Ok people, Chapter 3 is here so put the torches out and the
pitchforks down! And for those of you who hold them
BECAUSE I'm writing, may the curse of writer's block be
upon you. HAHAHAH HA!!! *Cough* ahem.
Standard Disclaimers apply: Don't sue me because about
all you'll get is a dog, and not a good one at that. Ack!
Down girl!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Labyrinth Square
Chapter 3
By Phoenix Cubed
All around the sleeper's bush
The two dreams chased each other.
The first thought it all in fun,
The other much more sober.
The sun was beginning its descent below the Tokyo horizon
when Darien and Serena finally made it Labyrinth Square.
Why the owners called it a Square was a bit strange, for it
wasn't a square or park, it was an underground maze.
Labyrinth Square was the largest maze ever built, the
largest maze that would ever be built. It was so large
that people had gotten lost and had never been seen
again. There had been so many missing person reports
and lawsuits that the owners had declared bankruptcy and
shut it down. But the place had never been torn down
because the labyrinth itself was completely underground,
spread out over five long miles. The entrance was a fair
sized building that had served as a ticket booth and
restaurant. In its time, Labyrinth Square had international
acclaim. People from all over the world used to come to
dine in the restaurant and try to conquer the great maze.
Many people had pushed their luck and gone in search
for the illusive center. Many others had had pushed their
luck too far.
Serena stared at the boarded up entrance, a thousand
thoughts running through her head, and none of them
good. Stories of the Labyrinth had been embedded firmly
in her mind since childhood. Ghostly tales about the
people that had gone in and never come out. How their
spirits roamed around, looking for a way out as their
bodiessat in hidden corners and slowly decomposed with
theages.
Serena shuddered, and not from the cold.
"Darien, are you sure we should do this? I mean . . ."
Darien gave her a sidelong glance and a quick smile. "It'll
be all right Meatball head, I know what I'm doing."
"That's a change." Serena quipped.
Darien decided to ignore her remark and began to lead
Serena around the building until he came to a set of
windows that were boarded up. He peered closely at the
boards, periodically tapping or wiggling one. After a
fewminutes, he shook his head and moved to the next set
ofwindows and repeated the process.
Serena was confused, "Darien, what are you doing?"
Darien continued his tapping. "One of these windows has a
board attached to the sill. If you pull the board the whole
window pops out. It's the quickest way to get in here
without causing a scene."
"How do you know that?"
"I was on a dare with Andrew. Ah, here it is." Darien
carefully placed his fingers on either side of the board
and gently pried it away from its place by the window.
The board came away with little protest, bringing the rest
of the window with it.
He motioned for Serena to stay still for a moment, and then
lifted himself up and halfway though the sill for a look
around.
Seeing no one, he let himself fall back to the ground and
turned to Serena, "Meatball's first." He said with a courtly
bow.
Serena gave him a very long, very hard look. "It's a good
thing you wear shirts with collars, Darien. It would be very
hard to use that head of yours with it floating around space."
With that she jumped through the widow, her petite body
easily fitting through the small frame. After a few moments
of maneuvering, Darien squeezed his large frame through
after her. His broad shoulders provided a problem, but he
was finally able to maneuver through, managing to tear
the corner of his green tweed jacket.
Serena watched him with amusement, "I thought you came
here before Darien."
"I did. When Andrew and I were just starting college, we
were given a very profitable dare."
"Andrew?" Serena asked incredulously.
Darien closed the window and began to lead his charge
intoa darkened room, "you don't think Andrew spends his
entire life fixing broken arcade games do you?"
Serena opened her mouth to answer, but none came out.
After a few attempts she closed her mouth in thought.
Slowly, a smile crept across her face. She looked at
Darien. "You know, I never thought about it before."
Darien chuckled, "among other things."
Under Serena's glare he suppressed his chuckle. "Come
on, we've got a long way to go."
Serena sighed, "All right, you're the leader."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"They're going WHERE?" Mars's screech could be heard,
quite possibly, all the way to the outskirts of Tokyo.
"Labyrinth Square." Mercury repeated it for Luna, who
was rather busy at the moment. The shriek Sailor Mars had
emitted sent every one of her hairs on end. At the moment,
Luna's usual dignified appearance had been replaced with a
fluffy look, not unlike a Chia pet. Her attempts to calm her
crackling coat were proving to be fruitless. Artemis came
up to lend a tongue, but no sooner did he complete a lick
when he jumped back, sparks flying about his retreat.
Jupiter laughed, "didn't your mother ever teach you not to
lick an electric fence?"
Artemis glared at his tall charge. "Shu, u cau lup."
Whatever comment he would have made was lost by a
dysfunctional tongue.
"Aw, poor Arty," Venus crouched and picked up her
unfortunate white guardian. "Did that bad kitty catch
your-"
"Don't say it Venus," Luna warned, finally getting her
coat and nerves under control. "We need to get down to
business."
"Yes, and very soon," said Mars, her voice rising into
the danger zone once more. "Let's review. We have just
discovered that Serena-"
"Sailor Moon." Mercury corrected Mars.
Mars rolled her eyes, "fine. That Sailor Moon is the moon
princess, courtesy of Prince Diamond of the Negamoon-
whoever that might be."
"And Queen Beryl, we can't forget her." Venus chimed in.
Mars glared at Sailor Venus. "All right! Give me a chance
already!" Before the steam could erupt, the fire warrior
took a calming breath. "So Queen Beryl and Prince Diamond
find out Serena's the moon princess. They send nega-
creatures to capture her. This is where we ask, 'why'?
Beryl's always been after the Imperium Silver Crystal, she's
never before thought about the princess except as competition."
Jupiter nodded, "she's right. And who's this Diamond guy
that suddenly shows up? I've never heard of him before.
Luna?"
Luna shifted uneasily, "it's a familiar name, though I would
have to think on the subject a time."
Mars snorted, "time is what we don't have. To finish my
review; these creeps have managed to steal Serena's
transformation brooch, almost capture her and elude us,
twice! Now the only thing that stands between our failure
and their victory is Darien! Darien! Those two can't stand
each other! And now he's taken her to a place where all you
do is *think* about it and you feel lost." Proud shoulders
slumped in defeat. "It'll take us forever to find them."
Sailor Venus came over and gave Sailor Mars a warm hug.
"You're right Mars." The Raven Scout looked at the blonde
in surprise, but Venus plowed on with her point. "Serena
is with Darien. They may not look like they get along, but
there isn't a safer person she could be with at the moment.
He'll take care of her."
Mars stared at Venus. She had seen right through her
temperamental guise. "Y-you think so?"
Venus smiled, "I know so. I am, after all, the descendant
of the goddess of love and wisdom. Now, let's get going.
We don't have a lot of spare time. The longer we wait; the
harder it will be to find them."
Luna nodded, "ready scouts?"
"Ready!" came the infinite chorus. A moment later, if
you were to look to the skyline, you could see four very
determined warriors heading to an unknown destination,
being followed by two very out of breath cats.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There you go! Send comments to phoenix_cubed@hotmail.com
pitchforks down! And for those of you who hold them
BECAUSE I'm writing, may the curse of writer's block be
upon you. HAHAHAH HA!!! *Cough* ahem.
Standard Disclaimers apply: Don't sue me because about
all you'll get is a dog, and not a good one at that. Ack!
Down girl!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Labyrinth Square
Chapter 3
By Phoenix Cubed
All around the sleeper's bush
The two dreams chased each other.
The first thought it all in fun,
The other much more sober.
The sun was beginning its descent below the Tokyo horizon
when Darien and Serena finally made it Labyrinth Square.
Why the owners called it a Square was a bit strange, for it
wasn't a square or park, it was an underground maze.
Labyrinth Square was the largest maze ever built, the
largest maze that would ever be built. It was so large
that people had gotten lost and had never been seen
again. There had been so many missing person reports
and lawsuits that the owners had declared bankruptcy and
shut it down. But the place had never been torn down
because the labyrinth itself was completely underground,
spread out over five long miles. The entrance was a fair
sized building that had served as a ticket booth and
restaurant. In its time, Labyrinth Square had international
acclaim. People from all over the world used to come to
dine in the restaurant and try to conquer the great maze.
Many people had pushed their luck and gone in search
for the illusive center. Many others had had pushed their
luck too far.
Serena stared at the boarded up entrance, a thousand
thoughts running through her head, and none of them
good. Stories of the Labyrinth had been embedded firmly
in her mind since childhood. Ghostly tales about the
people that had gone in and never come out. How their
spirits roamed around, looking for a way out as their
bodiessat in hidden corners and slowly decomposed with
theages.
Serena shuddered, and not from the cold.
"Darien, are you sure we should do this? I mean . . ."
Darien gave her a sidelong glance and a quick smile. "It'll
be all right Meatball head, I know what I'm doing."
"That's a change." Serena quipped.
Darien decided to ignore her remark and began to lead
Serena around the building until he came to a set of
windows that were boarded up. He peered closely at the
boards, periodically tapping or wiggling one. After a
fewminutes, he shook his head and moved to the next set
ofwindows and repeated the process.
Serena was confused, "Darien, what are you doing?"
Darien continued his tapping. "One of these windows has a
board attached to the sill. If you pull the board the whole
window pops out. It's the quickest way to get in here
without causing a scene."
"How do you know that?"
"I was on a dare with Andrew. Ah, here it is." Darien
carefully placed his fingers on either side of the board
and gently pried it away from its place by the window.
The board came away with little protest, bringing the rest
of the window with it.
He motioned for Serena to stay still for a moment, and then
lifted himself up and halfway though the sill for a look
around.
Seeing no one, he let himself fall back to the ground and
turned to Serena, "Meatball's first." He said with a courtly
bow.
Serena gave him a very long, very hard look. "It's a good
thing you wear shirts with collars, Darien. It would be very
hard to use that head of yours with it floating around space."
With that she jumped through the widow, her petite body
easily fitting through the small frame. After a few moments
of maneuvering, Darien squeezed his large frame through
after her. His broad shoulders provided a problem, but he
was finally able to maneuver through, managing to tear
the corner of his green tweed jacket.
Serena watched him with amusement, "I thought you came
here before Darien."
"I did. When Andrew and I were just starting college, we
were given a very profitable dare."
"Andrew?" Serena asked incredulously.
Darien closed the window and began to lead his charge
intoa darkened room, "you don't think Andrew spends his
entire life fixing broken arcade games do you?"
Serena opened her mouth to answer, but none came out.
After a few attempts she closed her mouth in thought.
Slowly, a smile crept across her face. She looked at
Darien. "You know, I never thought about it before."
Darien chuckled, "among other things."
Under Serena's glare he suppressed his chuckle. "Come
on, we've got a long way to go."
Serena sighed, "All right, you're the leader."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
"They're going WHERE?" Mars's screech could be heard,
quite possibly, all the way to the outskirts of Tokyo.
"Labyrinth Square." Mercury repeated it for Luna, who
was rather busy at the moment. The shriek Sailor Mars had
emitted sent every one of her hairs on end. At the moment,
Luna's usual dignified appearance had been replaced with a
fluffy look, not unlike a Chia pet. Her attempts to calm her
crackling coat were proving to be fruitless. Artemis came
up to lend a tongue, but no sooner did he complete a lick
when he jumped back, sparks flying about his retreat.
Jupiter laughed, "didn't your mother ever teach you not to
lick an electric fence?"
Artemis glared at his tall charge. "Shu, u cau lup."
Whatever comment he would have made was lost by a
dysfunctional tongue.
"Aw, poor Arty," Venus crouched and picked up her
unfortunate white guardian. "Did that bad kitty catch
your-"
"Don't say it Venus," Luna warned, finally getting her
coat and nerves under control. "We need to get down to
business."
"Yes, and very soon," said Mars, her voice rising into
the danger zone once more. "Let's review. We have just
discovered that Serena-"
"Sailor Moon." Mercury corrected Mars.
Mars rolled her eyes, "fine. That Sailor Moon is the moon
princess, courtesy of Prince Diamond of the Negamoon-
whoever that might be."
"And Queen Beryl, we can't forget her." Venus chimed in.
Mars glared at Sailor Venus. "All right! Give me a chance
already!" Before the steam could erupt, the fire warrior
took a calming breath. "So Queen Beryl and Prince Diamond
find out Serena's the moon princess. They send nega-
creatures to capture her. This is where we ask, 'why'?
Beryl's always been after the Imperium Silver Crystal, she's
never before thought about the princess except as competition."
Jupiter nodded, "she's right. And who's this Diamond guy
that suddenly shows up? I've never heard of him before.
Luna?"
Luna shifted uneasily, "it's a familiar name, though I would
have to think on the subject a time."
Mars snorted, "time is what we don't have. To finish my
review; these creeps have managed to steal Serena's
transformation brooch, almost capture her and elude us,
twice! Now the only thing that stands between our failure
and their victory is Darien! Darien! Those two can't stand
each other! And now he's taken her to a place where all you
do is *think* about it and you feel lost." Proud shoulders
slumped in defeat. "It'll take us forever to find them."
Sailor Venus came over and gave Sailor Mars a warm hug.
"You're right Mars." The Raven Scout looked at the blonde
in surprise, but Venus plowed on with her point. "Serena
is with Darien. They may not look like they get along, but
there isn't a safer person she could be with at the moment.
He'll take care of her."
Mars stared at Venus. She had seen right through her
temperamental guise. "Y-you think so?"
Venus smiled, "I know so. I am, after all, the descendant
of the goddess of love and wisdom. Now, let's get going.
We don't have a lot of spare time. The longer we wait; the
harder it will be to find them."
Luna nodded, "ready scouts?"
"Ready!" came the infinite chorus. A moment later, if
you were to look to the skyline, you could see four very
determined warriors heading to an unknown destination,
being followed by two very out of breath cats.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There you go! Send comments to phoenix_cubed@hotmail.com
