Author's note: Thanks to all of my reviewers: sailor lunakitty (very adorable name by the way), sousie, and Edens-MoonlightAngel. I love and appreciate reviews – glad to know that someone's actually reading and enjoying my story. But once again if you have any questions/comments or whatever – give me a review or e-mail me. I'd love to hear your thoughts. I forgot to mention this before – I rated it M because later on the story will get more graphic and the characters will be swearing – per usual. I'm going to tell you right now that the villain in this story is not who you would normally expect. I wanted to have some fun and use a villain who I haven't really seen much in the fan fiction and I think that it's about time that she got her dues. One more note before I get going – in this chapter there is mention of Japanese bathhouses. From my knowledge about them (which is decent I guess - I'd like to hope that I've seen enough anime/read enough manga to figure it out), for the most part they're single-sexed and communal bathhouses – so hopefully you don't get the wrong idea when I mention the bathhouses later in this chapter - i.e. Darien's not gay (and also correct me if I'm wrong on some of the details). Darien's thoughts are still in italics by the way. All right enough of my jabber – I don't own Sailor Moon but you knew that already, back to the story.
Chapter Two: Meeting Sergio
I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and eager to meet my new bodyguard. I got up, took a shower and put on some of my favorite cologne since I was feeling pretty good about the outcome of this morning's meeting with Sergio – even though it had yet to happen. After I finished dressing, I received a knock on my door.
"You may enter." I said, while buttoning the last button on my dress shirt and giving myself a last glance in the mirror. I might be king, but I don't like to brag about it or show off too much in front of my subjects. I really consider it to be rude and disgusting when members of the court do that to other people.
"Your highness." Malachite's voice echoed into my room as I noticed him standing at the entrance to my room out of the corner of my eye. "Sergio Tsukino arrived at the palace at around 4:30 this morning."
I spun around quickly at the mention of my new bodyguard. I had yet to meet him, and already he was capturing my attention. "Wow he's quick isn't he? And an early bird at that – he's already exceeding my expectations."
"Yes my lord, and from what I've seen so far of him today – I am very pleased. We gave him the hardest trial run for ninjas – and he passed it with flying colors, beyond anyone's expectations. You weren't kidding when you said that Sergio was the best my lord."
"I'm glad that you have confidence in him Malachite. I would have been quite embarrassed if he hadn't succeeded to impress you. So where is my newest bodyguard Malachite?"
"He's getting his official uniform from the tailor sire. I think that Sergio will be up here any…."
Before Malachite could even finish his sentence – a young man was in front of my face, on the ground bowing. "Your highness it is an honor to be in your presence." The young man said. "I am Sergio of the Tsukino clan. My family thinks that working for you is the highest honor that a ninja could ever possibly have. I hope that I can please both you and my family, I will not let you down sire and that is a promise." Sergio was a small man – he was short, maybe about 5 feet in height and he had the frame of a young boy. His voice was a bit high pitched – almost feminine sounding, but I dismissed that idea since I had known before I hired him that Sergio was supposedly a young man. Still, I was beyond shocked to see that this petit man was one of the most skilled ninjas in all of Japan. Maybe being small is part of his advantage. He was wearing the usual attire of a fully qualified ninja – the Shinobi Shozoku, complete with hood, socks, and tabi boots. His outfit was medium blue in color, which represented the Tsukino clan; my guess is that he was so excited to meet me that he didn't bother changing into his uniform, which I did not mind.
"Sergio – you really don't have to bow, it's not necessary."
Sergio looked up at me with a curious stare, and for the first time I noticed that he had crystal blue eyes, which seemed to dance behind his mask – which covered every other part of his face. There was another thing that I remembered about the Tsukino clan; all of the members of their family were blonde with blue eyes – which also helped them to stand out within the ninja world. The mask was quite interesting to me as well – since I had not seen one of those in a long time. Most of the time you only wore a mask if you were on a mission – trying to be undetected. But why does Sergio feel the need to wear the mask in front of me? I could ask him but I don't want to offend him, it might be a Tsukino family tradition. I hope that he won't be mad since our uniforms don't come with masks. I was so excited about being around Sergio and getting to know more about him – that I almost completely ignored his next words.
"Sire, I must bow before you – otherwise I am not showing you respect. It is proper for a ninja to show his master or employer respect – part of tradition you know."
"Well I'm asking you as your employer to not bow in my presence Sergio. You see I like to think of my bodyguards as my friends, not servants. That's why it's not necessary to bow in my presence – I would love to think of all my staff as equals, but most will not have it. My bodyguards are my closest friends, they practically raised me into the man that I am today – and I would like to treat you as a friend Sergio. I've been trying for the longest time to get my bodyguards to call me by my first name instead of addressing me with all of these formalities, but no one ever does. I don't want to seem like some asshole of a king who's so power hungry that he mistreats or degrades his subjects."
Sergio got up hesitantly from the floor; it was clear that he was unsure as to whether he should still be bowing or standing as I had asked. "Excuse me sire, but I am confused as to what you would like me to do. You want me to be your friend as well as protect your person from enemies?"
"That is correct Sergio. I would like to get to know you – know more about you, I can see us becoming close friends. I'm good friends with all of my bodyguards. Isn't that right Malachite?"
"It's very true my lord. I will leave you two now to get to know one another better. Good day to you both, and welcome to the team Sergio. After your meeting with the king you will be briefed about your duty."
"Goodbye Malachite."
Sergio just looked at Malachite and gave him a silent salute with his right hand, which I could tell that Malachite accepted by giving Sergio a curt nod. I might have been imagining things, but it almost seemed as if Sergio was nervous to be left alone with me. I went to one of the comfortable plush chairs in my room and sat in it, and motioned for Sergio to sit next to me. He did so, and stared at me from behind the mask of his ninja attire. That mask is still bothering me…
"You know – you don't have to wear the mask anymore Sergio."
"Please excuse me sire but I feel more comfortable wearing it for now."
"Oh that's fine do as you please. So I wanted to get to know more about you and your family. There are so many questions that I have Sergio. I would love to know what it was like to grow up in a ninja household – living under the same roof with some of the greatest ninjas in Japan – maybe even the world."
"I will tell you anything that you would like to know sire."
"Well my first question would be why did you apply for this job? No member of the Tsukino clan has even written a letter to me – much less ventured near the palace."
"Ah – you are wrong about that sire. The Tsukino clan has always admired your lordship and the way that you rule Crystal Tokyo. We have always come to your events, although most of the time it's been in disguise. As you probably already know – my brother Andrew is the master of disguise."
"Yes, true I did forget about Andrew."
"We have always wanted to work for you, your highness. Andrew was injured and is now out of commission – unfortunately he cannot perform ninja duties anymore. But I will not bore you with the details of it sire."
"If you don't want to talk about it then you don't have to Sergio." I said, giving him my best warm and friendly smile. Sergio's crystal blue eyes widened from behind the mask – could I have possibly embarrassed him? Nah of course not, why would such a remark and a smile bother a great and powerful ninja.
"Thank you my lord." Sergio whispered softly, "it's just that it's been so hard on my family."
"Well what about your other family members?"
"Oh right." Sergio said, he looked like he was contemplating telling me what happened to Andrew or not – then decided to chat about the rest of his siblings. "My other brother Jadeite was going to fill out the form when he heard that you had a spot open for a bodyguard a few years ago, but he was called out on a secret mission given to him by my grandfather – the current leader of our clan, and had to accomplish that first. Now Jadeite is unable to apply for this job since he has a wife and many children that he must train. Of course my parents would have applied for the job – but that idea was scrapped once Jadeite had children. Mom and dad wanted to help him and his wife, Amy around the house since Jadeite ended up having seven children – septuplets. It must be hard for him and Amy, having seven babies and careers on top of that."
"Seven children simultaneously? Incredible! Excuse me for the interruption Sergio, continue on." I couldn't even fathom what that would be like – and I automatically felt sympathy for Amy. I'll have to remember to send them a present or a care package or something, maybe even pull a few strings to see if they can give Amy some free reconstructive surgery – because seven kids simultaneously probably did a number on her belly.
"Mom and dad also want to perform their traditional duties – by giving out missions to their grandchildren once the babies are old enough to start training to qualify for their ninja liscenses – that is to say if being a ninja is their calling. In our family it's expected but there are a few people in my family line that were never ninja at all."
"Sounds like you have very loving parents." I said, smiling at Sergio, "I'm glad that we're having a conversation like this though Sergio, please tell me more."
"If that is what you wish my lord." Sergio said and his eyes lit up – almost as if he was smiling underneath the mask. "Then there's my sister Mina – she also wanted the job this time, but her skills are not as up to par unfortunately, and I don't think that her fiancé would have liked the idea of her being one of the close bodyguards of the king since she's so beautiful and all." Sergio said with a sigh.
"Not that you can't trust beautiful women around me." I joked heartily, "I might be single but it's not like I'm a womanizer or anything."
"Oh we know that you're not a player or anything sire – it's just that knowing Mina she would probably throw herself at you. Sometimes she can get a bit wild if you know what I mean."
"What about your other sister Sergio?"
"Other sister? I don't know what you're talking about." Sergio said, his eyes were widening once again – he seemed to be in a panic when I mentioned the other sister, because I noticed that when I mentioned her – he had this small nervous twitch in his leg. While I talked to him about his sister – his leg continued to twitch. "Excuse me – but you must be mistaken your highness because I don't have another sister, just Mina."
I looked at him in shock. I could have sworn that the Tsukino clan had five children, Andrew, Jadeite, Sergio, Mina, and another girl whose name I can't remember. "Well you know your family better than I do Sergio."
Sergio seemed to be a bit relieved after that, and we continued to make small talk for a while until there was a knock on the door. "Excuse me" I told Sergio as I went towards the door and said, "please enter."
"Lunch is ready your highness." A female voice replied loudly from behind the door. My female servants other than the very few female bodyguards that I had had in the past never dared to enter my room, it was almost as if it was some sort of taboo to do so.
"Thank you Lita." I told her and turned around to face Sergio. "It seems as if lunch is ready. Would you care to join me for lunch Sergio?"
"If that is what you wish sire. I will guard you while you eat your food."
I let out a little laugh, which seemed to surprise him, "no Sergio – I meant would you like to eat with me?"
"Of course your highness, I would be delighted to dine in your company." Sergio quipped and in about a second he had jumped up from his chair, practically glided in the air from the place where he had sat to the walls, and bounced off the different walls until he reached the door and opened it for me.
"You're too kind Sergio – thank you."
"No problem your grace." Sergio said with a low bow towards me.
"Like I said before Sergio, you really don't have to bow in my presence, and how about instead of addressing me with the various honors that you just call me Darien? I know that it's a bit sooner than I ask most of my bodyguards, but I've really taken a liking to you Sergio, and I think that we could be close friends. What do you think?"
"I could never sir – it would be against the oath, and not polite at all."
"Who needs silly little gestures like being polite when you're among friends? Come on now Sergio, I want you to think of me as one of your buddies, someone that you would normally hang out with. I really hate being stiffly addressed as 'your highness' and everything else, I'm just plain old Darien – who happens to be king of Crystal Tokyo and that's all anyone really needs to know."
"All right…D-D-D-D-D-Darien." Sergio eventually sputtered out my name and I gave him a smile.
"Great. Now let's go eat Sergio, I'm starving."
Sergio let out a cheerful laugh, "so am I D-D-D-Darien, so am I."
We walked out of my room and took the long way down the hall to the kitchen. Sergio from time to time would use his powers of invisibility and walk beside me, or would sometimes cling to the walls watching from above and then quickly drift to the next wall while still invisible. Sergio really does take his job seriously – security must be his number one priority. We made it to the dining room, safe and sound (I didn't expect there to be any attack within my own palace but you never know) and Sergio, the other bodyguards and I all sat down at a long table, ready to devour the feast that was in front of us. Malachite was sitting on my left while Sergio was on my right. Before we ate, I made the traditional tribute to the previous fallen bodyguard – and declared that this meal would be for him. Then Malachite introduced Sergio to the rest of my bodyguard team, and they greeted him with warm smiles and shouts. Immediately afterwards we started eating the delicious meal that the kitchens had so delicately prepared.
Suddenly a loud burst of feminine laughter entered the dining room, echoing around the walls and into our ears. My bodyguards immediately surrounded me, interestingly enough though – I could not find Sergio anywhere, my guess was that he had become invisible and was somewhere nearby. As soon as the laughter ended, all of the crystal windows shattered into pieces and in floated (yes I said floated) one of the last people that I wanted to see on such a great day – the ninja princess Nehellenia still laughing as she landed onto the dining room table. Ninja stars, swords, sticks, and every weapon imaginable were all pointed in her direction – ready to be used in case she decided to make a move. "Why hello King Darien. How are you on this lovely day darling? Are you surprised to see me? Seems like all of your little friends aren't happy that I'm here. What's wrong…don't you love me?" She said as she blew me a kiss.
Anger was tensing up in my body, I wanted to leap up and deal with her myself despite the fact that I knew it was a bad idea; Nehellenia had been a problem from the first day that we had met when I was four years old. She had a ninja father who married a foreign queen, and thus became a ninja princess. Nehellenia was very gifted in the martial arts and had also mastered the ability to fly or float whenever she wanted to. Ever since we were little it was clear to me that she was after my crown and me. Although it's always been obvious to me that she's more interested in the crown than being with me. If I ever went crazy and decided to marry her – she would probably kill me right after the reception (she would want to have the reception in order to get all of the gifts). Many of the members of the court, whom I've casually mentioned this to in conversation don't believe me, even after I told them about some of the many things that she's said to me in the past including, "you'd make a nice trophy to go along with my pretty crown. I would enjoy having a nice plaything – a doll if you will to go along with my new country. Why can't I rule your world – I mean why can't we rule Crystal Tokyo together luvie? I think that it would be splendid." Throughout the long years that we had known each other, Nehellenia has always made a desperate attempt for me to fall in love with her. I can still remember my sixteenth birthday when she came to the party that my bodyguards had thrown for me, she didn't take her eyes off of me for one second and followed me around like a puppy. She even refused to let the kitchen staff prepare my food – insisting that she make it herself, and later thanks to Henry (bless his soul) I found out the reason why. Nehellenia had made a love potion and put it into my food, hoping that that would be the day where I miraculously fell in love with her. Thankfully my bodyguards had always been weary of her, and through them I learned to be as well. Now she was floating right above me, and although my bodyguards were protectively surrounding me, she was still too close to my comfort.
"Darien love, it's been such a long time – we haven't seen each other in a couple of years. I had been off in France helping my mother with some sort of political nonsense, and the whole entire time I couldn't think of anything else but you. I had to see you the minute that I got back. So here I am. I see that you've prepared a lovely feast for me." She said as she got closer to the table where earlier a happy meal was occurring and ripped off a leg from the chicken that was set towards my end of the table. "I'm glad that the chefs remember my exquisite tastes as well." She said as she took a bite into the chicken, and let her eyes wander – then linger over the lobster, which was right in front of my seat. "Mmm, maybe just a bite of this as well…" Nehellenia said, but as she reached over to grab some lobster, Malachite pulled out a ninja star and flung it, and if Nehellenia didn't have such quick reflexes, she would have had a nice little trophy to show her parents once she fled home from my kingdom – and it wouldn't be my crown. "How dare you!" She spat at Malachite, who let out a little chuckle.
He whispered through the side of his mouth, "it's too bad that I didn't get her though it would've been nice to see how the princess enjoyed my present sire." I laughed a bit at this but quickly regained my composure in order to talk to Nehellenia.
"What do you want this time? I'm in no mood to play your games tonight Nehellenia."
"Games…darling I have no idea what you mean. I don't play games – I'm not that kind of women. I think that I'm more like a huntress, trying to catch her prey." She purred at me, her cat-like eyes seemed to dance in the light. Suddenly she looked up, and was looking around the room in a state of confusion. What the hell is going on – why is she acting like that? Then Nehellenia looked at me, a cold and daunting look, "tell me Darien have you been seeing another woman?" She accused her words coming out in a low hiss. "It smells like a woman has been in here – you know what I told you in the past beloved…if another woman even comes near you I will kill her! Either that or I will make sure that her life is a living hell, by the time that I'm done with whatever bitch has been in this room she'll never even want to breathe the same air as you again."
I really don't like admitting this, but Nehellenia is another reason as to why I'm so lonely. I'm afraid of getting too close to a woman. The possibilities are endless as to what she would do if she found out that I had a significant other – what if one day my bodyguards weren't around and she found a way to deceive my wife, or worse? I could never rule that out since Nehellenia is a skilled ninja, she only makes bold grand entrances such as this every once in a while. Most of the time she sneaks into the palace and I'm lucky to have my bodyguards around most of the time.
Nehellenia looked to be extremely pissed off at this point and getting angrier by the minute as she quickly flew around the room looking for another woman. It was odd, but she had the ability to catch the smell of another woman – which also didn't help my situation much. "Where is she? Where is this whore who dares touch my Darien? I'm going to find her and when I do…" four katana swords appeared quickly – almost like magic into her hands and she was about to throw them at my bodyguards and myself when I noticed a knife pressed against her throat.
"Don't move or I will cut off your head as quickly and as easily as a stick of bamboo." A voice said – and immediately I knew that it was Sergio. He re-appeared from his state of invisibility, and he too was floating in the air – now I was really impressed. I didn't know that Sergio could do that, the art of floating is lost among most ninjas, I thought that only Nehellenia could do it – incredible. "Now drop your weapons." Nehellenia did as she was told. "I want you to get out of here as quickly as possible and leave my friend Darien alone." Sergio yelled at her.
"Y-Y-Y-Yes…" Nehellenia whimpered, "please don't kill me."
"I won't today – but if I ever see your face again, don't expect to live for much longer. I could give less of a shit that you're a princess or the daughter of a very famous and well-respected ninja. Leave the king – our king of Crystal Tokyo alone. Got it?" Sergio said as he let go, and Nehellenia turned slightly to face him. The look on her face immediately changed from fear to one of understanding. Does she know something that I don't know? Have Sergio and her met before? What is with that look?
"I got it." She purred, resuming the former control and posture that she had had before. "I'm sorry to bother you your highness" she said, giving me a low bow. "Hmmm, so little one is this death threat of yours still applicable if I tell his highness and his boy toys your little secret?"
"Fuck off bitch, you don't know a damned thing about me!" Sergio said to her in a low growl.
Nehellenia let out a chuckle, "oh but I do…well I think that his highness will figure it out eventually. But if he doesn't, well who am I not to share gossip with a fellow member of the court?" Nehellenia roared with laughter, turned to me and blew me a little kiss, "nice seeing you again your highness…goodbye" she said. With that Nehellenia spun around in circles until she vanished with a 'pop' noise and left black and gold rose petals all over the dining room floor. My bodyguards got out of their tight clump around me and Sergio landed gracefully beside them. His sad blue eyes seemed to scan the floor; it almost looked as if he was trying to prevent himself from crying. If only I could know what he's thinking right now…I wonder why he's so sad.
Everyone else seemed to be celebrating the fact that Sergio had vanquished Nehellenia – if only temporarily. Malachite grabbed a glass that he had filled with the sake from tonight's meal and decided to make another toast. "Three cheers for Sergio for casting out the bitch!"
The cheers were load and uproarious – but Sergio didn't seem to want to join in the fun. Maybe I should talk to him about all of this. I lightly touched Sergio who had resumed his place in his seat next to me. "May I have a private word with you in my chambers Sergio?" He nodded, still looking sad and forlorn. "Continue to eat and drink well my friends!" I told my bodyguards, to which they all cheered. I motioned for Sergio to join me and the two of us went to my room. Once I closed the doors behind us I told Sergio, "sit down please." He looked at me and sat down unhappily, I sat down in my usual chair, and studied him for a minute. "Great job in dealing with Nehellenia today."
"Thank you sire, I mean D-D-D-Darien."
I smiled at him. "Listen Sergio I don't want to interrogate you about your secret, I don't think that it's my place. I just want to know that I'm also here to support you if you need me – and if you ever want to tell me your secret then it's safe with me."
"I'm afraid that I can't do that D…Darien, but thank you." Sergio said, a small smile was starting to show through his mask.
"So are you ever going to take that hood off – a few of my bodyguards have mentioned that they would like to see your face, as a way to get to know you better and such. They want to see the man behind the mask so to speak."
"I'm afraid that I can't do that D…Darien, I was actually going to ask you if my uniform could come with a hood. For personal reasons I don't really want to show my face."
Why would he not want to show his face, I really don't get it. Only ninja in the golden years wore hoods in order to mask their identities. Nowadays everyone knows who the ninja are – and for the most part what they look like, so there's no need for hoods. Come to think about it, I've never seen a picture of Sergio myself, I wonder why.
"Is it because of some kind of scar that you have on your face? If so Sergio – we really don't care about appearances here."
"No it's not that…." Sergio said his eyes looking towards the floor.
"Well that's fine by me – I won't question it anymore. I'm going to go to the bathhouses now to take a nice bath. Would you care to join me? Malachite and some of the others should be in there a bit later."
Sergio seemed to be either appalled or stunned by the idea that I would even ask him, "n-n-no thank you D-D-D-Darien. I t-t-t-take morning b-b-b-b-baths." He stuttered, which by now I guessed was a nervous habit for him whenever someone made him uncomfortable.
"Oh I understand…well then, I guess I will see you tomorrow." I told him, as I gathered my things for the baths, and started to disrobe in the room. I don't usually think much of this – unless there is a woman in the room, since I feel that it's inappropriate to disrobe in front of a woman who you're not in a relationship with. I turned around to wave goodbye and noticed that Sergio was looking in the other direction, his body in the opposite direction. I grabbed the towel to cover myself and said, "uh – you can leave now if you'd like Sergio."
"Yes…I-I-I-I knew that D….Darien, don't worry, I d-d-d-didn't see anything." Sergio said as he practically ran out of the room and closed the door as quickly but quietly as he could.
What an interesting fellow he is. I went to take a shower before I got to my private bathhouse, shared by some of my closest bodyguards and me. I decided to dwell on it more while I was in the baths relaxing. The day had been pretty stressful and I was looking forward to a nice steaming hot bath and my wonderfully comfortable bed.
