Kennet was the first one of the four men to feel it. Next was Jake and Nathan and Zachary sensed it as well. The shield was activated, but not by Darien. The four man stopped their actions and turned to look at each other and mostly at Kennet. He was supposedly the front man.
The man with short blonde hair asked "Shouldn't we go Ken?" The man in question freed the box he was currently unpacking from his hands and slid his right hand though his shoulder length blonde, almost white, hair.
"But we must not reveal us yet, keep that in mind." He spoke with authority. They all nodded in compliance. Kennet took few steps forward and stopped, letting the transformation to take place. Seconds later he opened his eyes and looked over himself and his comrades, they were now dressed in armour, swords at their sides, helmets with visors to protect the face and capes swaying around them from the breeze coming through the open window.
"I think we should lose the capes and the helmets. Aren't they a bit too much? It's not like we are attending a court meeting or something," spoke Jake, scratching his cheek sheepishly with his index finger.
"I guess we should." Agreed Kennet and with a flick of their hands the capes were gone. "Let's hurry, but remember, we must not be seen." All men nodded once again and moments later they vanished from the room they were in only to reappear at the park.
The men were now standing on tree branches not far from the place of the incident. Upon seeing the scene before them, Nathan was ready to rush to aid, but was stopped by Zachary grabbing his upper arm. "Remember, it's not our time to interfere. And it seems that it's only the girl who has sustained injuries. Calm yourself." Whispered Zachary, holding Nathan firmly but gently.
When they teleported to the park they did not expect to see their prince in such state of unrest. He could be seen leaning over a girl with blonde hair, his hands in blood, both their faces pale for different reasons. Faint music could be heard and they realised it's from the pair's music players, as the earplugs along with the devices were on the ground not far from the two people.
"Oh god, Serena, wake up. Dear god, please wake up!" they heard Darien, who was now looking around, his eyes searching for help. But he knew it was fruitless, they were in a place where people rarely came to, especially at this morning hour.
Darien carefully picked Serena up and started to think where the nearest hospital was. But then he was not sure how to explain her injuries. I must heel her myself. He was now determined to do so and turned to walk to his apartment. The building was near the park and he could avoid any passers-by. He looked down at the girl in his hands and was filled with an urgency to save her at all costs. Then he vanished.
Nathan immediately looked over at Kennet. "We thought his powers were not at this stage yet." A hint of worry was in his voice. Zachary was the one who replied. "My guess is, he does not know what he is doing now. You saw his face. The girl must mean a lot to him. I think he let his instincts act."
"I agree with you." Kennet jumped from the top of tree he was standing and landed on his feet with ease. He kneeled down and picked up the music players, left behind by the people who just vanished in thin air. "Jake, can you sense him? I doubt that he knows how to conceal his power yet."
"Yes. He is in his apartment." The man looked through the trees, still standing on one of the upper branches, his eyes going to the building complex where he knew Darien to be in at this very moment.
"Then let us return." Spoke Kennet again, and seconds later the man were back in the apartment they left just minutes ago, dressed in normal clothing again.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Asked Nathan.
"I think the Prince will be able to heal her. Besides there was something about her that makes me think that she is something of great importance. And I do not mean the Prince's feelings. I could feel Power coming from her, it was faint but I must admit that… that it was similar in strength to the one of our dear Prince." Spoke Jake and everyone looked at him shocked.
"If what you say is true, then I guess we should be cautious," frowned Nathan.
"For now I don't think we should worry about the girl…" Spoke Kennet, ending their discussion.
"Yes, but … we still need to unpack our things. Who would have thought that moving was this troublesome…" Groaned Jake and slumped down in one of the couches. The other three men slightly smiled at him and continued their activities of before. Their minds filled with hope that the Prince will do what he can.
Meanwhile, Darien had found himself in his apartment, and stood there shocked for moment. But how..?! Then his thoughts were back to the girl in his hands and he hurried to his bathroom where he kept his first aid kit. "I guess teleporting is another trick I have…" the dark haired man whispered to himself.
He laid the girl on the soft bath mat near his tub and hurried to find some bandages and some cloth to clean her head wound. He washed out the blood from her hair as much as he could, but it did not stop flowing. He watched Serena becoming paler and paler by the second and a new wave of worry overtook him.
Darien gently took her head in his palms and closed his eyes concentrating on healing her. But after he opened his eyes and saw that nothing has changed, dread of losing her became even stronger.
"Please Serena, you can't die. Not when I am at fault. Hadn't it been for that damned shield, you would be having just one of your usual bumps on the forehead." Darien smiled gently at the memories of all the times Serena had bumped into something and then complained about it by letting out a wail. "But not for the past year, am I right. You have changed the past year. You have grown up haven't you." He whispered at her, a tear escaped from his eyes.
The man leaned in and pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes again in concentration. Please, I want to save you so bad! Then he felt it, the power flowing through him, he guided it to Serena and it let him. Golden light came from the man and enveloped both their forms, filling the room and easing Darien's heart, for he now felt that Serena was safe.
Darien opened his eyes and saw light rosy shade colouring her cheeks and lips. He washed out the remaining blood from her hair, dried it and picked her up in his arms again. Then he concentrated and managed to teleport them back to the park and laid Serena down on the ground near the spot where she so painfully hit the tree and waited for her to recover consciousness.
He sat down opposite of her and looked up to the sky, at least the small glimpses of it he could see through the treetops. Soon enough he dozed off from the exhaust of healing Serena. So much for keeping an eye on her.
Soon after Darien fell asleep, Serena awoke. She looked at her surroundings and remembered that she almost ran into Darien. And then she saw him, resting at a nearby tree. "I don't understand, did we or did we not ran into each other? My head hurts like we did…" She touched the back of her head, but there was no bump. My scull has obviously grown ticker, if that's even possible. She let out a sigh and let her fingers through her free-flowing hair.
The girl stood up and walked towards the man. She knelt before him, but her body still towering above his. "Hmmm... the hair band must have torn from whatever made me wake up from the ground. Probably my hair was too heavy, like always. Geez, I could have been a billionaire by now if did not have to buy new hair bands every single day!"
At this she noticed that the man in front of her, or below her, was smirking. She smacked his head softly with her hand.
"Ouch! Why did you just hit me?" Darien looked back at Serena and almost chocked on his breath, she was towering slightly above him and the rare sun rays was shining from behind hair, illuminating her golden hair and giving her a slight halo above head. She looked like an angel of some sorts. He smiled.
"For pretending to be sleeping and trying to listen to my most secret thoughts!" Serena humphed and rose to her feet.
"Your most secret mumblings about hair bands and billions? Do you even know how much a billion is?" Darien stood up as well and could not help but to tease her yet again, a smile on his face.
"Of course I do! What do you think, I'm five?" She glared at him in a friendly manner, showing that she was not wholly offended by his implications.
"As a matter of fact, I do not. In my opinion, you are not older than three." He put his hands on his hips and showed her a grin. Serena made another 'humph' at this and crossed her hands in front of her chest.
"With that attitude of yours you shouldn't be left to wander around in public. Someone might actually believe a word you say!" Serena bit back.
"Like I need to convince people of your age." Darien walked closer to Serena and continued, "any four year old is taller than you," and gave a light pat on her head. Standing face to face, Serena barely stood taller than Darien's shoulders. There were now standing so close that she was craning her neck to mock-glare in his eyes.
"For your information, you are only two years older than me," Serena replied, "and soon I will be also a college student, just like you." The she turned away from him, to look for her music player that she was sure was somewhere on the ground, as she could not find it on her person.
Darien watched her starting to search for something and realised that she was indeed right. She was just two years younger than him. And soon she will be in college. And college students, especially guys, always welcomed freshman. What if Serena meets someone, or worse, what if someone uses her sometimes-excessive naivety? Perhaps this would be the time to actually do something about his affections.
When Serena noticed the lack of reply from Darien she stopped her search and turned to look at him, hands on her hips. "What, no witty remarks about my age anymore?"
Darien could not help and just blurted out, "Go on a date with me?" slightly blushing but not enough for Serene to notice. Now she was speechless. Not ever would she imagined this to be happening. Weren't they to supposed to be frenemies or something?
They stood there staring, not looking, but staring at each other. Darien thinking how stupid this may sound to her, not to mention completely out of blue. Serena on the other hand was starting to actually feel happy. The little voice saying in her head that this might be just a joke was promptly silenced and shoved deep down in her minds labyrinths. So it came as a surprise to Darien, but not so much for Serena, that she blurted out a 'yes', just as evenly involuntary as Darien had asked her out.
This was followed by other seconds of staring, both of them simply standing there, their arms hanging by their sides and eyes almost not blinking. Darien becoming ecstatic of receiving a positive reply and Serena hoping that this is really not some kind of evil prank of Darien's.
"Sooo, can I pick you up today at six?" Darien was now starting to think more clearly.
"Yeah, I guess. Sure." And now Serena gave him a full-out smile of pure happiness, leaving him standing there speechless yet again this morning. He could not think of a thing to say, but he could smile back in equal happiness.
"Okay then, see you later, Serena." Darien turned and started to slowly jog away, afraid of staying any longer in case she suddenly changes her mind. Serena started to think what day it was and remembered it was Saturday, which meant she had the day ahead of her to plan what to wear. OMG I AM GOING TO A DATE WITH DARIEN! I should probably tell the girls, what will they think. Wait, the girls. It's Saturday, we have a lunch date at Rei's temple. Which means…
"Darien, wait!" Serena shouted after him and Darien cringed and stopped his jog, please don't take it back! "Ermm, I sort of have already plans with the girls, can we make it seven in front of the temple stairs?!" Serena asked, feeling timid all of the sudden, while Darien just held in a big sigh of relief. "Okay." Was his simple reply, and at that Serena smiled and waved at him. Then she turned in the other direction away from Darien and started her jog home.
