Cupid's Last
Once Upon a Time
June
Serena Tyler loved fairy tales. As a child, she made her aunt, Trista, tell her fairy tales all the time.
"Auntie Trista!" She would beg every night, safely tucked into her blankets. "Tell me a story!"
And Trista Millard would smile and ask every night, "What story would you like to hear?"
And every night the girl would reply, "Tell me about Serenity! Tell me the Legend again!"
Then Trista would sit on the bed with the girl and wrap one arm around her. Playing with Serena's blonde tendrils, Trist began the story in her soothing voice,
"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Serenity and she was the princess of the moon, protected by strong guardians. One day, a war broke out and the Princess' guardians left her so that they could fight. But when they didn't return, the Princess enlisted the help of a Devil to help her. She found them eventually, but they were under a spell, one that wouldn't let them wake up. The sweet Princess then decided to make a deal with the Devil. In return for her soul, the life in her heart would be given to her guardians. The Devil agreed and persuaded the Gods to make this to happen. When everyone woke up, they found Serenity smiling as she slept for eternity on the beautiful white moon.
Serena loved this story above all others. It wasn't a regular fairytale, but Serena wasn't a regular girl.
"Thank you for your time, Dr. Maui." Serena Tyler said happily. Dr. Luna Maui stared at then young woman incredulously as she suddenly stood up, purse on her shoulder. She flashed Luna a million-watt smile that matched the gleam in her bright blue eyes as she walked to the door. "Take care!"
The good doctor was so shocked that she didn't move from behind her desk until her office door closed shut, her newest patient on the other side. Stumbling with surprise, Luna managed to stub her toe dashing outside his office. She glanced about wildly down the hallway of the hospital, catching a glimpse of golden hair walking into an empty elevator.
"Miss Tyler!" The said blonde turned around and smiled at her doctor.
"Good-bye, Dr. Maui!" She waved cheerily with (what Luna perceived was) the most clueless expression she'd ever encountered. "Thanks again for the diagnosis!" Serena pressed the button for the ground floor, not noticing the exasperated look on her doctor's face. "Hmm…This really does mess with my schedule." She said softly as the doors began to close. Her face brightened slightly. "Oh well, I always did do better under pressure."
She giggled at her own joke and then gave a short gasp as a hand suddenly came between the doors of the closing elevator car. "Dr. Maui!"
"Miss Tyler," Luna said through gritted teeth. "I don't think you understand the magnitude of your condition."
"What's there to understand, Doctor?" Serena asked, smiling sweetly. "I'm dying right?"
In the silence that followed, Luna stared at Serena, mentally wondering if perhaps she had judged her newest patient a little too quickly. Serena smiled at her, seeming to sense her confusion and amazement. She gently reached out a small hand to her arm. Luna mentally marveled at how petite she was.
"Thank you for your concern Dr. Maui." Serena said. "But I'll be just fine."
Suddenly, the seemingly small hand gathered such a strong force that pushed the good doctor out of the elevator.
"Good day Doctor." The next thing Luna knew, she was watching the grinning face of Serena Tyler disappearing behind the closing metal panels, waving goodbye at her.
The sliding doors of the entrance of the hospital slid aside, bringing in a gust of air that whipped around the 18-year-old's body. She sighed deeply just as her cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Serena! Where the hell are you?" Serena couldn't help but smile as she heard the voice of her hot-tempered friend, Raye Harrington. "We've been waiting for you for a freaking hour and-" Here, Raye was cut off and Serena heard the distant, placating voice of their other friend, Amy Merquise. "I don't care what her reason is, Ames! She has no right to make us wait for her! Is it our fault that she's such a ditz? I mean, come on!" Raye suddenly let out a small yelp and a new, bright voice spoke through the phone.
"Hey, Sere." Mina Aden chirped. "Listen babe, just come on over. I think Raye's going through her time of month again-" There was a loud protestation in the background. "-and Lita can only hold her back for so long."
Serena laughed. "I'm on my way."
"Alrighty then." Mina said brightly. "By the way, what'd you have today that was so important?"
Serena paused walking. A soft wind blew by and Serena found herself gazing at the endless blue sky. She watched a white dove hop on a branch of a nearby tree and slowly flutter into flight, soaring higher and smaller. She spoke into her phone,
"Hmm, nothing much."
"Okay, then. We'll see you soon, right?"
"Yeah." Serena smiled. "I'm on my way." It was a smile of sincerity only someone at peace with her own death could possibly make.
As Serena continued her way through the crowded streets, she punched in a new set of numbers. There were several rings before a groggy voice picked up the phone.
"Nggh…Whoos dis?"
"Hey Keith." She said brightly. The young man on the other end of the line grimaced at the happy tone.
"Jesus, Serena." He said grumpily. "What do you want?"
"Well, someone pulled another all-nighter." She teased. "Actually, I need to speak with your brother."
Keith Aduro sat up at his desk, feeling his muscles aching from looking over his brother's old law books. "Now what the hell would you need to talk to my brother about?"
"Well, it's none of your business but I need a professional opinion."
Keith's eyebrow went up a little. "Did you get arrested or something?"
"Of course not!" Serena said, indignant and exasperated.
"Then why the heck do you need a lawyer?"
"Oh shut up, Keith," Serena said. "And put Artemis on the line already. It's important."
"Oh yeah?" Keith challenged, even though he was already up and heading down the stairs to find his older brother, Artemis. "What's the emergency?"
Serena almost laughed at the retort that came to her mind. "Tell him, it's a life or death situation."
Keith rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Serena heard him holler for Artemis. A small thought struck her.
"Hey Keith!" She shouted to get his attention back to the phone.
"What?" He sounded irritated. Serena looked up and watched the white "walk" figure flash on the other side of the road.
"Are you still dating what's-her-face?"
"For your information, her name was Rhianne, and no, we're no longer together."
"My heart bleeds for you." Serena said dryly.
"Like hell, I'm sure." Keith retorted. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious." If Keith had seen the Cheshire grin on her face, he would've been a little more concerned. "Say hi to the rest of the guys for me, will you?" Assenting, Keith handed the phone to his brother at that precise moment.
"Serena? I'm glad you called." He stepped into his office, closing the door behind him for privacy. His voice became hushed. "How'd it go?"
Serena sighed, a sad smile on her face. "Let's just say, I won't have to make any plans for college after all."
Serena took her time going up the steps of the Cherry Hill Temple. Somehow, the thought of Raye's bantering wasn't enough to make her speed up. She approached the shrine at the top of the temple and bowed politely…when suddenly dozens of figures popped up out of nowhere, shouting:
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SERENA!"
In the party that was soon to follow Serena Tyler would laugh and smile with her friends. She would endure Raye's rave about how long it took the girls to invite everyone from school and put up the multitude of decorations on the temple. Serena would happily squeal over these decorations and marvel over the three tiered cake her friend, Lita Kingston had made. Mina would introduce her to three-fourths of the swimming team at school and throw aside a random book Amy would be reading at the sidelines.
Everyone would laugh and have a great time. Everyone would mistake the tears running down Serena's face as ones of joy. And everyone would believe Serena's lies when she said they were.
Darien Carson was not having a good day. He woke up late only to arrive to work at the station late, got bitched at by his boss, and, to top it all off, his freaking motorcycle got towed! And so, he was definitely not in the best of moods as he walked into the Crown Arcade. As luck would have it, his day wasn't over, as demonstrated when he bumped (hard) into someone, causing both of them to fall. Well, actually, it's wasn't really a 'bump.'
More like a 'collision.'
Lying on the floor on his stomach and propped up on his elbows, Darien felt every bit of pent up frustration and anger come pouring out of him like fireworks on the fourth of July, which was ironic since it actually was July.
"What the hell is wrong you? Are you blind or something?" The words left his mouth before he looked up. And when he did, he found himself the target of a tennis shoe.
"Speak for yourself you arrogant buttbreath." The voice that retorted at him was familiar…way too familiar. With a growl, he turned to face his attacker, who was none other than Serena Tyler.
"Figures." Darien muttered as he dragged himself up. "You are the only person who could make this day any worse."
"I doubt it." Serena shot back. "Keep praying though, dumbbell, maybe Mr. Doyle will show up and remember who dropped the bucket on his head at the spring fling."
Darien's eyes narrowed at that incident that caused the school's principal to have temporary amnesia. "Just so you know, Tyler," He seethed. "The fish-heads in that bucket were meant for you."
"Oooh." Serena mocked. "I'm really scared now."
"You ought to be, brat. Tell me, have the police figured out who the 'road sign bandits' are yet?" Serena fought the urge to smack the smirk off his face. He snorted. "Maybe I should go over and give them some inside information, you think?"
Serena suddenly grabbed him by the collar. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me." Darien challenged, easily brushing off her hands.
Serena haughtily threw her head back. "Fine." She smiled evilly. "I guess those pictures of you and Keith at sleep-away camp will be able to make it out in public after all."
A glaring contest ensued between the two heated rivals. Of course, Serena and Darien had been so engrossed in insulting/threatening each other that they failed to notice a crowd in the Crown Arcade that was now looking at them very curiously. The proprietor, Andrew Furley, merely sighed and rolled his eyes at the exchange, as did some other customers of the Crown Arcade. Serena and Darien were known by many to have very public displays of hatred and the Crown Arcade was frequently the theater for their malice, especially since Andrew was (sadly) good friends with both of them. Andrew found himself counting how many years the two had been at each other's throats and was surprised to realize that it had been about five years since Darien moved to their town and started a long-lasting battle of the wits (and other things) with Serena before the beginning of her seventh grade year. Andrew was shaken from his thoughts when the voices of his friends suddenly got a lot louder. He was fully prepared to calm both of them down when a tall man in a business suit walked in, abruptly cutting in on the two's conversation about something referring to a camping trip.
"...and your butt deserved every bee sting it got! How long did it take before you could sit down again?" Serena was taunting before her eyes looked over Darien's shoulder at a very amused white-haired man. Darien opened his mouth to make a comment about the tar he had put in her hair when Serena completely walked around him. "Arty!"
Darien looked around and found himself looking at Artemis Aduro. The older brother of Darien's best friend smiled, holding back a laugh as a hand rested on Serena's shoulder. Darien quirked an eyebrow at the close contact. "Hey, Darien."
Glancing at Artemis, Darien smiled a bit. "Hi Artemis. Didn't expect to see you here." He gestured to the Crown Arcade, in which Artemis looked completely out of place in.
Artemis laughed. "True," He gestured to Serena. "But Serena here asked me to meet her so I had to come by."
"What?" Darien asked, a hint of wicked happiness in his voice. "Did someone figure out who hot-wired Officer Mallory's police car?"
Artemis looked back at the young man quizzically while Serena glared daggers at Darien's non-existent heart.
"Well, uh, no." Artemis said, his gaze looking back and forth between Darien and Serena. The understanding of Darien's innuendo soon came to his mind. He rolled his eyes.
"In any case," Serena gritted, tugging at Artemis' hand. "We've got business to talk about. See you later, Carson."
The ebony-haired man smirked at the contempt she said his name with. "I love you two, sweety." He called out to her as she told Andrew to send drinks to a table in the Arcade.
Serena glared at him over her shoulder as she continued to a drag a harassed-looking Artemis away. "Screw you!"
"Hah! You know you want me!"
"As much as the coming of the freakin' apocalypse!"
Andrew shook his head as Darien came to sit at the bar. "Darien, why do you have to keep on doing that to her?" He demanded tiredly. "She's a sweet girl."
Darien looked at him incredulously. "If by 'sweet' you mean 'the spawn of Satan,' yeah, sure she's 'sweet.'"
"I'm serious man." Andrew said. "Ease off her case."
"What?" Darien joked. "And ruin the perfect balance of good and evil we have managed to establish? By the way, I'm the good one."
"Could've fooled me." Andrew muttered.
"You really should learn to control your temper." Artemis said, smiling.
"Funny." Serena remarked, thanking Andrew for the drinks. "I usually say that to Raye." She mock-gasped. "Oh my God, I'm turning into a man-hating, hot-headed priestess!"
Artemis laughed with Serena at the reference to one of her dearest friends. The thought of Serena's friend reminded him of why he, a highly paid lawyer, was sitting at a teenage hangout.
"Serena…" Artemis' tone made her stop laughing and the expression on his face sobered her up quickly. She cleared her throat suddenly, forcing a smile.
"So, about business…" Artemis nodded.
"I've arranged all your affairs as you asked. The legal documents are in place." He paused, toying with the straw in his ridiculously happy-pink frothy drink. "I have to say, Serena, you're lucky you turned eighteen when you did. I doubt Trista would've taken the actions you're doing."
"Maybe." Serena conceded quietly. "But she loves me. And I know she would've gone with whatever I want." She made a small chuckle. "She knows better than to argue with a dying person."
Artemis' hands clenched involuntarily and he looked away. Serena stopped her joking and reached out to touch Artemis' arm. "Ah, I'm sorry, Arty." She said earnestly. "I didn't mean to upset you."
Artemis forced a smile, patting her hand. "It's okay. I can't really expect much else from you, the way things are now."
Serena smiled, grateful that he understood. "Anyway, about why I called you here today..."
"Yes." He frowned. "You know, maybe it was the shock, but I think I was hearing things when you asked me to come here."
"Why's that?" Serena asked.
"Well, because of what you're asking me to do." Artemis said. "To be honest, Serena, perhaps you should say something to your friends, rather than go through your little…quest."
"It's not a quest, Artemis." Serena said bluntly. She sighed, leaning back in her chair of the booth. The bright ceiling tiles glared back down on her and she couldn't help the smile that found its way to her face. "It's a wish. One that I fully intend to make come true at all possible costs."
Artemis was silent for a moment. "…Don't you think they deserve to know?"
"It doesn't matter if they deserve to know." Serena said. "All that matters is that they aren't going to know. As of now, the only people who do know are you, me, and Dr. Maui. And as far as I'm concerned, it's going to stay that way."
The determination in her voice made Artemis smile. "So, Cupid." He leaned in conspiringly. "How's this going to work?"
"Tell me, Artemis." Serena said with a sly smile. "Just how manipulative do you think you are?"
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Serenity and she was the princess of the moon, protected by strong guardians...
Little Serena used to ask: But who protected the guardians?
Big Serena believed she had found the solution...
chickay: Yes, I know I should be updating MAMC, but chapter 19 is going to be out soon anyway. But I've had this idea swimming in my head for a while now and I decided to post it after like months of having the opening on a saved document. Let me know what you guys think of it and if I should continue.
9/16/05
edited: 10/03/05
edited: 10/05/05
edited (again): 10/16/05
edited (again): 6/19/07
edited (hopefully for the last time): 10/24/09