Title: The Swan Princess
Summery: Serenity is the princess from the moon, and Endymion is the prince from Earth. The kings and queens of each kingdom desperately want the two children to marry when they grow up, so every summer Serenity is sent down to Earth to spend quality time with Endymion. They hate each other at first. But when Serenity finally grows up, Endymion sees her in a different light. Endymion's jealous, power-hungry brother, Alex, turns to the dark arts in hope that he can make Serenity become his wife so he can be king, by putting her under a spell. It's up to Endymion to find her and save her from her enchantment.
Characters:
The Moon Kingdom and Court-
King Leodegrance- King of the Moon Kingdom, born of the royal family of the Sun
Queen Serenity- Queen of the Moon Kingdom, born of the royal family of the Moon
Princess Serenity- also known as Serena to close friends, daughter of the King and Queen of the Moon Kingdom and future ruler and holder of the Imperium Silver Crystal
Princess Mina- Serenity's cousin from the planet Venus (one year older than Serenity)
Princess Amy- Serenity's friend and princess of Mercury (one year older than Serenity)
Princess Lita- Serenity's friend and princess of Jupiter (one year older than Serenity)
Princess Raye- Serenity's friend and princess of Mars and Prince Endymion's cousin (one year older than Serenity)
Earth Kingdom and Court-
King Gereint- King of Earth and High King of all the other provinces and smaller kingdoms, born from the royal family of Mars
Queen Arianna- Queen of Earth and High Queen of the other provinces and smaller kingdoms, born from the royal family of Earth
Prince Endymion- also known as Darien to close friends, son of the High King and Queen of Earth, first in line for the throne
Prince Alexander- also known as Alex to close friends, son of the High King and Queen of Earth, second in line for the throne
Princess Marietta- also known as Marie to a very exclusive branch of nobles, daughter of the High King and Queen of Earth, third in line for the throne
Malachite- head of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
Zoycite- part of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
Nephlite- part of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
Jedite- part of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
A\N: Darien and his friends are all the same age right now, which is 21. Serena is 17 and her friends are 18.
Disclaimer: I own neither Sailor Moon nor The Swan Princess.
Chapter 8: Life as a Swan
~~~~~***~~~~~
Palace Gates
Darien came riding in on his black stallion. The horse's hooves thundered on the cobbled stone path that led to the entrance to the palace. Guards at the entrance stepped back and opened the doors that led into the courtyard. The sun sunk low on the horizon. Darien frowned at the sad faces of the guards as he rode by.
What has happened? Darien thought.
He continued to the barracks and jumped off his horse.
"Boy!" he yelled at the groom pitching hay into the horses' area. The boy looked up startled. "See to my horse, I have to see my parents."
The boy nodded and grabbed the reins to Darien's horse and scrambled out of the way as Darien strode past. Servants and passing nobles regarded him with sympathy as he passed them on the way to the throne room. His frown deepened and deepened.
He pushed passed the guards standing outside the throne room doors and entered the chamber. The talking that was going on diminished as he marched by the people inside the room. He walked straight up to where his mother and father were sitting. His brother, Alex, was there as well.
"What is wrong?" Darien asked as he quickly bowed to his parents. "What has happened?"
"Son, you need to sit down," Queen Arianna said. She motioned to a seat beside her. Darien shook his head.
"Tell me, now," he yelled. He glanced around. Something was missing. He gasped. "Where is Serena?"
"Dear, we have something to tell you," Queen Arianna tried to calm him. Her eyes were filled with tears. Darien started to breathe heavily.
"Where is she?"
"Now, Darien, calm down this instant," King Gereint said. Darien stopped pacing and looked at his father. "Serenity was due to leave this morning to go back to the Moon."
"What? Why was I not told of this?" Darien exclaimed. "Is she there now?"
Queen Arianna burst into tears. Alex patted her hand. King Gereint's face saddened.
"She is gone," King Gereint whispered.
"Well, I gathered that since she is not here, but I don't get why everyone is so sad," Darien said. He glanced around. Most of the ladies were in tears and the gentlemen were comforting them. "What is going on here?"
"Listen to me, Serena was kidnapped," King Gereint shouted. He held out Serena's crystal swan necklace that she always wore. Darien stopped and gaped at him. He took the necklace out of his father's hand. "She was in your gardens this morning hoping to find you, and then she's gone. This was all we found."
"What happened?" Darien yelled. He clasped the necklace.
"The only man who saw anything got hurt," Queen Arianna whispered. "We waited until you got home for him to tell us."
"Bring the guard in!" King Gereint called to the other guards at the entrance. They scurried out and a moment later, a bleeding man was brought in. His hair was dirty brown and he was sweaty all over. "We don't know what's wrong with him. Nothing we do can heal him."
"Jack, tell the prince what happened," one of the guards said. Jack opened his eyes and stared at Darien.
"It was horrible," Jack whispered. He coughed up blood. The guards let him sit down. Darien ran over and leaned into the man, cradling Jack's head, so he could hear better.
"Go on," Darien said.
"There was a great flash of red," Jack coughed. His body started to shake. Prince Alex had stood up behind the king and queen. All attention was on the bleeding man. Alex shook with fury. In his hand, a red fire started and he clenched his hand. Jack coughed again, but continued on, getting weaker by the second. "There was a man."
"Who?" Darien asked. "A thief?"
"No, it . . . it was . . . not who he seemed," Jack stammered out. He coughed once and then his eyes closed for the last time. Darien started to cry.
"No! Who ever did this will pay!" Darien howled. "I will find you, Serena! Where ever you are!"
"I think not," Alex smirked. His voice was lost in the comforting whispers and talk of the nobles and royals as they hugged Darien and pulled him away from the dead guard. Alex smiled and left the room and disappeared in a flash of red.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Rose Castle Ruins - Miles away from the Earth Palace
"Where am I?" Serena whispered. She opened her eyes. The world spun and then settled. "Ah!"
Serena's vision was different. She tried to get up.
"What am I?" Serena yelled. She spread her arms and found white wings. She was lying on a beach. She ran forward to the lake before her and glanced at her reflection. "I am a swan!"
Serena almost fainted. A tear fell from her blue eyes. She looked around. A large blue lake spread out before her. Castle ruins were on the other side of the lake. A huge forest panned out all around the lake. Serena was on a small white beach beside the lake.
"Where am I?" Serena asked. A twig snapped behind her. She gasped and ran to the lake and swam out into the middle.
"Oh, Serena, don't be like that. It's only me," a voice said from behind a tree. Prince Alex stepped out.
"Turn me back!" Serena yelled. Prince Alex laughed.
"I can't understand you while you're like this," Alex replied. He stepped to the edge of the lake. "Don't be mad though. This enchantment is for your own good. I can't have you running off back to Darien, now, can I?"
Serena looked away from him. The sun had set and stars were twinkling in the sky.
"When the Moon touches your feathers on the lake, you will turn back to your normal self," Alex said. He watched as the large Moon rose up and touched the water. Serena swam over to where the Moon touched the water.
As the moonlight touched her feathers, the water sparkled and turned purple. The water rose up and formed a sphere around Serena. She gasped and rose out of the water.
When the water fell away, Serena, as her normal self in her white dress, stood there smiling. She ran back to the shore and tried to run into the forest. Alex grabbed her arm. She struggled.
"Let me go!" Serena shouted and slapped Alex across the face. Alex let her go and she fell to the ground.
"You can't leave," Alex whispered deadly.
"And why not?" Serena asked. "You can't hold me here!"
"Of course not," Alex chuckled. He rubbed the red spot on his cheek. He gestured to the Moon. "When the Moon's reflection leaves the lake water, you will turn back into a swan, where ever you are. And to return to your human form, you have to be on the lake."
"No," Serena gasped.
"Yes! And we are miles away from any civilization," Alex laughed. "No one can help you now."
Serena covered her face with her hands as tears began to slide down her cheeks.
"Why?" Serena whispered.
"Because I want to be king," Alex replied. He walked over to Serena and pulled her up. "Marrying you will mean I become King of the Moon. Then I will use the Silver Crystal and conquer the entire galaxy!"
"Only I can use the Silver Crystal!" Serena shouted. "And I will never use it for evil!"
"You will with the right persuasion," Alex said. "Get used to this, princess. Until you say you'll marry me, you will stay a swan."
Serena fell weeping by the side of the lake. Prince Alex disappeared in a swirl of red. The Moon glowed softly in the sky.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Moon Palace
"We are ready to go to Earth and find her," Raye told the king. King Leodegrance stood looking out the window at the Earth. He slowly turned back towards Raye. "Your majesty?"
"Find her, Raye," King Leodegrance whispered. "She is the world to me."
"She is the world to us as well," Raye said, tears formed in her eyes. "If only we had gone with her! This would have never happened! Dumb Earth people! They can't even keep a princess from getting kidnapped!"
"It's not their fault, or yours," the king interrupted Raye's tirade. Raye stopped and bit her lip. "She is out there some where. I know it. We just have to find her before anything bad happens to us and the people of this universe."
"Of course," Raye said. She turned to leave the room. "We will find her."
"Good luck," King Leodegrance called after her. He turned back to the window and resumed his watch over the Earth.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Earth Palace
Raye, Amy, Lita and Mina stepped from the portal and walked swiftly to the meeting room where they had been told to go earlier. King Gereint and Queen Arianna stood up from a large oval table as they entered. Prince Endymion remained sitting. Books and maps and scrolls covered the table. Darien was hunched over a scroll, frowning in concentration.
"Have you found anything out yet?" Queen Arianna asked. The girls shook their heads.
"We have decided to set up here and try to locate her through our bond together," Amy said. "I need a quiet place to work for the next few days so I can get everything ready."
"I will have rooms prepared," King Gereint clapped his hands and at once servants left to do the bidding.
"We have to work quickly," Lita said. "Prince, what have you found out from the guard's message?"
Darien sighed. He stood up and walked over to where the girls were standing. He gave them a scroll which had the message written down on it.
"I can't decipher it," Darien whispered. Amy took the scroll and opened it. She and the other girls briefly read over it and then handed it back to Darien.
"A man who is not what he seems," Mina said softly. "And a flash of red."
"Oh, how could I have not of thought of this before?" Darien cried. He ran over to a pile of books and pulled out an old blue one that was faded and worn. He opened it and flipped through some pages until he landed on the right one. He pointed to the page and handed it to his father. "Father, look. This is what the red flash was! Some one has discovered the Dark Arts!"
"Oh, my Goddess," King Gereint and Queen Arianna said together as they peered at the page which held a picture of the Dark Arts' magic items and what the Arts could do. "This could be bad."
"What are the Dark Arts?" Raye asked as she came over to look. Queen Arianna put the book down and motioned for everyone to sit down. When everyone had sat down she sighed and began to tell the story of the Dark Arts.
"A long time ago," Queen Arianna began. Everyone was looking at her, enraptured by the story. "There was a king who was named Cedric. Cedric was a horrible king, pillaging and plundering and killing his own people like a pirate. The Moon Queen, at the time, came down to Earth and gave King Cedric an ultimatum. Either he stopped his evil doings, or she would personally do it. King Cedric swore he would stop and the Moon Queen left. But Cedric lied. He knew he couldn't go on doing his evil doings without having something powerful on his side, like the Silver Crystal of the Moon. He began to research magic.
After a few years, he had put together a potion and spell that would make him powerful in black magic against the Moon's white magic. All he needed was a unicorn's blood to finish the potion off. He had already become magical, but the unicorn's blood was to make him all powerful. But unicorns were rare and only found on remote planets of solar systems, and he couldn't go out to find one without raising the Moon Queen's suspicions, so he continued his work on Earth, slowly becoming stronger.
The Moon Queen used the Silver Crystal to spy on King Cedric and she found out what he was doing. She came down to Earth and confronted King Cedric. King Cedric tried to use his black magic on her, but she killed him with her crystal.
King Cedric had known this would happen, so he wrote everything down and hid his Dark Arts in the Earth Palace somewhere. And there they have lain until now. Some one has found the Dark Arts and used them to kidnap the princess."
"What can we do?" Lita asked as soon as the story was finished. "I didn't know that a Moon Queen killed an Earth King."
"This story was lost in legend, until now," King Gereint replied. "Endymion studied this legend when he was younger. What did you learn?"
"Only that the Dark Arts can be stopped by the Silver Crystal," Darien answered. "That's probably why the Moon Queen was killed. So this person could continue using the Dark Arts without having to hide from the Moon Queen."
"But it doesn't explain why this man would take Serena," Amy stated. "The crystal hasn't exactly become one with her yet, and that could take years."
"Maybe this man is after something else entirely, than just the Earth and the Silver Crystal," Darien said. "But what is that?"
"I don't know," everyone answered.
"We will continue looking for her, but with the Dark Arts interfering with our powers, I don't know if we can find her," Mina said. The girls nodded. King Gereint and Queen Arianna stood up.
"We still have to run a planet, so excuse us," King Gereint said as he walked out the door with the queen. "Notify us at once, if you find anything."
"I will be in the library," Darien stood up and followed the king and queen out. "I will keep searching for the answer. And I will keep practicing my fighting skills, so when I find this man who took her, I will kill him!"
As soon as the room was empty, the girls began to work on how to find Serena.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Eight Weeks Later
~~~~~***~~~~~
Rose Castle Ruins
Serena sat by the edge of the lake, trailing her fingers across the water. She watched the ripples flow by made by her hand. The Moon was waning. Its reflection glittered in the starlight. A few cumulus clouds floated by, promising that rain was coming. Serena sighed and lifted her hand out of the water and splashed her reflection angrily.
"What was that for?" a chipmunk scurried over to Serena. Serena sighed and brushed back her long gold hair before it fell into the water from behind her shoulder.
"Oh, Acorn, if only I could somehow get out of here. But this horrible spell is my doom. I can not get far on foot at night, and with Alex's nightly visits, he would surely catch me if I tried to run. And at day when I am a swan, I can not find where Darien's castle is. The world is too big and no one can understand a swan," Serena explained. Acorn nodded and looked at his reflection in the water.
"At least you have me," Acorn said.
"And me," Milo, the otter, called from behind them.
"And me, too," said Chirp, the sparrow. "We can help you."
"But how?" Serena asked. "We don't know where we are. Alex keeps the castle ruins under strict watch. There are no maps. We are stuck here!"
"I think-" Chirp was cut off by the wind coming up strongly. Acorn, Chirp, and Milo ran off to hide. Serena stood up and waited.
"Good evening, gentle lady," Alex greeted as he appeared in a swirl of red. He bowed to Serena, who only glared at him. He sauntered over and kissed Serena's hand. "You look lovely tonight."
"I have looked the same every night for the past 2 months!" Serena exclaimed and turned to march into the woods, but Alex caught her hand.
"If you really want to look different, all you have to do is say the word," Alex said. He snapped his fingers and instantly Serena's white dress was changed into a dark red dress. Her hair was bound up in a bun and a crown was set on her head. Serena frowned. "Better?"
"No! Not better! I want to go home! I want to see Darien!" Serena yelled and yanked the crown from her hair, causing the bun to come undone, and threw it at his feet. Alex's eyes narrowed. He snapped his fingers again and the red dress disappeared back into the original white one.
"I told you not to mention his name!" Alex shouted. He looked as if he was going to slap Serena, but calmly collected himself. "Now, Serena, I came here tonight to ask you a very important question."
"The same one you ask every night! And what is my answer every night? It is and will always be - NO!" Serena replied. Alex glared at her.
"You try my patience, and soon I will be angry," Alex whispered, his green eyes flickering dangerously. "Any girl would love to be my wife."
"Yeah, well I'm not just any girl," Serena said. She turned and sat down by the lake.
"I will let you think about your answer for another day, and then tomorrow, we shall see what you say," Alex whispered. Serena shrugged her shoulders and looked away. Alex turned to go. "Good-bye, Serena. I hope you enjoy being a swan."
He disappeared. Serena glanced up at the Moon. It was slowly leaving the sky. She placed her head in her hands. Acorn, Milo and Chirp came out and sat down by her.
"I admire your bravery to stand up to that evil man," Milo said. "Though, when he gets angry, everything living better get away. We need to formulate a plan to find your Prince Darien."
"I think I have one," Chirp announced. Serena looked up at Chirp hopefully. The animals and human gathered round Chirp to hear what the plan was.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Earth Palace
"It's been 2 months, Darien," Jedite cried. Darien was bent over a book in the library. Jedite, Nephrite, Zoycite and Malachite were standing near him.
"She is not coming back," Nephrite said. Darien waved them away.
"Come on, Darien!" Zoycite yelled. "We have to move on."
"No!" Darien shouted and snapped his book closed and placed it on top of a large pile of books he had read. "Serena is alive. I will find her."
"Her friends have tried and failed, Darien," Malachite whispered. "There isn't much hope yet."
"But there still is hope," Darien stated. "And with that strand of hope, I will find her and defeat the man with the Dark Arts and marry her."
Jedite, Zoycite, Nephrite, and Malachite walked away slowly. Darien picked up another book and thumbed through the pages. When he found nothing useful, he threw the book across the room, causing piles of books to fall over.
Darien walked over to a wall of books. He climbed up a ladder to a higher shelf. The room itself was big. Walls were covered in books and shelves. Stairs led up to balconies where one could reach more books. (A\N: The library looks like the one in Beauty and the Beast.) He grabbed four books and slid off the ladder.
"No," he said to himself and threw the top book on the ground. The next two books followed. He kept the fourth book and opened it. Pictures of wizards, witches and mermaids were in the first chapters. He flipped through the pictures of fairies, gnomes, kings and queens, before stopping on one page.
It showed a wizard transforming into a dragon.
"Could it be?" Darien whispered. "No, if something like that had happened, a lot more than one guard would have seen it. And it would take a lot of power to do it."
He threw the book on the ground. As he stepped forward to go to the other side of the room, his foot hit a book. Stumbling, he leaned forward and picked the old pink book up. He blew dust off the cover.
"Fairy Tales," Darien read. He rolled his eyes and was about to throw it away when something caught his eye. "What is that?"
A page of the book had fallen out and some one had hastily jammed it back in. Darien pulled the crumpled paper out. It was a picture. A prince and a peasant were changing clothes with each other. Darien frowned and started to crumple it back up, when a thought hit him like a bolt of lightening. He gasped and yanked it back open.
"Of course!" he shouted. "This is what the guard meant!"
Darien smiled and let out a cry of joy. He clenched the paper and took off out of the room. He ran up stairs and down corridors until he reached the king and queen's meeting room. He pushed the door open and rushed inside.
"Mother! Father! I have figured it out!" Darien cried. His parents were sitting at the table in the middle of the room talking with Raye, Amy, Lita and Mina. "Oh, sorry, excuse me."
"No! What is it?" Mina exclaimed and jumped up. Lita jumped up too and hurried Darien over to the table. Darien excitedly put the picture on the table.
"I don't get it," Raye said as she stared at the picture.
"Me either," Lita agreed.
"Remember what the guard said about the kidnapper not being what he or she seems?" Darien asked. The girls and king and queen nodded. "Well, what if the guard meant that the kidnapper was some one he knew? What if the kidnapper was some one we know and trust? Jack saw the kidnapper and said that he wasn't who he seems and this is the only plausible conclusion!" (A\N: I know it's not the only conclusion, but go with me here. Pretend that it really is the only conclusion. ^_~)
"That makes sense!" Amy cried.
"But how do we find this person?" Queen Arianna asked.
Darien paused. His smile vanished.
"I really don't know," Darien whispered. "It could be anyone."
"And it would take years to figure it out," King Gereint said.
"We can still try," Mina exclaimed.
"Yes, come on girls, let's go back to the Moon and confer with King Leodegrance," Raye said. The girls nodded and with the king and queen's permission, left the room. Darien stood there alone still staring at the paper.
"At least you found out what happened," King Gereint tried to comfort Darien.
"But it's so hard to believe that some one we trust did this to Serena and me," Darien whispered. He grasped the paper and left the room. "Now that I know more about this, I am going to start searching for Serena. But how do I begin?"
"Start with your heart," Raye startled him. Darien jumped and let out a breath of relief when he saw it was Raye.
"You scared me," Darien said. Raye smiled. She stepped around him to continue walking back to her rooms.
"Follow your heart," Raye called. She disappeared around the corner. Darien stared after her thinking about what she said.
"Follow my heart," he repeated. He smiled half-heartedly and looked out the window at the setting sun sinking below the horizon of trees and mountains. "But where do I start?"
~~~~~***~~~~~
A\N: Wow. That was very hard to write. I spent most of the past few days working on this. I might have left a few details out so it may seem randomly put together, but I really wanted to get this chapter out to you guys. Thanks again for your lovely reviews! Keep reviewing everyone and I will start on the next chapter as soon as I get rested from this one. The next chapter will be easier to write.
Next Chapter Preview:
~ Serena and her friends go on an adventure to find something in Alex's castle ruins (but the castle still stands, it is just kind of old and falling apart) to help them find the Earth Palace. ~
~ Darien goes out for a hunt\walk and finds some one he wasn't expecting. ~
~~~~~***~~~~~
Summery: Serenity is the princess from the moon, and Endymion is the prince from Earth. The kings and queens of each kingdom desperately want the two children to marry when they grow up, so every summer Serenity is sent down to Earth to spend quality time with Endymion. They hate each other at first. But when Serenity finally grows up, Endymion sees her in a different light. Endymion's jealous, power-hungry brother, Alex, turns to the dark arts in hope that he can make Serenity become his wife so he can be king, by putting her under a spell. It's up to Endymion to find her and save her from her enchantment.
Characters:
The Moon Kingdom and Court-
King Leodegrance- King of the Moon Kingdom, born of the royal family of the Sun
Queen Serenity- Queen of the Moon Kingdom, born of the royal family of the Moon
Princess Serenity- also known as Serena to close friends, daughter of the King and Queen of the Moon Kingdom and future ruler and holder of the Imperium Silver Crystal
Princess Mina- Serenity's cousin from the planet Venus (one year older than Serenity)
Princess Amy- Serenity's friend and princess of Mercury (one year older than Serenity)
Princess Lita- Serenity's friend and princess of Jupiter (one year older than Serenity)
Princess Raye- Serenity's friend and princess of Mars and Prince Endymion's cousin (one year older than Serenity)
Earth Kingdom and Court-
King Gereint- King of Earth and High King of all the other provinces and smaller kingdoms, born from the royal family of Mars
Queen Arianna- Queen of Earth and High Queen of the other provinces and smaller kingdoms, born from the royal family of Earth
Prince Endymion- also known as Darien to close friends, son of the High King and Queen of Earth, first in line for the throne
Prince Alexander- also known as Alex to close friends, son of the High King and Queen of Earth, second in line for the throne
Princess Marietta- also known as Marie to a very exclusive branch of nobles, daughter of the High King and Queen of Earth, third in line for the throne
Malachite- head of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
Zoycite- part of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
Nephlite- part of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
Jedite- part of the royal guard and friend of Prince Endymion
A\N: Darien and his friends are all the same age right now, which is 21. Serena is 17 and her friends are 18.
Disclaimer: I own neither Sailor Moon nor The Swan Princess.
Chapter 8: Life as a Swan
~~~~~***~~~~~
Palace Gates
Darien came riding in on his black stallion. The horse's hooves thundered on the cobbled stone path that led to the entrance to the palace. Guards at the entrance stepped back and opened the doors that led into the courtyard. The sun sunk low on the horizon. Darien frowned at the sad faces of the guards as he rode by.
What has happened? Darien thought.
He continued to the barracks and jumped off his horse.
"Boy!" he yelled at the groom pitching hay into the horses' area. The boy looked up startled. "See to my horse, I have to see my parents."
The boy nodded and grabbed the reins to Darien's horse and scrambled out of the way as Darien strode past. Servants and passing nobles regarded him with sympathy as he passed them on the way to the throne room. His frown deepened and deepened.
He pushed passed the guards standing outside the throne room doors and entered the chamber. The talking that was going on diminished as he marched by the people inside the room. He walked straight up to where his mother and father were sitting. His brother, Alex, was there as well.
"What is wrong?" Darien asked as he quickly bowed to his parents. "What has happened?"
"Son, you need to sit down," Queen Arianna said. She motioned to a seat beside her. Darien shook his head.
"Tell me, now," he yelled. He glanced around. Something was missing. He gasped. "Where is Serena?"
"Dear, we have something to tell you," Queen Arianna tried to calm him. Her eyes were filled with tears. Darien started to breathe heavily.
"Where is she?"
"Now, Darien, calm down this instant," King Gereint said. Darien stopped pacing and looked at his father. "Serenity was due to leave this morning to go back to the Moon."
"What? Why was I not told of this?" Darien exclaimed. "Is she there now?"
Queen Arianna burst into tears. Alex patted her hand. King Gereint's face saddened.
"She is gone," King Gereint whispered.
"Well, I gathered that since she is not here, but I don't get why everyone is so sad," Darien said. He glanced around. Most of the ladies were in tears and the gentlemen were comforting them. "What is going on here?"
"Listen to me, Serena was kidnapped," King Gereint shouted. He held out Serena's crystal swan necklace that she always wore. Darien stopped and gaped at him. He took the necklace out of his father's hand. "She was in your gardens this morning hoping to find you, and then she's gone. This was all we found."
"What happened?" Darien yelled. He clasped the necklace.
"The only man who saw anything got hurt," Queen Arianna whispered. "We waited until you got home for him to tell us."
"Bring the guard in!" King Gereint called to the other guards at the entrance. They scurried out and a moment later, a bleeding man was brought in. His hair was dirty brown and he was sweaty all over. "We don't know what's wrong with him. Nothing we do can heal him."
"Jack, tell the prince what happened," one of the guards said. Jack opened his eyes and stared at Darien.
"It was horrible," Jack whispered. He coughed up blood. The guards let him sit down. Darien ran over and leaned into the man, cradling Jack's head, so he could hear better.
"Go on," Darien said.
"There was a great flash of red," Jack coughed. His body started to shake. Prince Alex had stood up behind the king and queen. All attention was on the bleeding man. Alex shook with fury. In his hand, a red fire started and he clenched his hand. Jack coughed again, but continued on, getting weaker by the second. "There was a man."
"Who?" Darien asked. "A thief?"
"No, it . . . it was . . . not who he seemed," Jack stammered out. He coughed once and then his eyes closed for the last time. Darien started to cry.
"No! Who ever did this will pay!" Darien howled. "I will find you, Serena! Where ever you are!"
"I think not," Alex smirked. His voice was lost in the comforting whispers and talk of the nobles and royals as they hugged Darien and pulled him away from the dead guard. Alex smiled and left the room and disappeared in a flash of red.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Rose Castle Ruins - Miles away from the Earth Palace
"Where am I?" Serena whispered. She opened her eyes. The world spun and then settled. "Ah!"
Serena's vision was different. She tried to get up.
"What am I?" Serena yelled. She spread her arms and found white wings. She was lying on a beach. She ran forward to the lake before her and glanced at her reflection. "I am a swan!"
Serena almost fainted. A tear fell from her blue eyes. She looked around. A large blue lake spread out before her. Castle ruins were on the other side of the lake. A huge forest panned out all around the lake. Serena was on a small white beach beside the lake.
"Where am I?" Serena asked. A twig snapped behind her. She gasped and ran to the lake and swam out into the middle.
"Oh, Serena, don't be like that. It's only me," a voice said from behind a tree. Prince Alex stepped out.
"Turn me back!" Serena yelled. Prince Alex laughed.
"I can't understand you while you're like this," Alex replied. He stepped to the edge of the lake. "Don't be mad though. This enchantment is for your own good. I can't have you running off back to Darien, now, can I?"
Serena looked away from him. The sun had set and stars were twinkling in the sky.
"When the Moon touches your feathers on the lake, you will turn back to your normal self," Alex said. He watched as the large Moon rose up and touched the water. Serena swam over to where the Moon touched the water.
As the moonlight touched her feathers, the water sparkled and turned purple. The water rose up and formed a sphere around Serena. She gasped and rose out of the water.
When the water fell away, Serena, as her normal self in her white dress, stood there smiling. She ran back to the shore and tried to run into the forest. Alex grabbed her arm. She struggled.
"Let me go!" Serena shouted and slapped Alex across the face. Alex let her go and she fell to the ground.
"You can't leave," Alex whispered deadly.
"And why not?" Serena asked. "You can't hold me here!"
"Of course not," Alex chuckled. He rubbed the red spot on his cheek. He gestured to the Moon. "When the Moon's reflection leaves the lake water, you will turn back into a swan, where ever you are. And to return to your human form, you have to be on the lake."
"No," Serena gasped.
"Yes! And we are miles away from any civilization," Alex laughed. "No one can help you now."
Serena covered her face with her hands as tears began to slide down her cheeks.
"Why?" Serena whispered.
"Because I want to be king," Alex replied. He walked over to Serena and pulled her up. "Marrying you will mean I become King of the Moon. Then I will use the Silver Crystal and conquer the entire galaxy!"
"Only I can use the Silver Crystal!" Serena shouted. "And I will never use it for evil!"
"You will with the right persuasion," Alex said. "Get used to this, princess. Until you say you'll marry me, you will stay a swan."
Serena fell weeping by the side of the lake. Prince Alex disappeared in a swirl of red. The Moon glowed softly in the sky.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Moon Palace
"We are ready to go to Earth and find her," Raye told the king. King Leodegrance stood looking out the window at the Earth. He slowly turned back towards Raye. "Your majesty?"
"Find her, Raye," King Leodegrance whispered. "She is the world to me."
"She is the world to us as well," Raye said, tears formed in her eyes. "If only we had gone with her! This would have never happened! Dumb Earth people! They can't even keep a princess from getting kidnapped!"
"It's not their fault, or yours," the king interrupted Raye's tirade. Raye stopped and bit her lip. "She is out there some where. I know it. We just have to find her before anything bad happens to us and the people of this universe."
"Of course," Raye said. She turned to leave the room. "We will find her."
"Good luck," King Leodegrance called after her. He turned back to the window and resumed his watch over the Earth.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Earth Palace
Raye, Amy, Lita and Mina stepped from the portal and walked swiftly to the meeting room where they had been told to go earlier. King Gereint and Queen Arianna stood up from a large oval table as they entered. Prince Endymion remained sitting. Books and maps and scrolls covered the table. Darien was hunched over a scroll, frowning in concentration.
"Have you found anything out yet?" Queen Arianna asked. The girls shook their heads.
"We have decided to set up here and try to locate her through our bond together," Amy said. "I need a quiet place to work for the next few days so I can get everything ready."
"I will have rooms prepared," King Gereint clapped his hands and at once servants left to do the bidding.
"We have to work quickly," Lita said. "Prince, what have you found out from the guard's message?"
Darien sighed. He stood up and walked over to where the girls were standing. He gave them a scroll which had the message written down on it.
"I can't decipher it," Darien whispered. Amy took the scroll and opened it. She and the other girls briefly read over it and then handed it back to Darien.
"A man who is not what he seems," Mina said softly. "And a flash of red."
"Oh, how could I have not of thought of this before?" Darien cried. He ran over to a pile of books and pulled out an old blue one that was faded and worn. He opened it and flipped through some pages until he landed on the right one. He pointed to the page and handed it to his father. "Father, look. This is what the red flash was! Some one has discovered the Dark Arts!"
"Oh, my Goddess," King Gereint and Queen Arianna said together as they peered at the page which held a picture of the Dark Arts' magic items and what the Arts could do. "This could be bad."
"What are the Dark Arts?" Raye asked as she came over to look. Queen Arianna put the book down and motioned for everyone to sit down. When everyone had sat down she sighed and began to tell the story of the Dark Arts.
"A long time ago," Queen Arianna began. Everyone was looking at her, enraptured by the story. "There was a king who was named Cedric. Cedric was a horrible king, pillaging and plundering and killing his own people like a pirate. The Moon Queen, at the time, came down to Earth and gave King Cedric an ultimatum. Either he stopped his evil doings, or she would personally do it. King Cedric swore he would stop and the Moon Queen left. But Cedric lied. He knew he couldn't go on doing his evil doings without having something powerful on his side, like the Silver Crystal of the Moon. He began to research magic.
After a few years, he had put together a potion and spell that would make him powerful in black magic against the Moon's white magic. All he needed was a unicorn's blood to finish the potion off. He had already become magical, but the unicorn's blood was to make him all powerful. But unicorns were rare and only found on remote planets of solar systems, and he couldn't go out to find one without raising the Moon Queen's suspicions, so he continued his work on Earth, slowly becoming stronger.
The Moon Queen used the Silver Crystal to spy on King Cedric and she found out what he was doing. She came down to Earth and confronted King Cedric. King Cedric tried to use his black magic on her, but she killed him with her crystal.
King Cedric had known this would happen, so he wrote everything down and hid his Dark Arts in the Earth Palace somewhere. And there they have lain until now. Some one has found the Dark Arts and used them to kidnap the princess."
"What can we do?" Lita asked as soon as the story was finished. "I didn't know that a Moon Queen killed an Earth King."
"This story was lost in legend, until now," King Gereint replied. "Endymion studied this legend when he was younger. What did you learn?"
"Only that the Dark Arts can be stopped by the Silver Crystal," Darien answered. "That's probably why the Moon Queen was killed. So this person could continue using the Dark Arts without having to hide from the Moon Queen."
"But it doesn't explain why this man would take Serena," Amy stated. "The crystal hasn't exactly become one with her yet, and that could take years."
"Maybe this man is after something else entirely, than just the Earth and the Silver Crystal," Darien said. "But what is that?"
"I don't know," everyone answered.
"We will continue looking for her, but with the Dark Arts interfering with our powers, I don't know if we can find her," Mina said. The girls nodded. King Gereint and Queen Arianna stood up.
"We still have to run a planet, so excuse us," King Gereint said as he walked out the door with the queen. "Notify us at once, if you find anything."
"I will be in the library," Darien stood up and followed the king and queen out. "I will keep searching for the answer. And I will keep practicing my fighting skills, so when I find this man who took her, I will kill him!"
As soon as the room was empty, the girls began to work on how to find Serena.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Eight Weeks Later
~~~~~***~~~~~
Rose Castle Ruins
Serena sat by the edge of the lake, trailing her fingers across the water. She watched the ripples flow by made by her hand. The Moon was waning. Its reflection glittered in the starlight. A few cumulus clouds floated by, promising that rain was coming. Serena sighed and lifted her hand out of the water and splashed her reflection angrily.
"What was that for?" a chipmunk scurried over to Serena. Serena sighed and brushed back her long gold hair before it fell into the water from behind her shoulder.
"Oh, Acorn, if only I could somehow get out of here. But this horrible spell is my doom. I can not get far on foot at night, and with Alex's nightly visits, he would surely catch me if I tried to run. And at day when I am a swan, I can not find where Darien's castle is. The world is too big and no one can understand a swan," Serena explained. Acorn nodded and looked at his reflection in the water.
"At least you have me," Acorn said.
"And me," Milo, the otter, called from behind them.
"And me, too," said Chirp, the sparrow. "We can help you."
"But how?" Serena asked. "We don't know where we are. Alex keeps the castle ruins under strict watch. There are no maps. We are stuck here!"
"I think-" Chirp was cut off by the wind coming up strongly. Acorn, Chirp, and Milo ran off to hide. Serena stood up and waited.
"Good evening, gentle lady," Alex greeted as he appeared in a swirl of red. He bowed to Serena, who only glared at him. He sauntered over and kissed Serena's hand. "You look lovely tonight."
"I have looked the same every night for the past 2 months!" Serena exclaimed and turned to march into the woods, but Alex caught her hand.
"If you really want to look different, all you have to do is say the word," Alex said. He snapped his fingers and instantly Serena's white dress was changed into a dark red dress. Her hair was bound up in a bun and a crown was set on her head. Serena frowned. "Better?"
"No! Not better! I want to go home! I want to see Darien!" Serena yelled and yanked the crown from her hair, causing the bun to come undone, and threw it at his feet. Alex's eyes narrowed. He snapped his fingers again and the red dress disappeared back into the original white one.
"I told you not to mention his name!" Alex shouted. He looked as if he was going to slap Serena, but calmly collected himself. "Now, Serena, I came here tonight to ask you a very important question."
"The same one you ask every night! And what is my answer every night? It is and will always be - NO!" Serena replied. Alex glared at her.
"You try my patience, and soon I will be angry," Alex whispered, his green eyes flickering dangerously. "Any girl would love to be my wife."
"Yeah, well I'm not just any girl," Serena said. She turned and sat down by the lake.
"I will let you think about your answer for another day, and then tomorrow, we shall see what you say," Alex whispered. Serena shrugged her shoulders and looked away. Alex turned to go. "Good-bye, Serena. I hope you enjoy being a swan."
He disappeared. Serena glanced up at the Moon. It was slowly leaving the sky. She placed her head in her hands. Acorn, Milo and Chirp came out and sat down by her.
"I admire your bravery to stand up to that evil man," Milo said. "Though, when he gets angry, everything living better get away. We need to formulate a plan to find your Prince Darien."
"I think I have one," Chirp announced. Serena looked up at Chirp hopefully. The animals and human gathered round Chirp to hear what the plan was.
~~~~~***~~~~~
Earth Palace
"It's been 2 months, Darien," Jedite cried. Darien was bent over a book in the library. Jedite, Nephrite, Zoycite and Malachite were standing near him.
"She is not coming back," Nephrite said. Darien waved them away.
"Come on, Darien!" Zoycite yelled. "We have to move on."
"No!" Darien shouted and snapped his book closed and placed it on top of a large pile of books he had read. "Serena is alive. I will find her."
"Her friends have tried and failed, Darien," Malachite whispered. "There isn't much hope yet."
"But there still is hope," Darien stated. "And with that strand of hope, I will find her and defeat the man with the Dark Arts and marry her."
Jedite, Zoycite, Nephrite, and Malachite walked away slowly. Darien picked up another book and thumbed through the pages. When he found nothing useful, he threw the book across the room, causing piles of books to fall over.
Darien walked over to a wall of books. He climbed up a ladder to a higher shelf. The room itself was big. Walls were covered in books and shelves. Stairs led up to balconies where one could reach more books. (A\N: The library looks like the one in Beauty and the Beast.) He grabbed four books and slid off the ladder.
"No," he said to himself and threw the top book on the ground. The next two books followed. He kept the fourth book and opened it. Pictures of wizards, witches and mermaids were in the first chapters. He flipped through the pictures of fairies, gnomes, kings and queens, before stopping on one page.
It showed a wizard transforming into a dragon.
"Could it be?" Darien whispered. "No, if something like that had happened, a lot more than one guard would have seen it. And it would take a lot of power to do it."
He threw the book on the ground. As he stepped forward to go to the other side of the room, his foot hit a book. Stumbling, he leaned forward and picked the old pink book up. He blew dust off the cover.
"Fairy Tales," Darien read. He rolled his eyes and was about to throw it away when something caught his eye. "What is that?"
A page of the book had fallen out and some one had hastily jammed it back in. Darien pulled the crumpled paper out. It was a picture. A prince and a peasant were changing clothes with each other. Darien frowned and started to crumple it back up, when a thought hit him like a bolt of lightening. He gasped and yanked it back open.
"Of course!" he shouted. "This is what the guard meant!"
Darien smiled and let out a cry of joy. He clenched the paper and took off out of the room. He ran up stairs and down corridors until he reached the king and queen's meeting room. He pushed the door open and rushed inside.
"Mother! Father! I have figured it out!" Darien cried. His parents were sitting at the table in the middle of the room talking with Raye, Amy, Lita and Mina. "Oh, sorry, excuse me."
"No! What is it?" Mina exclaimed and jumped up. Lita jumped up too and hurried Darien over to the table. Darien excitedly put the picture on the table.
"I don't get it," Raye said as she stared at the picture.
"Me either," Lita agreed.
"Remember what the guard said about the kidnapper not being what he or she seems?" Darien asked. The girls and king and queen nodded. "Well, what if the guard meant that the kidnapper was some one he knew? What if the kidnapper was some one we know and trust? Jack saw the kidnapper and said that he wasn't who he seems and this is the only plausible conclusion!" (A\N: I know it's not the only conclusion, but go with me here. Pretend that it really is the only conclusion. ^_~)
"That makes sense!" Amy cried.
"But how do we find this person?" Queen Arianna asked.
Darien paused. His smile vanished.
"I really don't know," Darien whispered. "It could be anyone."
"And it would take years to figure it out," King Gereint said.
"We can still try," Mina exclaimed.
"Yes, come on girls, let's go back to the Moon and confer with King Leodegrance," Raye said. The girls nodded and with the king and queen's permission, left the room. Darien stood there alone still staring at the paper.
"At least you found out what happened," King Gereint tried to comfort Darien.
"But it's so hard to believe that some one we trust did this to Serena and me," Darien whispered. He grasped the paper and left the room. "Now that I know more about this, I am going to start searching for Serena. But how do I begin?"
"Start with your heart," Raye startled him. Darien jumped and let out a breath of relief when he saw it was Raye.
"You scared me," Darien said. Raye smiled. She stepped around him to continue walking back to her rooms.
"Follow your heart," Raye called. She disappeared around the corner. Darien stared after her thinking about what she said.
"Follow my heart," he repeated. He smiled half-heartedly and looked out the window at the setting sun sinking below the horizon of trees and mountains. "But where do I start?"
~~~~~***~~~~~
A\N: Wow. That was very hard to write. I spent most of the past few days working on this. I might have left a few details out so it may seem randomly put together, but I really wanted to get this chapter out to you guys. Thanks again for your lovely reviews! Keep reviewing everyone and I will start on the next chapter as soon as I get rested from this one. The next chapter will be easier to write.
Next Chapter Preview:
~ Serena and her friends go on an adventure to find something in Alex's castle ruins (but the castle still stands, it is just kind of old and falling apart) to help them find the Earth Palace. ~
~ Darien goes out for a hunt\walk and finds some one he wasn't expecting. ~
~~~~~***~~~~~
