Same deal – unedited and possibly to be scrapped if I think of something better. Sorry about being so slow with this.
Chapter one
Wings outspread, the Guardian gracefully landed in the workspace at the top of the centre tower of the Silver Keep. Without a stumble she went from flight to a walk and, without hurrying, made her way to the stairs. In the same quiet and unobtrusive manner she moved through the keep. None noticed her passage, which was as she desired. She truly did not wish to socialise right then. A glimpse of blue shone at the periphery of her vision and caught her attention, stopping her in her tracks.
With a wistful smile she turned to gaze out the tall window at Earth rising on the horizon. Absently she leaned against the stone frame. It had been two solar years since she had seen him. Two years in which her brother had done all within his considerable power to prepare him. Two years was nothing compared to the centuries she had already endured…
It was merely an eternity.
She missed him more than she could say, obstinate, difficult, contrary man that he was. It baffled her as to how she could have lived happily for so many centuries without him when only two years had come close to driving her insane. Yet each time she was tempted to go to him she forced herself to stay away. Once before his life had been cut short and she would not risk a repeat of that tragedy. She would wait as long as he needed her to. She would endure the solitude and endless yearning, knowing he was there, just beyond her reach. She would do that and more. He would come for her, she knew that implicitly, and when that time came her universe would be complete. Until then, for both of their sakes, she would wait. She would wait and her Mamo-chan would join her.
The air pressure changed subtly and drew her attention away from the Earth and the past. "Greetings Diamond, how do you fare?"
There came a soft shuffling as he quietly approached her. "I am well princess, and you?"
She turned to face the white-haired man. "I would be better if you called me Usagi."
"You are a princess."
"And you are a prince. Rank is of no importance Diamond. I thought you knew that."
His solemn face wore a sad smile. "You are different."
She shook her head. "Not so much as you think… at least call me Serenity."
He bowed his head. "I could never deny you anything Serenity."
"That does not stop you from persisting in being formal despite my wishes." She snorted and then sighed as she looked out to the Earth once more.
"You miss him do you not?"
Silver-gold brows pressed together. "Miss who?" she asked quickly.
"Endymion," Diamond replied solemnly, "Or Darien or whatever he calls himself in this lifetime."
"Mamoru," she breathed.
Diamond nodded. "Protector," he translated and his amethyst eyes met hers briefly. "I hope that he deserves that name."
Serenity did not answer for a moment. Mamoru's existence must be kept secret yet Diamond was not only an ally but a friend. True, he was the sort of friend who made her uncomfortable on occasion because of the unrequited feelings he had towards her, but he was a friend nonetheless. "He does," she eventually replied, "In so many ways and in so many times has he earned the name."
"So it is true." Diamond sighed. "You have fallen in love with a human. The Eternal Couple has come and the end of the Interdiction is approaching."
"Excuse me?"
"You and Mamoru are the Eternal Couple that has been prophesised to herald the end of Earth's isolation are you not? A human and a Lunarian soul-pairing?"
"No," Serenity denied. "We are not. Mamoru is not human, Diamond, and he becomes even less so with every day that my twin trains him in the way of the guardians… much the way that I am only nominally of the Lunarian kindred. Even before the Fall Mamoru was not truly of the people he ruled and now he most definitely is not. There is no way that he could be held as representative of all humans and so any soul-bond he forms is not significant to Earth as a whole."
"Like you and the Lunarians."
"Yes," she answered quietly.
"You did not deny that you were bonded to him," he said after a moment.
She searched his amethyst eyes for any hint of the misguided obsession he had held when they first met and found only regret. "No, I did not," she agreed softly.
He stepped beside her and looked out at the sapphire world that hung in the sky. "Why are you not with him now then? You have waited so long for him."
"And I will continue to wait as long as it is necessary." She followed his gaze and once more contemplated the planet her kindred's home orbited. "Do you remember much of the Darkmoon Crisis?" she asked suddenly.
He frowned and looked to her. "Of course, although often I wish I did not. It is my memory of future events that has been sealed, not past or present. Why do you ask? Oh…"
"Do you remember what you told him when we took the scouts and went to face you? You and Mamoru were facing off and you told him…"
"'You want her but you will never have her'. Yes princess, I remember. I lied."
She nodded. "I thought so."
"I am not proud of it," he told her earnestly. His eyes almost begged for understanding. "But he stood there defiant and strong against my power and I saw in him someone I remembered. I cannot recall exactly who any longer but I knew he would come to have something that I would always want but could never have. He stood before me, secure in his ignorance and unknowing of what treasures the future would lay at his feet and so I retaliated in the only manner I could think of. I lied."
"Diamond…"
He looked away, lowering his head in shame. "I am sorry Serenity, so very, very sorry."
"Hey," she smiled tenderly as she touched his shoulder and, with a mix of magic and muscle, forced him to look at her again. "I understand and Mamoru will also."
Diamond shook his head sadly. "No he will not Serenity. I need no knowledge of the future to know that. Still it is more than I had hoped for that you would forgive me."
Serenity did not know how to respond to that and so all that she did in answer was to squeeze his shoulder slightly before she released him.
He gave her a small smile and then sighed. "I am not here to languish over past sins princess, I normally do that in solitude. Originally I came to inform you that your mother awaits your arrival in her private chambers.
"My thanks, my friend. I will go to her directly."
Diamond bowed and quietly left her while she took a last, longing glance at Earth before continuing on her way. Shortly afterwards she reached the carved doors that marked the entrance to the queen's apartment and slipped inside. Moments later, in one of the inner dressing rooms, she found her mother and her mother's companion. She nodded in greeting to both the queen and her red-haired childhood friend, Naru before reaching out with her mind to her mother.
*Mama?*
"Serenity!* The queen looked up from the scroll she had been reading while Naru attended to her extraordinarily long hair. *So quiet you are becoming my precious one. I had not realised that you had returned.*
*Practice Mama. If I had not acquired some skills in stealth by this time then I would demand that you replace me.* Without a word Naru handed her the hairbrush and she took the other Lunarian's place. With slow and even strokes she ran the brush through her mother's silver tresses much the way her mother had done for her as a child. *You summoned me?*
*Aye my child. I have a task for you.*
*A task?* Her fingers nimbly bound the lengths of silver strands into two round buns which left streamers of hair fall free to the ground in twin ponytails. *What kind of task and where? Earth?*
Serenity stood and turned to face her with a sympathetic smile. *No, not Earth I fear but another world on the opposite side of the galaxy.*
*Still within this realm though?* The younger woman frowned as she reviewed her geography lessons from so long ago in her mind. The realm or dimension that Earth and the Moon inhabited was one that had no real Divine Star to represent it within the Council for all that it was one of the largest within the physical realm.
*Aye. Kakyuu of Kinmoku requests aid.*
*And you have agreed to send some? Me?*
Solemn silver eyes regarded her. *Do you object?*
"Of course not!" the younger Serenity replied aloud. "I always enjoy travelling." Naru chuckled softly from near the desk where she was organising scrolls and message crystals. When the younger Lunarian had still been a child, she had followed Serenity like a faithful shadow and knew very well of the princess' wanderlust. In part she too shared it, for it was a consequence of the absence of a soul partner to anchor them that left their kind so rootless. Naru was perhaps the only other Lunarian to have searched anywhere near as long as Serenity for her soulmate and, unlike the blonde, she was still seeking.
"That is not why I asked," the queen remonstrated with mock severity, "As you know full well."
"You want to know how I feel about going so far from Earth," the Guardian guessed with a sigh. She tossed the bush to Naru and fell into the comfortable armchair. "What can I say?" she asked wearily, "I want to be as close as I can to him but all I am doing is putting him in danger. A trip may not be what I want but it is what I need.
The Divine Star watched her closely. "You are certain?"
She nodded almost reluctantly. "Yes, I am."
*Very well,* Selene declared mentally, *So it shall be.*
"So what is the crisis?"
Her mother held her hand out and Serenity grasped it, allowing her dam and goddess to pull her back to her feet. "I will explain it as we walk. Naru?" she glanced at the unobtrusive woman. "Where is the messenger awaiting my response?"
"In the onyx chamber of the east wing, Majesty." Naru collected an armful of documents and then hurried to lead them to the appropriate suite.
"Onyx? Is the messenger's mood that dark?" the princess asked in concern as she strode along at her mother's side. "If I had known that the need was so urgent I would have used more haste."
"To hear the messenger speak you would be made to believe that the universe itself were threatened Usagi," Naru reassured her with a touch of levity.
Selene's lips flattened. It was an uncharacteristic display of irritation that displayed her trust in the two she had allowed to observe it. "Her commitment to her duty is admirable but Kakyuu should have seen that she received the lessons she required lessons in diplomacy and tact. She does not understand the virtue of patience."
Serenity blinked. This mysterious messenger must have been impossible to speak with intelligibly if even her mother was frustrated. "Does she have a reason to be so difficult?"
"She believes that she does," Naru sighed and dislodged some of the data crystals she carried. Serenity hurriedly relieved her of some of her burden and the other woman smiled her thanks. "The problem is not as immediate as she seems to think though."
"It is a problem that has existed for millennia," Selene agreed grimly, "It existed before the Fall. A Guardian Star went rogue and allied with the Darkheart. She was destruction incarnate for several decades until the aftermath of the Fall forced her into retreat. In recent times she has become active yet again and that activity seems to be in this realm where there are no Divine Stars to police her."
"When it was the rest of the sector that was at risk, it did not matter but it has begun to threaten Kinmoku so…" Naru trailed off and rolled her eyes.
The blonde Lunarian understood instantly. She was to be interacting with mortals in the true sense of the word, that word – short-sighted. Still, how bad could it be? Her only interaction with non-Stars may have been with her Lunarian people, who were practically Stars anyway, and Terrans, which was not exactly a wide exposure. Still, Earth's humans after a few initial problems had been, if not wonderful company, then vastly entertaining. Often, they had been both. Surely she could learn to associate favourably with another expression of mortality. She only realised how difficult it might prove to be when they reached the east wing and the onyx room and she met the messenger.
With long black hair and skimpy black fighting leathers, the woman gave Serenity the impression of one of the reincarnate scouts redesigned to a Terran bikie theme. It was a strange thought and she mused over it for a moment. Her collar was reminiscent of the sailor scout's sailor collars but with a bikini top? Thigh high black leather boots with three inch heels? Were those shorts or a second skin? Yes, there seemed to be a common theme these days with strong mortal warriors towards less coverings in their battle attire. For the woman was a strong warrior, an alpha warrior in fact for all that she had no potential to be a star or even a guardian. She was brought out of her wandering thoughts when Naru nudged her telepathically.
*Usa! Do not just stand there! Do something!*
*Hmmm?* She frowned and looked at the woman again before gritting her teeth in understanding. She had been so distracted by her thoughts that she had not noticed the woman's inexcusable rudeness towards her mother. While her mother was becoming more and more affronted, the stranger continued to make more and more outrageous and pompous demands. The demands were not for herself, Serenity granted her, but for her world. Still that was no excuse.
She banished the objects she carried into a temporary pocket dimension and considered the situation with the problem solving mind of a guardian… the guardian of the Divine Star being verbally assaulted.
"So you like my outfit?" she asked Naru loudly, her voice cutting into the messenger's diatribe. *Follow my lead Naru.*
Naru blinked but caught on quickly. "Of course I do." Serenity twirled to show off what was had in fact become her everyday working garb over the past two years but would look quite exotic to any who lacked even a passing familiarity with modern Earth cultures. "It's a beautiful mixture of traditional with Terran. It must have been difficult to get the weavers to produce denim."
"Oh no," Serenity replied with a smile. "They did not mind at all, although they made quite a few alterations so that it would be softer and they did insist that the colour be a silvery blue for me." In the corner of her eye she could see the now silent messenger watching them with steadily growing anger. Her mother, on the other hand, was regarding her as if she was a stranger.
*Serenity what are you up to?*
*What you should have done before now – teaching that woman respect.*
*But…*
*She does know that you are Selene as well as Serenity does she not?*
*I…*
*Well if not she should. A warrior of her power? If she cannot discern that you are a Divine Star, the only one in this sector of space, then she should be directed back to her elementary magic lessons. And if she is knowingly showing this much disrespect to a Council Member I will demonstrate just how well I have earned the title of Guardian! Really Mama! You should not have allowed her to become this bad! I do not care how well intentioned she is or how much you dislike standing on ceremony!*
*Yes Guardian.* There was a hint of abashed apology and reluctant relief in the telepathic reply for all of the amused emphasis on the princess' title.
Serenity mentally nodded. Her mother had become accustomed to the almost familial relationship she had with her Lunarian subjects and had forgotten that not all people could be guided with tolerance. No, some people needed a sharp slap on the wrist and it was time to close the trap.
Come on little girl, come and take the bait!
"The trews are wonderful and they look very nice with that tunic," Naru continued, giving the messenger no indication of the silent conversation between her queen and princess that she had overheard. "But are they as durable as Terran jeans?"
"More so, the weavers and tailors had the advantage of Setsuna's help and you know how skilled she is. She wanted to give me a gift…"
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO NATTERING ABOUT?!"
Hook, line and sinker. The blonde guardian tossed a silver-gold ponytail over her shoulder and turned to the dark haired woman. "Excuse me?" she asked with exquisite politeness, "Is there something amiss?"
"Something amiss?! Something amiss!" The woman appeared apoplectic. "You are standing there discussing clothes while I am trying to convey the gravity of the situation my people face. Have you no shame?"
"Have you no manners?" she replied back icily. "You are behaving boorishly before my Queen and mother and until such a time as you demonstrate basic courtesy I will treat you in the manner such conduct is deserving of, specifically – as an annoyance."
The woman inflated with rage. "How dare you?!"
"No," Serenity hissed, "How dare you?" With two quick steps she was at the woman's side and a swift sweep of her leg knocked the messenger's legs out from under her as the princess began to lecture. "You have come to petition a foreign queen for aid, protocol dictates that you do so on your knees. You are the visible symbol of your people as well as their emissary therefore comport yourself with dignity and treat others with the respect you would wish to receive in turn. Do not allow your tongue free reign for what is said cannot be unsaid and a verbal misstep could cost you, and almost has lost you, the aid you have come for. Finally…" Serenity crouched so that she could look at the woman eye to eye. Ocean blue eyes were filled with equal parts anger, bewilderment and fear. "Finally you must not ever, ever presume to believe that you could hope to comprehend my queen's motivations and actions. Yours is a petty soul for all of its power and your outlook is regrettably short-sighted. How could you ever have come to believe that you could second guess a Star?"
"Who are you?"
"I go by many names," the princess responded tellingly, "But you will know me as the Guardian Serenity… the one whose help you would gain."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sky was clear in a rare moment of calm. Even as he looked, he could see the eternal storms renewing themselves on the horizon. Soon, the red-tinged sky with its glimpses of the thin planetary rings would disappear behind the war-torn elements yet again. This was only to be expected on the planet of storms.
He felt her step up beside him. Her warmth was almost a tangible thing but, if he were to turn his head, he knew he would find her unbearably untouchable.
"Another storm is coming."
He blinked at that. She had broken their unspoken rule of silence and for such an obvious statement. "There always is," he managed to reply after a moment. His voice rough and unpracticed as if he had not spoken a word in years. So very apt considering it had been nearly three years since he had spoken any words that counted – those to her.
"Not like this," she refuted instantly.
Despite himself, he turned to face her and there she was, all silver and gold and so close and yet so horribly distant. "What is different now?" he asked, not truly certain if he could bring himself to care. The agony of her absence from his life had numbed him and these brief moments of contact were only enough to keep the wound raw and never to salve it.
Eyes as clear as crystal and yet infinitely blue regarded him sorrowfully. "This storm is an old one that has been renewed. It brings chaos with it. Destruction and darkness."
He felt himself sneer mirthlessly. She did not deserve his derision but seeing her, talking to her, grew harder each passing moment. "So it's a bad storm, big deal. We'll board up the windows and batten down the hatches. What does it matter?"
She was unaffected by his targetless anger. Her smile was gentle, though sad. "This time, it is I who will do battle.
A prescient fear awoke within him and, quick as thought, he snatched at her arm. "NO!"
She vanished from his grasp and cold emptiness filled him as a cloak made of lightless dream-stuff melted between his fingers. A gaze of darkness transfixed him with a harsh and unyielding will. His body no longer answered to him, a good thing else he would have assaulted this newcomer. This god who had everything that he could dream for himself. This inhuman being who seemed to taunt him with these glimpses of his deepest desires that would never be realised. This fool who it seemed was about to allow the most precious treasure in the universe to be destroyed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking at his reflection he saw with eyes and mind. Displayed in the glass was handsome young man with dark blue eyes and pitch-black hair, set in a pale face with a pointed chin. Personally he saw nothing particularly outstanding about his appearance. No, there was nothing exceptional about his exterior, yet even he could not deny that behind that mask of flesh and bone laid a spirit that was anything but mediocre. It was the spirit of a mage adept, of a warrior extraordinaire, of a mortal trained by an angel…
Of a man without hope for happiness.
Eyes that had once been vivid blue were now heavy with a sorrow that seemed to leach the colour from them. Yearning had disfigured what might have been perfect features until they seemed merely pleasant. His soul was bleeding and, everyday, it became a little more visible. Everyday it became that much harder to go on without her but he would die before he revealed it.
Dull indigo eyes hardened until they shone. It was not joy they reflected but the will behind them created a facsimile that would fool all but the most perceptive examination. Despair was banished from the weary face and what was left approximated tranquillity. None needed to know how fragile it was.
His mask formed of self-discipline and determination complete, he nodded to himself. No one needed to know the depth of the hollowness he felt. They didn't need to know, but some knew all the same. Mina, empath that she was, was impossible to hide from and only this mask of coldness kept her well meaning but ultimately useless interventions at bay. Kian, Jyp and Alex even knew some of the cause, something he had not been able to avoid. not when they'd been there and seen as he'd proven himself unable to let go of the past. And then there was Andrew…
Andrew who knew all there was to know about one Darien Chiba. Andrew who had seen Darien falling into depression and done everything in his power to keep him from giving in. Andrew whose twin it was that was at the heart of the matter.
Andrew, one Tranquillity ap Serenity ni Saetan, whom was due to arrive in a few short moments.
The bleakness in Darien's heart lightened, as only the one who had become more than his brother could bring about. A little over two years before, Darien had 'nobly' released the recuperating Guardian Serenity into her soulmate's keeping and, at first, life had gone on. He was heartbroken but, though he knew he would never want another, his heart would mend. Only it never did. Time worsened the ache, as did the unintentional and unpredictable glimpses of Serenity in Dream. He began to live for those all-too brief meetings. What Andrew later told him had been the Dream Lord's gift of gratitude in opening his Realm, became a curse. He lived for those moments. More and more time was spent sleeping and less in the waking world.
Until Andrew had intervened.
He had dragged Darien, kicking and screaming, back to life and then started training him so hard that the human mage had no energy to Dream in his rare moments of rest. It did not address the heart of the matter but even the Lunarian Prince was as helpless as the human there, however it did bring Darien back to himself, mostly. It also served another purpose, one that Darien, on his own, would not have known to consider.
"Lisaer?"
"Precious."
"Lisaen?"
"Possessive form of precious."
"Mithril?"
"Silver."
"Not quite, it's more of a silver alloy in a manner of speaking, but close enough. Poliian?"
"… Castle?"
"Basically, specifically it is keep."
"Keep? But I thought that was revrin…"
"That's the verb, poliian is a noun."
"Oh…"
"So what would the Silver Keep be called in the old tongue? Come on Darien, this is easy. I've probably already told you before."
Darien's thoughts raced as he attempted to apply the guides to verbal speech to his limited vocabulary. He and Andrew were strolling companionably down a peaceful street. There was no one in sight and the blond Lunarian had decided to snatch the opportunity to inflict more of his convoluted language lessons on his student. It did not even matter if Darien ran in an attempt to escape it, if he did then his 'teacher' would just follow and continue with the lesson in his mind while he ran. The blonde had become wearisome in his attention to Darien's wellbeing.
"Umm… Mithrillea Poliian?"
Andrew smirked at him and Darien knew he'd gotten it wrong. "Lady Keep?" the Lunarian repeated mildly.
Darien sighed and racked his memory once more before he tried a second time. "Mithrilear Poliian?"
"You got it!" Andrew grinned at him proudly, almost as if Darien's progress in the alien language would actually be useful.
"Why are you so insistent that I learn all of this Andy?" Darien asked before the other man could begin again. "Why are you so determined to bring me up to your level? It's not like I'm ever going to need it." For surely there were better methods to keep an eye on Darien.
"Don't be too certain of that," Andrew replied seriously and Darien blinked.
"I'm a mortal Andy, why would I need the training of a guardian? Is it because I'm an alpha?"
"Not all alphas become guardians, Braud and not all guardians are alphas." Andrew looked at Darien to see if he understood. Apparently his incomprehension was visible because the guardian began to elaborate. "Guardians are different from mages in more than just power. It's true that we tend to be the most powerful kinds of non-godly beings but we can be surprisingly weak. There have been guardians who were no stronger than you were before the Darkmoon Crisis. It's a… characteristic? Trait? Change? It has to do with our souls anyway. We're also referred to as Stars…"
"Guardian Stars," Darien supplied, remembering an old dream. "So?"
"So," Andrew continued, "We're not exactly what are referred to by most as a god but we're not mortal either. We're sort of in between with a spirit that possesses a spark that is on the verge of igniting us into a true Star."
Darien considered that. No doubt the metaphors left out a lot, a good reason for him to hurry up and learn the old tongue, but what he heard seemed to make sense. "I'm sure it's more complicated than that though."
"It can't be explained it can only be experienced," the blond shrugged apologetically. "You will understand what I mean soon enough."
Darien frowned. "Oh? How?"
Andrew blinked and seemed to replay what he said. "Ah… well you should live long enough to see it happen in me for one…" Andrew shook off the mantle of introspection that had fallen over him suddenly. "Anyway, back to why I'm training you. Simply put in inter-dimensional terms, Braud, you've become a rather valuable commodity. Do you have any idea how many alphas exist in the universe let alone multi-faceted alphas like you?"
Darien did not dignify the question with an answer, causing the blond to pause his diatribe for a moment.
"Oh…" he said, deflated, "I forgot."
"That there's a mortal here?" Darien enquired archly and Andrew winced. With a malevolent humour the human continued to feed Andrew's chagrin. "You forgot that not all of us present are interstellar jetsetters? That some of us are bound to this one planet by the laws of another's mother? That those same laws even forbid certain of us from learning about anything not of Earth?"
"Okay! Okay." Andrew rolled his eyes. Erase a guy's memory a couple of times and he never lets you forget it!"
"Hah, hah." Darien shook his head. His friend could be such a ham.
"Anyway," Andrew said after retrieving his foot from his mouth, "Alphas are rare. There are five among my people and considering the Silver Keep's population that means their about a thousand times more frequent than in most people. Now, then you have to consider that there are four types and you'll begin to get it." Andrew looked at him very intently. "You've drawn more than a little attention to yourself in the Council itself in the last few years. If it weren't for my mother you'd have petitioners approaching you already."
"Oh." Darien was flabbergasted. It had never even occurred to him that the news of Earth and him might have spread past the Moon. It gave him a new appreciation on the necessity of Selene's Law.
Andrew nodded. "And that's only taking your warrior status into account. Thing is Dare, of the four broad classes of alpha adept, you come under at least three if not all four. You are also a seeker, both magically and mentally. Isn't that the definition of a clairvoyant? You are a healer and that's self explanatory."
"Not an alpha though!" he objected strongly.
Andrew smiled slightly. "Want to bet? Your problem at the moment is that the planet is sucking your healing energies out."
"What?!"
"Your bond-planet remember?" Andrew mockingly regurgitated Darien's own words of several years before. "You claimed her as that for good reason. You're tied to her. You give her healing energies and she gives you strength."
Darien calmed. After all he had been aware of the practicalities of being an ecopath since his previous lifetime. It was just a little alarming to be told that, 'the planet is sucking your healing energies out!'
Andrew grinned and Darien realised that he had given his friend exactly the reaction that Andrew had been trying for. The blond, still smirking, continued as if there had been no interruption. "The only thing I'm not really sure about is how strong you are as a councillor. I'm referring to the skill of shifting through probabilities and possible futures to find the best course…" Andrew paused reflexively. "Usa's good at that," he said thoughtfully, "She doesn't even need to think about it anymore."
"What about you?" Darien hastily changed interrupted. He already knew that she was an alpha in each of the four classes Andrew had mentioned but he did not want to dwell on thoughts of her yet again. There was too much hurt in such thoughts.
"Oh I'm warrior and councillor," Andrew answered, bringing Darien out of his painful thoughts of his unreachable love.
Darien nodded. He should have figured it out for himself. "Of course," was all he said.
Andrew shrugged. "My lady is a seeker… Usa is all four while Luna is a councillor and a seeker while Artemis is a warrior. Not that that means that Luna should be disregarded as a fighter or Artemis as a councillor. That is simply where their magical affinities lie."
They walked on in silence while Darien digested what he had just been told. The five guardians of Selene were the five alphas of the Silver Keep. It was rather startling for Darien when he realised that he was able to put a face to every name.
It was as surprising now as it had been nearly two months ago when that conversation had occurred for Darien to consider just how broad his horizons had become. Darien shook himself. He doubted that the Law of Selene would end in his lifetime but the other reason he let Andrew torture him in such a manner remained. It kept him sane.
It had also prepared him for this.
He had left Serenity in Morpheus' keeping. It was for him to keep her safe and happy. Memories of the last night's dream rose again within him and his resolution hardened.
The doorbell rang and Darien abandoned his unseeing regard of the mirror to let his friend in. Andrew was about to find more than a lesson waiting for him.
And Morpheus would learn that not even the god could escape a lesson of his own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mina collapsed onto the ground, panting with exertion as her transformation faded. She was now officially dead and so could join Kian and Kip the Jyp in watching the others compete in their little mêlée on the grounds of Raye's temple. Kian had found himself targeted right at the start by an expedient alliance of all of his opponents. It was the only way that any of them, with the exception of Darien, Alex or Michelle, could have a hope of surviving a battle against him. Jyp had been eliminated so early because he had incurred Raye's wrath and had not been prepared for the consequences.
Mina had let herself lose deliberately so she could watch and evaluate the performance of the others and she suspected Kian's defeat had similar causes despite the forces that had been arrayed against him. Like her, he no doubt took the fighting state of his companions personally. That was something she appreciated in her fellow team leader. He was silent, cold, unapproachable and a general stick in the mud but he could get the best out of the three men who followed him so Mina put up with his quirks. This is what she told herself every time the full contingent of reincarnates worked together since Darien had brought the unknowns back from America with him over two years before.
His ice-blue eyes fixed on her stonily and she looked away quickly, blushing and lecturing herself about keeping her mind on track. She was nearly twenty years old but the remnants of the blonde ditz remained, or so Raye would say if Mina didn't get her act together. The young priestess in question was wielding delicate tongues of flame with incredible precision. It was no wonder Jyp had been so easily outclassed, even fully prepared he would have been hard pressed to match her.
Zack and Lita fought back to back in between the current alliance of Raye on one side of them and Amy and Nick double-teaming them on the other. Strangely enough, it was not lightning, Lita's elemental affinity, but greenery that was holding the other three at bay. Between them, Lita and Zack had found common ground with which they could synergise their magic. It was a delicate and demanding balancing act that made Mina whistle aloud. By adding that little trick to their repertoire, the pair had increased their fighting value at least threefold. The only way that two mages could combine their powers to better effect were if they were soul bonded, trait none of them possessed. Although…
Sometimes, Mina's empathy focused on Lita and it felt a lack of something. There was no reason whatsoever for the blonde to have any reason t think so, but she could not help but feel the tall brunette was missing something important. Recently Lita's behaviour had been a little… odd. She was quieter for one thing and no longer found the time to join Mina guy-watching, something she used to adore. Even Nick, Mr Maxfield Stanton the third's, blatant admiration of her had drawn no reaction from her and he was a very attractive man in his own right. For Lita not to respond was very out of character for her. Mina hoped she was wrong, but, as time went by, the little pieces were adding up to form a very tragic picture. Lita had been soulbonded.
It would have been in her last life, Mina deduced, or the absence of her bondmate would have left her feeling something closer to Darien's emotional morass – but Mina was not going to attempt that emotional minefield again in this lifetime. No, Lita's problem was less recent, as in centuries less recent. There was the tragedy of it. Whoever it had been, and whatever way they had been bound to her, did not matter. They were long gone and, though her mind might not remember, her heart and soul did. They ached and Mina could feel it and do nothing.
"Pity Alex and Michelle couldn't join in," Jyp commented idly as he moved to sprawl next to her on the grass.
"Michelle's recital ran late last night and it was unfair to expect them this early," Mina explained absently, "They'll come around midmorning to lunch though."
"Yeah." Jyp shrugged. "But 's the first round that's best 'cos, before then, you don't really have a clue 'bout how much the others've improved compared to you. 'S unpredictable. But, after that, 's all strategy 'n' that makes my head hurt."
"Thinking makes your head hurt," Mina translated blandly, her eyes still fixed on the battle. Zack and Lita in their forms of Zoisite and Jupiter were pushing their opponents back.
Kian snorted quietly and Mina was surprised into a quick glance at his face where she caught a brief flicker of amusement that flashed across his features. Almost embarrassed, for Kian anyway, his eyes went colder as if to compensate. Jyp grinned at her merrily, having caught the exchange and enjoyed it.
"So what do you think?" the grinning loon asked when Mina looked away from the older man.
"About what?" Mina replied, caught off guard.
Jyp rolled his eyes. "About them," he said and nodded towards the battling five.
"Oh!" Mina shook herself and sat up. For a moment she had thought the blonde joker had meant Kian. "I was just thinking that we've all come a long way in the last six years. It's really cool when you think that we had nothing to go by when figuring our abilities out except the instincts instilled by training in another lifetime."
"We could do better," Kian stated flatly.
Mina rolled her eyes at him. Of course he wouldn't be satisfied. "Come on!" she groaned, "Considering that we had no reason to even believe in magic at all, we've come an amazing way. Even Beryl wouldn't've stood a chance if we faced her as we are now." That was more than a little exaggerated but she felt that it got her point across nicely.
The two men did not. Their experience with the demented witch was more intimate than hers and she remembered this too late. Kian's demeanour had frozen over, allowing her to make a stark contrast between the man he had been and the one she had come to know. Only then could she appreciate how much progress the silver-haired man had made towards healing. On the other hand, Jyp's eyes had become oddly empty, bereft of the joker's passion for life. Truly, it was creepy and Mina mentally castigated herself for stirring up such dark memories.
She began to apologise, "Look guys, I'm sorry…"
"Don't," Kian snapped, "Don't you dare make such comparisons. When you do so, you are being foolishly arrogant and you belittle what we went through in her power. Even now, all of us combined do not possess the power that woman had in her little finger!"
It was more than she had ever heard Kian say at one time in all the time she'd known him. She was angry that he would dare lecture her in such a manner, as if she had not faced Beryl down herself. Still, she was sadder than anything else. It had been years since Beryl had been destroyed and her fould touch could still be felt by those like Kian and Jyp.
"Darien's stronger now."
Jyp's unequivocal statement startled the woman out of her dark thoughts. "Huh?"
The emptiness in the blonde man's expression had been filled with something very like awe. "Darien's stronger than she ever was."
Although Mina believed that to be nothing less than the unadorned truth, past experience had taught her there was more to it than a simple matter of brute strengths. Besides, the changes in Darein were not something he appreciated the rest of them discussing behind his back and Kian not only knew this but also enforced it implacably. "Beryl's power was deceptive," she said instead.
"How'd you come up with that?" Jyp enquire mildly.
Mina shrugged. "A lot of it was just flashy firework stuff that was more bluff than anything else. Good enough to impress a bunch of green girls and those morons that served her but no real substance."
One of Kian's silver brows rose sceptically. "Then how do you explain her destroying most of the life in the solar system and knocking civilisation on Earth back by millennia?"
"She had a demon queen helping her." Even Mina was surprised by her answer.
Jyp snorted convulsively and both of Kian's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. "How the Hell did you think that one up?" the former demanded.
Mina bit her lip absently. She really didn't know how she knew it. It was the truth thought, she was certain of it. They had known, back then, that Beryl had had a backer with a lot of clout, it was only now, that she thought about it, the explanation came to her.
Metallia…
She shook the strange thought off. The name was familiar, if it was a name, but none of her talents included clairvoyance, so she put the thought aside… she might ask Raye about it later though, if only to put some old questions to rest.
"Dunno," she drawled, "But it's true. Without the demon, Beryl was just another witch, a strong one, but, as you said Jyp, nothing really compared to Darien now. However, with the demon, she had the power to destroy worlds."
"Have to wonder how you beat her six years ago when you were clueless, when nothing that more powerful and wiser individuals and organisations did all those years ago would work."
Mina laid on her stomach and rested her head on her arms. "Yeah," she agreed distantly, old memories rising in her thoughts. "You have to wonder a lot of things. How were the ten… no, eleven of us sent to the future to be reborn? Why us? There had to have been smarter and better people just like you said, Jyp. How did Darien just know how to use his magic without anything else to catalyse his awakening? There wasn't, you know, nothing happened to him to make him realise that magic existed. Not like with me. Why didn't we find Alex or Michelle when we looked, and trust me, we did look? And how did that cat save me? How did it stop my empathy from killing me when those people died right in front of me?" So many questions. Would they ever know the answers?
"Cat?" Jyp blinked. Even Kian appeared taken aback.
Mina grinned into the distance. "Yeah, didn't I ever tell you? I don't know how it started for the two of you, but for me it was that cat… a white cat with such a funny bald spot…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tranquillity ap Serenity ni Saetan, a.k.a. Andrew Furuhata, paused suddenly, as he was hanging his coat on the peg next to Darien's front door. He could feel reality trembling and there was a great sense of expectation. He cocked his head, sending out mental feelers to find the origin of the bizarre sensation only to have them reeled back in with no results. Whatever it might be, it was too vague to pin down. The Earth was as it had been yesterday and the day before that. He finished hanging his coat and turned to find his human friend regarding him unreadably.
In the depths of his mind and soul, he felt his sister depart the very Realm on her latest task for their Mother and Mistress.
Darien's indigo eyes darkened to black as they bore into him.
With the silver well of his power, he felt the first metaphorical pebble begin its descent down the mountainside.