Standard Disclaimers

Darien's Quest

Chapter Three



The next day was fogy as if something was trying to

stop the two heroes from continuing on their quest. "Hmm,

this fog seemed to appear at the most inopportune times,"

Ami said. She went into her bag and pulled out what to be a

compact.

'Why in the world is worried about her looks at a time

like this?' Darien wondered. The queen had given him some

kind of herb that would calm his sensitive stomach for their

journey ahead. Now, the rocking of the boat did not trouble

him, and in some way he enjoyed the waves hitting up against

the boat splashing his face.

"Hmm, I guess the next one to search out is Mars. From

our records, their people live in a giant volcano in

the south. The only one in that area is Phobos-Deimos. It

will take four months to get there." Ami forehead was

wrinkled in concentration. Then she smiled and looked up at

Darien with wisdom sparking in her eyes. "But I can get us

there quicker. Captain! Lower the sails! Prepare the air

cruiser!" Ami ordered.

"Yes, My Lady." The captain bowed deeply. "Men, you

heard the lady!" The sails quickly fell and were wrapped up

tight. Everyone was running around like mad trying to

complete their task quickly.

"Princess, if I may ask? What is going on?"

"Please just call me Ami. We are changing the

structure of this ship into an air ship. It will be much

quicker. We will get there within the week. I have added a

few new things to the theory of flying and I believe it will

work," Ami lectured.

'She is crazy! This girl is out of her mind—thinking

we can fly!' All of a sudden, Darien felt some force coming

up from under him. He looked over the side of the ship and

saw that they were rising off of the water. Darien's head

started to spin at the notion.

Ami laughed at his reaction when they took off. "Did

you not believe me? I am the princess and the genius of my

people. This task is easy for me. Now I must attend to my

cat, Luna. Do you wish to meet her? She very anxious to

meet you." Ami laughed.

Darien followed her below deck until they came to a

large box of some sort. Ami opened the box and lying in

there was a black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead.

"I am sorry Luna, but it was the only way we could sneak

past mother. If she heard that you were coming, she would

have been very angry. Please forgive me." Ami scratched

the cat under her chin. "Luna, meet Darien."

Darien did not know what to say to the cat. Ami was

talking to it like it could understand what she was saying.

"Uh, hi Luna. I am Darien from the uh… Earth kingdom.

Well, was from."

To Darien surprise, the cat responded to him, "Hello, I

am Luna first cat of the moon people. I hear you are trying

to find my people. Unfortunately, they have all vanished.

I too wish to find them," Luna purred.

"Moon people? Ahhh!" Pain shot through his whole

body. Darien grabbed his head and fell. 'An old woman turned

new… A quest charged that seemed impossible. "Find

the nine races! Find my daughter!!"' Then everything went

black.

****************************************

For two days, Darien dreamt, each of them visions of

the girl who was crying. He heard himself scream when he

saw her die. It was an endless nightmare. Luna and Ami

watched over him. "He has a very bad fever. It may kill

him. Do you think he is the one Luna?"

"Yes, he screams out her name every night, but he does

not remember. He does not want to remember, the pain is to

great for him."

At the sound of their whispers, Darien opened his eyes.

Pain flashed in them. Ami knew that he would continue to

suffer until he chooses to remember and realize that he has

been given a second chance. "What," Darien could barely

speak and his throat was so dry. He did not even recognize

the sound of his voice, "what day is it?"

"You have been unconscious for two days. Here drink

this, it will help you sleep." She gave him some wine mixed

with some herbs. She had a sad look on her face.

Darien knew he was dying and was welcoming it. 'I will

not have to suffer anymore. It was my fault that she was

lost.' He did not understand why but he knew he caused her

suffering. He laughed bitterly at the thought of his death.

'Well, at least I will return home sooner than I expected.'

"Darien, you must fight it or everything will be lost!

Remember your one true desire!" Ami yelled.

"Don't, Ami, he's already been lost. We cannot break

this tragic cycle…" Luna said. Darien lost all of the words

she said afterwards.

1 '"He's already been lost…Find my daughter!" No, no

2 this is not supposed to happen like this. I must keep my

3 promise to her…'

Darien's body began to glow a golden hue. "What? What

is going on Luna?" Ami frighteningly said.

"He is fighting, Ami. The prince is coming back to us.

Look at his sword, it is flashing!" Luna exclaimed. The

prince reached and touched his sword. When he did so the

ruins flashed brightly and then returned to normal. Luna

smiled, "He is coming back to us."

****************************************

Darien woke the next day to see some water and bread

laid out next to on a tray. He became dizzy when he tried

to sit up. Soon he lost all energy and just laid back down.

"Don't try to get up too quickly, Darien. You are far too

weak from your fever." Darien heard a voice in the dark.

Luna then jumped on top of him that prevented him from

getting up again. "Ami, he is awake! Are you hungry?

There is some bread and water, but you should not have too

much." Ami walked in wearing a white blouse and blue

britches.

"Oh, you are up. Great!" She flashed a smile. "We are

almost there. I think we will be there in the next thirty-

six hours. You better get your rest. Sleep as much as you

can to recover your strength," she said as she handed him

the water and bread. "I just hope that you will recover

your strength before we get into Mars country. We will need

your strength. It is not as friendly as mine." She left

the room for Darien to eat and then rest. Darien ate the

food slowly trying to swallow every bite. He finally gave

up after a few bites and just drank the water. After he was

finished with his small meal, he dosed off to sleep. Luna

just laid down beside him and took a small catnap.

****************************************

After sleeping for two more days, Darien finally got

up. He ate food set out for him. The last few days he

drifted in and out of sleep while he recovered. Now, he

felt fully revived. He could not understand how healed so

fast. Usually a person who is as sick as he was usually is

bedridden for the next two weeks.

"You have the ability to heal," Luna informed him. "It

is one of your many hidden talents. Soon you will be able

to discover all of them."

"How do you know that? How do you know so much about

me? How come everyone knows some much about me and won't

tell me?" Darien yelled in frustration.

"Prince, you must find that out yourself. It is not

our place to tell you who you are, nor your future. But I

will tell you this: you are a part of a great future. To

obtain this future, you must find out who you are and accept

it. We cannot tell you otherwise it will be lost forever."

"So be it." Darien got up angrily. He dressed quickly

and stomped up the stairs to the upper deck. It was hot out

and when the wind blew only hot air flowed through Darien's

dark hair. Darien looked up into the sky and saw that it

was black with ash.

"It is the result of the volcano," Ami informed him as

she followed his gaze up to the heavens. "It is the volcano

that causes this is the place where we go. Do you see smoke

rising up from a mountain in the distance? That is where we

will go. We will be there in a few minutes." Ami started

to yell instructions for the crew to slow down the ship.

When Darien looked for the mountain the volcano again, he

saw it was really close. He could see that the volcano had

caused an island to form around the base. He saw trees that

he had never seen before. For being an island that was

created by a volcano, there were tons of vegetation and

life. He could see birds of the sea flying around the whole

island. Within a few moments the ship stopped completely

over the beach. The sailors threw down ladder and Ami

climbed down. Then came Darien with Luna and finally the

captain. Darien scanned the area for any sign of human

life. Ami was looking at her compact again which she told

him earlier was a mini computer, whatever that was. Darien

did not press the issue.

"There are four beings coming this way. Well, it looks

like we don't have to find them; they will find us. Darien

put away your sword. We don't need a fight right now. We

must show them that we come in peace. The Mars people are a

lot different than either of our cultures. The women are in

charge of the tribes and are the warriors. They also have

special powers in foretelling. As I expected, the priestess

has foreseen our arrival and has sent an escort." As

always, Ami was right. Four women broke through the brush

with out making a sound. They carried bows and arrows. All

four had raven dark hair and eyes. Darien could see the

sunset flash in their eyes from the distance.

The tallest one stepped forward, "Come with us. Our

priestess is waiting for you." She turned around and

started to walk away. Darien and Ami followed and the

captain stayed behind to watch over his men.

They walked through the brush and between the unusual

tall trees. They had unusual leaves. They were long and

sharp. They reminded Darien of a fan. If they were taking

a path, Darien was unable to see. After about an hour of

walking through the maze-like forest, Darien heard a whistle

and a returned one further away. 'So we have reached their

camp. I wonder who this great "priestess" is.' They soon

stepped out of the forest to see a small camp. The houses

were made of wood and sticks. At the center of the village

was a huge fire pit that had a flame that was reaching for

the sky. All of the people had black hair and eyes. Darien

could see the firelight reflect and sparkle in their hair

and eyes.

They were being guided to a large temple made of mud

bricks. The only mark on the temple was over the doorway.

It was a circle with an arrow coming out of the side of it.

As Darien was walking into the temple, he felt a great power

being worked. He then saw a young woman who had long black

hair with two crows sitting on her shoulders. She seemed to

be in deep meditation and not aware of their arrival. She

was staring at a flame while making different hand gestures.

Ami waited patiently acting like this happened everyday.

Soon she snapped out of her trance and her eyes focused on

them. "So you have arrived? It is just as I had foreseen.

I am glad to see you both." The priestess ran over and gave

Ami a big hug. Ami and the priestess embraced like old

sisters and were shedding tears endlessly. 'Does he know

yet?' The priest thought-spoke to Ami. Ami shook her head

no.

The priestess then turned toward Darien and offered her

hand, "Hello good prince, I am Rei, head priestess of the

Mars people. Welcome to my home. You are welcome to share

my fire with me." She bowed low and offered them some food

to eat and water to drink.

'Rei and Ami are really hitting it off well. It is

like they know each other from before…' He saw a glimpse of

them together in a uniform. 'What? Who are these girls?'

He did not realize he had spoken aloud until the girls had

stopped their gossip and were looking at him.

"Do you dream?" Rei asked.

"What do you mean? I dream all of the time like

everyone else." Darien simply stated.

"No, I mean do you have visions when you are asleep and

when you are awake?" Rei gaze seemed to look right through

him.

"Yes," Darien whispered. "How did you know?"

"Never mind. Do you remember any of them?"

"Some, but not really. Just glimpses." Darien

confessed.

"You get headaches. Ami told me about your sick spell.

That is not natural. Come with me." Rei got up and walked

toward the holy flame of her people. "Come. Sit. Now

relax. Just gaze toward the flame."

Darien agreed just to humor her. All of a sudden he

began to see different flashes of his lives. He did not

know why he knew that he was born again, but he knew. He

then saw an old woman turn young. He saw himself kiss her

hand and kneel at her feet. He heard her say go and find

the nine races. What he heard next shocked him cold. '"Go

and find my daughter." Who is she? Why do I feel like I

know her?' Darien began to shake all over again.

"Ok. Darien you have had enough. Wake up and return

to this world." Rei chanted a few words and then Darien

woke up from the trance.

"What? What happened to me?" He involuntary shook from

an unfelt cold wind. "Who is she? Who is that woman's

daughter? I know her. What is her name? I must find her."

He looked up to Rei for answers but she was unreadable and

did not offer anything to explain his dream. All she did

was smile at him and then turned away.

She walked up to Ami and said, "He knows. Not

everything though, but enough so he has a burning desire to

find her." She flashed a quick bright smile, "We may be able

to save her this time."

The next morning was cloudy like the day before. The

sun was unable to shine through the think gray clouds. Ami

and Rei were chatting by the fire for breakfast. "Darien,

come join us!" Rei called. Darien walked from his hut to

join them. He heard the splattering of meat and saw some

kind of animal being roasted. He sat down and just stared

into the fire. He listened to Ami and Rei's conversation as

he was trying to clear his mind from sleep. He did not

sleep last night; dreams of that girl plagued him all night.

He remembered all of the other dreams he had for the last

month of that girl.

"Ami!" Rei's shout broke Darien's from her thoughts.

"You know I hate men! Just because Grandpa wants me to

marry so I can carry on the lineage through the family,

does not mean I want to, nor will do. You know how I am and

was."

"Yes, I remember. You have not change a bit," Ami

giggled.

"Yeah, and neither have you. Still the brain of all of

us," Rei teased.

"What was I like?" Darien whispered softly. He looked

up at them with pain burning in his eyes and sadness painted

on my face. "How come I don't know who I am, but you do?

Everyone in the whole world knows who I am and what I was

but me!" Darien ended shouting and stomped off away from

the fire.

"We better watch what we say in front of him," Ami

stated. "He is jealous of us because we have companionship

and he has no one. Remember, he was banished from his only

known home a little while ago."

"You are right. Besides it is time that we find the

others. Do you have any idea where any of them are?" Rei

question.

"I think Jupiter is in the deep jungle near Darien's

home. I just hope he does not loose his sense of mind when

we return to his country. It will not be easy for him."



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Wow, reformatting is taking as long as the story! Haha.

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