I was only supposed to be gone for a fortnight, and been almost a month!! Oh Goddess, Mother will have my hide! She hates it when I break rule, as though that will give them the excuse to un-knight me! Sometimes her paranoia is just a bit stifling. Hmph, think happy thoughts, Alex. At least you *became* a knight, that other girl…what was her name? Oh yes, Kel, she never even made it past squire. She had been expelled after she had been found kissing another squire the year before I went into the program. Kicked out for being caught kissing! Disgusting! Although she does have a nice family with that knight Queenscove. Her eldest is training, I hear, and she's one of the best pages in the program.
I loved my mother, but she was getting paranoid in her old age. The hardest part about being the only daughter of the Lioness who had been knighted was that I looked absolutely nothing like her, I looked more like the king than my own mother! My Gift was the only thing I really had in common with her, that and being knighted, my magic was a darker bluish-purple, but was equal to hers, and could be put to the same purposes. Otherwise, I was quiet while she was loud, I preferred blacks to violets, I was but a passable swordswoman, smaller knives and daggers and even hand-to-hand combat were more to my liking, while my mother, well, she was the famous King's Champion who defeated pretty much everyone with her famous skill.
Why am I always in her shadow? Throughout my training I continually disappointed my teachers with my swordsmanship. All of them expected me to be exactly like Mother, and my performances were painful. I always enjoyed my magic classes the most, which really let my mother down, I think she wanted me to be just like her. Oh well.
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They set out early the next morning, with Alexandra riding her horse and Darien walking beside her. She set a quick pace, wanting to get back to the palace as soon as possible. She only had enough food for herself, so they would be hunting for a lot of what they ate. Alex doubted that Darien would be much help with anything useful like hunting or splitting wood, his hands were immaculate, almost feminine. Alex compared them to her own hands, which were calloused and rough from her years of training. I can tell traveling with him is going to be fun. Wahoo. Why is it that the Gods saw fit to inflict upon me this…this…boy?? He has done nothing but complain since we rose this morning: its cold, he's hungry, the porridge tastes like 'crap'. Hmph.
All in all, she was not in a charitable mood by the time they reached their campsite; neither was her companion. What a bitch! Whenever I try to say anything to her she ignores me, or glares at me. What did *I* do? This really sucks, why does *she* get the horse? My feet are killing me, we had better stop soon or I'm going to get seriously pissed.
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Their campsite was a clearing just off the main road, dry, since they hadn't had any rain lately, and well carpeted with grass for Silverstar. When they stopped Darien flopped under a tree and wanted to know how far they were from the palace. "Around three days if you don't slow me down, why?" "Three DAYS? But I need to take a shower, that road was dusty!" "If you feel unclean there's stream nearby, just behind that group of trees," she tossed him a towel, "hang this as a screen."
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While Darien was washing, and humming out-of-tune Japanese pop songs, I started to unpack the saddlebags. There were quite a few good-sized branches lying around the campsite, I picked them up and broke into smaller pieces for the fire. There was plenty of dry kindling and the fire started easily. As I was putting the larger branches on the fire I heard a noise behind me. Thinking it was Darien returning from his outdoor bath I said, "Could you hand me a pot from the right saddlebag? I'm going to start supper now."
"Why don't you get yer own pot, missy?" a husky voice behind me answered. I spun around to find myself face-to-face with a leering bearded visage. "Bandits," I muttered, "great, just wonderful." I did a quick count and discovered there were five burly bandits to my one knight. Damn! I hate being outnumbered so badly. Too bad that guy won't be any help here, I could use some back up. Unfortunately he looks like anything stronger than a light breeze could knock him over and put him out of commission for a month. I sighed and drew my sword, preparing myself for a hard fight. As they were about to begin their attack I heard a noise behind me; a quiet chuckle coming from my right. I turned to find the young man I was traveling with leaning against a tree twirling a rose.
I didn't recognize him at first. He had on a strange black hat that was slightly cocked and flat on top, a red and black cloak, a white mask, some odd breeches and a…split tunic? I couldn't understand what he was doing, but he was making a fool of himself, as well as me.
"Darien!" I hissed, "what the hell (they don't have a hell but its appropriate there.) are you doing? You look like an--" "Shut up!! You don't use my name!! Call me 'Tuxedo Mask'." I snorted. "What?" he asked. "Never mind, just stay there while I handle these guys."
"What? I will help you with these evil-doers. I know you can do it Knight Alex! I see in you the ability of the Moon Princess Serenity, a strength and heart as pure as the Neo-Queen herself. You, lovely maiden--" I tapped him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I'm not a maiden."
"Oh, uh, alright. We can do it! These evil men who stand between us and our objective are nothing that we can not handle with our combined strengths. They stand between us and the palace, with hot baths with bubbles, lots and lots of bubbles! And moisturizing soap, and big heated bath towels you can wrap around yourself! Come lady knight! We will vanquish these foes and find me a way home!" With that he flung his rose at the leader who held an enormous broadsword. The huge man jumped, but the rose caught his hand and scratched it.
I looked at Darien, "And what exactly did *that* accomplish? Besides pissing them off, of course." He shrugged and said, "Hey, it works where I come from." I groaned and got into a ready stance. The first man, the man Darien had "wounded", approached me slowly, then we engaged in a desperate fight. The man was heavier, but I had better training and soon my sword caught his and sent it flying, and I got him in the chest with a follow-up thrust. The other men had come forward as well, one attacked Darien while the other two focused on me. Before I could attack them with my daggers one slashed my arm with his sword. I stabbed him in the chest, and then got the other in the leg with a throw. He went down. The last one was chasing Darien, who was running around the clearing, desperately throwing roses behind himself at the 'evil doer'. I sighed and pushed him out of the way, drawing my sword. The man had a sword also; a large double bladed broadsword, and he obviously knew how to use it. We exchanged a flurry of attacks and parries, neither gaining an upper hand while I was desperately seeking an opening. My breath began to come in gasps and the deep cut on my arm began to hurt with a sharp throbbing pain.
Suddenly he stumbled, and my blade found his heart with a quick stab. I gasped and sat down, *hard*. "It's a good thing I was here. You obviously couldn't handle those men on your own," Darien was speaking. "WHAT?? And what, exactly, was YOUR contribution Mr. "I'm gonna kill a group of huge bandits with a ROSE"??!!! Of all the Gods-cursed hare-brained stupid plans--" I stomped off to wash my arm in the stream. Leaving him staring at me with his mouth hanging open.
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Two days later we finally reached the capital, and I am sure I had never and will never be so glad to reach Corus. Darien had been talking non-stop about how this world is so different from his and how you could never travel for two days and not see any people in Japan, and how bad he felt about breaking up with 'Bunny' and how he wished he was with her…if I had heard one more word I would have throttled him. Plus, he snored.
As soon as we reached the palace we went straight to my mother's quarters. She had forgiven the king after the first girl squire had gotten kicked out and he had let me become a page without probation and now she resided at court part of the year. I came to have my sister Alianne look at my arm. She had a massive healing Gift and was in training with Duke Baird at that time.
When she came in and saw me sitting in a chair she sighed and, noting the thick blood-stained bandage on my arm, said, "Been in another fight Alex? I should have known. By the way, all of Court is buzzing about that handsome young man that you arrived with. So, is he your lover?" Alianne's biggest flaw was her preoccupation with gossip, and her tendency to be vain. She *was* beautiful, though, the best from both our parents: Mother's fiery red hair and purple eyes and Father's tall stature. I believe she got her healing Gift from our Grandmother on Father's side; the wife of Mother's foster father, a strong healer. Her propensity to gossip, however, meant often she would forget to look after her patients.
She was a good healer though, and when she wasn't hounding for gossip she was an excellent listener, so I told her the whole story through clenched teeth while she probed my wound. "So you see how frustrating it has been for me, this guy has no useful skills besides throwing roses and looking ridiculous! I would have moved faster without him and I definitely would have had less work! Sometimes being nice just doesn't pay off." Alianne giggled, "Well," she said, "I think it worked out well for you. He hasn't stopped asking to see you since you got here." "Oh really? I'm not surprised he hasn't stopped talking since we got here. That's all he did on the trip." I sipped some wine.
"Now, Alianne, what's new at court? I can always count on YOU to tell me the latest news," I wanted to know what I had missed. "Well, dear sister, apparently the daughter of the Wildmage is going to become a mage like her father, Master Salmalìn. Its said she has an even greater Gift than Master Numair's," she told me, "and Lady Queenscove's daughter spilled fish stew all over the Guildmaster at the Queen's Birthday Ball.
"Oh, and there's another ball week after next, an Anniversary Ball for the Royal Couple. We should go, we can introduce that delicious young man you brought here then." "Oh dear. There is no way I'm going to a ball now, to be gawked it and whispered about. At least with that guy I could hear everything he said! They'll gossip, and say he's my lover, or that he's my fiancé or some ridiculous nonsense. You know the Tortallan gossips. don't make me go!" "Oh Alex, you always were the dramatic one. They're not going to say anything. Whenever anyone asks me what happened I'll tell them what you told me. And I know they'll come to me," she winked at me.
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That week Alianne and I were in a flurry of activity preparing for the ball. Since I had no formal attire to speak of, well, no female formal attire, she helped me find a suitable dress. She kept trying to persuade me to get the most ridiculous gowns, in pinks and other bright colors. I finally wore her down to a long charcoal-grey gown with subtle silver embroidery on the bodice. *She* had wanted me to wear a full skirted yellow taffeta gown, *very* low cut. "But Alex, it accents your figure so well, much better than those breeches, come on!" I enjoy dressing up, for a reason, but that dress was too much, and I told her so. A heated argument followed, ending with a compromise equal to that of any peace treaty.
"Well, you'll have to go with Darien, of course," she told me. "Yay. Fun. Can't wait," I said dryly, while gazing at my dress. I was thinking that I could possibly persuade Alianne to go with Darien in my place, since she thought he was cute, but when I turned to her with a sufficiently pathetic look on my face she laughed out loud and said, "Alex, there is no way that *I* am going to take that loudmouth with me to this ball. Besides," she tossed her head, making her crimson tresses fly everywhere, "I already have a date."
I gaped. When she was 10 and I was 9 she had told me that she never intended to marry, or date boys. Up until then, she was 19, she had kept her word, as far as I knew. "So," I said, "who's your date?" "The Duke of Ziatson" It seemed that my mouth would never close. The Duke of Ziatson was an elegant man, suave and self-confident. All the girls were swooning over him, with the exception of me, of course. Alianne grinned at my amazement and whisked out of the door. I poured myself a glass of wine and mulled over these strange events.
Just then Darien entered and seeing me, immediately started to yell. It took a few seconds for me to figure out what he was saying, eventually I got this, "…AndI'vebeengoingaroundincircleshereforanhourlookingforyou." I began to laugh, remembering my first day at the palace, when, looking for the library, I had opened a door and come upon Lord Wyldon in a pink silk dressing robe. The look on Darien's face sobered me, however and I said in a conciliatory tone, "Don't worry, you'll know you're way around this place in another few days. It's not all that hard. Anyway, I'm glad you're here, I need to talk to you about something. There's going to be a ball in a week and you need something to wear." "Oh, I could wear my tuxe--" "No!" I said, "I mean, its fine, I'll have the seamstress make something for you. It can be in black and white if you want."
"That's fine. So, uh, how are you?" "I'm fine, I've been really busying getting ready for this thing, uh, and you're going with me, is that alright?" "Yeah," he said, "yeah, that's cool. Uh, is that your dress?" He lifted it up. "Yes," I said, "Please be careful, it cost an arm and a leg and they threw in a hand and a foot, as well." He laughed a laid it back down carefully, "Its very nice," he said, "you're going to look beautiful in it." I colored hotly. For some reason he was unable to keep up the stream of words that had been flowing freely on our trip so he bid me goodbye and beat a hasty retreat back to his rooms.
I couldn't figure out why, but when he had walked into the room my heart had begun to beat faster, I marked it up to my nerves being strained due to this ball. I didn't *like* him or *love* him, of course, it was the ball. Of course.
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Usagi entered her room and closed the door. She threw the jacket of her school uniform on the back of the chair and rubbed her face in her hands. "Hello Sailor Moon," a voice behind her said. She started to scream but a hand clapped over her mouth and all that came out was a muffled, "Diamond?"
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OOOOOOh.. the plot thickens. Well. please PLEASE R/R, and I f you want to flame me, so be it, but if you don't I promise to take useful reviews and put them on my wall and bow to them as my all-high wonderful happy happy happy gods. Ja mata ne!
stipulation:
Tamora Pierce owns her characters (duh!) and Naoko Takeuchi owns hers…so I own me and here we go!
A/N:
*******- means change of POV, or time change
words mean thinking.
*word* means stressed word
*******************************************************************************************************
I had been staring at the night sky, thinking, when something fell onto the ground beside me. My mare, Silverstar, snorted in surprise. I stood up immediately and grabbed my sword in one motion. I approached the groaning figure cautiously, my sword held out before me protectively. My heart in my throat, I asked: "Who are you?"
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Darien had been lying in his bed, asleep, when he had suddenly been sucked through a gaping black hole at the foot of the bed. He landed sometime later with a thump in a strange land. Rolling green hills cupped a small meadow dotted with tiny star-like flowers upon which he was currently lying. He heard a horse whinny behind him and then someone with a long sword that glimmered faintly in the dim light approached him and asked, "Who are you?"
She was about 5'9, with jet-black hair that flowed past her waist, shining green eyes, and milky skin. She looked to be about 18 or 19. He gulped, her emerald gaze was piercing, and struggled to sit up. "I…I'm, Darien, who are YOU? And where am I? Does Alan(sp??) or Anne have anything to do with--" the girl raised her hand, stilling the tide of questions. She sheathed her sword and said, "My name is Alexandra, I am a knight of Tortall, and you are currently just outside the city of Port Legann, a few day's ride from Corus. Who are Alan and Anne? There is no one that I know of by that name, but there are new people at court all the time."
"Tort…Tor…whatever. I've never heard of any of these places. And knights?? WOMEN knights?? This is too medieval! I can't believe it!!" Darien was starting to panic. "I want to go home! I'm not sure how I got here but I don't like it! I'm in a place I've never heard of with a girl who was pointing a sword at me just a minute ago! I have no idea how I got here and those two evil peeps are probably overrunning the place by now and I'm stuck here!"
"Listen," she said, beginning to get worried, "why don't I take you back to Corus with me, and the palace? There's a mage there that's very powerful, he can probably figure out why you're here. If not, you can stay as a servant or something." She saw the look on his face, and said quickly, "Or not, there's always something you could do!"
She began to leave, letting him mull over what she had told him. "Wait!" he said, "Thank you." She smiled and nodded, and left quietly.
Darien couldn't sleep. He kept thinking over what had happened to him, and seeing the girl's face before his eyes. How her eyes had lit up as though a fire had been kindled in them when she smiled. (SAPPY!!!! Hehe..its my fic, I can do what I want.)
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My first impression of the odd young man that had fallen out of the sky was not especially favourable. He complained far too much and he obviously wasn't very calm. Oh well.
We *have* to get back to the palace. I was only supposed to be gone for a fortnight, and been almost a month!! Oh Goddess, Mother will have my hide! She hates it when I break rule, as though that will give them the excuse to un-knight me! Sometimes her paranoia is just a bit stifling. Hmph, think happy thoughts, Alex. At least you *became* a knight, that other girl…what was her name? Oh yes, Kel, she never even made it past squire. She had been expelled after she had been found kissing another squire the year before I went into the program. Kicked out for being caught kissing! Disgusting! Although she does have a nice family with that knight Queenscove. Her eldest is training, I hear, and she's one of the best pages in the program.
I loved my mother, but she was getting paranoid in her old age. The hardest part about being the only daughter of the Lioness who had been knighted was that I looked absolutely nothing like her, I looked more like the king than my own mother! My Gift was the only thing I really had in common with her, that and being knighted, my magic was a darker bluish-purple, but was equal to hers, and could be put to the same purposes. Otherwise, I was quiet while she was loud, I preferred blacks to violets, I was but a passable swordswoman, smaller knives and daggers and even hand-to-hand combat were more to my liking, while my mother, well, she was the famous King's Champion who defeated pretty much everyone with her famous skill.
Why am I always in her shadow? Throughout my training I continually disappointed my teachers with my swordsmanship. All of them expected me to be exactly like Mother, and my performances were painful. I always enjoyed my magic classes the most, which really let my mother down, I think she wanted me to be just like her. Oh well.
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They set out early the next morning, with Alexandra riding her horse and Darien walking beside her. She set a quick pace, wanting to get back to the palace as soon as possible. She only had enough food for herself, so they would be hunting for a lot of what they ate. Alex doubted that Darien would be much help with anything useful like hunting or splitting wood, his hands were immaculate, almost feminine. Alex compared them to her own hands, which were calloused and rough from her years of training. I can tell traveling with him is going to be fun. Wahoo. Why is it that the Gods saw fit to inflict upon me this…this…boy?? He has done nothing but complain since we rose this morning: its cold, he's hungry, the porridge tastes like 'crap'. Hmph.
All in all, she was not in a charitable mood by the time they reached their campsite; neither was her companion. What a bitch! Whenever I try to say anything to her she ignores me, or glares at me. What did *I* do? This really sucks, why does *she* get the horse? My feet are killing me, we had better stop soon or I'm going to get seriously pissed.
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Their campsite was a clearing just off the main road, dry, since they hadn't had any rain lately, and well carpeted with grass for Silverstar. When they stopped Darien flopped under a tree and wanted to know how far they were from the palace. "Around three days if you don't slow me down, why?" "Three DAYS? But I need to take a shower, that road was dusty!" "If you feel unclean there's stream nearby, just behind that group of trees," she tossed him a towel, "hang this as a screen."
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While Darien was washing, and humming out-of-tune Japanese pop songs, I started to unpack the saddlebags. There were quite a few good-sized branches lying around the campsite, I picked them up and broke into smaller pieces for the fire. There was plenty of dry kindling and the fire started easily. As I was putting the larger branches on the fire I heard a noise behind me. Thinking it was Darien returning from his outdoor bath I said, "Could you hand me a pot from the right saddlebag? I'm going to start supper now."
"Why don't you get yer own pot, missy?" a husky voice behind me answered. I spun around to find myself face-to-face with a leering bearded visage. "Bandits," I muttered, "great, just wonderful." I did a quick count and discovered there were five burly bandits to my one knight. Damn! I hate being outnumbered so badly. Too bad that guy won't be any help here, I could use some back up. Unfortunately he looks like anything stronger than a light breeze could knock him over and put him out of commission for a month. I sighed and drew my sword, preparing myself for a hard fight. As they were about to begin their attack I heard a noise behind me; a quiet chuckle coming from my right. I turned to find the young man I was traveling with leaning against a tree twirling a rose.
I didn't recognize him at first. He had on a strange black hat that was slightly cocked and flat on top, a red and black cloak, a white mask, some odd breeches and a…split tunic? I couldn't understand what he was doing, but he was making a fool of himself, as well as me.
"Darien!" I hissed, "what the hell (they don't have a hell but its appropriate there.) are you doing? You look like an--" "Shut up!! You don't use my name!! Call me 'Tuxedo Mask'." I snorted. "What?" he asked. "Never mind, just stay there while I handle these guys."
"What? I will help you with these evil-doers. I know you can do it Knight Alex! I see in you the ability of the Moon Princess Serenity, a strength and heart as pure as the Neo-Queen herself. You, lovely maiden--" I tapped him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I'm not a maiden."
"Oh, uh, alright. We can do it! These evil men who stand between us and our objective are nothing that we can not handle with our combined strengths. They stand between us and the palace, with hot baths with bubbles, lots and lots of bubbles! And moisturizing soap, and big heated bath towels you can wrap around yourself! Come lady knight! We will vanquish these foes and find me a way home!" With that he flung his rose at the leader who held an enormous broadsword. The huge man jumped, but the rose caught his hand and scratched it.
I looked at Darien, "And what exactly did *that* accomplish? Besides pissing them off, of course." He shrugged and said, "Hey, it works where I come from." I groaned and got into a ready stance. The first man, the man Darien had "wounded", approached me slowly, then we engaged in a desperate fight. The man was heavier, but I had better training and soon my sword caught his and sent it flying, and I got him in the chest with a follow-up thrust. The other men had come forward as well, one attacked Darien while the other two focused on me. Before I could attack them with my daggers one slashed my arm with his sword. I stabbed him in the chest, and then got the other in the leg with a throw. He went down. The last one was chasing Darien, who was running around the clearing, desperately throwing roses behind himself at the 'evil doer'. I sighed and pushed him out of the way, drawing my sword. The man had a sword also; a large double bladed broadsword, and he obviously knew how to use it. We exchanged a flurry of attacks and parries, neither gaining an upper hand while I was desperately seeking an opening. My breath began to come in gasps and the deep cut on my arm began to hurt with a sharp throbbing pain.
Suddenly he stumbled, and my blade found his heart with a quick stab. I gasped and sat down, *hard*. "It's a good thing I was here. You obviously couldn't handle those men on your own," Darien was speaking. "WHAT?? And what, exactly, was YOUR contribution Mr. "I'm gonna kill a group of huge bandits with a ROSE"??!!! Of all the Gods-cursed hare-brained stupid plans--" I stomped off to wash my arm in the stream. Leaving him staring at me with his mouth hanging open.
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Two days later we finally reached the capital, and I am sure I had never and will never be so glad to reach Corus. Darien had been talking non-stop about how this world is so different from his and how you could never travel for two days and not see any people in Japan, and how bad he felt about breaking up with 'Bunny' and how he wished he was with her…if I had heard one more word I would have throttled him. Plus, he snored.
As soon as we reached the palace we went straight to my mother's quarters. She had forgiven the king after the first girl squire had gotten kicked out and he had let me become a page without probation and now she resided at court part of the year. I came to have my sister Alianne look at my arm. She had a massive healing Gift and was in training with Duke Baird at that time.
When she came in and saw me sitting in a chair she sighed and, noting the thick blood-stained bandage on my arm, said, "Been in another fight Alex? I should have known. By the way, all of Court is buzzing about that handsome young man that you arrived with. So, is he your lover?" Alianne's biggest flaw was her preoccupation with gossip, and her tendency to be vain. She *was* beautiful, though, the best from both our parents: Mother's fiery red hair and purple eyes and Father's tall stature. I believe she got her healing Gift from our Grandmother on Father's side; the wife of Mother's foster father, a strong healer. Her propensity to gossip, however, meant often she would forget to look after her patients.
She was a good healer though, and when she wasn't hounding for gossip she was an excellent listener, so I told her the whole story through clenched teeth while she probed my wound. "So you see how frustrating it has been for me, this guy has no useful skills besides throwing roses and looking ridiculous! I would have moved faster without him and I definitely would have had less work! Sometimes being nice just doesn't pay off." Alianne giggled, "Well," she said, "I think it worked out well for you. He hasn't stopped asking to see you since you got here." "Oh really? I'm not surprised he hasn't stopped talking since we got here. That's all he did on the trip." I sipped some wine.
"Now, Alianne, what's new at court? I can always count on YOU to tell me the latest news," I wanted to know what I had missed. "Well, dear sister, apparently the daughter of the Wildmage is going to become a mage like her father, Master Salmalìn. Its said she has an even greater Gift than Master Numair's," she told me, "and Lady Queenscove's daughter spilled fish stew all over the Guildmaster at the Queen's Birthday Ball.
"Oh, and there's another ball week after next, an Anniversary Ball for the Royal Couple. We should go, we can introduce that delicious young man you brought here then." "Oh dear. There is no way I'm going to a ball now, to be gawked it and whispered about. At least with that guy I could hear everything he said! They'll gossip, and say he's my lover, or that he's my fiancé or some ridiculous nonsense. You know the Tortallan gossips. don't make me go!" "Oh Alex, you always were the dramatic one. They're not going to say anything. Whenever anyone asks me what happened I'll tell them what you told me. And I know they'll come to me," she winked at me.
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That week Alianne and I were in a flurry of activity preparing for the ball. Since I had no formal attire to speak of, well, no female formal attire, she helped me find a suitable dress. She kept trying to persuade me to get the most ridiculous gowns, in pinks and other bright colors. I finally wore her down to a long charcoal-grey gown with subtle silver embroidery on the bodice. *She* had wanted me to wear a full skirted yellow taffeta gown, *very* low cut. "But Alex, it accents your figure so well, much better than those breeches, come on!" I enjoy dressing up, for a reason, but that dress was too much, and I told her so. A heated argument followed, ending with a compromise equal to that of any peace treaty.
"Well, you'll have to go with Darien, of course," she told me. "Yay. Fun. Can't wait," I said dryly, while gazing at my dress. I was thinking that I could possibly persuade Alianne to go with Darien in my place, since she thought he was cute, but when I turned to her with a sufficiently pathetic look on my face she laughed out loud and said, "Alex, there is no way that *I* am going to take that loudmouth with me to this ball. Besides," she tossed her head, making her crimson tresses fly everywhere, "I already have a date."
I gaped. When she was 10 and I was 9 she had told me that she never intended to marry, or date boys. Up until then, she was 19, she had kept her word, as far as I knew. "So," I said, "who's your date?" "The Duke of Ziatson" It seemed that my mouth would never close. The Duke of Ziatson was an elegant man, suave and self-confident. All the girls were swooning over him, with the exception of me, of course. Alianne grinned at my amazement and whisked out of the door. I poured myself a glass of wine and mulled over these strange events.
Just then Darien entered and seeing me, immediately started to yell. It took a few seconds for me to figure out what he was saying, eventually I got this, "…AndI'vebeengoingaroundincircleshereforanhourlookingforyou." I began to laugh, remembering my first day at the palace, when, looking for the library, I had opened a door and come upon Lord Wyldon in a pink silk dressing robe. The look on Darien's face sobered me, however and I said in a conciliatory tone, "Don't worry, you'll know you're way around this place in another few days. It's not all that hard. Anyway, I'm glad you're here, I need to talk to you about something. There's going to be a ball in a week and you need something to wear." "Oh, I could wear my tuxe--" "No!" I said, "I mean, its fine, I'll have the seamstress make something for you. It can be in black and white if you want."
"That's fine. So, uh, how are you?" "I'm fine, I've been really busying getting ready for this thing, uh, and you're going with me, is that alright?" "Yeah," he said, "yeah, that's cool. Uh, is that your dress?" He lifted it up. "Yes," I said, "Please be careful, it cost an arm and a leg and they threw in a hand and a foot, as well." He laughed a laid it back down carefully, "Its very nice," he said, "you're going to look beautiful in it." I colored hotly. For some reason he was unable to keep up the stream of words that had been flowing freely on our trip so he bid me goodbye and beat a hasty retreat back to his rooms.
I couldn't figure out why, but when he had walked into the room my heart had begun to beat faster, I marked it up to my nerves being strained due to this ball. I didn't *like* him or *love* him, of course, it was the ball. Of course.
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Usagi entered her room and closed the door. She threw the jacket of her school uniform on the back of the chair and rubbed her face in her hands. "Hello Sailor Moon," a voice behind her said. She started to scream but a hand clapped over her mouth and all that came out was a muffled, "Diamond?"
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OOOOOOh.. the plot thickens. Well. please PLEASE R/R, and I f you want to flame me, so be it, but if you don't I promise to take useful reviews and put them on my wall and bow to them as my all-high wonderful happy happy happy gods. Ja mata ne!