The man clad in white sat in his opulently decorated room, that was situated in the top floor in one the cities high-end apartment buildings. A glass of whiskey in his hand and his head leaned back, the man's gaze concentrated on the images that were all over the ceiling.
"Princess Serenity.." he drawled. He raised his glass and swallowed half of the glass's contents in one go. "I must admit the alcohol of this time is pleasantly satisfying."
"RUBEUS!" he called out, his voice booming through the room. "I need to see Wiseman, now." The red-haired man scurried away, aware of the fact that the last one not to not carry out the order promptly was sent out in the world and destroyed by those warriors. And the master was not too much pleased about the unexpected help that wench was getting.
Moments later a figure that was very similar to a floating rag came before the drinking men, "you called Prince Demande." The voice was raspy, hiding the disdaining notion it held for the man who summoned him.
"How is your little project coming along? Is the girl giving in yet?" Demande asked, now slowly pacing in his makeshift throne room. His face wearing unassuming expression. "Rather slowly, my Lord. However, I have launched a new plan in motion. This one should be more to your liking, presuming I may have more of the creatures for the experiments." The cloaked figure lied, knowing well enough the Prince was not one to actually come and see what was happening in the so called Laboratory.
"Rubeus will provide with anything you need. Leave." The Prince absentmindedly waved the figure away, his gaze once more giving its attention to one of the latest Serena's images.
Wiseman left the room. His only concern was to be left alone to explore the weaknesses of this time, and gaining new powers. He will overthrow Demande and rule the Black Moon Clan.
After Wiseman left, Prince Demande looked at the spot the figure stood and smirked. Despite his wish to possess Serenity, Demande was no fool and knew what was going on behind his back. It was just another spectacle for him to enjoy. Oh, the fun that he will have when he will reveal himself! Demande let out a loud and menacing laughter.
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Several weeks have passed, bringing along quite a few a changes in the lives of Serena and her have moved in a dorm apartment building and were sharing a five-bedroom apartment, since all five of them were now students at the same University. Lita still kept her own apartment on side and was now leasing it as an additional source of income. A girl can never know.
After a lengthy conversation with her Grandad, Rei finally relented and moved in with the girls, while hiring a help in the body of Darien's new neighbour Jake. Rei and Jake did not exactly get along, and everyone conveniently ignored the same signs of hidden attraction that were displayed by Serena and Darien in their early weeks of acquaintance. Well, all except for Mina, because she always has to know what is going on.
Darien befriended his new neighbours, the Mysterious Four as Mina named them. This lead to Jake knowing the situation of the Temple needing a helping hand. They and Darien started to spend more time together, which meant that the guys were spending more time with the girls. Kennet, Zachary, Nathan and Jake did know about Darien's secret and while they felt guilt about not sharing this with Darien, they were truly enjoying being his friend. And he did know five single girls that were quite charming, to say the least. In the first rendezvous it was clear which one of the charming ladies is off limits.
Darien and Serena did not talk about the kiss, but their relationship did suffer, which they tried to hide from others. And this funny enough led to them banter with each other again with throwing sarcastic phrases at each other. Both knew it was just a cover, but did not dare to change it, afraid to get rejected. And they only saw each other in the company of others.
That, strangely enough, led them to still be just the two of them in any meetings. While Rei and Jake occasionally argued between just the two of them, they were usually quietly pacified by Lita and Nathan, which in the end turned to be just conversation within their group of four and additional measure for change of topic in rise of any new argument between the Priestess and her cheeky opponent.
Amy and Zachary mostly conversed about their love of books and the many possibilities their future careers may bring forth. While Kennet and Mina spent most of the time observing their friends and making remarks accordingly. Mina did, of course, flirt. And Kennet, without a doubt, played the same game.
Serena was still having nightmares, but at irregular intervals. And not always did she wake up screaming. Thus the girls did not always know when she had had a particularly nasty dream. Sometimes the girls caught Serena looking into mirrors with a look lacking all expressions, Amy observed that the girl's pupils were dilated. All observations were carefully written down for future examination.
After this has been going on for a week, Rei finally told the girls, sans Serena, what she had experienced. She could describe a scene that that in her opinion caused Serena's breakdown at the Temple – blood, mirrors and sword in the hand of white clad hand and then Serena holding the sword, a man whispering in her ear "You did it, it was you! Did you enjoy it? Don't lie to me. I know you did it." Rei was sure and very adamant in explaining this to the girls that someone was trying to do something to Serena, most probably manipulating her.
What scared the girls the most was that Serena refused to talk about the nightmares. She was very stubborn about this. The girls allowed her that and tried to formulate the best plan for the current situation. Which was to keep Serena as much as stress-free until Amy finished a device that could help the girls to monitor Serena's rooms for any outer dangers. Both Luna and Artemis were informed and agreed to make their own investigation.
Jake in turn had discussed this dream sequence with the Generals, and while he did not recognize the girl as being Serena, the feeling that the person was familiar never left him. They decided that for now it did not indicate any danger for the Prince, however, they should keep their minds open for a possible threat.
Jake and Rei did not experience new gore dreams again, but sometimes they had the distinctive feel in the morning, that the night had held some secrets and a possible blood infused nightmare.
Rei had connected the face she saw in the vision in the room of Great Fire at the temple with one of the Generals, Jadeite. Or rather, Jade. This means that what the Generals have told them was true. Although she did not feel love for him, she had that glimpse of that one scene, and the connection between them was strong.
In the first meeting with the girls, Jake noticed that Rei has a similar connection to Earth as he does, both could see "spiritual" face of the world. He did not act on this knowledge or share with her him knowing, but he certainly did enjoy riling her up, making her aura turn the lovely shade of red only he could see.
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One Saturday, Serena was sitting in one of the booths at the back of the Arcade and waiting for the rest of their group. They were heading out to an amusement park, but decided that meeting in the Arcade would suit best, knowing that sometimes Mina was late.
Ten people may be a rather large company for any of their get-togethers, but they usually split up into smaller groups while keeping each other in sight. Well sometimes the girls were trying to get lost to leave Darien and Serena alone, to make them talk. This was something that the guys quickly understood and were more than happy to be a part of their little scheme.
Darien was the first one to arrive. He moved closer to the booth and realised that Serena was alone. At first he thought to wait for others and then go up to Serena, but in the last minute, his legs carried themselves and his bottom found a seat next to Serena. She turned and seeing that it was just Darien slightly blushed and whispered a quite hello. The girl hoped Darien wont' be talking about a certain event she tried and failed to forget. Darien observed the light blue dress and navy cardigan she was wearing and wished he could undo the top bottom, just over the décolletage.
"All alone?" he asked while silently feeling overjoyed about her slight tinge of pink in her cheeks. Serena looked at him and just nodded, not knowing what to say.
"Cat got your tongue?" teased Darien with a small smile. "Not at all," replied Serena and poked Darien's chest "but since you have two, I was not sure if I should speak", and for good measure poked again his Rolling Stones T-shirt with the all too famous image.
Darien caught the poking hand, "Good thinking. And here I was worried that all your screaming had finally got to your vocal cords." Serena was not to be intimated and poked with her other hand, "Don't worry about my voice or my tongue. I try to find the best use for it and speaking to you did not really reach the top choices of what I had in mind." He raised an eyebrow and leaned closer, "pray tell me, what uses can you think for your tongue that for good reason would allow me to participate?" and then proceeded to take her other poking hand in his other hand.
On impulse, Serena leaned closer, "No, I insist, you tell ME why should I use my tongue to please the likes of you." Both of their hands clasped to Darien's sides, the pair was leaning into each other in a dangerous position. Needless to say, both felt the need for each other and both tried to reassure themselves that this was fine. That this was fine indeed.
But then Darien cursed under his breath and his lips were on Serena's. And she did not hold back. This was not fine. Because it was good, and the more seconds passed, the better it became.
The sound of breaking glass nearby brought them out of the kiss. Darien looked over his shoulder and saw a small child and his mother, the child had pushed his milkshake too close of the table's edge. When he turned back he saw Serena looking at their hands and he slowly released them. Darien opened his mouth to release a false apology for an action he did not regret and felt a tap on his head. It was Rei.
"Let's go?" she asked both of them, with a foxy smile on her face. She turned and went to the Arcade's front door, knowing that the pair was following her. Darien let Serena walk in front of him. He looked at her buttocks, how the dress slid over it with Serena moving, and he then and there understood, that since he had kissed her, her wanted more of her. He lusted after her, which was new to him. Before they shared that kiss, he had never really thought of what it would be like to be together with her physically. Sure, he had imagined, no good in denying it, but very little and not enough to feel the same as he felt now.
Now that he had had the first taste, he wanted more. He wanted all of her, body and soul.
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They were having a very joyful evening at the amusement park, while not all ten of them together, but always in an easy distance. And this is why Serena and Darien where none the wiser when Rei was prancing around and telling the rest of the group how she saw the pair lip locked. In front of a child nonetheless. Jake just laughed and exclaimed she must be exaggerating, to which Rei just scrunched her nose and replied that perhaps the child could only see them if he was sitting in Serena's lap. Which he did not. She only saw them kissing because she was spying on them.
Jake ruffled her hair and Rei jokingly punched his stomach, feeling his lean muscles through the shirt. Mina and Kennet eyed them and smiled knowingly at each other. Lita and Nathan were looking around which attraction to try out next while Amy and Zachary were trailing behind the group, Serena and Darien in front of them.
The latter pair were not walking too close to each other, and had spoken to each other very little. The other were mainly entertaining without them, something that Darien was now as being somewhat suspicious, as it left him and Serena mostly alone. He looked at her, eating cotton candy her eyes telling the excitement she was feeling being in a place full with fun.
There was a small commotion near them and Serena was pushed to side, colliding with Darien. He steadied her, but kept his hand on the small of her back. When he felt Serena shiver lightly and could not resist the temptation to move his hand slowly lower her back, the tips of his finger just barely touching the top of her bottoms cheeks.
Just as Darien was leaning in to steal a bit of Serena's treat, they heard screams coming not far from them. Darien grabbed Serena's hand and rushed in the opposite direction, not risking another Temple incident, even though he had no idea what was going. He looked out for the others and saw them following them. They hid behind a booth.
Minutes passed, people were screaming and running amok. Sirens could be heard coming in closer, and then they heard a blast. Amy was secretly scanning the surroundings. She turned her back to everyone to look at the computers analysis.
When she turned back, a knowing look was on her face. A look the girls knew too well. Mina looked at Serena, shaking her head. Serena understood that she cannot follow them, she could not possible be of help them now. She took a step back, feeling as if been rejected by the girls, but her mind kept telling her it was not her fault that she could not transform. Lita expressed the need to see if they can leave and the man all agreed. The Generals having already understood that this is another youma attack.
Rei suggested to go through the woods as it would give them coverage from whatever was going on. Darien was still holding Serena's hand and almost dragged her behind him. Serena was distraught, she wanted to help, badly, but she could not. She looked at Darien's back and made her feet work harder, knowing if she was far away the girls would not worry too much about her. She was now side to side with Darien and they run, the girls and boys behind them. They did not notice that the eight people behind them were slowly going off one by one. Both Generals and Senshi did not have time to think how to explain their disappearance, but they knew one thing – if they are fighting the youma, the others are safe.
When Darien and Serena were outside the woods, they turned and could see the Panorama wheel being commandeered by an awfully large and neon pink monster. Serena gasped in surprise as she saw the Senshi fighting alongside with Generals, the girls were dressed differently. Gone were the short skirts, there were four proud Senshi warriors partaking in that battle. Darien too watched in amazement on the warriors, deciding to leave the battle for them and now caring for Serena.
Serena slumped to the ground, with one thought in her mind: without her, the Senshi were stronger.