Hello again everyone! I so excited that I must inform you again that if you take a look at the number of reviews this story has it is extremely close to reaching…100 REVIEWS! begin jumping up and down ecstatically I can't wait! We're so close I can almost taste it. I've also been thinking a lot about the other fanfictions I'm going to write, so I've been brainstorming and I'd like to hear your opinions on it. You don't have to respond, but it might help me a little.
Idea 1: I'm most definitely going to write one where Serenity is a young witch that has been banished from her home town, and she now resides in some magical forest. And one day Endymion is going to stumble upon her and so and so forth. I'm definitely doing this one so be alert for it.
Idea 2: I'm definitely doing this one, it just has some complications I haven't worked out yet, so I'll give you a summery of it. Summary: Serena and Darien dream every night of Serenity and Endymion having wild passionate love, what they don't know is that they're actually doing it in real life! Despite their ignorance in the matter they must soon face it when Serena suddenly becomes pregnant!
Idea 3: I also want to do a gypsy fic where Serena's gypsy tribe kidnaps Endymion (the prince), and wants to use him to bargain for the freedom of some of their fellow gypsies who'd been punished for something they didn't do.
Idea 4: I want to write a fic where Serena/Serenity is a mermaid or something like that. I just don't feel that there are enough out there. The problem is I don't know weather to make it their past or present lives.
Idea 5: I also want write a vamp. Fic, but once again I don't know weather to do it in their past or present lives.
Idea 6: Serenity is engaged to a Prince Seiya that came from a well standing country. But when she gets there she is completely ignored and Serenity spends most of her time riding horses, or going to see the stable hand Endymion.
Please let me know what you think of my ideas. I don't own Sailor Moon.
SnowAngel101: Wow, I can't imagine working on five fanfictions at once, it sounds like murder! I'm going to wait until I'm done the two fics I'm working on now until I start any new ones. But keep faith, they all have to EVENTUALLY get done, right?
Melis: It's great to get another new person, I'm so glad that you like my story! Thank you for reviewing!
Justsukiya: Yes, we all feel bad for Serenity, me particularly for all that I've put her through in this story. But in the end it all ends happily.
Cresentpal: Thanks a bunch! Keeping an audience is something that I strive for, and I try to do it without torturing my readers with mind-numbing cliffhangers (I remember how much I did not like them) Of course Endymion deserves to feel bad, but he was angry and acted irrationally. He was only afraid about her safety, so we can't fault him for that.
X-Tina Eddie's Mamacita: Thank you for the praise new person! I'm glad that you're enjoying my fanfiction.
Usagi Usako Chiba: Don't worry even if Diamond did manage to hurt Endymion I would never let Endymion die. I would be terribly upset with myself if I made him die.
ImmortalLight: Thank you so much, expressing the right emotions is one of the hardest things in writing. If your characters express the wrong things at the wrong time it could bring about the wrong message. And sadly I can't really kill Diamond yet since he hasn't really been in the story that much. But he will die, so worry not!
Chapter 16: Battle
Serenity stared at the horizon of the next morning with much dread. She didn't know how she could tell, but this was the day that she'd dreamed about. It seemed like any normal day, but Serenity was alive with tension. To help relieve herself of it she asked some of the crewmembers to spare swords with her.
After about sparing with five of them Serenity was sweating. She could handle a sword pretty well now. She still couldn't beat Endymion, but she was working on that. So yes, she was a fair fighter, she only needed to be good enough to defend herself and Endymion. Of course she expected him to try to get her to not participate in battle, but she would have to come in eventually.
"Don't be so tense Princess," Jadeite said, "The battle might not even come."
"Not to mention thanks to your warning we are even more prepared than usual," Nephrite said trying to reassure her.
"Thanks for the effort guys really, but I won't relax until we're well and maybe not entirely safe, but safer from Diamond, docked in my country's harbor." Serenity said glancing uneasily at the horizon again expecting to see the ship rise up at any moment. She almost jumped five feet in the air as Endymion's arms came around her unexpectedly.
"Stop worrying so much Serenity," he said nuzzling the stop of her head. Serenity tried to do as he said but nothing seemed to relieve the tension coursing through her. That was basically how the whole day went for her. She did everything she could to occupy herself, but she was only half paying attention to what she was doing. She was always looking at that horizon though.
"Enough is enough Serenity," Endymion said at some time in the afternoon. He dragged her away from the window of the cabin she'd been staring out of and sat her onto his lap. He planted his back firmly at the window making sure she couldn't get to it.
"Endymion, that's not funny!" she said squirming to get another look out of the window. She felt silly when he didn't even seem to notice her feeble escape attempts.
"Calm down Serenity," he said making himself more comfortable. He tangled his hand in the hair at the back on her head and brought her head to rest against his chest. Serenity could feel the steady, heavy rise and fall of his chest beneath her like she did every night. Her rapid breathing immediately calmed and slowed to match his. "Calm down Serenity," he repeated.
Serenity felt her eyes drift shut and she leaned more fully against Endymion. The gentle rocking motion of the boat and his presence seemed to melt her into a deep contented sleep that she desperately needed after such a stressful day.
Serenity woke alone and there was a great commotion above her head and outside the cabin. She looked out the window and what she saw made her blood turn to ice. She saw the ship from her dreams, with black sails and a stench of evil. It was closing in on them and would soon be beside them, she realized that Endymion wasn't running either.
Of course the man would be stupid enough to stand and fight, she thought jumping out of bed. She rushed over and pushed open the door to come face to face with Nephrite.
"Go back in the cabin Serenity," he said, he looked primed and ready for battle.
Serenity gave him a unladylike scowl.
"Do you really
think that you should be wasting your time protecting me, when it's
Endymion's life that is in danger?" Serenity retorted.
"I
was given orders Serenity and I'm not going to break them," he
said sternly. Serenity didn't know how long she stood there and
argued with him, but she was frantic to get to Endymion. Out of
nowhere she felt Nephrite go rigid and then tackled her to the ground
right before there was a resounding crash that rang in Serenity's
ears. There were other explosions around them all going off at once;
Serenity shoved her fist in her mouth the keep from screaming.
She wasn't sure how long they fired back and forth at each other, but Nephrite didn't budge shielding her body with his own. It felt like a life time later that the explosions stopped, she couldn't tell if they'd been hit or if they had hit their enemy.
Nephrite slowly eased himself off of her looking around cautiously. Serenity heard the clash of metal and the screams of battle and pain from above. She knew that the battle had begun. She looked at Nephrite and knew he heard it too and he was the kind of guy who would always be in fight. She could tell he would rather be up there protecting Endymion like she said, so Serenity tried again.
"We can both go up there Nephrite, you can keep close t and protect me, and we can watch Endymion at the same time." she said standing up. Nephrite muttered a few curses under his breath but motioned for her to follow him, Serenity had attached a sword to her hip already in preparation for the battle.
They crept slowly up the stairs that led to the deck and the noises that Serenity had heard grew louder with every step. She felt adrenaline rush through her veins and she had to resist from dashing up the stairs before Nephrite. Nephrite stepped onto the deck in front of her and it gave her enough time to step up behind him, but he was already lifting his arms as an enemy approached him.
Serenity saw a flash of silver out of the corner of her eyes and she spun around whipping out her sword to deflect the blow aimed at her. The metal of her sword rang as it clashed with her adversary's. Her challenger stank of evil like Diamond did, but she was sure he was just another crewmember. Serenity was thankful that she as wearing men's clothing again and had stuffed her hair under a hat, the man she was fighting didn't seem to notice that she was a girl.
Her attacker moved first dragging his sword away from hers and stepping forward on the advance. Serenity took a step back raising her sword to meet his again, but began on the offensive taking large steps forward. She accompanied her steps with fast, swift movements of her sword like Endymion had taught her. Her opponent wasn't prepared for such a quick offensive thinking that he had had the upper hand.
Adrenaline coursed through her bringing her an energy she hadn't known that she had possessed. All to soon she saw an opening in her opponent's play and acting on her adrenaline rush she plunged her blade into his stomach.
Looking up in triumph Serenity's eyes met the ones of her now dead opponent. For a moment Serenity just stood there frozen in horror watching as her opponent's eyes as they rolled to the back of his head. Blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth and there was a disgusting squelching noise as his body slide off of her sword. As she stared down at the blood on her sword she was sure that she was going to be sick, her stomach jolted in protest.
A scream erupted from her out of nowhere, it climb up her throat and burst form her mouth echoing into the air around her. She almost dropped her sword from her now numb fingers, but her finger seemed locked around it somehow. A strong arm encircled her waist, but Serenity couldn't stop screaming as she looked upon the man she'd just killed.
"Serenity calm down!" she heard Nephrite roared in her ear. The sound of pain, death, and battle around them reminded Serenity of where they were and her screams quickly turned into soft hiccupping sobs.
"I-I k-killed him," Serenity gasped trying to take deep breaths. Nephrite however didn't have time to say any comforting words because two or three more enemies were on them already mercilessly. Serenity raised her bloody blade in defense automatically her brain was running on autopilot now, she could feel the change happening within her.. She couldn't believe that any one this was happening all around her, that she'd just killed a man as easy as swatting a fly.
She let her mind drown in the numbness and the pain pushing everything to the farthest corners of her mind. Fear and adrenaline were rushing through her body again, and Serenity latched onto it like a lifeline. Her sword easily parried her attacker's offensive. Serenity however easily side stepped their attack then spun around and she felt her blade cut through the skin of their neck. Serenity immediately turned away looking for another adversary. The only thing that was keeping her from collapsing was the need to fight, as long as she didn't let her mind linger on who she killed she could keep going. So she had to keeping fighting.
She found her opponent this time and he swung around the block her attack. Serenity immediately went on the offensive and began making him dance to dodge her attacks left and right. Some spare piece of rope on the ground made her fault in her attack and she felt metal skim her side cutting deep. Not even noticing her wound because of the adrenaline she allowed to take control of her mind, she realized he was open. She brought down her sword on the arm holding his shoulder and heard his scream of pain. Tossing her sword into her other hand she plunged it down into his chest, then stood to find someone else.
Serenity wasn't sure how many people she faced or how many she cut down. Her mind was numb and wasn't really seeing or hearing anything around her at all. She knew that if she began to feel something that she would collapse onto the deck and she wouldn't stop screaming. She didn't know where Nephrite was, she didn't look around for any one else of Endymion's crew, there was only the battle and the need to fight, or collapse. Serenity was aware in some dim part of her mind that she was wounded and several places and they were dripping blood, but she paided her injuries no heed..
Serenity plowed through her opponents with ease, and as she plunged her sword into another one she saw another flash of silver out of the corner of her eye. She raised her blade in defense and she met a pair of familiar red eyes. She was facing Rubeus of Braeden, one of Diamond's right hand men. Somewhere in her mind Serenity was aware of this, but in her numb mind he was just another opponent that she would have to cut down to save her own life.
"What's in your head boy?" he sneered, "I've watched you cut through my men like you were swatting flies, let us see how well you fair with me,"
Serenity was only dimly aware of what he was saying only the battle was on her mind. Rubeus's blows and attacks were more fierce and practiced than the other men she'd been fighting. This only cause more adrenaline to flood her body and she attacked relentlessly. She nicked him a few times and he nicked her as well, it was an ongoing battle that neither of them was willing to finish. She could feel his surprise at ther skill, but he was still unwilling to give the battle his all yet.
Serenity called him on that unspoken bluff, and sent forth a series of attacks at such a speed he had a very difficult time blocking them. Serenity sword vibrated against his as she their faces were only inches apart for a moment. She spun away and sliced at him feeling her sword hit the skin of his thigh. He cursed, but defended immediately against Serenity's attacks.
"I see you mean business boy, and I'm willing to give it to you," he said. He burst into a complicated series of attacks much like Serenity had, but she was able to block them all. To avoid the tip of his bald she spun away, but felt the bald take her hat with it. For a moment their battle fell silent as Serenity turned around again as her waves of golden hair fell about her in all of it's beauty. Serenity didn't notice, but Rubeus's mouth was agap, realizing that he'd been fighting a women, and not just a women a Princess.
"P-Princess Serenity?" he gasped, Serenity didn't even respond to the name and attacked again knocking Rubeus out of his trance. He stepped away out of her reach an evil smile of his face, "I'm sorry to cut this short Princess, but there is someone else who would like to know of your appearance in this battle," he said running off into the battle.
In Serenity's state of mind she didn't chase after him, but turned to meet another opponent. She became dimly aware that as she fought on there were less and less people to fight, that meant that they were winning. She also began to notice that her sword began to feel heavy in her arms, and her muscles ached and protested, but she didn't allow herself to stop, and she fought on.
She was finishing off another opponent when she felt a vague feeling of dread in her mind. Still sensible enough to listen to it she turned in the direction it pulled her and everything came slamming back into her in one instant. She saw Endymion and Diamond battling before just like in her dream, and just like in her dream a few second later she saw Diamond lift a pistol and point it at Endymion, a dark glee in his eyes. She began running toward the pair as fast as she could, but somewhere in her mind she knew that she wasn't gong to make it in time.
As she got closer she saw Diamond's finger pull on the trigger and heard the loud bang that sounded at the bullet shot out of the barrel into Endymion. She saw him jerk, but she couldn't tell where Endymion had been hit, but he went down.
Diamond raised his sword ready to stab it into Endymion like he'd always dreamed of, but as he brought his sword down another blade parried his causing the metal to ring. He looked and saw Serenity standing there. Her long golden hair fell about her in disarray, a fine rage boiling in her blue eyes. She looked like some battle Princess ready to take him down next. His mouth curved into an evil smile Rubeus had already informed her of her presence.
"Long time no see Princess," he said. Serenity hadn't hear him, all that she saw was this man shooting her one true love, then had been ready to end his life. Red streaked across her vision as she felt rage surge through her with such a force she hadn't known she possessed. She attacked furiously and could feel his immediate surprise as he rose his sword to defend himself. Serenity attacked with a single minded purpose, to kill Diamond who dare threaten her love's life.
She stepped forward driving him back relentlessly, then saw her opening, she swung around and felt her blade stab into his side. She pushed it deeper for emphasis, but had to dodge his next attack. She felt his gaze harden and then she was frantically dodging his attacks. She was holding up against him very well, until her natural clumsiness kicked in at the worst time.
She fell onto her butt on the deck and she felt Diamond swoop down toward her. She felt his hand on her chest and suddenly something was burning from his palm into her skin. She felt the dark energy invading her body, marking itself upon her; she smelled the incredible stench of evil.
Then came the pain, the pain so intense she let out a scream that seemed to pierce every battle around her. It burned and her other marks burned as well in rejection of the dark energy invading her body Serenity felt her hands clawing at where he'd touched her trying to get whatever it was off. She screamed and screamed, and then blackness.
