The sky was a clear blue, and the grass was the greenest green. The wind carried upon it the scent of roses. The trees danced to the song of the spring, sung by the birds.

It was the exact opposite of a Prince and a slave's conversation.

"What exactly is The Core?"

Serena shivered. "It's a place where even your nightmares are comforting. And my nightmares, are the most terrible visions anyone can imagine." She stopped and took a deep breath. "The Core is deep within the Moon's crust, somewhat like cave, but far worse. It's so far down the sun cannot come close to it, and shadows are always welcome. But not even hell can warm this place."

Darien felt like an icy cold finger was creeping down his neck and the wind seemed suddenly cold. His nightmares were stirring deep within him, crawling towards the surface.

Serena went on, "It's so cold that after twelve hours or so, your skin starts to burn. It was so cold I felt like a different needle was going through every pore of my body. It's so dark that your eyes are useless and the lack of knowing where you are can drive you insane. It's so quiet that even if you screamed at the top of your lungs, it would be absorbed before it could even reach your ears. Believe me, I tried."

He impulsively pulled her closer so that her head was resting on his chest, his chin on her head. He put one arm around her back and with the other held her hand. But she was not crying. She was staring, straight down at the grass, as if nothing was happening around her. Her pupils grew larger as if they were trying to take in as much light as possible. She felt rigid is his arms.

"Serenity? Serenity?!" he said shook her shoulders.

She blinked, forcing her eyes to return to normal. She shook her head, and, realizing the close, gentleness they were sharing, pulled away. She stood up slowly and painfully. She started to walk away to escape him, but he stood and joined her.

"Why does Nephlite hate me?" she asked. She decided it was her turn to ask all the questions.

"I don't think he hates you..."

"Well it isn't exactly love."

Darien shook his head. "You can't expect them to love you."

"And why not? There are millions of people on the Moon and other planets who do. Is it because I'm a slave? Because I'm supposedly lower than you?"

He didn't bother to answer.

"That's pathetic. You seem to forget how much higher I used to be than you."

"The main words there," he pointed out, "are 'used to be'."

She turned to look at him with a deadly glare. "You need to be knocked off your high horse and spend a day in the life of one of your slaves. I can tell you it isn't exactly the best thing in the universe. Especially what I've seen."

"And how much have you seen exactly?"

Serena looked the other way. "It isn't so much as I've seen than as I've felt."

"You haven't even made it through your second day yet. And you're job hasn't even begun yet."

"What do you mean yet?"

He laughed. "You don't think I'd spend all that in jewels, and not give you an important job, do you?"

She shook her head.

"Well tomorrow you're to begin work in the Eden."

"Eden?"

"You'll learn about it tomorrow."

"Well, goodness, don't I feel important?"

He grabbed her hand before she could walk away, gripping it so tightly it turned white. Shocks of pain were shooting through her fingers as his grip become stronger. "I may give you more freedom than other slaves, and you may have once been a princess, but you'll treat me with respect."

She looked at him, shocked that he was hurting her so badly. She thought he was more gentle. She had been wrong.

He released her hand and stood up straight. "Now I will escort you to your room."

She didn't nod, she didn't blink, she merely pushed past him, muttering, "I don't need an escort." She hurried into the now unwelcoming castle, down her hallway, and into her room. She slammed the door shut and the sound bounced down the stone hallways. She sat with a humph on her bed, gritting her teeth in anger.

A few moments later, the sound of metal on metal, pulled her from her thoughts. She hurried to the door, twisting the knob this way and that. He'd locked her in!

On the other side of the door, Darien watched as the wood shook and bent. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, slipping the key into his pocket.

"Endymion!" Serena yelled, banging her fists against the door. "Endymion!"

Footsteps. He'd left her there, locked up like a child.

"Damn you!" she yelled after him. She turned back to her room, fuming in her anger. At the tips of her fingers, a light tingling began. Silver sparks flew in every direction, but she stopped them. "Getting out of this room will get me nowhere for now."

She instead began combing the room for entertainment, searching for something to pass the time. She didn't know how long she'd be in here and wasn't about to spend it laying on her bed, counting the stones. She pulled open her bedside table drawer and to her happiness found a quill and some ink. She guessed she would have to ask for paper.

She looked at her plain white walls and smiled. Maybe not.

The world isn't a stage, but a big easel. And she planned to use every inch of it.

Her feather quill flew across the walls in lines, curves, and curlicues. She etched and drew. Her quill dipped in and out of the ink well, then slid delicately across the vast whiteness that were her walls.

When she finally stopped, her arm was numb. She looked up at what she had drawn and frowned. It was probably the best work she'd ever done, but black and white weren't her favorite colors in the world. She wondered if there was some way she could get paint.

Darien, maybe?

Her anger returned and she slammed the cork into the ink well. She threw it into the back of her drawer, shutting it with a bang. She wouldn't be in her room at this very moment if he would just tell her what was going on.

But on the inside she knew she didn't mind spending her afternoon drawing. She knew she was lucky her fingers had not broken, though her knuckles were a dull purple. She knew also that her own mouth had gotten her locked in here.

Damn her mouth.

And damn her heart.