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Author's Note: Hello all! I am so very sorry that this has taken me so long to post (and I am very sorry that it is so short, but I had to break it into smaller parts so I could post sooner. I hope that you all enjoy the next instalment! This is definitely thanks to Sofia that this chapter actually got out (I've been drowning in studies with university!) Don't forget to read and review!!! Thanks!!!
Enjoy!!!!
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Lord Tsuniko threw Serenity into a private room just down the hall from the ballroom. She tripped on the train of her white dress and stumbled onto the floor. Lord Tsuniko slammed the door shut and stormed over to Serenity, his hands lifting her on off the floor by her neck. Rage bled from his eyes in angry torrents and pierced through Serenity's own innocent orbs. The noble quaked with anger.
"Who do you think you are?!"
"W-what?"
He slammed her against the white wall, his calloused hand tightening around her lily neck. "Do you have any idea how angry Lord Toshio Yiio is?! How dare you throw yourself at some lowly soldier while dancing with him!! Everything that I have worked so hard for is in ruins, and now even Columbia's partnership with Lord Liu Chai is endangered! And all because of you!" he thrashed her against the wall; her head bounced against it with a loud thud. Serenity's fingers tried to pry off his constricting fingers. "How could you think to do this to me! Did you even think at all?!"
Serenity stopped struggling against the suffocating grip around her neck and blocked her father's other hand as it swung at her face. His eyes swelled with greater anger, and he slammed his balled left hand into her petite stomach. The air expelled from her mouth in a pained grunt, and she crumpled to the floor, her gold-tipped wings surrounding her body in a protective embrace. Her father's hand dove into the feathers and found the spot where they connected to her back. He pulled. Serenity released an ear-shattering scream. Lord Tsuniko pulled at her wings harder, raping the feathers from their home, and giving cause for blood to flow. Serenity could feel the sticky red heat weave through the thick feathers. Serenity slammed her palms into the noble's face. He fell over onto the floor with a bloodied nose.
He didn't move.
Someone knocked at the door Lord Tsuniko had closed.
Serenity took another look at Lord Tsuniko; he was breathing. The doorknob twisted, and Serenity jumped away from the unconscious body. She ran to a window and forced it open just as the person entered.
"Serenity?" the voice belonged to Nephrite. She turned to face him. "Serenity. . .what happened?"
She just shook her head and backed into the wall with the window. Nephrite went to take a step towards Serenity. The angel scrambled out of the window, fearing her punishment. The drop to the ground was not far, three feet at most as they were on the main level, but her feet never touched the ground. In her shaken state, Serenity took to the air and flew. Nephrite ran to the window but found no trace of her; it was too dark to discern footprints in the snow. The general went to find some medical assistance for the unconscious noble; Serenity would return on her own time.
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The moon began to fade out of its eclipse shortly after Serenity left the ball. She did not realize that she was flying. Her shock was too great, as was her fear. She had knocked out her own father. . .blood- related or not, she had rendered the man in charge of her well-being unconscious. Life seemed to slow terror, a dragged out time of waiting in fear.
Above her, the moon reappeared, free of the darkness.
Serenity felt pain tear through her body like sharp swords fresh with blistering flame. Her wings felt on fire. Air failed her. She could not breathe. Each fight for air vacuumed the oxygen from her lungs. She clawed at her neck, struggled to release the invisible clamp raping her of life. Her nails cut into the smooth flesh and warm liquid dripped onto the snow. She was not far from the ground now. Her wings were failing, but in her struggle for breath, she did not feel them fade into the initial blinding light and disperse.
The same strong beam of light pierced through Serenity's body, carved itself through her abdomen. Her back arced in an unnatural curve, and Serenity passed out from the pain. The light held her suspended in the air; it raced through her body, through her every sinew and nerve. The light dug into her skin and slammed her into the unmarred snowy ground. Blood oozed from twin divides beside her shoulder blades where her wings had once been. The light shot out from her body and left her. Serenity lay unconscious in the cold flurries. The blood's sticky warmth melted the snow until it too froze into ice. Her mouth hung partially open, her voice unable to vocalize her futile struggle for life. Her shuddered with a final breath before her body began to shut down. This was the consequence of the broken bond between Earth and the Moon Kingdom. This was the consequence Serenity was helpless against.
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Three generals accompanied Endymion on the ride back to the cabin. Nephrite had offered to stay with Lord Tsuniko and aid in the noble's recovery. Nephrite said that he felt partially responsible, although none of the other generals or Endymion understood why he would. Lord Tsuniko had apparently fainted. Endymion had no interest in remaining at Snowball, despite the many pleas of the other women in attendance. It was with ill humour that the soldier still found himself removing the well-placed handkerchiefs of many of the ladies in attendance. He reeked of their strong floral perfumes, none of which were rose. His horse had even seemed offended by his stench. The generals would have been unrelenting with their jests, but Endymion's current mood only admitted comments from Zoicite's unstoppable mouth.
"What the--" Jedeite pulled his horse to a sudden stop mid trot. Endymion continued on, his head low, but Zoicite and Kunzite stopped with Jedeite.
"It's probably nothing, Jedeite," Kunzite muttered as his eyes joined in Jedeite's view. "Just a star."
"That's not a star."
Zoicite rolled her eyes at him and jerked her thumb at Endymion. "It's probably just his stink reacting with the atmosphere."
"At least I don't look like a monkey in a negligee," Endymion snapped as he brought his horse up short and spun it about to face the generals.
"That's your big comeback?!" Zoicite snorted.
"What're you going to do? Hit me with your purse?" he sneered.
Zoicite reached into her leather saddlebag and brought out a thick horse biscuit. She pelted him in the head. Endymion snarled, and Zoicite laughed. "Are you really so sore about me being bigger than you. It's really not a hard thing when all you sport, Endymion, is a pencil."
Kunzite raised an eyebrow at Zoicite. "And just when were you playing with his 'pencil,' my love?"
"I never did, Kunzite," Zoicite quipped with a sultry smile at her lover. "I couldn't find it."
Endymion drew out his knife and pointed it at Zoicite. "That's enough."
Zoicite laughed. "Compensating for something, Endymion? I thought that your sword would serve as a better phallic symbol! But then again, I'm not sure that you would know what to do with something so big."
"That explains why you're so bad in bed with Kunzite," Endymion said. "I think he'd enjoy me much better."
Zoicite's face coloured crimson, but her snide smile remained on her lips. "Only because you would have to pay full attention to him; you have nothing that could be stimulated."
"If he is half the man I am, I am certain that he could find ways to please me. Unlike you, others do prove themselves to be worthwhile in bed. There are few in this world as lazy as you."
Kunzite cut in before Zoicite could retort. "I, um, thank you for your, um, faith in me, Endymion, but I do not find this argument to be doing anything but, um, embarrass me and make me question your own sexuality."
Endymion turned pleasantly lilac. "I am sorry to disappoint, but I only know love for one, and she is not male."
"In love with yourself are you?" Zoicite sneered. Her voice was quieter than it had been for her previous jibs; even she was sensitive to his feelings for Serenity.
"That's enough! Endymion, you are to come with me. Zoicite and Kunzite, you are to return to the cabin," Jedeite ordered. The others would not question his words; he was their superior whether they were on- duty or not. Kunzite and Zoicite bowed their heads and removed their horses, setting out for the cabin again. Endymion turned to Jedeite with a questioning look stretched over his face.
"And where are we going?"
"Something landed over there, Endymion. It is not far, and I fully intend to know what it was."
"A snow owl?" Endymion offered sarcastically before booting his horse after Jedeite's departing form.
Jedeite shook his head, his short blond hair fell into his gray-blue eyes. "Do not be so bitter about Serenity. It could not work, Endymion. She is not meant for you."
Endymion inhaled sharply and bit back his rage. "She is."
Jedeite looked over at him. Endymion's blue eyes were cold, seemingly frozen in acrimony against the equally frosty landscape of his snow-blushed face. Jedeite forced his horse into a quicker pace. "You are a soldier, Endymion. You could not keep her."
"I am not a soldier. I am a noble."
"Convenient, isn't it?" Jedeite smiled.
Endymion glanced over at the general but quickly returned his gaze to their path. "What?"
"You are a noble."
Endymion opened his mouth to demand to know what Jedeite meant by his words; instead, a surprised hiss escaped his lips. "Jedeite! Over there!"
He swung from his horse's back and trudged through the snow towards the fallen body in the snow. Had the surrounding area not been stained red by blood, he doubted he would have found the fallen form. When he neared the body, he let out a horrified howl. Serenity lay facedown in the snow, her chest unmoving. He rolled her body over, and she lay on her back by the time Jedeite reached the pair.
"Oh gods. . . Serenity."
"She's not breathing." Endymion tilted her chin back and moved to press his mouth over hers. Jedeite stopped him.
"Endymion, let me." Jedeite rested a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You should not be the one to have to do this."
"I'll be fine. I--"
Jedeite simply pushed the younger man away and proceeded to give Serenity breath. Endymion watched in stunned silence, fighting off anger, confusion, hurt, and fear. He was livid enough to kill Jedeite; he watched as the general's mouth encircled Serenity's soft lips--a horrible kiss that Endymion was made to observe in tortured silence. He imagined what her lips would feel like, what her mouth would taste like, but these thoughts were overrode with fear that she would not live to give him such gifts. She lay before him, and he was helpless. There was nothing that he could do but sit and watch another man attempt to give her life.
Against the crimson snow, Serenity seemed even more petite and frail. Her blonde-silver hair fanned out around her head, the halo of an angel. Her cheeks were blue, her eyelids pale gray. His fingers grazed the bloody snow; there was no warmth left in the sanguine fluid. Serenity had been out here far too long; she would not survive. Endymion's eyes locked on Jedeite in desperation. The other general continued to give Serenity air without success. She would not start to breathe on her own. She could not support her own intake of breath. Jedeite pulled away from Serenity after expelling a final two breaths. Endymion's angel's chest did not rise or fall with life; she was dead.
A small whimper skipped from Endymion's tongue, and he latched onto Serenity's hand. His body seized at the contact, ever muscle clutched in an immovable grip. A cry jolted from his mouth as every breath he had ever breathed was torn from him, expelled into the air. His lungs felt flat with pressure. He felt Serenity's hand tighten around his. His body fell into the snow. Endymion's open eyes scratched against the icy snow covering the winter-hugged ground. He forced them shut.
Jedeite's strong hands ripped Endymion from the ground. The general's face was twisted with questions, but he did not voice his concerns for the soldier's strange behavior. "She's breathing, but it's shallow. This--" Jedeite stopped, not quite knowing what to say, but knowing full-well its implications. "I don't think that you should leave her just now. You're going to be the one to take her back to the cabin, and you're going to be the one to care for her."
"What?" Endymion struggled to comprehend Jedeite's sudden change of heart.
"I had nothing to do with her breath, Endymion." The general squeezed Endymion's shoulder tightly. "I gave up on her. I stopped giving her breath, but when you took her hand. I don't understand what's going on, but I don't think that we should risk her life unnecessarily. Do you understand?"
Endymion shook his head, his ebony hair falling in front of his ice- blue eyes. "Not in the least."
"Then just do what I say, and get on the horse with Serenity. We'll take her back to the cabin. I doubt she would survive the trip into town; even if she did, she would not fare well."
Endymion's body was weak, but he gathered Serenity into his arms. She did not even acknowledge his lift with the slightest murmur or shift of body. She was an unresponsive weight in his arms, and he felt more protective over her than he had ever experienced with any one. He drew her closer to his chest and stood in the snow. Jedeite followed suit, striking out ahead of Endymion. Jedeite collected the horses' reins and moved to assist Endymion with the mount. Endymion shied away from the general's outstretched arms, entirely unwilling to give Serenity to another.
"You cannot mount with her in your arms."
Endymion ignored the warning and took his horse's reins from Jedeite. He clasped Serenity's body to his with a single arm, and pulled the reins lower to the ground. His horse kneeled. Without looking back at Jedeite to see the response of surprise he would have normally delighted in, Endymion swung over the horse's broad back and settled himself in the saddle. He rested Serenity in front of him so that her head would lie against his shoulder. His right hand curled around her petite waist to support her limp figure and keep it close to him.
"Endymion," Jedeite called from the back of his own horse. Endymion turned and caught the item that Jedeite threw across the small distance separating them. "Wrap this around her; she's sick enough already. There's no reason to make her more ill."
Endymion unfolded Jedeite's thick cloak and pulled it tightly around Serenity's body. He missed her conscious signs of life; he was sure that she would have yelled at him for paying such attention to her, for even thinking to touch her. He spurred his horse after Jedeite and took off towards the cabin.
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Kunzite and Zoicite had been enjoying a deep kiss when Jedeite burst in the cabin demanding blankets and fire. The two generals had been irritated by Jedeite's orders, but had not questioned his authority. They set out to do what he had asked: Zoicite tended to the fire, and Kunzite gathered as many blankets as he could. When Endymion walked in with Serenity unconscious in his strong arms, they understood the importance of their tasks. Kunzite, assisted by Jedeite, made a bed of fur blankets and feather duvets on the floor in front of the fire. Zoicite came and peered into Endymion's face. She smirked at his determined glare.
"Give her to me."
"No."
Zoicite flicked her hand at Endymion, an action that might have been cute had she been in her female form, but was now only threatening as she was in her male body. "Fine. You change her clothes."
Endymion's face darkened, and he shook his head. "I can't."
"Then, you're going to have to let me, now aren't you?" Zoicite smirked.
"Just give her to Zoicite, Endymion. Nothing's going to happen to her," Kunzite said in a soothing tone. He made up for Zoicite's blunt nature more often than not.
Endymion slowly handed Serenity to Zoicite. "Be careful with her head. You have to support her neck, or she'll wake up with cramped muscles. And don't shift her too much when you walk; maybe I should be the one to take her into the room. Here--" Endymion reached forward, but Zoicite stepped back. "I've got it, Endymion," Zoicite quipped. She turned carefully and disappeared into her room. Endymion walked to the door and waited, listening closely for any sounds of slight mismanagement or abuse.
"What happened to her?" Kunzite asked. He brushed his long silver hair away from his light blue eyes. "Where'd you find her?"
Endymion did not answer. His eyes were closed in concentration. Jedeite did, however, reply to Kunzite's askance. "She was in the snow. I suspect that she ran away on a horse, but fell."
"You're lying," Endymion said. His midnight eyes opened with awed shock, as though something had only just occurred to him. "The snow around her was unbroken, and there were no footprints anywhere around her."
"What do you mean by--"
Jedeite interrupted Kunzite by putting a hand on his arm. "Endymion, go see Serenity. Stay near her."
"What--"
"Now, Endymion." Jedeite's tone was unquestionably stern and commanding. Endymion retreated into Zoicite's room. The female general had removed the rock that kept her in her male form and was now female in all respects. Serenity had been clothed in soft cotton clothes, but wore nothing on her legs. Endymion looked away with a sharp blush stabbing his cheeks. Zoicite looked up in surprise of his intrusion.
"You can carry her back in. I would stumble in this body."
Endymion arced an ebony eyebrow at Zoicite's genteel manner but would not raise his head. "Could you wrap something around her. . .legs?"
Zoicite laughed at Endymion's deepening blush before she obliged his request. "Since when did you turn to such a puss? You can't even look at a woman's body anymore?"
"I would not do that to Serenity."
"So you'd do that to me."
"If I wanted to, without hesitation," Endymion confessed.
Zoicite laughed even more. She walked close to Endymion and pulled his head up by his ebony strands of hair. "She's all yours now. I can send in Jedeite to carry her out if you can't handle it."
Endymion shook his head and moved to the bed. He gathered Serenity in his arms. "Open the door for me."
Zoicite paused with her hand on the doorknob. "Endymion, can I ask you a serious question?"
"What? Serenity needs heat; she's at risk of--"
"I know, but as a friend, I need to know this." Zoicite's face mimicked genuine concern. "What's going on with you? You've never been like this before. Is it because of the messenger?"
"Is what?"
"Endymion, we've all noticed it. You've been nothing short of strange recently. It's like you've completely flipped out, only in a very quiet way. You're not yourself unless you and I are arguing, and even then you've been more defensive than you've ever been before. What's up with you? I'm. . .Endymion, I'm worried about you."
Endymion clenched Serenity tighter and shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with me. I've just had a lot on my mind. Can we go now?"
"Yeah, sorry." Zoicite opened the door and stepped aside to allow Endymion room to go past. She caught his arm before he could fully exit. "Just take care of yourself, okay? I could never find another person to find a love-hate relationship with that's as rewarding as this one is."
Endymion made no reply, but Zoicite knew that the soldier had taken her message to heart. Kunzite and Jedeite stepped away so that Endymion could lay Serenity on the floor. Jedeite squeezed his shoulder when he had finished wrapping Serenity in the blankets. "You and I will sleep out here tonight, Endymion," Jedeite said. "When Nephrite comes back, I'll go for a doctor."
"Get the girl."
"What?"
Endymion sat on the floor beside Serenity and brushed back her bangs. A bright half moon glowed vibrantly on her forehead. He covered it with his hands. He didn't understand. "She has a friend. Get her, not the other doctor."
"Endymion, you don't play around with a person's health like that."
"Jedeite, I know what I'm doing. It's better for Serenity. I don't understand, but I think her friend might."
"What don't you understand?"
The front door to the cabin swung open, and a snow-covered Nephrite entered the small entry. "Jedeite! Kunzite! Zoicite! You'll never guess what happened when Lord Tsuniko came to his senses! Where are you idiots?!"
"Keep your voice down, Nephrite," Jedeite hissed. He stood and moved away from Serenity and Endymion. Nephrite had not seen the unconscious woman or watchful man when he walked into the house. "Lord Tsuniko is well."
"Better than well, actually," Nephrite sniffed with a smirk. "He has been under a horrible hex for all the time that we have known him!"
"A hex?" Kunzite questioned as he and Zoicite emerged from the female general's room.
Nephrite nodded with a self-gratified smile. "He had fainted because he had finally fought off the hex! He's free from the dark arts that held him!"
Jedeite shook his head. "And why is this so contenting to you, Nephrite?"
"Well, you'll never guess who the witch is, and if you do I will think you most clever."
"I only knew one 'witch,' Nephrite," Zoicite intervened. "And she had enough sense to tell me about a little law governing those who have been gifted by your so-called 'dark arts.' The Threefold Law would prohibit any witch from performing negative castings on anyone. To cast a hex on another with the intention of evil--as you seem to hint at--would prove entirely detrimental to the caster, to the witch. No one casts hexes on another person unless it is at their request."
"Or unless they're a powerful witch who has enchanted many people, including our Endymion," Nephrite said, his excited incontrollable. "Serenity's been keeping Lord Tsuniko under a spell to keep him from telling everyone what she really is: a witch! She's cursed Endymion to make his sympathetic to her; why do you think that he's been so stupid about her? He'd never be like that if he was truly himself. He hasn't even taken any wenches in the time that we've been here. The one that he did take was useless because Serenity turned up and renewed the hex. He's completely under her spell! Lord Tsuniko has confessed to as much! And once they find her, she is to be burned for her crimes!"
Endymion removed his hand from Serenity's forehead and stared at her glowing mark. A witch? She was not a witch. Endymion did not know what she was, exactly, but he knew that she had not done anything that Lord Tsuniko had accused her of doing. With careful fingers, he brushed her bangs back over her forehead as the generals continued to argue. He would not let anything happen to Serenity; he would not let anyone or anything harm her.
"You're going to be alright, Serenity," he promised in a whisper. "I will protect you. They're not going to touch you, and I hope that you are not too angered by my method of salvation. Just sleep for now, little angel. I will protect you from them. You'll be safe."
Nephrite caught some of the whispers and drove forward. He peered into the room where the fire burned. "She's here! Endymion, get away from her! She's a witch! She has you under a curse!"
"You're being ridiculous!" Zoicite snapped, clenching her hands by her sides. She was extremely angered by Nephrite's blind presumption, but the other two generals remained silent. "Nephrite, have you not thought through this at all?! You're being entirely unreasonable!"
"What's so unreasonable, Zoicite?" Nephrite glared. "She's a witch. She has to be burned for her crimes. Nothing is so simple as that."
"You won't touch her."
Nephrite turned to Endymion with venomous anger. He had expected his findings to be met with successive joy, but no one seemed to share his rationale, his reasonable logic. "Just walk away from her, Endymion. You're going to be okay now."
"No Nephrite. It doesn't work like that." Endymion moved with purposeful grace and retrieved his sword from beside the fireplace; he had placed it there before leaving for Snowball. He dragged the tip of the fatal blade across the floor, watching it carefully with his eyes. Nephrite followed the line as well, and looked up to find Endymion staring at him when it was done. "If you or anyone else crosses this line with the intention of even touching Serenity, I will drive this point through your neck."
"Endymion. . . ." Nephrite's eyes swelled in shock; the other generals simply looked on with something of indifference. Endymion was perfectly serious. The young soldier seated himself beside the fire, his sword balanced on his knees. He sat back against the warm stonewall and closed his eyes. Nephrite's mouth worked but no words fell from his lips. He spun on his heel and left the house. Jedeite and Kunzite exchanged equal looks of understanding. Jedeite was the one who moved closer to Endymion while Kunzite and Zoicite retired to their rooms.
"He's gone to tell them, you know," Jedeite reasoned. Endymion did not open his eyes. He knew that Jedeite would not test his promise of harm. "They will be here to collect her come morning."
"I will wait."
"Endymion!" Jedeite snapped. Endymion's eyes slit open. "You cannot risk either yourself or Serenity for your foolishness. If you have the intention of protecting her, this is the wrong way of going about it."
"I don't agree."
"And what do you plan on doing?"
Endymion leaned forward, mindful of the blade on his lap. "Marry her."
"Oh good gods, how you mock me!" Jedeite cried out. "Be serious, Endymion. You are a soldier, and she has been accused of witchery. You have lost your mind, and if you continue in this manner, I will be forced to follow Nephrite's logic in this matter and name you hexed."
Endymion shook his head, his dark bangs jumping with the movement. "I am not a soldier, Jedeite. I am a noble, and as such, I need a wife. I have found her."
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Author's Note: Hello all! I am so very sorry that this has taken me so long to post (and I am very sorry that it is so short, but I had to break it into smaller parts so I could post sooner. I hope that you all enjoy the next instalment! This is definitely thanks to Sofia that this chapter actually got out (I've been drowning in studies with university!) Don't forget to read and review!!! Thanks!!!
Enjoy!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Lord Tsuniko threw Serenity into a private room just down the hall from the ballroom. She tripped on the train of her white dress and stumbled onto the floor. Lord Tsuniko slammed the door shut and stormed over to Serenity, his hands lifting her on off the floor by her neck. Rage bled from his eyes in angry torrents and pierced through Serenity's own innocent orbs. The noble quaked with anger.
"Who do you think you are?!"
"W-what?"
He slammed her against the white wall, his calloused hand tightening around her lily neck. "Do you have any idea how angry Lord Toshio Yiio is?! How dare you throw yourself at some lowly soldier while dancing with him!! Everything that I have worked so hard for is in ruins, and now even Columbia's partnership with Lord Liu Chai is endangered! And all because of you!" he thrashed her against the wall; her head bounced against it with a loud thud. Serenity's fingers tried to pry off his constricting fingers. "How could you think to do this to me! Did you even think at all?!"
Serenity stopped struggling against the suffocating grip around her neck and blocked her father's other hand as it swung at her face. His eyes swelled with greater anger, and he slammed his balled left hand into her petite stomach. The air expelled from her mouth in a pained grunt, and she crumpled to the floor, her gold-tipped wings surrounding her body in a protective embrace. Her father's hand dove into the feathers and found the spot where they connected to her back. He pulled. Serenity released an ear-shattering scream. Lord Tsuniko pulled at her wings harder, raping the feathers from their home, and giving cause for blood to flow. Serenity could feel the sticky red heat weave through the thick feathers. Serenity slammed her palms into the noble's face. He fell over onto the floor with a bloodied nose.
He didn't move.
Someone knocked at the door Lord Tsuniko had closed.
Serenity took another look at Lord Tsuniko; he was breathing. The doorknob twisted, and Serenity jumped away from the unconscious body. She ran to a window and forced it open just as the person entered.
"Serenity?" the voice belonged to Nephrite. She turned to face him. "Serenity. . .what happened?"
She just shook her head and backed into the wall with the window. Nephrite went to take a step towards Serenity. The angel scrambled out of the window, fearing her punishment. The drop to the ground was not far, three feet at most as they were on the main level, but her feet never touched the ground. In her shaken state, Serenity took to the air and flew. Nephrite ran to the window but found no trace of her; it was too dark to discern footprints in the snow. The general went to find some medical assistance for the unconscious noble; Serenity would return on her own time.
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The moon began to fade out of its eclipse shortly after Serenity left the ball. She did not realize that she was flying. Her shock was too great, as was her fear. She had knocked out her own father. . .blood- related or not, she had rendered the man in charge of her well-being unconscious. Life seemed to slow terror, a dragged out time of waiting in fear.
Above her, the moon reappeared, free of the darkness.
Serenity felt pain tear through her body like sharp swords fresh with blistering flame. Her wings felt on fire. Air failed her. She could not breathe. Each fight for air vacuumed the oxygen from her lungs. She clawed at her neck, struggled to release the invisible clamp raping her of life. Her nails cut into the smooth flesh and warm liquid dripped onto the snow. She was not far from the ground now. Her wings were failing, but in her struggle for breath, she did not feel them fade into the initial blinding light and disperse.
The same strong beam of light pierced through Serenity's body, carved itself through her abdomen. Her back arced in an unnatural curve, and Serenity passed out from the pain. The light held her suspended in the air; it raced through her body, through her every sinew and nerve. The light dug into her skin and slammed her into the unmarred snowy ground. Blood oozed from twin divides beside her shoulder blades where her wings had once been. The light shot out from her body and left her. Serenity lay unconscious in the cold flurries. The blood's sticky warmth melted the snow until it too froze into ice. Her mouth hung partially open, her voice unable to vocalize her futile struggle for life. Her shuddered with a final breath before her body began to shut down. This was the consequence of the broken bond between Earth and the Moon Kingdom. This was the consequence Serenity was helpless against.
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Three generals accompanied Endymion on the ride back to the cabin. Nephrite had offered to stay with Lord Tsuniko and aid in the noble's recovery. Nephrite said that he felt partially responsible, although none of the other generals or Endymion understood why he would. Lord Tsuniko had apparently fainted. Endymion had no interest in remaining at Snowball, despite the many pleas of the other women in attendance. It was with ill humour that the soldier still found himself removing the well-placed handkerchiefs of many of the ladies in attendance. He reeked of their strong floral perfumes, none of which were rose. His horse had even seemed offended by his stench. The generals would have been unrelenting with their jests, but Endymion's current mood only admitted comments from Zoicite's unstoppable mouth.
"What the--" Jedeite pulled his horse to a sudden stop mid trot. Endymion continued on, his head low, but Zoicite and Kunzite stopped with Jedeite.
"It's probably nothing, Jedeite," Kunzite muttered as his eyes joined in Jedeite's view. "Just a star."
"That's not a star."
Zoicite rolled her eyes at him and jerked her thumb at Endymion. "It's probably just his stink reacting with the atmosphere."
"At least I don't look like a monkey in a negligee," Endymion snapped as he brought his horse up short and spun it about to face the generals.
"That's your big comeback?!" Zoicite snorted.
"What're you going to do? Hit me with your purse?" he sneered.
Zoicite reached into her leather saddlebag and brought out a thick horse biscuit. She pelted him in the head. Endymion snarled, and Zoicite laughed. "Are you really so sore about me being bigger than you. It's really not a hard thing when all you sport, Endymion, is a pencil."
Kunzite raised an eyebrow at Zoicite. "And just when were you playing with his 'pencil,' my love?"
"I never did, Kunzite," Zoicite quipped with a sultry smile at her lover. "I couldn't find it."
Endymion drew out his knife and pointed it at Zoicite. "That's enough."
Zoicite laughed. "Compensating for something, Endymion? I thought that your sword would serve as a better phallic symbol! But then again, I'm not sure that you would know what to do with something so big."
"That explains why you're so bad in bed with Kunzite," Endymion said. "I think he'd enjoy me much better."
Zoicite's face coloured crimson, but her snide smile remained on her lips. "Only because you would have to pay full attention to him; you have nothing that could be stimulated."
"If he is half the man I am, I am certain that he could find ways to please me. Unlike you, others do prove themselves to be worthwhile in bed. There are few in this world as lazy as you."
Kunzite cut in before Zoicite could retort. "I, um, thank you for your, um, faith in me, Endymion, but I do not find this argument to be doing anything but, um, embarrass me and make me question your own sexuality."
Endymion turned pleasantly lilac. "I am sorry to disappoint, but I only know love for one, and she is not male."
"In love with yourself are you?" Zoicite sneered. Her voice was quieter than it had been for her previous jibs; even she was sensitive to his feelings for Serenity.
"That's enough! Endymion, you are to come with me. Zoicite and Kunzite, you are to return to the cabin," Jedeite ordered. The others would not question his words; he was their superior whether they were on- duty or not. Kunzite and Zoicite bowed their heads and removed their horses, setting out for the cabin again. Endymion turned to Jedeite with a questioning look stretched over his face.
"And where are we going?"
"Something landed over there, Endymion. It is not far, and I fully intend to know what it was."
"A snow owl?" Endymion offered sarcastically before booting his horse after Jedeite's departing form.
Jedeite shook his head, his short blond hair fell into his gray-blue eyes. "Do not be so bitter about Serenity. It could not work, Endymion. She is not meant for you."
Endymion inhaled sharply and bit back his rage. "She is."
Jedeite looked over at him. Endymion's blue eyes were cold, seemingly frozen in acrimony against the equally frosty landscape of his snow-blushed face. Jedeite forced his horse into a quicker pace. "You are a soldier, Endymion. You could not keep her."
"I am not a soldier. I am a noble."
"Convenient, isn't it?" Jedeite smiled.
Endymion glanced over at the general but quickly returned his gaze to their path. "What?"
"You are a noble."
Endymion opened his mouth to demand to know what Jedeite meant by his words; instead, a surprised hiss escaped his lips. "Jedeite! Over there!"
He swung from his horse's back and trudged through the snow towards the fallen body in the snow. Had the surrounding area not been stained red by blood, he doubted he would have found the fallen form. When he neared the body, he let out a horrified howl. Serenity lay facedown in the snow, her chest unmoving. He rolled her body over, and she lay on her back by the time Jedeite reached the pair.
"Oh gods. . . Serenity."
"She's not breathing." Endymion tilted her chin back and moved to press his mouth over hers. Jedeite stopped him.
"Endymion, let me." Jedeite rested a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "You should not be the one to have to do this."
"I'll be fine. I--"
Jedeite simply pushed the younger man away and proceeded to give Serenity breath. Endymion watched in stunned silence, fighting off anger, confusion, hurt, and fear. He was livid enough to kill Jedeite; he watched as the general's mouth encircled Serenity's soft lips--a horrible kiss that Endymion was made to observe in tortured silence. He imagined what her lips would feel like, what her mouth would taste like, but these thoughts were overrode with fear that she would not live to give him such gifts. She lay before him, and he was helpless. There was nothing that he could do but sit and watch another man attempt to give her life.
Against the crimson snow, Serenity seemed even more petite and frail. Her blonde-silver hair fanned out around her head, the halo of an angel. Her cheeks were blue, her eyelids pale gray. His fingers grazed the bloody snow; there was no warmth left in the sanguine fluid. Serenity had been out here far too long; she would not survive. Endymion's eyes locked on Jedeite in desperation. The other general continued to give Serenity air without success. She would not start to breathe on her own. She could not support her own intake of breath. Jedeite pulled away from Serenity after expelling a final two breaths. Endymion's angel's chest did not rise or fall with life; she was dead.
A small whimper skipped from Endymion's tongue, and he latched onto Serenity's hand. His body seized at the contact, ever muscle clutched in an immovable grip. A cry jolted from his mouth as every breath he had ever breathed was torn from him, expelled into the air. His lungs felt flat with pressure. He felt Serenity's hand tighten around his. His body fell into the snow. Endymion's open eyes scratched against the icy snow covering the winter-hugged ground. He forced them shut.
Jedeite's strong hands ripped Endymion from the ground. The general's face was twisted with questions, but he did not voice his concerns for the soldier's strange behavior. "She's breathing, but it's shallow. This--" Jedeite stopped, not quite knowing what to say, but knowing full-well its implications. "I don't think that you should leave her just now. You're going to be the one to take her back to the cabin, and you're going to be the one to care for her."
"What?" Endymion struggled to comprehend Jedeite's sudden change of heart.
"I had nothing to do with her breath, Endymion." The general squeezed Endymion's shoulder tightly. "I gave up on her. I stopped giving her breath, but when you took her hand. I don't understand what's going on, but I don't think that we should risk her life unnecessarily. Do you understand?"
Endymion shook his head, his ebony hair falling in front of his ice- blue eyes. "Not in the least."
"Then just do what I say, and get on the horse with Serenity. We'll take her back to the cabin. I doubt she would survive the trip into town; even if she did, she would not fare well."
Endymion's body was weak, but he gathered Serenity into his arms. She did not even acknowledge his lift with the slightest murmur or shift of body. She was an unresponsive weight in his arms, and he felt more protective over her than he had ever experienced with any one. He drew her closer to his chest and stood in the snow. Jedeite followed suit, striking out ahead of Endymion. Jedeite collected the horses' reins and moved to assist Endymion with the mount. Endymion shied away from the general's outstretched arms, entirely unwilling to give Serenity to another.
"You cannot mount with her in your arms."
Endymion ignored the warning and took his horse's reins from Jedeite. He clasped Serenity's body to his with a single arm, and pulled the reins lower to the ground. His horse kneeled. Without looking back at Jedeite to see the response of surprise he would have normally delighted in, Endymion swung over the horse's broad back and settled himself in the saddle. He rested Serenity in front of him so that her head would lie against his shoulder. His right hand curled around her petite waist to support her limp figure and keep it close to him.
"Endymion," Jedeite called from the back of his own horse. Endymion turned and caught the item that Jedeite threw across the small distance separating them. "Wrap this around her; she's sick enough already. There's no reason to make her more ill."
Endymion unfolded Jedeite's thick cloak and pulled it tightly around Serenity's body. He missed her conscious signs of life; he was sure that she would have yelled at him for paying such attention to her, for even thinking to touch her. He spurred his horse after Jedeite and took off towards the cabin.
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Kunzite and Zoicite had been enjoying a deep kiss when Jedeite burst in the cabin demanding blankets and fire. The two generals had been irritated by Jedeite's orders, but had not questioned his authority. They set out to do what he had asked: Zoicite tended to the fire, and Kunzite gathered as many blankets as he could. When Endymion walked in with Serenity unconscious in his strong arms, they understood the importance of their tasks. Kunzite, assisted by Jedeite, made a bed of fur blankets and feather duvets on the floor in front of the fire. Zoicite came and peered into Endymion's face. She smirked at his determined glare.
"Give her to me."
"No."
Zoicite flicked her hand at Endymion, an action that might have been cute had she been in her female form, but was now only threatening as she was in her male body. "Fine. You change her clothes."
Endymion's face darkened, and he shook his head. "I can't."
"Then, you're going to have to let me, now aren't you?" Zoicite smirked.
"Just give her to Zoicite, Endymion. Nothing's going to happen to her," Kunzite said in a soothing tone. He made up for Zoicite's blunt nature more often than not.
Endymion slowly handed Serenity to Zoicite. "Be careful with her head. You have to support her neck, or she'll wake up with cramped muscles. And don't shift her too much when you walk; maybe I should be the one to take her into the room. Here--" Endymion reached forward, but Zoicite stepped back. "I've got it, Endymion," Zoicite quipped. She turned carefully and disappeared into her room. Endymion walked to the door and waited, listening closely for any sounds of slight mismanagement or abuse.
"What happened to her?" Kunzite asked. He brushed his long silver hair away from his light blue eyes. "Where'd you find her?"
Endymion did not answer. His eyes were closed in concentration. Jedeite did, however, reply to Kunzite's askance. "She was in the snow. I suspect that she ran away on a horse, but fell."
"You're lying," Endymion said. His midnight eyes opened with awed shock, as though something had only just occurred to him. "The snow around her was unbroken, and there were no footprints anywhere around her."
"What do you mean by--"
Jedeite interrupted Kunzite by putting a hand on his arm. "Endymion, go see Serenity. Stay near her."
"What--"
"Now, Endymion." Jedeite's tone was unquestionably stern and commanding. Endymion retreated into Zoicite's room. The female general had removed the rock that kept her in her male form and was now female in all respects. Serenity had been clothed in soft cotton clothes, but wore nothing on her legs. Endymion looked away with a sharp blush stabbing his cheeks. Zoicite looked up in surprise of his intrusion.
"You can carry her back in. I would stumble in this body."
Endymion arced an ebony eyebrow at Zoicite's genteel manner but would not raise his head. "Could you wrap something around her. . .legs?"
Zoicite laughed at Endymion's deepening blush before she obliged his request. "Since when did you turn to such a puss? You can't even look at a woman's body anymore?"
"I would not do that to Serenity."
"So you'd do that to me."
"If I wanted to, without hesitation," Endymion confessed.
Zoicite laughed even more. She walked close to Endymion and pulled his head up by his ebony strands of hair. "She's all yours now. I can send in Jedeite to carry her out if you can't handle it."
Endymion shook his head and moved to the bed. He gathered Serenity in his arms. "Open the door for me."
Zoicite paused with her hand on the doorknob. "Endymion, can I ask you a serious question?"
"What? Serenity needs heat; she's at risk of--"
"I know, but as a friend, I need to know this." Zoicite's face mimicked genuine concern. "What's going on with you? You've never been like this before. Is it because of the messenger?"
"Is what?"
"Endymion, we've all noticed it. You've been nothing short of strange recently. It's like you've completely flipped out, only in a very quiet way. You're not yourself unless you and I are arguing, and even then you've been more defensive than you've ever been before. What's up with you? I'm. . .Endymion, I'm worried about you."
Endymion clenched Serenity tighter and shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with me. I've just had a lot on my mind. Can we go now?"
"Yeah, sorry." Zoicite opened the door and stepped aside to allow Endymion room to go past. She caught his arm before he could fully exit. "Just take care of yourself, okay? I could never find another person to find a love-hate relationship with that's as rewarding as this one is."
Endymion made no reply, but Zoicite knew that the soldier had taken her message to heart. Kunzite and Jedeite stepped away so that Endymion could lay Serenity on the floor. Jedeite squeezed his shoulder when he had finished wrapping Serenity in the blankets. "You and I will sleep out here tonight, Endymion," Jedeite said. "When Nephrite comes back, I'll go for a doctor."
"Get the girl."
"What?"
Endymion sat on the floor beside Serenity and brushed back her bangs. A bright half moon glowed vibrantly on her forehead. He covered it with his hands. He didn't understand. "She has a friend. Get her, not the other doctor."
"Endymion, you don't play around with a person's health like that."
"Jedeite, I know what I'm doing. It's better for Serenity. I don't understand, but I think her friend might."
"What don't you understand?"
The front door to the cabin swung open, and a snow-covered Nephrite entered the small entry. "Jedeite! Kunzite! Zoicite! You'll never guess what happened when Lord Tsuniko came to his senses! Where are you idiots?!"
"Keep your voice down, Nephrite," Jedeite hissed. He stood and moved away from Serenity and Endymion. Nephrite had not seen the unconscious woman or watchful man when he walked into the house. "Lord Tsuniko is well."
"Better than well, actually," Nephrite sniffed with a smirk. "He has been under a horrible hex for all the time that we have known him!"
"A hex?" Kunzite questioned as he and Zoicite emerged from the female general's room.
Nephrite nodded with a self-gratified smile. "He had fainted because he had finally fought off the hex! He's free from the dark arts that held him!"
Jedeite shook his head. "And why is this so contenting to you, Nephrite?"
"Well, you'll never guess who the witch is, and if you do I will think you most clever."
"I only knew one 'witch,' Nephrite," Zoicite intervened. "And she had enough sense to tell me about a little law governing those who have been gifted by your so-called 'dark arts.' The Threefold Law would prohibit any witch from performing negative castings on anyone. To cast a hex on another with the intention of evil--as you seem to hint at--would prove entirely detrimental to the caster, to the witch. No one casts hexes on another person unless it is at their request."
"Or unless they're a powerful witch who has enchanted many people, including our Endymion," Nephrite said, his excited incontrollable. "Serenity's been keeping Lord Tsuniko under a spell to keep him from telling everyone what she really is: a witch! She's cursed Endymion to make his sympathetic to her; why do you think that he's been so stupid about her? He'd never be like that if he was truly himself. He hasn't even taken any wenches in the time that we've been here. The one that he did take was useless because Serenity turned up and renewed the hex. He's completely under her spell! Lord Tsuniko has confessed to as much! And once they find her, she is to be burned for her crimes!"
Endymion removed his hand from Serenity's forehead and stared at her glowing mark. A witch? She was not a witch. Endymion did not know what she was, exactly, but he knew that she had not done anything that Lord Tsuniko had accused her of doing. With careful fingers, he brushed her bangs back over her forehead as the generals continued to argue. He would not let anything happen to Serenity; he would not let anyone or anything harm her.
"You're going to be alright, Serenity," he promised in a whisper. "I will protect you. They're not going to touch you, and I hope that you are not too angered by my method of salvation. Just sleep for now, little angel. I will protect you from them. You'll be safe."
Nephrite caught some of the whispers and drove forward. He peered into the room where the fire burned. "She's here! Endymion, get away from her! She's a witch! She has you under a curse!"
"You're being ridiculous!" Zoicite snapped, clenching her hands by her sides. She was extremely angered by Nephrite's blind presumption, but the other two generals remained silent. "Nephrite, have you not thought through this at all?! You're being entirely unreasonable!"
"What's so unreasonable, Zoicite?" Nephrite glared. "She's a witch. She has to be burned for her crimes. Nothing is so simple as that."
"You won't touch her."
Nephrite turned to Endymion with venomous anger. He had expected his findings to be met with successive joy, but no one seemed to share his rationale, his reasonable logic. "Just walk away from her, Endymion. You're going to be okay now."
"No Nephrite. It doesn't work like that." Endymion moved with purposeful grace and retrieved his sword from beside the fireplace; he had placed it there before leaving for Snowball. He dragged the tip of the fatal blade across the floor, watching it carefully with his eyes. Nephrite followed the line as well, and looked up to find Endymion staring at him when it was done. "If you or anyone else crosses this line with the intention of even touching Serenity, I will drive this point through your neck."
"Endymion. . . ." Nephrite's eyes swelled in shock; the other generals simply looked on with something of indifference. Endymion was perfectly serious. The young soldier seated himself beside the fire, his sword balanced on his knees. He sat back against the warm stonewall and closed his eyes. Nephrite's mouth worked but no words fell from his lips. He spun on his heel and left the house. Jedeite and Kunzite exchanged equal looks of understanding. Jedeite was the one who moved closer to Endymion while Kunzite and Zoicite retired to their rooms.
"He's gone to tell them, you know," Jedeite reasoned. Endymion did not open his eyes. He knew that Jedeite would not test his promise of harm. "They will be here to collect her come morning."
"I will wait."
"Endymion!" Jedeite snapped. Endymion's eyes slit open. "You cannot risk either yourself or Serenity for your foolishness. If you have the intention of protecting her, this is the wrong way of going about it."
"I don't agree."
"And what do you plan on doing?"
Endymion leaned forward, mindful of the blade on his lap. "Marry her."
"Oh good gods, how you mock me!" Jedeite cried out. "Be serious, Endymion. You are a soldier, and she has been accused of witchery. You have lost your mind, and if you continue in this manner, I will be forced to follow Nephrite's logic in this matter and name you hexed."
Endymion shook his head, his dark bangs jumping with the movement. "I am not a soldier, Jedeite. I am a noble, and as such, I need a wife. I have found her."
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