Bye, Bye Love
Chapter 9: Wise Men Say
In a mysterious mansion located in the center of a misty wood…
"So, Malachite, what do we do now?" Jadeite asked. "I mean we don't even have any hints to go by."
Malachite sighed. "King Endymion ordered us to find his past self and the past self of Neo Queen Serenity and get them back together. According to him, they have been driven apart by an enemy who desires to change the future." He closed his eyes, concentrating for a moment on not rolling them. Rolling one's eyes was not something the leader of the Shitennou did. "So, first thing we to do is find them."
Nephrite stood. "That's where I come in. I'll contact the stars now for an answer." He closed his eyes. "I call upon you, the power of the stars, show us where we might find Serenity." A picture of a rushing waterfall and with a tent beside it popped up. Nephrite rubbed his forehead. "Very funny. Alright, let's try this. Show us Princess Serenity of this era."
This time a vision of Serena Tsukino appeared before them. She was being held by a man that they didn't recognize.
"I know her!" Jadeite stood. "That's Sailor Moon!" He finally remembered that he had seen the identities of the first three sailors before his death.
"But who is that?" Zoicite asked. "That's not Endymion. That's not even his past self."
Malachite glowered at the strange man. "My friends, I do believe we know what we must do now. We must find out why Lady Serenity is not with Endymion and get him," he spat, indicating the white-haired stranger, "away from her," gesturing to Serena. "Jadeite, I'm putting you in charge of that mission. The three of us will do what we can to take care of the rest."
Jadeite saluted and vanished.
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As Erik promised, he managed to find them another restaurant, specifically a fancy pizza parlor. Italian music played in the background and a Maître d' escorted them to their seat.
"There, a nice quiet place. No one will bother us here, milady." Erik assured her as he helped her into the booth.
"May I start you out with something drink?" the waiter asked.
"Yes," Erik began. "Bring us a bottle of your finest sparkling white grape juice please."
Serena looked at the table. It was so clean, she could even see her face in the varnish. "This place looks very expensive," she whispered as the waiter left.
"Milady, money is not an issue, not where you are concerned," he replied.
Serena felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. "Why do you call me that? 'Milady'?"
Erik grinned. "I've always wanted someone to call 'milady.' It seems to suit you. But if you would rather…"
"No, no, I don't mind." Serena shook her head frantically, blushing. "I was just curious."
Erik took her hand. "Good, like I said, it suits you, milady." He reached over to hold her hand on the table. "I know you said you weren't into fancy places, but after seeing what you were being put through at that café place, I think you need some quiet."
"I am so sorry you keep getting pulled into the middle of this," Serena apologized. "It's not right. You shouldn't have to get involved in the issues between me and Darien."
"Please, milady. Do not apologize. I think it is clear to anyone around that he was not treating you properly." Erik told her. "I am of the belief that when a man loves a woman he should treat her not as a helpless princess in a tower but a queen. A princess is a child, incapable of doing but what her parents expect of her. A queen on the other hand... she has a mind and will of her own and is only to be obeyed by her prince." He touched her chin gently. "Thus when I see what I saw today, I take a personal interest."
"Oh then it's your mission in life to rescue all of us mistreated queens then?" Serena asked mostly joking. "And do you take them all out to a fancy pizza place for dinner and sparkling grape juice?"
He shrugged with a playful smile, "Actually you're the first I've really rescued. I must be honest, since I first saw you, I've longed for you, needed you."
"You mean yesterday?" she asked cynically. "You move fast."
"Love has no time limit, milady. It can come as slow as a ship without wind it's sails. Or it can come fast like a bolt of lightning. Neither is more or less real than the other." he caressed her hand gently. "If you would agree, I wish to ask your parents to allow me to court you."
Serena's mind reeled. She had only heard of courting in her storybooks. Courting was done back in the days of real princes and princesses. The days of knights and vicious dragons. Darien had certainly never called it courting before. But then, he had never gotten up the courage to ask her parents' permission to date her. Erik was even asking her permission to ask their permission. Declaring love for her.
She was about to try and answer when another waiter, one with familiar blonde hair, walked by carrying a pizza on a tray and tripped. The clumsy waiter stumbled sideways and dumped the pizza all over Serena's beautiful white dress.
"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry miss." The man insisted standing and trying to mop up the red sauce on her dress. "I am so sorry." He attempted to pull her to her feet and usher her to the back restroom. "Let me help you get cleaned up."
Erik fought to contain his temper. How dare this klutz interrupt their tête-à-tête.
Serena took her napkin and took over wiping off the sauce. "It's all right. I'm clumsy too, very clumsy. It's all right, really."
Their own waiter arrived and shooed the other one away, apologizing profusely for the accident. Serena kept insisting it was alright. Erik felt his anger die down. If Serena wasn't upset then neither should he be. To try and make up for the blunder, the waiter brought them two bottles of the sparkling grape juice, stating both were on the house that night. After the two placed their order, the waiter left them alone again.
Serena looked forlornly at the stain on her pretty white dress. "Mom is gonna kill me. She just got me this."
Erik picked up his own napkin and inched over to her, pulling out a bottle of something. "My mother, before she died, gave me her special formula and told me to always carry a small bit of it when I started courting." he dabbed a good quantity of the stuff on his napkin and wiped at the mess. Like magic, the red stuff vanished leaving the dress its perfect, unblemished white. "There we are. As good as new."
Serena gasped. "It is, oh thank you Erik." She kissed his cheek. "And yes, you can ask my mom and dad's permission to court me. I'd like that."
Diamond felt his heart pounding inside. Was this how normal people felt when they asked someone out on dates? And she said yes. He had been greatly concerned when that clumsy waiter had dumped the pizza on her dress. He had been afraid she might take it as a bad sign, or worse run out in tears. He had been fearful that he would be unable to control his temper if that were to happen. However, the whole incident seemed to have worked in his favor. He had been able to help her once again. She would never need to know that the bottle had only contained simple water. She didn't need to know that he truly did have magic at his disposal.
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Raye sat in front of the Great Fire. "Oh Fire, tell me, who are the Sages exactly? Why do I get such a bad feeling about them?"
The fire flared up before her. In the fire, an upside-down, black crescent appeared. Raye about jumped out of her skin. She had never gotten that strong of a vision before. "That settles it. Those two cannot be trusted. I have to keep Serena away from them both. Serena and Reenie."
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Wise Man was looking in on Diamond's progress when he felt the energy of someone attempting to scry. "Show me," he demanded his crystal ball. "Hmmm, the young priestess, Raye Hino I believe her name is. Sailor Mars. She suspects us. I will have to ameliorate her suspicions." He waved his hand over the ball, dispelling her vision. He grinned when he saw her startled visage.
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In the back office, the blond waiter was about to be firmly castigated regarding his appaling behavior when he disappeared. It was better that way, as he didn't really work there. Instead, he had to serve his report to Kunzite.
AN: Alright it has been decided that at no point, not even briefly, will Darien and Serena date again. They are officially here and now over with. She's not going back to him. Oh and courting is a LOT different from dating. When a man courts a woman, it's really just a step away from proposing, that is why the man asks the woman's parents first. A courtship can last even longer than simply dating though. Diamond will effectively be asking her parents if he may have a longterm relationship.