A/N- You guys are the best. I'm so sorry that this took so long, but between AP's (which went OK) and League prelims and finals for swimming, everything has just been hard. This chapter isn't as long as most chapters, but it does have some action. Just to warn you I'm not a very good action writer so I hope it isn't that bad.
Just to let everyone know… this story probably has between 5 and 7 chapters left. Maybe a little more, but it is coming to an end. Just a couple more problems…
.-.E.m.m.a.s.t.a.r.z.-. Thank you!
LynGreenTea- Well I wrote more, but it wasn't that soon.
raye85- Thank you! And here's your next chapter to read!
Sailor Saturn2- Diamond does have nerve, but he's going to have it coming to him… let me just say that this is going to be his last chapter in this story.
Moon Titan- Well I wasn't going to make Neph and Mal wait until after the fight. As you can tell, I'm not a big Diamond fan.
mysterious advisor- A true fight it is. Plus Diamond explains the last mystery in Darien's past… a mystery that Serenity shares with Darien. Don't worry, I think that it's pretty good right now.
Sailor Libra24- Well it wasn't too soon so sorry! But now you can stop wondering cause here it is!
Gr33nJ3w3lRain- And now for the conclusion of the fight… that was a cool review.
eliza-morgan22- I really liked that ending too. Hm, too bad there isn't as good of one for this chapter, but it's still good.
Ffgirlmoonie- depends on what you know… But Diamond does have something to do with Darien and Serenity.
passionate-nights- Thank you!
Alexandria18- I don't know what your hopes are, but I hope I got them here. There's fighting and talking and reunions so there's a lot here. FF wasn't letting me log in either for like 2 days so I know about the whole logging in problem. AP's are the worst. Luckily I only took one this year, but next year I have 4 to take… joy.
BlAcKfIrE889- Well, I'll update faster now that most tests for this school year are done. I probably won't be updating the other story as fast as this one so it's a good thing your reading this one first, but you'll understand this one more after the other one is done as well.
moonie B- Thanks for understanding. Technology is here to help and torment us it seems. The rescue was somewhat easy because Emerald was helping them. I was planning on having some pirates distracting the guards so that's why I didn't really mention the guards. Let's pretend the guards were either drunk somewhere, sleep, or fighting other pirates.
RuuD BoY- Sorry about making you wait. Life's went crazy for a bit, but it's all good now and chapters will be up once or twice a week.
HibiscusRose- Thanks for understanding. 3 essays in 1 hour and 54 multiple choice questions in 1 hour causes just a bit of stress :p.
VcChick- Thanks for understanding!
cosmos serenity- Don't worry about me laughing cause I do it too. I had a story on fictionpress that was based on a dream… or was supposed to be at least. Anyways, thanks for understanding!
"Tell me Darien, does she call you Darien or Endymion?"
"Wha-?" Darien looked from Diamond to Serenity and then back to Diamond.
"O come now. You can't be that stupid if you're the captain of your own ship. I know you two have figured it out. She looks at you the same way that she looked at Endymion… well you." Diamond explained.
"How would you know though?" Darien asked. His grip on his sword tightened and his teeth started grinding.
"You mean you haven't figured that part out yet?" Diamond asked with a smug smile. He trailed his hand up Serenity's arm and stroked her neck as he walked behind her. "I don't think I'll ever get over her beauty." Diamond said holding Serenity's chin up and forcing her head up to him. Though her head pointed up her eyes were trained on Darien's stoic figure.
"Get to the point Diamond." Darien growled.
"Well I guess you would like to know how your two lives are connected now wouldn't you?" Diamond asked. He sat down in his throne and looked at Darien. "Well you see, I was always envious of you since you had Serenity on your arm everyday. The only time she wasn't with you was when you two were asleep or changing or when you were training. Every minute of everyday you were together. It made me sick actually…"
"Diamond, what are you trying to say?" Darien grunted.
"Well I wanted to Serenity, but she had no heart to give to me for someone had already stolen it. So I devised a plan. I sent your father a letter asking him for help with some barbarians. Like I hoped he sent you and took you from the arms of your precious princess. When you got here I had some of my men dress as barbarians. They were to ambush you and your men, but not take them all out. The one thing they had to do was bring you to me.
"Well things went better than planned. One of my generals, Rubeus, hit you on the back of the head which knocked you out. You were brought here unconscious while your men left thinking you were captured or killed and the barbarians retreating. You were chained to the wall were we kept you for weeks. With constant beatings and such you were often close to death.
"Then one morning we come down to find you in a coma. One of our physicians forced us to put you on a bed where you were kept for the three days you were out. When you woke up you had no memory of who you were or where you were. So, instead of killing you I had three of my men take you to Triste and dump you in the gutters. It was a mistake I was ok with most of my life. Until we met in that raid of you're a couple years ago."
"When I saw you I remembered that you had something to do with my past so I hunted you down." Darien said.
"And a good job you did. Now, I do not expect to make the same mistake twice. And unfortunately Serenity must witness your end. I do believe that she will never forgive me."
"Diamond no! Please no!" Serenity whimpered.
"You should be quiet and it would probably be better if you couldn't move." Diamond sneered. He signaled to Sapphire who was still standing at the door. Sapphire walked over and tied a piece of clothe into Serenity's mouth.
"I'm not going to tie your hands, but do act like I did it. Do not help Darien until it is needed and that means before he dies. Do you understand?" Sapphire whispered as he tied the cloth.
Serenity nodded her head and waited for Sapphire to leave. Her eyes lit up once more as Sapphire pressed a small dagger into her hands before getting up and leaving the room. When Serenity returned her gaze to the two other men in the room she was surprised to see them at a sword's stance away from each other.
"Now play fair Darien. I know your pirate ways." Diamond jeered.
"As long as you do as well." Darien sneered. "If I remember from what you told me, you aren't the most trust worthy as well."
"Very true." Diamond smiled and started circling Darien. Darien followed him around the circle never breaking eye contact. Their swords clinked as they continued trying to stare the other down, knowing the first sign of defeat was the first to blink.
Darien suddenly lunged, but Diamond was able to block the surprise attack. Their swords clashed as each one attacked and blocked. Serenity tried to keep score, but gave up when the fight got too fast and too complicated. She just watched hoping to see Diamond fall.
Diamond's sword flew from his hand and Darien was able to knock him to his feet. "So sure you would be able to beat me now?" Darien asked. His breathing was harsh, but matched Diamond's fast breathing.
"I will always be able to beat you!" Diamond hollered. He kicked his feet so Darien was lying on the ground with him. Diamond used the time to get up and pick up his sword once more. "I will never let you win."
"I don't think you understand, everyone loses at least once." Darien said getting up. He lunged at Diamond, but Diamond blocked him. Serenity watched the fight continue as the clashing swords and heavy grunts echoed in her ears. Her hand wrapped around the small dagger that was behind her
This time Diamond was able to throw Darien's sword away from him and he started backing Darien back into the wall. Before Diamond could deliver the last blow Darien bent down and rushed to the right to get under Diamond and grab his sword.
"You actually did pick up some nice moves from that rusty old ship."
"What can I say? My men are loyal, unlike someone's."
Diamond let out a frustrated growl as he ran for Darien. Darien easily blocked Diamond and just kept blocking Diamond knowing he would soon get tired and his anger was blinding him from real attacks.
Darien saw Diamond leave his left side open so he lunged, leaving a long gash in Diamond's side. Diamond covered up the gash with his hand and saw red as he looked at Darien. Darien was breathing heavily again, but was ready for Diamond again.
The battle continued, but soon Diamond was getting more tired than Darien and was growing weaker by the minute. Darien threw the Diamond's sword again and backed away from Diamond as he kneeled onto the floor.
"Remember your winning streak. It just ended." Darien said. Darien leaned down to wipe off his head. As he leaned down Diamond got up and ran for his sword. Right before he reached Darien he stopped and his eyes went wide. Darien looked up at Diamond with surprise all over his face.
In Diamond's stomach was the end of a dagger. Diamond fell to the ground as realization of his death's arrival dawned over him. Behind him stood Serenity with wide eyes that had tears brimming on the edges.
"I can't believe… I stabbed… Darien." She cried. Diamond's body fell limp to the floor as Serenity broke down.
"Sh, it's alright Serenity." Darien said. He grabbed before she fell to the floor next to Diamond.
"How can you say it's alright? I just stabbed him." Serenity cried into Darien's chest. "I mean, I couldn't let him kill you. He was just going to run you threw with the sword… I… I…"
"Shhh… Don't worry. Let's get out of here before we get into more trouble." Darien said. He helped Serenity up and started walking over to the door. They heard Diamond grumble as he died, but didn't think anything of it until a shot rang out.
Darien stumbled forward as he clutched his shoulder blade. "Darien!" Serenity screamed. "Darien… I didn't know he had a gun. Are you ok? O my god. Darien I'm so sorry."
"I wasn't going down without you." Diamond grunted from across the room.
"I hate you!" Serenity screamed. She grabbed a dagger from Darien's boot and looked straight at Diamond. "Leave me alone." She threw the dagger at Diamond. It landed in his chest effectively killing him once and for all. "And stay out of my life."
"Serena…" Darien said from where he was sitting on the steps.
"Hold on, we're almost out. We can be together forever now Dare. Just like we planned when we were younger." Serenity said. She kneeled down next to Darien and rubbed his head. Serenity tore part of her dress off and tied it around Darien's wound hoping that it would stop or slow the bleeding so she could get him on this ship where Amy or one of the guys could heal him. "I'll help you out. Lean on me, Emerald and Sapphire are waiting for us."
Darien just nodded as he used his good arm to get up. Serenity led him the rest of the way to the door and knocked. Sapphire opened the door with a surprised look on his face. "You're lucky it's me that answered. Emerald would have killed you. Let's hurry before she finds out. I'll get you a horse to take you to the docks. Then you leave and never come back."
"Thank you." Serenity said.
"You will always be a friend. When you finally become king, you'll be a great ruler." Darien said. He gripped Sapphire's shoulder. Sapphire led the newly reunited couple down some servant halls until they came to a back door. There was a bay mare tied to a pole next to the door silently waiting for a purpose to run.
When they were getting ready to go a scream was heard from higher up on the tower. "You need to hurry because that sounded like Emerald. I believe she was hoping for Diamond to just let you go." Sapphire said.
"She should have known that wasn't going to happen." Serenity said gripping Darien's arm.
"I'm sorry that it had to come out this way." Darien said.
"You wanted a fair fight and you got shot. I should have known that this would be the outcome and that someone would die. Diamond won't stop his obsession until everything is out of the way or he is dead. I knew this would happen eventually." Sapphire explained. "Now get out of here."
"We'll see you again Sapphire, just under better circumstances." Serenity said. She gave Sapphire a quick hug before getting on the horse followed by Darien. Darien simply nodded at Sapphire, a nod Sapphire returned, before they left for the ship.
A/N- Next chapter will be out within the next couple days so no long wait again. They'll be back on the ocean soon enough.
