Hello All. Sorry about the long time since I last updated but I have several reasons. First that I was having connection difficulties which have now been resolved. Second, and more importantly, I am in the middle of a long and drawn out period of assessment. It will be several weeks at the earliest before the next chapter. My apologies but I really have to start taking this study thing seriously.
The Guardians of Selene: part two
The second in the Book of the Renewal.
By Draegyn
Dragynne2000@yahoo.com.au
"What you did was very foolish," he told her as she stood beside him on the cliff. They did not touch but she could feel his warmth against her bare side as they looked out over the grand vista laid out before them.
"It had to be done," she replied simply. He understood and he did not like it one bit. She could tell by the movement of air when his shoulders stiffened.
Neither spoke and only stared out at the immense bulk of Jupiter that surrounded them. For the first time in her life the very air itself seemed to hum with life as her painstaking work had finally begun to yield results. Two centuries she had persevered with the devastated world and finally it seemed as if Jupiter were ready to awaken once more. She still had a long task ahead of her but she did not wish to contemplate that now. Instead she was fervently wishing that he would say some thing, anything, to relieve the dreadful silence that had risen between them. She sighed in defeat and slumped. She was about to retreat when his hand grasped hers. She glanced at him but he steadfastly continued to look into the distance.
"I know," he said after a moment and the reassuring squeeze he gave her fingers calmed her. She laced her fingers with his and looked out at the vast, stormy plains of Jupiter. For now it was enough.
***
Darien awoke gradually, not rushing himself. He savoured the feeling of wellbeing that permeated him. His mind suddenly switched on fully and he opened his eyes quickly, stiffening in shock.
"Ah, I though I felt you waking up!" an absurdly chipper voice called and Darien looked up to see Andrew standing in the door of the bedroom. His face must have still been scandalised for the blonde man tilted his head and asked, "Something wrong Bro?"
Darien looked at him incredulously for a moment before he hissed, "There's a naked angel on my chest, what do you think?"
Andrew made a production of looking down and examining the nude woman who was snuggled half on top of Darien. Darien glanced at her again and had to admit that there was a good reason to stare at her. Her complexion had returned to its normal pearl and the scars had faded to a network of faint, silvery lines across her skin, not in anyway reducing her appeal as Darien very well knew with her pressed so close to him. Her scent surrounded him, flowers, vanilla, a hint of otherness, and it was starting to affect his mind.
"Andy!" he almost begged.
His friend's face twisted in the manner that Darien knew meant he was trying not to smile. He finally managed a sober expression and requested gravely, "Would you like to get her off you?" Darien glared at him and the other man's face twitched. "Well I would suggest two things..." Andrew paused and eyed him meaningfully. "First untangle the hand you have in her hair at the nape of her neck. Second, remove your other hand from her posterior. When both hands are no longer occupied you should be free to slide her off you without waking her."
Darien's eyes widened and he snatched the offending hand away from smooth skin. It took a couple of minutes longer to unhook his other hand from her hair and his flush still hadn't faded by the time he was able to sit up unencumbered. Almost immediately he was given cause to stiffen yet again when his bed partner curled around his bent legs. He stared at her, completely at a loss and his control slipping. The sight of a beautiful, naked woman who seemed to want nothing more than to be held by him would have been bad enough even it weren't this particular woman. Unfortunately it was Serenity at his side and his desires warred fiercely with his common sense.
He looked back at Andrew helplessly and was rewarded with a penetrating sapphire examination. "So that's the way of it," the Lunarian said at last and sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. For a moment his expression was unclear then it resolved into decision. "I have a bit of time to spare. I think that we should have that talk now."
Darien nodded dumbly and Andy smiled at Darien sadly. He strode over to the bed and carefully climbed onto the side opposite Darien before he gently began to guide his sister towards him. A pang of disappointment shot through the human at the loss of the warmth at his side but nonetheless he helped to nudge the sleeping Serenity towards her brother. One of her bare wings poked him in the thigh and he grunted.
Andrew glanced at the wing in question and grinned at Darien. "Look, her pin feathers are growing back already!"
Darien looked closer and, sure enough, white fuzz covered the limb with the beginnings of the longer feathers also starting to show. A few moments later she was curled comfortably against her brother and Andrew was looking at Darien expectantly.
"What?" Darien demanded after a moment under that penetrating blue gaze.
Andrew sighed. "Darien you can talk to me, you know that. Nothing's changed."
"Everything's changed!" Darien disagreed angrily. Couldn't Andrew see that?
"How?"
"You're an alien!"
"I'm Lunarian and I've always been one," Andrew responded with a maddening calm. "It never made a difference to you before!" Darien hated that expression and he had never seen it on Andrew before. It was as if he though Darien was simple minded just because he was human.
"I didn't know 'before'!" Darien retorted bluntly, an edge in his voice. "You never told me-"
"You never told me that you were Tuxedo Mask!" Andrew interrupted, "Not only that, you moved away without bothering to tell me you were leaving! I had to hear it from the girls! Wasn't I even worth a goodbye?" His expression was a mixture of anger and hurt and Darien was glad that at least his superior calm had gone.
"But you knew I was more than I seemed!" he returned, ignoring the issue of his departure. He had always felt guilty about the lack of warning but he just couldn't have remained in Tokyo any longer and the reincarnates in New York had needed his help.
Andrew glared. "I have to follow the rules laid out and they say that no humans are to know of my people's existence. By the way, 'I didn't know you were more than you seemed' doesn't cut it. It's a matter of trust and you never trusted me!"
"Trust?!" Darien growled, "I may not have told you about the super hero bit but I trusted you with everything important to me, my past, my friendship, my fears. Then I find out that you were only putting up with me because you had to spy on the reincarnates through me for your mother!" He was slightly surprised at what he said. Apparently he'd had a lot of issues festering.
He wasn't the only one. "You moron! Stars you are such a blockhead! That you would even think... I would never do that to you!" Andrew jumped off the bed, leaving his sister to mutter unhappily in her sleep. Darien followed suit and within seconds they were nose to nose.
"Why not?" Darien snarled, "I'm only a mere human, what do I matter? Did you hear yourself before? It was like you thought I was brain dead just because I'm not like you-"
"I did not!"
"You did too, at least your sister had an excuse when she did it, she didn't know me! Both of you do the 'humour the poor human' bit to perfection!"
"WHEN HAVE I EVER TREATED YOU AS LESS THAN MY EQUAL?!" Andrew roared. Both flinched and glanced to Serenity before the continued with lowered voices. "Darien Chiba, you are my best friend of any species! After my mate, my twin and my mother you are the person I hold dearest in the universe!"
"Then why the hell aren't I good enough for your sister?!" His own anger shocked Darien. He had known Serenity for such a short time and in that period his emotions had been shaken out of complacency and into a confused muddle but she had not stayed long enough for him to sort them out. Until now he had never been sure exactly what his feelings for the blonde angel had been but there could be no doubt. He was in love with her and the thought that his so-called friend might keep her from him infuriated him. You want her but you will never have her… the venomous words of Diamond came back to haunt him and he pushed them away angrily.
"I don't-" Andrew tried, oblivious to Darien's own internal struggle.
To relieve himself of his own doubts Darien targeted Andrew instead. "You keep warning me away from her, even lying about it! Even before, 'oh so that's the way of it,' you said like my being attracted to your sister, or, yes, in love with her was the most horrible thing to happen-"
"But you're human-"
"SEE?!"
"It has nothing to do with whether or not you're good enough!"
"Then tell me why and STOP KEEPING SECRETS!!!"
"I CAN'T!!" Andrew looked wild and Darien felt the silver power explode in agitation. "Don't you think I'd love to be honest?! Don't you think it's hard on me to have to lie to everyone, everyday?! The only person on Earth that knows the real me is Rita and she's based in Africa!! I would love to tell you the truth but it's not as easy for me as it is for you! You can quit being the capeboy anytime you want but I am stuck being a guardian for as long as my mother needs me. And it's NOT like it's my mother telling me to keep it a secret nor even my queen! It's my GOD!!! It's the law of SELENE that humans do not know that extraterrestrial life exists until such time as they are prepared to go out there and meet it!!!"
Andrew waved his arm savagely at the ceiling as he continued, almost incoherently. "That is why my sister is out there everyday risking her life making sure that nothing gets near Earth to threaten your fragile psyches and why I'm here, waiting to tell everyone when you lot've grown up enough to join us!!"
Darien leaned closer and rumbled forcefully. "I will not let you or anyone else take my memories from me."
Andrew replied in an identical tone, "You don't have a choice!"
"If you try to take them I will kick you off my planet and not let you within spitting distance for as long as I live!" Darien informed, deadly serious.
"I'd like to see you try," he was told. Andrew seemed to grow and his illusion of humanity fell away as he bared his power in threat. Darien took in the pale skin, slightly alien cast to his features, crescent insignia and white wings all limed by a faint silver tint with a careless glance before he responded by rousing the power of Earth. Gold and crimson began to flicker in his periphery as his own aura became visible and Andrew noticeably recoiled.
Darien grinned viciously. "I'm not exactly the same tame 'reincarnate' you used to know Andy! I am a true scion of Earth, heir to the power and abilities thereof! You can try something but I can guarantee you that you can't take a reigning ecopath on his bond-world!"
"Ecopath?!" The Lunarian had been caught flatfooted, his astonishment obvious.
"You do know what an ecopath is don't you?" Darien drawled insultingly. After the whole holier-than-thou argument it would be satisfying to be able to prove that Andrew didn't know everything. "You know, the kind of empath who can sense the well being of planets-"
"Of course I know what one is!" Andrew snapped, "My sister's one." He paused and seemed to shrink as his threatening aura retreated until he was no longer the 'divine avenger' but a handsome blonde man who just didn't happen to be human. Darien was slightly surprised by the retreat and the next words caught him totally off guard. "So that's why you've been such a grouch lately? And why you couldn't talk to me rationally? The oil spill near Hong Kong must be driving you crazy!"
Darien let out a breath and felt his temper cool. "Partly," he admitted, "It's just a vague itch in the back of my head but it's getting so that I can't shut it off anymore."
"The power's still growing?" Andrew asked with a friendly interest.
"They all are," Darien sighed and looked at Andrew cautiously. "It used to be that I would hang out with you and I'd unwind. It didn't matter that we didn't talk about it, just being near you did it. You have a calm that's very soothing, without it I'm not safe to be around. It's one of the reasons I always went to the arcade to drink coffee... I miss that."
"You have the other reincarnates now, ones that are male or your age, or both… Kip and Alex and the others. You don't need me anymore." Andrew looked sad as he said it and his voice was wistful.
Darien looked at him incredulously. Surely he didn't believe that. "Kip? Alex? No offence Andy, but you have no idea of what's happening around you if you think that they can replace you." He snorted caustically. "Alex is fine but, as someone whose idea of relaxation is bungee jumping, she's not likely to help me mellow out and as for Kip... well he's called Kip the Jyp for a good reason. Do you know what I was about to do last night when I felt your sister falling? I was about to go to the park, in the storm, to search for the keys of my Ferrari that he had hidden there. With Kip about I'm not likely to survive another year without committing murder."
"It'll never be the same between us," the blonde said slowly and Darien nodded in agreement. What was said and done could never be undone, not even by the Guardian of Time herself.
"No, especially not if we have to fight over the memory issue," Darien agreed, "But... it could be better."
"Total honesty," Andrew mused with a growing smile, "It's a revolutionary thought."
Darien tilted his head, a lopsided smile of his own starting. "Ground breaking."
"If my mother should-" Andrew started and Darien shook his head.
"We'll cross that bridge when we run into it."
"You sound like Mina?" Andrew jested.
Darien shrugged and his smile grew a bit. An idea came to him and he put on a straight face. "To get into the spirit of the occasion I'll start off with the undeniable truth of what I think of you. I'll have you know that I think..." Andrew frowned and Darien continued, utterly serious, "... that you look like a demented cherub!" He smirked and Andrew glared at him playfully.
The blonde did a catwalk spin and mantled his wings. "I'll have you know that these beauts are chick magnets!" he said condescendingly and wiggled his eyebrows.
Darien snorted at both pun and assertion. "Yeah right. If you even tried to pick up someone other than Rita she would kill you."
"She would not!"
"Andy, you're whipped, why not admit it?"
"Darien, I'll have you know that your human sensibility just cannot comprehend the relationship between soul-mates. If it seems that I do whatever my sweet Reika tells me then it is because we are one and so agree on everything."
"You're a wuss," Darien summarised, no longer bothered by the way his friend scoffed at his mortality, and Andrew mock glared.
He gave his wings another cursory glance. "They're not a normal part of Lunarian anatomy you know. The wings of most Lunarians, my mother being the exception, are not only less substantial but they only show when an individual is flying. Otherwise it's just two arms and two legs. These feathered monstrosities are a part of being the son of Saetan a.k.a. Thanatos. It could be worse, I could have had butterfly wings like my mother, again not normal for a Lunarian, now they would have gone down well!"
"Either way you come off as a wuss," Darien advised.
Andrew opened his mouth to argue and then conceded with a sigh. "I used to, but that was before puberty and my growth spurt. Not that it was important back then anyway. As the son of the woman who was both queen Serenity and the Divine Star Selene, I was expected to look a little different from the other Lunarians. My sister of course has always looked good with feathers and butterfly wings would have complimented her beauty just as well. It's not fair but women almost always look better with wings."
With or without their feathers Darien agreed as he looked at Serenity again. A hand was laid on his shoulder as Andrew stepped up behind him and Darien remembered that his attraction to the man's sister was one of the things they disagreed over.
*It's not because you are human, it's because you are mortal.*
Darien turned back to his friend and stared into his blue eyes. Andrew's mind had lightly linked with his own and for a moment Darien grappled to reply, lack of practice and Andrew's unfamiliar mind both contributing to his delay. Finally he managed the mental twist. *I'm not quite sure that I understand.*
He felt Andrew casting about for an explanation when his mind coiled strangely and his own magic roused unexpectedly. He blinked and stumbled into Andrew. His friend caught him with a cry of concern but Darien was more worried about assimilating the information his clairvoyance had filled his thoughts with. Jumbled concepts fought for attention in his besieged consciousness. Awareness of the expected lifespan of Lunarians, knowledge of the Law of Selene and facts about the preternatural physiology of immortals was forced into a semblance of order and Darien knew why his friend was so worried. In the same circumstances, Darien would probably act the same way.
Andrew regarded him with shock. "Um... I've been going through some changes lately," Darien said weakly, his mind still reeling from the revelations that had been forced upon him.
Andrew nodded respectfully. "So I see." He lifted an eyebrow in an expression Darien recognised as one copied from himself. "Ecopath, clairvoyant, from what I saw of Serenity last night you're also a healer and the papers all say that Tuxedo Mask can fly now, what else have you been up to?"
"Psychometry, precognition, far-sight and true-dreaming," Darien answered wearily. None of those could in any way help him make Serenity his own.
Andrew opened his mouth to say something but paused mid breath. After a moment he nodded faintly and returned his attention to Darien. With a challenging smile he asked, "With a resume like that you'll be up to doing a small favour for me..."
Darien frowned, trepidation forming a lump in the pit of his stomach. "What?" he asked cautiously. Andrew's idea of a small favour was scary at the best of times, which these were definitely not.
"It's nothing much," the blonde assured him mischievously, "I was wondering if you'd baby-sit my sister for me?"
Darien looked at him blankly. Spend time, alone, with Serenity... "What's the catch?" he demanded bluntly.
"What makes you think there's one?" was the seemingly innocent reply.
"A few minute's ago you were ready to do anything to keep me away from her." He raised an eyebrow to make the same expression of polite inquiry that Andrew had attempted with the knowledge that he pulled it off to a much greater effect.
Andrew's face sobered and he shrugged sadly. "You know my reasons now and I trust you not to do anything which would only end up hurting her."
Any flippancy that Darien had had died stillborn. "I'm not going to accept that it's impossible. I'll keep looking for away to be with her."
Andrew's laugh wash a harsh bark. "Darien, if I thought you had any chance at all I would be doing everything in my power to encourage her but the truth of her position is all too obvious. Aside from the impossibility of her having a relationship with any human there's the simple fact that, since she is still chaste after so many centuries, she will only ever have the one lover."
Darien understood what his friend was telling him perfectly. It was related to the discussion he had had with her on the nature of telepathy. With Andrew's kind, sex brought about a closeness that was as much magical as physical. By her own admission Serenity was virgin and that meant that magical energy had been building within her for centuries unchecked. Her first lover would release that power and it would bind their minds together irreversibly.
"You understand... For her to settle with anyone other than her soul-mate is to destroy her chance at immortal love and doom her to a mortal one which will fade."
"You're so sure?" Darien whispered, already knowing the answers. Andrew nodded and Darien knew that he felt genuine sorrow for both Darien and his sister. When dealing with life spans as long as theirs only immortal love could endure.
Darien stepped away and took a deep breath. "So what's the matter?" he finally said.
Andrew grimaced. "We have four invaders on Earth-"
"No, three," Darien contradicted absently, memories of a dream returning.
"Three?" Andrew's voice was intent, as he once again became the Lunarian warrior. "How do you know... forget that. Are you sure?"
Darien nodded and concentrated. "Yeah, I Dreamed it, capital D. There were seven all up, a group of about seven or eight fought one, another pair held off the second and your sister killed two… well sort of. She had help on the first one"
"That's not possible," Andrew stated absolutely. "Not even an alpha warrior can destroy one spear on their own let alone two. Not even Serenity is that good."
"As I said, she did not fight the first one alone but the second one was entirely her," Darien insisted, "I pulled her out from underneath it, her sword was sticking out of its back!"
"It's impossible-"
"But it's true!" a soft voice confirmed. Both men whirled to see Serenity regarding them wearily.
"You're awake!" Darien rolled his eyes at Andy's redundant comment.
"Well it's kind of hard to sleep with two full grown idiots screaming at each other." She was barely able to raise her head but her eyes were rational. "As for the spears, it took me, Luna, Artemis and all of the sentinels to destroy the first one. Once we had it off guard it was easy enough for Sapphire to help me finish it off. It was destroyed quickly but then it was the spear of Envy and we were lucky... incredibly lucky."
"I'll say," Andrew muttered and strode to the bed. Tenderly he pushed her down again. "Don't strain yourself Usa, you were hurt badly. If it weren't for Darien then you'd be dead."
She smiled at her brother and then turned to Darien. "So you save the day again Frog-face?"
Hearing the old insult heartened him and he replied in kind. "Who else is going to pull the fat out of the fire Meatball Head? You?"
Her eyes lit up and Darien's heart did back flips in his chest. She gave him what he thought was supposed to be a superior look and retorted to her brother, "Look at him! He saves the world a couple of times and he gets cocky!"
"I'm glad to see that you're feeling better Sis," Andrew told her, "I won't be so guilty to leave you with him now-"
"Leave me with him?! I don't need a babysitter!" Her protest would have held more weight had she been able to sit up on her own. Apparently she wasn't a model patient and Darien waited to see how her brother would handle her. He might need the pointers.
Andrew ignored her wan rant. "I know you Usa, the minute I have my back turned you'll try to hop out of that bed and go off on your own. I'm not going to leave you without someone to sit on you if it should be necessary."
"But Darien?!" The man in question felt vaguely insulted by her tone.
Andrew just chuckled. "He can handle you, I have faith in his resourcefulness. If nothing else he'll keep you so busy with questions that you won't have time to think about escape. Now I need to know which of the spears are on Earth."
Serenity threw a frustrated glance his way but Darien studiously ignored her silent demand for aid. She sighed. "Alright then I'll stay."
"Good. Now what spears?"
"Sapphire and I got Envy, then the sentinels ganged up on Sloth. Some of our kinsfolk arrived in time to kill it as well as give Luna and Artemis a hand. Our fellow guardians fought Gluttony and the last three had fled when the back up arrived. I got tangled up with Avarice and we were halfway to Earth by the time reinforcements arrived to help."
"OK, that leaves Pride, Lust and Anger... this is not good."
"I'm not following you," Darien admitted, interrupting his friend. "We are talking about the spears of Chaos here right?"
"Yes," Andrew answered impatiently, "What of it?".
Darien looked at him in frustration. "They're assassins sent by Kaos to kill your sister, that I know but what do the seven deadly sins have to do with it?"
"Assassins?!" Andrew stiffened in alarm and enlightenment. "Of course! I have to go!" He turned and knelt on the bed again. "I'll tell Mama, you'd better expect to hear from her shortly... Or maybe not, you're still not fully recovered, maybe it would be best for her to wait..." She sighed and he continued anxiously, "Don't wear yourself out... Stars, you'll need a guard-"
"What am I?" Darien interrupted, "Chopped liver?"
Andrew looked at him, deadly serious. "Human. I know it sound prejudiced but a human can't face down a spear."
Serenity saw his agitation and said. "I'll explain it Toki, you go and start searching for them." He looked torn and she ordered louder, "Go!"
He jerked his head in a nod. "Stay well Usa and remember no magic!" he said as he kissed her forehead and then he turned to Darien. "Keep her safe for me..." Darien nodded and between one breath and the next Andrew was gone.
Darien's eyebrows rose and Serenity smiled wanly. "Teleportation, he'll have gone straight to the control room beneath the arcade. It's outfitted with our technology, which includes a lot of things that were designed for use in coordination with magic. Now sit down, I can't see you properly over there."
Darien started to obey and then realised her position. The beautiful blonde was currently sprawled out over Andrew's bed without a stitch of clothing and her tangled hair provided inadequate cover a best. He flushed when he became aware that he was staring and was surprised to hear her giggle. He forced his eyes to go to her face and remain there.
"Don't worry Frog-face," she soothed him, "I'm in no condition to jump you!"
It wasn't her jumping him that he was worried about. "Clothes..." he insisted in a strangled voice.
"Darien I thought we'd already settled the prude issue but isn't this remarkably similar to one of the scenarios I made up?" She giggled again and he forced himself to turn around. She was partly correct, they had already passed this stage when he'd had her up against a wall in a lip lock with a wandering hand. Besides, technically he'd spent the night with her like this, surely he had more self control than to just let his hormones have their way. Although, if he were honest, his control had never been the best near her. Hastily he pushed that thought aside.
After a moment she took pity on him and suggested a compromise. "If you help me, I'll cover up with a sheet."
He nodded and reluctantly supported her while he wrestled with the sheet she was laying on. It took a couple of minutes and she was tired quickly from the slight exertion, still she felt entirely too good for his peace of mind. During the slight confusion she noticed the state of her wings and as he pulled the sheet over her legs she shrieked, "My wings! They plucked my wings! I'm bald!"
He was unable to help himself, he laughed. Gods he loved her! Her horror was instantly replaced by astonishment and with a shock he understood that she'd heard the thought. Great, that was all he needed or she wanted. Not for the first time he cursed his contrary heart for falling in love at all and then for choosing the most unattainable woman to do so with.
"Darien..."
"Don't say a word!" he warned her and changed the subject frantically. "So what's so important about the sins and the spears?" He prayed that she wouldn't pursue the former topic and maybe she heard him as she didn't continue what she had been about to say.
Instead she nodded and replied softly, "The seven deadly sins are the primary weapons of the Darkheart in its work against the Council's directives of life and civilisation. Where the sins flourish so does destruction. The spears of Chaos are physical manifestations of the sins and when they are loosed entire worlds are killed prematurely. Wherever there is life, good and bad exist together, usually in equilibrium ensuring that growth of the spirit continues. The presence of a spear, for example that of Anger, aggravates the trait in all beings within a certain proximity to the physical body of the spear itself. Just one spear can cause more destruction than ten Falls and Kaos has sent all seven against me."
"You destroyed two on your own and now there are only three left with your brother here to help you," he returned, trying to reassure her.
"Darien you don't understand!" she insisted, shuffling closer to him and staring into his eyes earnestly. "One spear is enough to undo thousands of years of work on Earth and now there are three of them! You and the other reincarnates are just as vulnerable to them as any other mortal, they are something that you cannot fight which leaves only my fellow guardians. There are four of them to fight not only the spears but the peoples of Earth who succumb as well."
He held her close as she trembled. He too feared for his world but his main concern was for her. The spears would not cease searching for her just because she had escaped from them once. They had a mission and now they had the six billion humans on Earth to help them finish it.
***
"- see that we aren't Lunarians because we live on your moon. Rather it is your moon who is Luna because we Lunarians dwell there," Serenity explained and licked the last bit of chocolate ice cream off her spoon.
She was comfortably ensconced in the middle of her brother's bed, the sheet put aside and her form completely bared as she sprawled out on her side. The many windows were wide open to allow the late afternoon light to pour into the room, wash over her naked skin and energise her. At some point in the previous few hours she and Darien had come to an understanding over her lack of clothes, she would not draw his attention to her current state of undress and he would refrain from making an issue of it. Of course that did not prevent him from taking long, hungry glances at her but his appreciation of her form did not bother her, rather the contrary. She felt incredibly pleased to have attracted his interest and her curiosity and confusion over that same interest grew greater by the moment.
Darien sat on the edge of the bed, an empty container of ice cream between them. His current healthy complexion was due as much to that container and the three like it on the floor as it was to the enforced idleness. At that moment he ignored the ice cream in favour of frowning at her. "Names," he complained, "With you lot it's always about names! Your mother is Selene but also Serenity! Thanatos is Saetan? You are Serenity and Usa or is it Usagi as well? What about Andy? You called him Toki, what's that about? Do all of you have two names?"
"Some of us have a lot more!" she told him with a wry smile. Throughout time her mother had gone by dozens of aliases and the Speaker had a different name in every civilisation. He groaned and she shrugged slightly, careful of the sheets against her still tender skin. "It's all a matter of perspective. Different names do different jobs. Let's use me as an example. Among my Mother's peers and in formal circumstances among my own people, I am Princess Serenity. To those that know, it says that I am of the Lunarian royal family, first daughter of the current queen. Those of the Council also call me Precious Lady Serenity and that says that I am a daughter of a Divine Star. When I am working as my mother's guardian I am the Law Keeper Serenity. At any other time to the rest of our people I am Usagi or, to Rita and Andrew, Usa. Usagi is a word out of the old tongue that is used for an animal very similar to a rabbit. It also has other, deeper associations back to 'life' and 'creation'. To most it's just a use-name but to my mother and brother it symbolises what they see of my soul through the kin-bond we share."
He thoughtfully swallowed some more ice cream. "So," he said after a moment, "Usagi is like your soul name, Andrew's is Toki and Rita's is Reika right?"
She grimaced, "Yes and no. We don't actually have soul names, it's just that those who are soul-bound to us often call us be a name or phrase of the old tongue. Andrew is actually Tranquillity, his use-name Motoki while Reika is always Reika among us. Her parents were able to name her according to what they saw in her while my brother and I needed another name to denote our position. Of course the names Andrew and Rita are arbitrary names that they're using at the moment, like dozens of other names they've used over time since they can't use Motoki or Reika."
"Why not? I've heard stranger names," he informed her and she sighed, this was getting complicated and she wasn't sure she could explain it to him.
"It has to do with the nature of the old tongue... It's also called the language of the soul because the words seem to speak to a part of you that is deeper than your mind... Spoken properly it makes you see things... Arggh!" she shrieked, frustrated, and sat up. "If you could stay at Silver Keep for a while you'd find that our words invoke images in your mind and it's those as much as the words themselves which we communicate through. What would happen if every time someone said their name they started seeing things? It's not a good way to stay inconspicuous. You'll notice that we'll rarely use each other's names aloud on Earth even when we have absolute privacy. It's always Rita or Andrew." She looked at him to see if he understood and he seemed to be following.
"Now why are you so interested?" she demanded.
He grinned at her, ruefully. "Well I think it's hearing Andy call you Usagi that helped me get my memories back."
"Ah," she exclaimed, "I had wondered about that.
"I'll bet," he retorted with a raised eyebrow and she glowered at him playfully. He snorted at her theatrics and elaborated, "In the arcade, you walked in and I had no idea who you were. There was nothing to connect you with Bunny other than your hairstyle and all I thought when I first saw you was that you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen... I still do."
His eyes traced their path over her once again and this time the hunger in them was barely leashed. Serenity shivered, the way he looked at her made her feel as if she were a tasty morsel that he was about to gobble up and she wasn't sure that she would fight him if he tried. Instinct started to sound an alarm but she ignored it. She needed to hear what he had to tell her.
"Then Andrew called you Usagi, I think he was surprised that I could be impulsive enough to fall in love at a glance and I think he might have said it properly. I didn't start seeing things right there in the arcade but that night I dreamt of you. Your face kept changing, one minute you were Bunny, the next Sailor Moon or Serenity but you were always the same with only one name and I woke up shouting 'Usagi' and all my memories of you and the week you were supposed to erase were back."
"All that from a dream?" she replied incredulously. She was good at what she did. No mere dream should have been able to break one of her spells.
"My dreams have a habit of coming true..." he almost purred and her eyes widened. He reached across and took her forgotten spoon from her hand. He put both spoons in the ice-cream container and placed it on the floor near the others before he crawled across the bed towards her. Her mental alarm was sending out red alerts left, right and centre but she was fixated by the animal expression in his darkening blue eyes. "I dreamed of you," he whispered hoarsely, "And you were mine to hold..." He raised himself to his knees and loomed over her. "To touch." His hands gently cupped her breasts. "To love," he finished and leaned forwards.
She fell back with a jerk, frantically trying to escape him and the spell he wove over her senses. "I think your hormones have been influencing your dreams," she told him, scrabbling backwards as he slowly, confidently stalked her.
"Hormones..." He pondered the word and for a moment she thought she was safe. Then he was on her and her sanity fled.
Her mouth opened beneath his, her arms circled his neck and she pressed herself against him as her mind drowned in the onslaught of his emotions. He loved her, would do anything for her. She was the most beautiful person he had ever met, inside and out. He wanted to show her in every way imaginable just how much he worshipped her. His lips moved to her neck and his hands were frantically trying to touch every part of her that he could reach and she was no better. Passion burned in her and she needed to get closer to him. Her hasty fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and soon his bare chest pressed against her breasts. Skin to skin, magic started to crackle between them.
Desperately she tried to regather her faculties, something was wrong with them. Silver and crimson-gold flames played across their skin in a dance of glittering light and rekindled a semblance of sanity. The colours were wrong, silver should be with pure gold, no other shades should be there. She paused but his lips returned to hers and ecstasy exploded in her. Their minds, already linked through touch, moved closer and what she saw gave her the strength to push the fog of desire from her mind.
It was not by his will that he seduced her. Tendrils of darkness twisted through his thoughts, inflaming his desire for her until he could no longer control it. It wasn't he that initiated the joining betwixt them but an insidious other. She had been found and at some point in her conversation with Darien the sun had set, freeing the spear called Lust to act.
"Darien, stop!" she moaned but she was fighting own body as well as his in a battleground in which she had no experience. Of their own volition her legs wrapped around his waist and he freed his hands to support her as he sat up. Straddled across his lap, she could do nothing to stop him as he continued in his eager seduction. It surprised her only slightly to discover that she could not refuse him, drawn as she was to him, but that did not make the situation more acceptable. Even if she could summon the will she lacked the strength to turn him aside in her present state. She needed to get through to him for without his help they were both doomed.
***
Nothing in any of his dreams had prepared for the reality of having her in his arms. He relished the fact that she responded to his touch as fervently as he did to hers. Their two heartbeats, gradually synchronising, pulsed in his ears so loudly that her moan sounded like it came from a thousand stars away. Everything in him was driven to complete this union between them, making them one, making her his own.
A part of him paused, it was not right but how could it be wrong? He loved her. He'd do anything for her. Still the unease persisted and he began to pay more attention to his surroundings.
"Darien, no, please, no!" She was begging but her body and her emotions contradicted her words. She wanted this as much as he did, an end to loneliness, a partner who would always be there, someone that was hers alone.
"We can't do this!"
Why not? What was stopping them? This was right.
"It's wrong..." Her words were a murmur that was soon lost as her lips began to toy with his ear and the unease began to fade when it seemed that she no longer had even the faintest reservations.
Still the words haunted him... Why? Why was it wrong? He would never do anything to hurt her. He would die to keep her safe... It's wrong... Maybe it was him that she needed protecting from.
He guided her head up and his lips ravished her own while his eyes searched through the film of desire into her own. What he saw there stunned him. His heart sang when he found desire, pleasure and even love but it was silenced just as quickly by the pangs of regret and sorrow also present. Suddenly it was as if a fog had cleared from his mind and he was horrified by his actions. What on Earth did he think he was doing? He was about to chain her to him for the rest of her life!
Her eyes were wide in astonishment but he could spare a moment to ask why. All of his strength was needed to cage his raging libido. Years of iron self-control were barely enough to stop him from finishing what he had begun. With a mournful cry he pushed her away from him and curled himself into a ball. He would not let her be hurt, not even by himself. A force within him raged, almost uncontrollable and it was only by the most slender of margins that he was able to bridle his yearning but it still remained to be see if he could master it. A soft hand placed itself on his shoulder and he almost lost himself once more but Serenity's mind opened to his, providing him with a place of calm strength from which to wage his battle.
*Toki hurry, Lust is here!* The thought rang from her head, to his and into the distant mind of her brother.
Finally he understood, his love for her was being used as a weapon against her. "I love you," Darien told her bitterly and she tried to hush him. "No, I need to tell you. I loved you from the very beginning
"When you were Bunny, I was so busy despising the Meatball Head that I didn't actually see you in her and that was what I wanted. I have been abandoned and lied to all my life and I wasn't going to give you a chance to give me more of the same. Then you rubbed my face in your competence and ability and I couldn't hate you anymore and the next thing I knew was that your mind was available to me if I tried. No more lies, from you I would always get the truth but you ran from that and I discovered that you had done so for both of our sakes.
"When you took my memories I knew that no matter what I was offered in return their loss would never be fair but I accepted your deal anyway and woke up the next day empty despite remembering my past. Then you returned, though I didn't realise it, and it felt like I was whole again but I lost you once more. Over the last three years I've seen you in visions and true-dreams and every sight made me love you more and more. The day before yesterday I found you dying and it felt as if my heart had been ripped from my chest. I have always known that I couldn't have you, on some level I always knew that Andy was right when he warned me away but I couldn't stop hoping." He looked up at her, he was almost calm despite the agony in his body. "I know that you are lonely, and I know that I can't banish it. I've felt your yearning and I know that it's not for me. I can never have you but I will do everything I can to see you happy."
Faint silver light spread from her hand into him, breaking Lust's spell and leaving a cool stillness in its wake. Her eyes were filled with tears and her other hand rested on his cheek. "You don't love me Darien. You're just feeling the side effects of spending so much time with me. It's not you, you don't really feel like this."
She began to stroke his forehead with her other hand. Such and action only moments before would have driven him crazy with desire. Now it only made him cold. "That's not true," he denied. Couldn't she see from his mind? This was no spell!
*No?* her mental voice whispered faintly. "You knew me for eight days Darien, only eight and even then I was lying to you about who and what I was. You don't know enough of me to love me," she said to him aloud.
He refused to believe that the emotions running roughshod through him were because of a spell but the logical part of his mind began to wonder. He had no experience with love, neither of his lifetimes having done anything to prepare him for it, so how could he now if what he felt was it? From the moment they first met she had been driving him up the wall… but was that love or the call of her powerful magic?
She felt his confusion and began to speak again, softly, "The human family I stayed with during the Darkmoon Crisis still miss me, do you know that? Even though Pluto made it so that they did not ever meet me they still miss me. All the temporal magic in the universe cannot change the fact that their souls remember me. For months after I'd left it was as if they'd lost all joy in life and I don't think that even now they've fully regained it." She paused and when he looked into her eyes he saw the mass of guilt she carried.
"My presence is like a drug," she told him with an agonised voice. "It's because I'm the Speaker's heir. Both the Heart and the Darkheart have the same trait. They… we attract other souls the way light does moths. The Heart uses this… thing… curse to inspire while the Darkheart uses it to seduce people into its power. I try to follow the Speaker's example but I didn't know then and even now I can't quite believe that I have that power over another soul. So some of it leaks out.
"And then there was you who has so much passion in you locked away, so much love to give. And your power roused with mine and our minds became one but that's not love Darien. Not really."
He knew she was right. She was right about everything but, whether it was natural or magical didn't matter, his need for her was real.
"We both deserve better than a quick fumble in the dark Darien. We both deserve that soul shattering love that will make the universe make sense but we won't find it with each other. The need you feel will fade, I promise, but only if we don't feed it and make it grow."
"It won't ever fully go away though. Will it?" he asked her.
Tears welled in her fathomless sapphire eyes and he felt he overwhelming sorrow and guilt as she gathered him closer to her. With another he would have spurned what he thought to be pity but their dreadful, doomed, beautiful link told him that she would never pity him. She did not answer him either mentally or vocally but she did not need to. He already knew that no matter how much time passed he would forever have a hollow within him. Later he would pull the tatters of his heart and mind and attempt to heal himself but for now he desperately basked in the comfort of her presence… like the junkie he was.