His heart pounded hard against his chest, the endless searching rewarding him with nothing but exhaustion. Endymion smirked. Her brother hadn't been kidding when he said Selenity could be a handful. Did he even know the extent of those words?

Trees, shrubs and rocks started to look the same as Endymion made his way through the dense forest. Through his wanderings, he had discovered yet another interesting point that undoubtedly Syphis had purposely forgotten to mention. Once Endymion found Selenity, he could share the good news with her.

Home wasn't too far away.

With that thought in mind, he pushed forward, keeping his eyes open for anything that could lead him to the princess.

"Selenity!" he bellowed, relying on sounds since the sun had set long ago. He would not rest until he found her.

A slight rustling off to the right caught his attention and he raced off in that direction, hoping he wasn't being led off the trail. He kept his eyes focused on the ground, knowing that Selenity would be resting rather than walking.

Then suddenly his heart relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief. There, at the foot of a tree he had nearly passed over, lay Selenity curled up in an attempt to keep herself warm. Tear-stained and face streaked with dirt, she looked absolutely...

...angelic.

Endymion shook his head. Now was certainly not the time to be thinking such things. He bent down and scooped the sleeping princess into his arms, smiling to himself when she snuggled in close to his warmth.

He knew it was too late to keep traveling, especially with a soundly sleeping princess in his care. Leaning back against the same tree where he had found Selenity, Endymion closed his eyes and let the exhaustion consume him.

As he fell into a deep sleep, he vowed that he would not let Selenity out of his immediate reach until they arrived back in Avaria. Syphis or no Syphis... there was no telling what that bandit might do in the meantime.

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Call It Destiny
by Elysia and Eternal Angel
ely_chan@yahoo.com, stargazing12@hotmail.com
Chapter 9
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She woke up at first light, with the soft birds chirping around her, the sun pulsing around her, a blanket of warmth layering her skin. But that wasn't the only thing brushing against her. A hand, so soft and warm touched her lightly on the cheek, gently willing her awake.

She let out a groan.

The hand brushed her face and hair some more. So gentle, so willing.

She let out a sigh this time, her eyes slowly propping open to take in the vision of a dark haired knight only to close them once again. "You're beautiful in the morning, Princess." His soft words chided her as her eyes then snapped open to stare at him, incredibly.

"Endymion!"

He then bent down, his lips buried at her soft nape. "Mmm, I love it when you say my name." His lips caressed against her. "You're so sweet..."

"Endymion..." her breath low, as his prompted his head to stare at her deeply as his eyes turned hard. "You ran away from me." By this time he had gotten up then, walking slightly away from her. "Do you know what hell I have gone through to find you?"

She scrambled away from the tree then, her heart banging slightly in pain. What was he telling her? Was he going to give her another lecture about how he was a knight and was suppose to protect her and her stupidity could have gotten her killed? She was tired, just tired of all this antics. Closing her eyes, counting to ten, wishing that her vow for not being in love with him would kick in right about now and save her from this embarrassment?

"I'm sorry. I acted rashly again."

He turned back to look at her then. "Hell yeah. Of course you did!"

She glared at him then, "But if you weren't such a jackass..."

"...you wouldn't have run away." He finished for her, simply. "Selenity, you don't understand do you? The reason why I have gone through hell was not because you put me through it but because I did. I denied my emotions, I pushed you away... When I searched for you in the forest I was scared that if I didn't find you I'd lose the most important thing in the world that I can ever have.

"I love you, Selenity."

Her heart was overcome by joy but... there was also something in her, something that couldn't accept his words. Could he being saying this out of duty? Did he feel as if he had to respond to her love because she was his princess? She didn't want it to be that way... it had to be the real thing.

She shook her head. "I don't need your love." She looked into the deep forest. "I think that we should hurry up and go before we get caught."

She started to walk away as Endymion stared at her, burned by her rejection. But what she failed to see was the fire alight in his eyes. He got up and started after Selenity. That little stubborn princess was going to listen to him, once and for all.

"Selenity!" he bellowed, grabbing onto her arm and pulling her to face him, "I don't know what's going on in that stubborn head of yours, but I won't let you keep walking away from me. We've been through too much on this journey to just forget the things we've said and done. I don't think you truly meant what you said back there. Not after all of this."

Selenity wouldn't look at him. She knew if she did, he would see through her lies. Her heart pounded in her chest as she searched for the courage to reply. "I did, Endymion. I meant what I said. It's the best thing, considering our journey. If I were to distract you again, who knows what kind of trouble we'd get into." Her gaze settled somewhere off into the distant forest. "Besides, I'm sure my brother is anxious to see us again. We shouldn't keep him waiting."

The fire inside Endymion refused to be quenched. These newly awakened emotions were not easily shut off. "Listen to me, Selenity." He pointed to a clearing through the trees. "Avaria is just beyond this forest. I discovered that while racing against Syphis to find you. Perhaps when we return, we can sort this situation out, but--"

"You were racing against Syphis to find me?" Selenity interrupted. "Whatever for?"

This time he couldn't look her in the eye. He felt like a silly teenager. "The bandit kept insisting that I would never be good enough for you. But I refused to defer. I would never give you up to someone like him."

She scowled. "It sounds to me like you're making me into an object to fight over. I'm surprised at you, Endymion. I didn't think you were that shallow."

Endymion winced. "You've got it wrong, Selenity. You are no object. You've proven that to me over the last several days. You're beyond stubborn, yes, but that's what makes you so real. You've taught me at least that much. I feel I've become more of a person while in your presence."

A tiny smile flickered on her face and she slipped her hand into his. "Thank you, Endymion, but I hope you know this won't change things between us. I've made up my mind." Selenity took in a deep breath. "Let's go home, shall we?"

*****

The first thing she ever saw in his eyes was destiny. A beautiful, bright vision of a future so bright, so beautiful that it sparkled within the midst of the world, embellished within a coat of hungry dreams, thirsting for passion.

And now, after much delusions discovered and hearts broken, she found that she still couldn't shake of the sight of destiny when she looked into his eyes.

She wished it wasn't so.

They had been walking for more than a few hours deep within the forest in complete silence. She didn't dare talk to him; afraid he'll say something that would sway her heart into loving him. He didn't say anything either, for some unknown reason to her, but she was grateful for it, she didn't think she could stand it if he did.

Instead they walked, in absolute silence, against her leg's will. Her energy slowly sapped away from her, as she attempted to keep up to his pace, and having shorter legs than he was something that didn't help her. She knew that if she said something he would have slowed down for her, or something, but... she wasn't up to talking to him just yet.

And then her legs suddenly gave up to exhaustion, overall causing her to feel stupid for her pride. Endymion caught right at she fell, his eyes gazing at her with a look of disapproval. "Why didn't you tell me you were tired?" He growled at her as he brought her into his arms. She squirmed.

"Stop it Selenity," he commanded. "I know you probably detest my touch, but please, only until I find a safe spot for you to rest."

"I don't detest your touch," she whispered back.

He gave her a glare. "Don't start with me Princess, I'm not in the mood."

Never had he acted this way to her before, a bitter coldness. Not even when he thought she was a spoiled brat. He still had an amused hint to his voice then, but now... there was no more warmth, no more softness in him.

'Not that there should be,' she thought to herself, 'We're strangers. This is how things are suppose to be.'

But why was it hurting so much?




CP: Wow, it's been forever since I had... anything out! But... we know who is to blame for this... ehhh, once I figure that out I'll tell you. Anyways, Lyssa has been an utter slavedriver lately - she's mean. She has her fork out and she yells out threats... (sniffles) she's very scary...

Ely: I am NOT a slavedriver! Do you know how hard it is to motivate cherii to write? Sheesh... she's more stubborn than me... and I'm a redhead! If you want more of this... go to her. *evil grin*