Chapter twenty:

Findings

"So he knew all along," the woman said mostly to herself, then to the servant bowed before her. Self-consciously, she reached up to finger the golden choker she wore around her neck.

The golden armor she wore on her arms clanked together with each movement she made. The sound didn't bother her, as her fingers toyed the golden spike protruding from the choker.

With her other golden clad arm, she brushed back the white cape with a burgundy lining, that clung to her left shoulder. She reached out for the clear glass filled with red wine. She held the fragile neck between her fingers and drank the cool liquid.

Casually she crossed her legs, the sound of the armor echoing about the bare room. Besides herself and the servant, there was only the screen displayed before them.

"Yes my lady," the woman who was kneeled before her said. She was a lovely woman, one of the fairest of their kind.

Jagara set her glass back down and slowly stood from where she had been seated. She was very displeased with the information given to her. "And you are sure?" she asked, her eyes falling onto the raven haired woman.

The servant nodded from her position. "Yes my lady," she repeated, her voice smooth as silk. "Kunzite, and the others knew when they first had the guardian."

Her pale lips thinned in a line of contempt. So her servants were turning against her. How despicable, she said to herself. Eyes hidden behind the golden helm she wore, narrowed.

Stepping around the kneeling servant, Jagara walked towards the screen. It was gathered information on the halfling she had run into at Darcia's castle.

Jagara crossed her arms, her head tilting back slightly. "They knew of her all this time," she said, her anger slipping into her voice. She was very upset by this news. Her most loyal servants had betrayed her.

"Very well," she said acidly. "You may go Tetis, until I call for you." the servant stood and left the room.

Now alone, Jagara stepped back from the display. Her hands formed fists at her sides as she continued to stare at the information printing on the screen.

Serena O'Donnell, she mused, the guardian of the Flower Maiden.

Turning from the display, her eyes narrowed as she took in the open sky outside her ship. She was returning home, after being sent out on a wild goose chase.

Kunzite, she hissed, her lips curling into a snarl. Betrayer… Despicable liar.

"You will pay for deceiving me," she snarled, her anger rising with each word. "You and your family will die by my hands."

----

After getting dressed, Serena came to the decision to not wait for Jadeite to come for her.

Moving away from the full length mirror, Serena checked the band that held her once more long blonde hair. Instead of a braid, she had gone with a low ponytail. It took less time to do and was just as practical.

Ready, she walked towards the door and tried to leave the room. To her surprise the door opened.

Serene slipped out of the room she had slept in and shut the door silently behind her. Quietly, she walked along the hallway, her bare feet making hardly any nose on the cold floor. There wasn't much to look at. Plain walls and plain marble floors. There wasn't any decoration, no accessories of any sorts.

She passed several doors, finding no interest in them, until she reached a set of double doors. Pulling them open, she peered into the spacious looking room.

It was quite large and very empty looking. Her eyes narrowed on the object that sat in the middle of the room. Holding her breath, Serena entered and shut the door quietly behind her.

She didn't have to see, to know who was inside the glass dome. Serena moved towards the glass that was held suspended in the air. The closer she got, the more she could make out the form being held within.

Serena closed her eyes briefly, not really wanting to see what she was about to. When she opened her eyes again, she stood before the dome. Silently, she turned towards it and forced herself to look.

"Cheza," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

Blinking harshly, she forced the tears to dissipate and hardened her gaze upon the girl lying in the green liquid. Her arms were stretched out at her sides, chained to the inside of the glass.

Serena felt her hands tighten at her sides, forming fists. "Cheza," she said a little louder, her voice sounding fierce.

A large crack rippled across the glass' surface.

"You should have waited for me," a voice said from behind her.

Serena turned her head and found Jadeite standing there. The young man was dressed elegantly, in a pair of black pants and a red silk shirt. He moved closer, taking a place right behind her.

"Beautiful, isn't she," he asked, as if he were talking about a wild flower he had just picked.

Turning away, she turned her eyes to the girl who appeared to be unconscious. She looked like a fragile child, locked away as if she were a wild beast. "She isn't some prize to be gawked at," Serena argued fiercely, even though she was doing just that. "She shouldn't be locked up just to serve your purposes. She's a living person."

Jadeite chuckled, his expression rueful. "But she's the key to paradise," he explained.

She glowered at his reflection through the glass. "I don't care!" she shouted at him. Another crack formed in the glass, creating a spider like web designs across its surface.

Serena could make out his smirk, despite all the cracks. "For knowing the girl for only a month, you sure are protective of her," he said with amusement.

"Of course I am," she said tersely. "She's being treated like a rope in a tug of war game." Looking away from his reflection, she stared up at the girl. "And I refuse to let you use her."

Lifting her hand, Serena pressed her palm against the glass. The soft pressure was enough and the glass shattered. A shield formed in front of her, protecting her and the man who stood behind her.

She ignored the liquid that rushed from the dome, spilling into the room around her. Her mind was focused solely on the girl in front of her.

"What will happen to her, if Jagara gets what she wants," she asked.

Jadeite shifted uncomfortable, as if not wanting to answer the question. Turning from the girl, Serena looked at him finally.

The tall blond sighed, his hand reaching up to run his fingers through his hair. "Her only purpose is to open the way to paradise," he said. The empty answer he gave her, was enough though.

If Jagara went to Paradise, then Cheza wouldn't have a reason to exist.

She would probably wilt and die.

Serena turned away, her gaze lifting to the child who hung in the air, green liquid dripping from her shivering form.

I wont let that happen, she vowed silently.

----

"Her scent is strong here," commented the young wolf who had flanked his side every step of the way.

Kiba looked over at the black wolf, who was much smaller and slender than himself. Absently he nodded, before looking towards the city in front of them. He sniffed at the air, catching the faint trail.

This was where everyone had been heading and in the end he found himself here as well.

The others should be here, somewhere, he said to himself. They had gone ahead of him looking for Cheza. The others would be somewhere in the city waiting for him to arrive.

Getting in was going to prove to be difficult.

"What are we standing around here for," the wolf behind him snapped. She had been like that the whole trip.

"That's enough Mars," the oldest of them all, ordered softly. "We need to find a way in." He nodded, stepping ahead of the three wolves who had agreed to come with him.

He knew why they were here. Serena had taken them in, had showed them kindness unlike anyone else. After he had told them about her kidnapping, they had decided to tag along to help.

Serena, he whispered, his mind wandering to the last time he had seen her. It had been so long, nearly a full cycle of the moon, since he had been with her last.

Kiba sat down, his long muzzle lifting to the sky.

"What is he-" started the irritated wolf, but was cut off by her older sister. "That is enough Mars. Leave him be. Let us look for a way in. Saturn stay close," Pluto ordered softly. Dark red eyes moved from one to the other, before she turned to round the large stone wall that kept them from entering the city.

He listened in silence as the three wolves split up to search for a way in. Saturn, the youngest stuck close, but still at a distance.

Lowering his head again, Kiba laid down in the dirt, finally letting the knowledge of Serena's departure settle around him. Taken, he thought with a growl. Taken from me.

She had said she would go to paradise with him. With him.

Closing his eyes, he snorted, the pain in his chest increasing. That Noble had said Serena wouldn't be able to go. But she was wrong. Serena made it here, he said. She's traveled this far.

Opening his eyes again, he sluggishly climbed to his feet. He had to find her. Even if it means I don't go to paradise, he thought with conviction. But she's a Noble, a part of his mind argued.

A Noble.

But she never acted like any Noble he had ever met. She didn't even know of Cheza when he had first asked her to come to Paradise with him.

An abomination, he mused to himself. That woman had said that.

He had considered doing what the woman had said. To find Cheza, and find paradise. But the thought had only lingered for a moment. He had sat in that clearing staring at the spot the ship had once was, for most of the day.

He had stayed until her scent had disappeared completely. And that was when he felt the loss. No matter what Serena was, he wasn't going to let her go.

A melodious howl echoed around him. Lifting his head, he looked in the direction it had come from. Mars, and Saturn joined him.

"Sister has found a way in," Saturn howled, her nose lifting to send a reply to her older sister. The three of them ran in the direction the cry had come from.

The slender black wolf stood near a hole that led through the wall. Large pipes protruded from the mouth of the hole, leading over an edge that led to a lake below.

"The cities' waste," Pluto explained, before running ahead.

Kiba nodded and followed close behind her. Mars and Saturn raced in together right behind them. Together, the four of them broke into the city that held Serena and the Flower Maiden captive.

"We need to find the others," he called out, as they followed the large gray pipes. "Then we will go to the castle and rescue Serena."

The three wolves, who had chosen to follow him here howled their agreements. But when they entered the city, it wasn't four wolves, but four humans, who joined the throng of citizens who walked the streets.

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I bet you guys are curious as to what happened to me… well the truth is, I couldn't find even the slightest moment this last week to even update. Between juggling a job, college, and drama, is wearing me out. Then I had to go and catch the flu that is going around.

I don't feel all that great, but I called in sick to work, so I did find time to update. Sorry about the wait.

LP