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Labyrinth Square

Chapter 2

By Phoenix Cubed

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Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the riddle,
The rabbit looked up to the moon.


"Darien! Can . . . we stop . . . for a . . . sec?"

"Darien looked back, Serena was panting hard, and seemed to be
keeping up only because of his grip on her wrist. He decided
it would be safe and stopped to let go. Serena took a few steps
and then thumped to the ground to catch her breath.

While Serena rested Darien took in their surroundings. They were
in the park. In the distance he could make out the lake and the
boathouse. People jogged down the many paths, others took leisurely
strolls or sat on benches to enjoy what was left of the day. It was
a good place to be, but not when you were trying to hide. The park
was too open, they would be spotted much too quickly. They needed
somewhere to go, somewhere safe where they could hide for any amount
of time.

"Darien! Hey, snap out of it!"

"Hm, what?" Darien stepped back rapidly from his thoughts. Out of
habit he glanced around for any threats, then he to looked to Serena,
who was by now very impatient.

"Darien, where have you been? I've been calling you for the last five
minutes!"

"I've been thinking Meatball Head, you should try it sometime, you
might learn to stay out of trouble!"

Serena's reaction was instantaneous. Her face went from annoyance
to shock to total depression.

"Its not my fault!" She cried out, tears streaming down her face.
"I didn't want any of this!" With that, Serena took off running.

Darien stood still, momentarily stunned. What in the world did she
mean by that? "Serena, wait!" Darien took off after her, suddenly
feeling very guilty and very responsible.

He found her sitting under a large willow tree. Serena looked very
small with her head tucked between her knees and her arms, he almost
missed her. Darien watched her for a while. She was being so quiet,
except for the occasional sob or shudder. Unable to take it anymore,
he walked over to her and sat down, situating himself so he sat neither
next to her or in front of her.

"Serena, I . . ." Darien started but stopped when Serena jerked up.
She took her head from her knees to look at him. Her eyes were full
of tears that fell down the darkly formed runnels of her cheeks. Her
nose was a reddish color from sniffling, and her face was full of
sorrow. He winced as her sad blue eyes locked with his, crumbling all
defenses and piercing his soul.

He tore his eyes away and forced himself to stare at the ground. After
what seemed like an eternity, he looked up at her only to find she was
staring at the found just as intently as he. Darien couldn't help but
chuckle. "Ground's very interesting today, isn't it?"

Serena looked up at him and glared before returning her eyes to the
earth's floor.

He sighed and looked at her sadly. "Serena . . . look. I'm really sorry.
I know that you and I don't get along, and know that there are a million
places you'd rather be right now. But we're going to be stuck together
for a while. I'm not going to leave you Serena, not until I know you're
going to be all right. Call me quirky if you want, but I'm not going to
abandon you to some monsters because of a personality conflict."

Serena's eyes slowly left the ground to look at Darien's face. His eyes
told her of his sincerity and his set facial features told of the deter--
mination in his words. It was a pleasant change from his usual cynical
expression.

"Promise?" She asked, a hint of pleading in her voice.

"Promise." Darien replied to her question with a firm nod of his head.

"Ok . . . Quirky." She grinned at him, all animosities gone.

"Don't make that a habit Meatball head." Darien gave her a grin of his
own, happy that they had reached an understanding.

She stuck her tongue at him and then began to get up. "So what are we
going to do now?"

"Good question." Darien ran a hand though his hair, a subconscious
gesture to ease his nerves. "We need somewhere to hide, a place where
they're not going to find us anytime soon. Quiet, and not too many
people, we don't want any innocents getting hurt." He paused for a
moment. "Hmm, what about-"

"Luna!" Serena suddenly started to call out and wave her arm wildly
in the air.

"Meatball Head," Darien hissed, "stop it! Someone might see you!"

"Yes I know." Serena retorted, "Luna."

A few moments later, a small black cat scampered up to them and jumped
into Serena's arms, purring loudly. Serena hugged the cat tightly,
letting a few tears fall onto her dark coat.

"Oh Luna, I'm so glad you found us. Are the Scouts far behind?"

Darien looked at the pair strangely. He didn't know what was worse.
That Serena was talking to the cat like she expected it to answer. Or
the fact that the cat seemed to be answering.

While Serena 'talked' with the cat, Darien contemplated their predicament.
Serena was being chased after by a bunch of monsters that called her a
princess, Serena knew the Sailor Scouts, the Sailor Scouts knew who he was.
Very well, apparently, because they had charged him with keeping her safe
until they could catch up with them. Watching over Serena was not a simple
task. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get over the princess
thing. Serena, a princess? Serena . . . his princess? All of this was
quickly overwhelming Darien, and proving to be quite the enigma.

"That's it!" Darien exclaimed.

Now it was Serena's turn to dispense the strange looks. "That's what?"

"That's where we're going to hide out. I'm going to take you to the
Labyrinth, it's the perfect place."

"But Darien, that place has been abandoned for years!"

"Exactly, hardly anyone knows about it, it'll be the last place they'll come
looking for us."

"But, but. . . "

"But what?"

Serena's eyes became very large. "But its haunted!"

Darien snorted. "That's just an old wives' tale. We'll be fine. We just
need a way to tell the Scouts where we're going."

"Oh, that's easy." Serena held up Luna.

Darien gave Serena a long look. "Yes Meatball, your cat is going to find
and tell the illusive Sailor Scouts where we're going."

Serena stuck her tongue out at him and turned to her cat. "Tell the Scouts
we're heading to Labyrinth Square. Mercury knows where it is. They should
meet us there as soon as possible. Oh, and make sure they get my brooch!"

Luna nodded and gave an encouraging meow. Serena gave her one last hug before
setting her down. The cat began to run off, but then stopped and turned around
to look at Darien. For a moment he had a direct view of her head and could see
a small crescent moon on her forehead. Darien squinted, trying to get a closer
look, but the cat had begun to run away again.

He turned to look at Serena. "Was that a crescent moon on her forehead?"

Serena hesitated, "yeah."

"Is that natural?"

Serena glared at him, "why don't you ask her! Are we going or not?"

Darien sighed and started out for the Labyrinth. "This is going to be a
long day."

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