A/N: I don't know if I have to disclaim the Elvish, but I got those on a website online if it makes a difference. Oh, FYI, there's a brief conversation in Elvish, so I'm putting in the translations in bold next to the Elvish that is spoken. What's in bold is not spoken. K? Goody.

A Secret Most Grim

Antares had some difficulty falling asleep again, but she managed somehow. Darry, however, could not. He lay beside Antares for a while with his eyes closed, but it was no use, and eventually he gave up. Rigel, Sirius, and Darius were playing Frisbee, Trish was either tanning or sleeping (or both), and Mira and Selene were talking together. Darry was pretty much on his own. He gazed at Antares for a moment and noticed, for the first time, that she had a small tattoo of a red rose curved around her belly button. Unconsciously he touched his own rose tattoo, smiling. He wondered if it was real.

'Probably not,' he thought. 'After all, she's still only sixteen; her parents probably wouldn't let her get a real one.' He looked around, absently drawing pictures in the sand with his finger, until he noticed something: Antares's small backpack. Benji wasn't in it anymore, that much was obvious, but it looked like something was. Curious, Darry picked it up and reached in, pulling out her folder with her pictures in it. He wondered if he should be looking at it without Antares knowing. He figured she probably wouldn't mind, and opened the folder. Several pictures lay inside. The first one was of the sunrise over the sea, not yet coloured in. The rest were. The next picture was of him, and it made his blood freeze. He was drawn with enough of his bare waist showing to indicate that he was naked, though nothing was revealed. His bare torso was somewhat dirty, and there were long bloody scratches on his shoulder. His mouth hung slightly open, a scream forever frozen on his lips. But all this was not was horrified him. In this picture, his eyes were missing. All that there was were two great gaping holes clear through the back of his head, rimmed with blood that dripped down his face. Behind him, the Creeper looked through one of the eyeholes with a brown eye stolen from Darry. Darry shivered. Was this what Antares had saved him from? He shuddered again and quickly turned to the next picture. This one was interesting and fantastical. It apparently depicted the Creeper's demise, one arm raised to shield itself from the blow of an angelic being above it. The angel had six black wings and held a glowing sword above his head with both hands. He wore a white and gold skirt that actually looked pretty manly, and no shirt. His hair was wild, blown back by the wind. His eyes were narrowed, flashing fury and fire, and his mouth was opened, perhaps giving a battle cry or a roar of blind fury. There were strange markings at the bottom of the page that Darry couldn't read. Curious, he continued to the next and final page. Here was limned the velvety black cloak of night, full of stars and a glorious moon, far too big to be real. The six-winged angel was back again, only now his wings were silver where kissed by the moonlight. The magnificent blade from before hung at his side now. His hair and face were both smooth and calm, and he smiled affectionately at the girl he carried in his arms. Her white hair and astonishingly green eyes instantly identified her as none other than Antares herself, smiling up at the angel with the same affection he gave her. Her white arms were around the angel's neck as she lay like a small child in his arms. She wore a long, Renaissance-style gown of emerald green and silver. In her hair she wore the moon, and in her eyes, the stars. The eyes of the angel shared those stars. They looked like they were about to kiss, or like they had just been kissing. Darry could almost see Antares lean her head against the strong shoulder of the angel. There were more of those strange marks at the bottom of this page, but again, Darry could not read them. He sighed as he studied the angel-figure again, wondering why he felt jealous. He noticed something suddenly that he had missed before: a black mark on the angel's stomach. Closer inspection revealed it to be a black rose just like Darry's. He turned quickly back to the last picture. There it was again. The angel was himself. He stared at both drawings, wondering what they meant and wishing more than ever that he could read the writing at the bottom of both. He didn't get much time to study them, though.

"What are you doing?"

Darry nearly jumped out of his skin, he was so startled by the unexpected voice that spoke behind him, soft though it was. He spun around to face Antares, who was sitting up behind him, perfectly awake and aware, with a sad look in her eyes.

"Ana, I-" he started, but the words evaporated in his throat. What could he say? He had invaded her privacy, and she was upset. At least, he thought she was upset; it was hard to tell. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I just wanted to see-"

"What did you want to see?" asked Antares in a quiet voice that was somehow worse than if she had been yelling at him. He would rather she had yelled; at least it would have been normal. But she just gazed at him with sad, tired eyes and spoke softly and levelly.

"I don't know," said Darry softly. "I really don't know." In response, Antares pulled out the picture of Darry's death and held it up, making him look at him.

"Is this what you wanted to see?" she demanded, anger now creeping slowly into her voice. "Is it? You wanted to see; look! Look at it! Look 'til your eyes burn!" She rose, her eyes flashing green fire, threw the picture at him, and went away across the beach, disappearing into the rocks that made up the cliff on which the Starr mansion was perched.

"Ana, wait! I'm sorry!" cried Darry, jumping up. Something in him prevented him from following her. He cursed himself and sighed. He jumped slightly when he felt a hand brush his shoulder, then relaxed when he saw it was only Trish.

"Darry," she said gently. "You're my brother and I love you. But I have to tell you – you're a schmuck." Darry nodded glumly, turning his head to gaze after Antares. "Why did you look through her folder without asking her?"

"I don't know," said Darry sadly. "I just wanted to see…what she sees. How she sees. She doesn't see the way other people do. I wanted to look through her eyes and see what the world was like then. I thought…I thought it might be better than the way I see it." Trish was surprised at this.

"That's beautiful," she said softly. "Why didn't you tell her that?"

"I don't know!" cried Darry. "I don't know anything when she's not around! Things only made sense because she was here, and now that she's gone I don't know anything!"

"Then I think it's about time she knew that," said a new voice. Rigel came up to join them. He picked up the two angel pictures and pointed to the strange markings at the bottom of the battle picture. "This is Elvish script. It says 'Gurth gothlye'. And this one-" he broke off and pulled out the night sky picture "-this one says 'Aratoamin ar a'maelamin'."

"And what does all that mean?" asked Darry, a little apprehensive.

" 'Gurth gothlye' means 'Death to our foe'," said Rigel. He paused for a moment.

"And the other?" pressed Darry.

"The other?" asked Rigel drawled. "Oh yes, the other. 'Aratoamin ar a'maelamin'. That means 'my champion and my beloved'." Darry was silent, dumbstruck. "Ana has a fascination with different languages, including fake ones like Tolkien's Elvish. She knows a lot, but isn't exactly fluent."

"Oh man," said Darry quietly, his eyes wide.

"I'll talk to her," said Rigel, going over to the rocks. Darry watched him go.

"Please let her forgive me," he whispered.

"Hey," Rigel said. Antares looked up at him, her eyes huge and brimming with tears.

"I don't know why I'm so upset," she whispered. "I just thought…I don't know, I just…"

"Shh," said Rigel gently, hugging his little sister. "Amin sinta thaliolle e dagor. I know your strength in battle," he said gently. Antares looked up at him quizzically.

"Amin n'rangwa I don't understand," she said. "Mankoi ro uma tanya? Why did he do that?"

"Nwalmaer. Tormented one," he replied, still gently, "Est. Lasta amin. Darry mela lle. Lle sinta sina. Rest. Listen to me. Darry loves you. You know this." Antares stared up at him. Rigel smiled at her.

"Lle vesta? Do you promise?" she asked. Rigel nodded. "Amin uuma sinta. Amin mela ho ana. I didn't know. I love him too."

"Amin sinta. Ar Darry sinta ana. Nan lle hama nyar ho. I know. And Darry knows too. But you have to tell him."

"Amin merna nyar ho. I wish to tell him," said Antares, nodding. She looked up at her brother one last time. "Nan, tul ro súrion amin? But, will he forgive me?" Rigel smiled again.

"Darry mela lle Darry loves you," he repeated firmly. He extended his hand and helped his sister up. Together they returned to where Darry and Trish waited for them. Trish smiled when she saw them coming.

"Hey guys," she said. Darry's head snapped up.

"Ana," he said in relief. Then, stumbling a little, "Cormamin lindua ele lle. My heart sings to see thee." Antares's eyes widened in surprised and she smiled. But Darry wasn't done, and he held up a finger to indicate this. "Ed' i'ear ar' elenea, amin naa vanima. Oio naa elealla alasse'. Melamin, arwen en amin, amin mela lle ar amin naa tualle. Mani uma lle merna? Lle tul caela ilya lle merna. By the sea and stars, you are beautiful. Ever is thy sight a joy. My love, my lady (formal), I am your servant. What do you wish? You will have all that you wish." Antares laughed outright.

"Diola lle. Thank you," she said. "Nan ilya amin merna naa lle ar lle mela But all I want is you and your love." Darry clearly didn't understand what she was saying.

"Um, I was just repeating what Trish told me I should say, so, um…" he said, his voice trailing off. Antares laughed again.

"Do you know what you said?" she asked.

"Sorta, kinda, no," replied Darry. Trish laughed and whispered the translations in his ear. Darry's eyes widened and his face reddened as he listened…but then he saw the way Antares was smiling at him, so shyly and softly. Trish also translated what Antares had said (Trish also had an interest in linguistics) and stepped back, waiting.

"Did you mean it?" asked Antares. "Now that you know what it is?"

"Yes," whispered Darry.

"So did I," Antares whispered back. The two hugged tightly, smiling. "Come with me, and don't let anyone follow," Antares whispered in Darry's ear. Darry nodded and Antares stepped back, smiling still, and turned towards the water with a meaningful glance. Soon all four were dancing among the waves. Rigel noticed Darry and Antares swimming away from him and Trish, but didn't bother them. Soon the two submerged and didn't come back up.

"Should we be worried?" asked Trish, already worried.

"Nah," said Rigel. "She's taken Darry to the secret grotto. Even I don't know where it is. The entrance is somewhere underwater, and I haven't been able to find it. I admit, I'm not trying too hard 'cus it's Ana's special secret spot. Taking Darry there shows how much she feels for him." The two gazed after their lovestruck younger siblings for a while, then swam back to shore and goaded their parents into a volleyball game of men versus women.

"Where are we?" asked Darry as he and Antares surfaced in a cave.

"We're deep inside the cliff," said Antares. "No one knows where this place is except me. We'll be safe here. We can talk here." Darry turned to her in confusion and concern, and sat down on a squishy, damp chair next to her. What Antares had failed to mention to anyone, and the reason for her erratic behavior over Darry looking through her folder, had been that she had had another nightmare. But this one was far worse than the last that she and Darry had unknowingly shared. This one had revealed to her what exactly was wrong with her, what was causing the strange urges and bizarre thoughts. She had run from Darry because she had feared his finding out, and wanted to use his tiny invasion of her privacy as a reason to not care for him anymore, but she just couldn't. Now it was time to tell him the truth that she herself had just discovered.

"Ana," said Darry gently, taking her hand and squeezing it. Antares looked at him. "Whatever you need, I'm here. I'll always listen when you need me. You can tell me anything."

"I hope you believe that," said Antares miserably. "Because for what I'm about to tell you, you'll have to.