Hey, I've updated, disclaimer, I don't own Sailor Moon. Thankyou to Lillian, PyroChic Aka Lauren, Wyse and my sister Sagi-chan. I'm posting this for her, as I wrote it for her.
Sagi-chan, Here's another chapter for you, thanks for being my sister and letting me force you into reading this drivel. I hope you enjoy it when I get to the ending, the next few chapters I write on the computer are SECRET, so don't read my disk! I want it to be a surprise.
Chapter Six
Scars of Old
~By Saki Midnight
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Kunzite walked quickly, anxious to get back to Darien. A million thoughts whirled through his head. Why hadn't he revealed himself to her? Why hadn't he let Darien help her? Why couldn't he talk to her, like he used to? He knew the answer to his own questions. He was scared. By the time he had got back to Darien, the whole party was assembled. Wordlessly, he slung the unconscious prince over his shoulder and headed back to the cottage they were staying in. The others said nothing as well, they knew too well that their leader would entrust no one else with his comatose charge. Their short journey came to an end, and Kunzite mounted the wooden steps, heaving the door to the shack open with one shoulder. He crossed the room and opened another door inside, one that led to a small sleeping quarters. He set Darien on the bed with the same gentleness he had used on Serenity, and pulled a blanket over him. He left the door open and set a chair by the doorframe. Kunzite detransformed, before settling into the chair. He looked around, satisfied to see the other boys do so too. Nate immediately busied himself, making tea for everyone. Zac wandered around the room, checking the plants he had collected. Jase looked through a pile of books that were heaped before him. Tranq took a chair nearby Kev and refused to move. All were quiet. Nate poured the tea, and pushed a cup into Kev's hands.
"Drink it." He encouraged. "It'll make you feel better."
"Nothing will make me feel better." Kev said despondently, but he drank the tea anyway, and found that his mood improved a little.
"It must have been really bad." Nate came out with finally, after a long silence. There was no need to explain his words, everyone knew what he meant. Kev nodded.
"She was right there, and I couldn't be me." He replied. "I wanted to, but I couldn't. She doesn't even know that I'm still alive." He gazed into the half empty mug. "My own sister."
"At least you know your sister is okay." Tranq voiced with a sigh. "I'd give anything to run into my own like you have Serenity."
Nate and Zac bobbed heads in agreement. Jase read on, all but oblivious to the conversation.
"You met her guard?" Kev inquired, suddenly more interesting. Jase shut his tome with a muffled thump.
"Serenity's guard?" He included himself. "I met one of them; she was small, not at all what I expected from a warrior."
"Well, you aren't exactly what you seem." Tranq pointed out lazily.
"She was quite wary." Jase continued, ignoring Tranq's very valid reasoning. "But quite polite when she realised that I meant her no harm."
"I met one too, all dressed in red and white. Fiery little thing." Nate said with a short chuckle. "Wasn't as eager to accept my help." He said, starkly contrasting to Jase's encounter.
"I think I ran into a guard. Quite literally." A smile twitched on Tranq's lips at the memory of it. "One helluva set of vocal chords." He shook is head in amusement.
"Well, I caught one." Zac said mischievously. "And I got a good look at her undergarments too" He added slyly, making them all stare at him.
"I was wondering what they could fit under those tiny skirts." Nate mused thoughtfully.
"You 'caught one'?" Kev asked in puzzlement.
"She was climbing a tree. Fell right into my arms."
"Zac's dream come true." Jase muttered darkly. Kev glanced into the open door, then fixed his eyes on Nate.
"Nate, what exactly did you do?" He inquired uneasily, referring to Darien.
"I drained his energy." He replied simply. "You told me to find a way of stopping him from having an episode, and it was the most effective thing that I could come up with on short notice." He added, after seeing the look on his friend's face. "He'll waken in a while. But he will be a little ill. You know how he reacts to energy transfers."
Kev nodded, accepting Nate's course of action as necessary. He just hoped that Darien would see it that way.
When Darien did finally wake up, the Sun had begun to set. Zac was busy with his plants again, Jase was immersed in pages of Moon lore, Nate was outside, meditating, and Tranq was dozing in his chair. Kev heard the prince stir and went into the darkened room. He stood over the bed as Darien prised his eyes open a crack.
"My Prince, are you okay?"
"Kevin?" Darien rasped, his throat dry. Kev nodded and stepped closer to the bed. The prince was pale, just as Nate said he would be. "I'm sorry for making you baby-sit me-"
"Sshh." Kev pacified dropping down beside the bed. "Don't worry about it. We wouldn't be here if we couldn't handle it." He said, gazing at his sick friend. At that point, Tranq walked in, carrying a cup of water. "How do you do that?" Kev asked him in amazement. Tranq smiled and rubbed his stomach, like he always did when asked a question like that. Tranquillity seemed extremely sensitive to the prince's patterns, turning up every time he was needed, without being asked. It puzzled the others greatly. He knelt down next to Kev and held the cup out in silence. Darien accepted the cup with both hands, and sipped. Tranq took the cup back before Darien dropped it, and set it on the table by the bed.
"Hey, he's awake." Jase's voice floated into the room. He bounced in and sat on the end of the bed. "You look like death warmed up." He remarked truthfully. Darien didn't answer. He sat up, looking dazed.
"Maybe you should lie down." Tranq suggested, rising to his feet. Kev stood also.
"No." Darien said faintly. "I need to talk to Nathan." He stood, slowly, and tried to step forward, but his legs failed him. Tranq caught him and he swayed gently, trying to stay upright. The other boy laughed softly.
"You need to sit down." He pushed Darien back onto the bed gently, and made him drink some more water. "Now what's so important that makes you prove to me that you can't go anywhere?"
"I need to talk to Nathan." Darien reiterated vaguely, obviously not quite with it.
"Well, we'll bring him to you." Tranq replied softly but firmly, asserting the fact that Darien would not be going anywhere in his disorientated state.
"Here?" Darien's voice was unsteady. "Now?"
"Yes." Tranq answered resolutely, acting as if he was reassuring a small child. Kev was slightly worried by the prince's strange behaviour. He gazed pointedly at Jase, who left the room to fulfil the prince's request. He returned a few minutes later with Nate and Zac trailing behind him. Zac stood at the end of the bed, while Nate went to Darien's side.
"Yes, prince Endy?" He asked, staring into Darien's eyes.
"Nate, I had a vision." Darien began. His eyes had a faraway glint in them. "You shared it."
"Yes." Nate confirmed.
"Then, you agree. You can't do this to me again."
"Yes." Nate replied. Kev opened his mouth to protest.
"We have to find another way." Darien continued, holding up a hand to silence Kev. Nate bobbed his head. "I need to be fully aware to do it." He said.
"Do what?" Kev demanded, nonplussed.
"Don't worry, Darien, I'll take care of it." Nate stood up. "Now go back to sleep, you need to recover."
Darien nodded, and his eyes shut, relief spreading over his face. Tranq guided him as he keeled over on his side, and lifted his legs up onto the mattress. "Out." Nate commanded them. "He needs his rest."
They all trooped back into the main room. As soon as Nate closed the connecting door, Kev spoke.
"Do what?" He demanded heatedly, annoyed to be out of the loop. Nate sat down, and gestured them all to do the same. He would not explain until they did as he asked.
"I can't take his energy away again," Nate said. "As it will severely hinder him."
"In what?" Jase asked, curious.
"The prince has a very rare talent," Nate began. "Called psychometry." He studied their reactions. Kev had his hands over his face, not believing what he was hearing. "It explains all his strange reactions to injuries." Zac looked awestruck. "And why his father was so insistent that we made him wear something on his hands." Jase was listening with rapt attention, and Tranq seemed wildly fascinated by Nate's words. "Sol wanted it never to be known that his son had inherited his mother's special gift. Darien can heal people. He is emotion sensitive, also empathic to those emotions." He looked around the group. "That's why he seems to react so badly when someone is in pain. You'll also notice that he never touches any objects with his bare hands. The reason for that is, if he did, he'd absorb its history." He shot a look at Tranq, who squirmed in his seat. "And someone among us has experienced the prince's power firsthand."
They all looked at Tranquillity, he cringed, hating the spotlight, but told them anyway.
"Do you remember when we were out riding one day, and were ambushed?" The others nodded their heads. "And I took the arrow meant for Darien." He paused, and then went on. "After you had taken me up to the castle, Queen Summer attended me in my bedchambers. Well, Darien was there, and he and his mother both worked together to heal me. Then they both set about the rumour that the arrow had miraculously missed all my vital organs."
"So you're telling me, that Darien and his mother saved your life by touching you?" Kev snorted. "You must be joking." He faltered as the look on Tranq's face darkened.
"You think that I'd lie about something like that Kev?" He asked in a dangerous voice. "Yet you wonder how I always waken when Darien does and can always guess what he wants?" He lifted up his bright orange tunic top to reveal an ugly raised scar on the right side of his stomach. "You go look at Darien. Tell me he didn't share my pain. Show me he has no scar in exactly the same place as my own. Go on, I dare you."
Wordlessly Kevin rose to go and take a look. Tranq glared at his retreating back. He was rewarded seconds later when a strangled cry came from the other room. Kev appeared in the doorway, as white as a sheet.
"I don't believe it!" He gasped, staring at the blond boy. "It's absolutely true!"
Tranq smiled triumphantly, as Kev lowered himself to the floor, staring into space. Nate took the opportunity.
"There is another way to stop him." He said hesitantly. "His mother told him of it." Nate pulled out a blue pouch.
"Nate!" Zac exploded. "That's Darien's!"
"I know," The curly haired boy replied. "Don't worry." He dangled the pouch before him. "Didn't you ever wonder why he always carried it?" He looked at them all. "Don't you want to know what's inside it?"
Curiously enough, no one had ever seen the contents of the pouch. Up until now, it had always been attached to Darien's sword belt. Kev had always thought it had carried his mother's ashes. But Nate pulled the drawstrings, and upended the little silk bag. A silver chain dropped into his palm, glinting in the lamplight. "This." Nate held up the chain. "Is Summer's. She used it to shield herself against the call of the injured."
"So why hasn't Darien used it?" Jase asked.
"I'm not sure," Nate twirled the chain between his fingers. "It must be a good reason though."