A Lost Princess
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Sailor Moon
Authors Comments: Just to be clear, I have no idea about any kind
of sun kingdom. I don't remember ever really hearing about
who Serena's father really is. If you know for real, i would
like to find out.
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The next day came with a bright sun, such as the moon had not
seen for many years. There had been sunny days, but never of this
warmth and emotion. It was like the sun had regained its heart, and
it wanted to share it with the world.
Unknown to most people, the princess Serenity would have
complete control of the sun kingdom in her later years, for she was
the daughter of the now dead sun king who had married the Moon Queen
many years ago. He had died in battle, only days after the birth of
his little daughter. The sun kingdom lay in silent isolation, waiting
for the return of the royal line. It was not in ruin, but dormant as
if for the winter. It would be a great nation once again, the people
who lived there were sure of it.
Serena felt awful that morning however, and she could finally
feel the effects of the two week journey and the last few days of icy
rain suddenly wash over her. She could hardly get out of bed, she
felt so drained and weak.
The Queen ordered her to stay in bed, and the four princesses
of the inner planets took turns watching over her and bringing her
broth and water. She was grateful for their help, but found herself
sleeping most of the days away. Her sickness lasted a week, and she
was forced to stay in bed for that whole week.
When the week finally came to an end, a feeling of isolation
came over her and she felt the need for exercise. She implored the
stable master to allow her to use her horse, and then Sterling had
been saddled with the best gear in the stables.
Serena and Sterling had quickly become reunited and set out at
once across the great expanse of land that was owned by the castle.
She enjoyed every moment of the champion speed of her noble stead.
They all watched her from the castle, standing on a balcony
jutting out from the Queens room.
"She is an excellent rider," Lita said after a moment.
"And that is a very hard horse to ride," Amy said. "I wonder
how she tamed it."
"It is a question that we should ask her," Mina said.
"She really is extraordinary, isn't she?" The Queen said
happily.
"She is, and she's everything I ever thought she might be. I
used to dream of her, what she might have been like had she grown up,
and she is what I dreamed," Raye said. "There is no doubt of who she
is?" She asked.
"No doubt at all," Amy said confidently.
Darien held back from the conversation and simply watched the
beautiful girl riding at breakneck speed over the land. She was a
skilled rider, and he could tell her level of confidence through it,
and it was high enough to match all of theirs.
"What are we going to do though?" Lita asked.
"Surely we cannot tell her who we think she is," Mina said.
"We will tell her nothing," Darien said, causing all of them
to look at him. "She said that she recognised me, which I have to
admit caused me great joy." They all smiled at him. "If she can
remember on her own, then maybe it would be for the best. She would
discover herself who she is, and that is what she needs right now. I
sense that she is confused, and no manner of description from us might
spark a memory in her mind."
"You're right; we should say nothing to her," The Queen said.
"So we are to act as if we are new acquaintances?" Amy said,
and then she nodded. "That can be done," She said leaning on the
railing. "Yes it can."
The snow came early, only a day after Serena had taken Sterling
out for a run. They had been out almost all day, and Sterling was feeling
well enough to rest for a little while. Serena left him in the care of
the stable boy, who she liked automatically.
A week after that, more people came into the castle, but in a
much different way that she had. Serena was walking by herself
through the castle, having not been able to sleep. It was nearly
midnight, and everyone else she suspected to be asleep.
But loud voices in the front hall caught her attention and she
curiously wandered towards them.
Darien was there, as she had now gotten used to calling them all
by their first names, and he was joyfully greeting four men that had
just arrived. She could hear them talking now.
"You must been tired, what took you so long? I've been
waiting for you almost half the night," Darien said to them.
"We were stuck on Jupiter for another night while something
went wrong with the repairs on our ship. They never did tell us what
had gone wrong," one of the men with long almost white hair said,
although he could only be the age of Darien and not older.
"Maybe they were just trying to find an excuse for us to
stay," a man with short black hair said laughing.
"Justin, you were always one for the ladies," another man
rolled his eyes. "They could not stop following him around, it was
like a heard of little puppies." This man had blonde hair, and I was
only slightly longer than Dariens.
"You're just jealous Ken," the man named Justin punched him
playfully.
"But how did it go?" Darien asked eagerly. "What did they
say?"
"They said that their loyalty holds firmly, and they would
never dare to even think of betraying," the long haired one said.
"Oh Nathan, that is very good news," Darien said to
him, placing a name with the face. "That means that the only planet
left to go to is Pluto, which happens to be the farthest one away,"
he said as an afterthought.
"That one you're going to have to go to Darien. You know that
they would not look kindly upon us, for they might not even like you,"
the last of the four guys said.
"I know Zach, and that is why I left them till last. They are
the only planet that had pledged allegiance to only the princess, and
not to the moon. I still don't understand that, but I'm not going to
fight them about it." Darien seemed somewhat apprehensive of the
thought of going to the far away planet.
Serena realised suddenly that she had been spotted, by the
one named Ken. He had stopped dead in his tracks and was starring at
her with wide eyes. Darien followed his gaze, and smiled kindly at
her and walked over to her.
"Why are you still up, the others were in bed long before this
time?" He asked her easily.
"I couldn't sleep," she said stepping fully out into the
open, and looking past Darien to see that the other three men had
stopped and were looking at her in the same way as Ken. It was the
look that said they had seen a ghost.
"Guys, this is Serena Striker from somewhere east of here,"
he said, looking at them sternly. They all seemed to snap out of
their trance and elbow one another into calming themselves down.
"Serena, theses are my personal guards and friends," he said pointing
at them. "This is Nathan, Ken, Justin and Zach."
The all bowed to her one by one when their names were called.
They smiled, but Serena could still see the surprised on their faces.
Darien took her hand lightly and she turned with him back
towards the hallway, and the guys followed.
"What is this about not being able to sleep?" He asked.
Serena was for some reason a little irregular at the moment,
for she had the strangest feeling that she knew these men, and the
feeling of Dariens hand on hers was sending all sorts of emotions
through her body.
"I've been having these awful nightmares lately, and they've
been keeping me from sleep now in fear of having them," she explained
easily.
"What are they about?" Darien asked seemingly concerned.
"I don't know, it's more like a blur of images and actions
than anything else, and there is always screaming and breaking glass.
I can really work out what it is," she confessed to him, looking
behind her at the four men again.
Darien didn't say anything for a moment, but he looked like he
was thinking. "Could they be memories?" He asked finally.
Serena stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him. She had
felt for awhile now that he was hiding something from her. She looked
back at the guys who had stopped a few feet behind her, sternly this
time, then back to face Darien who looked at her worried.
"You know, I can't help feeling that you're not telling me
something," she said to him seriously. "It was strange to me that
the Queen asked me to stay, but seeing she was going to give me what I
came for I didn't press the matter. But since I came, all of you have
treated me, a simple farmer, like I was royalty or something. There
are many people who might revel in this, but I am not one of them. If
you will not tell me what is going on, then I am afraid that I am
going to have to insist on leaving," she said, challenging him with
her eyes.
Darien was slightly taken back. "I had no idea that you felt
so uncomfortable with this situation," he said.
Serene looked at the four generals again, then back to Darien.
She sighed. "It's not that I'm uncomfortable with it, and I don't
mean to say I don't appreciate the kindness that had been bestowed
upon me, but since I've come here all kinds of weird feelings have
made a centre in me and I can't help but feel that I've seen some of
you before. I know that I have seen them," she said pointing her finger
at the four generals, who looked at one another in surprised. "I have
this dread within me, that I might have been here before. The dread
does not come from the place, but of the fear that is within it.
I can't explain to you what it is that this place feels like, but
it's like I can feel it tearing at me, asking me for help that I can't
ever give it." Serena found herself becoming slightly more emotional
that she had intended.
Darien took her in his arms and held her, which again sent
shock waves through Serena. She could again see the flash, the
scream, the eyes, and the monster. She quickly pushed Darien away as
the vision assaulted her eyes. But this time they didn't stop, and
she found he head hurting violently with a pressure that was pushing
against her skull. She nearly cried out.
"Serenity, what's wrong?" Darien asked worried.
Again Serena stopped dead in her tracks and looked up to the
man standing in front of her. The visions gone from her mind for the
moment and she looked at him in obvious shocked. Her hands started to
shake, and her arms wrapped instinctively around her.
"I'm not Serenity," she nearly whispered to him. "That isn't
my name," she said just as quietly.
Darien saw his mistake instantly, and cringed at it. He looked
at her, knowing there was no way to fix his mistake. He looked at her
calmly, knowing that she knew his eyes and was locked within them.
"Then what is your name?" He asked her.
Serena looked around nervously, up at the painted ceiling.
She knew what he meant by the question, and she knew he knew that she
couldn't answer it truthfully. It bothered her, more than anything
else had bothered her before. The most painful part was that she
believed it.
With that, she turned and ran from the room.
Darien swore under his breath and bolted for her, his confused
guards and friends following him as fast as they could.
Serena was fast, but Darien was faster. He was gaining on
her, and Serena could hear it. She threw herself out of the hallway
and into the first room. She took almost ten long strides before
stopping dead in her tracks.
Dariens shadow cast itself from the door as he reached it, and
realising what room she was in, he stopped where he was and looked at
the shaking girl that was standing not ten feet away from him in the
dark room.
Serena looked around, knowing what she would see every time
she looked another way. Every window, every marble stone in the
floor, and every marble pillar vaulting towards the ceiling was
forever sealed in her memory. She watched, in the darkness, as the
room changed in her mind. She saw it in the day, full of people
smiling and laughed at her. She saw herself as a child, and then
Darien standing at the end of the long line of people, smiling at her.
There were the girls, all small like her and smiling at her along
with everyone else. The Queen was there, walking with her and holding
her hand lightly in hers.
Then it all changed the room exploded and the glass and rock
flew everywhere. Her mother, along with almost everyone else ran
towards the attack, and she knew that the only thing she could do to
help was hide herself and stay out of the way. She ran, but didn't
get very far. The monster loomed before her snarling at her with
obvious intent. She tried to scream as it reached for her, but it had
her before she could even move.
Darien was there then, reaching for her as the Monster carried
her out of the hole in the ceiling and up into the night. Then
something happened, and everything went black.
Serena breathed heavily as she saw this, tears running down
her face as her whole body shook in shock. She couldn't move,
couldn't force herself to ignore the images racing through her mind.
When Darien touched her arm lightly, it was like an electric shock was
sent through her whole body, and she jerked away from him. Behind him
were the four guards, along with the four girls and the Queen, her
real mother.
Serena stared at them all, obvious fear shown on her face. Her
eyes shone with tears, but they were haunted and she was pale from the
shock. They all looked eagerly at her, but not in an excited way, more
of a dread hanging over the whole room. Serena silently collected
herself, and then walked towards them with the only though of getting
by them.
When the Queen reached out for her, Serena jerked back from
her reach. "Don't touch me," she said more forcefully than she
meant. "I'm going home," she said without looking at them and
walking swiftly past them and into the hallway again. She started out
walking steadily, head held high, but within a few feet she had
started running and was now sprinting down the long hallway that lead
out of the palace. She left them all behind, her heart broken and her
mind in complete turmoil.
The people left all cried at her retreating back, and Darien
fell to his knees on the floor in anger and frustration. He knew that
something like this was going to happen; he just wished he hadn't been
stupid enough to let it happen now. She was gone again, and this time
it really was his fault.
Serena, now knowing that she was Serenity, had nowhere to go.
She had packed and changed quickly and set out on Sterling away from
the castle. But where could she go? She couldn't go home, for it
wasn't her home as much as she loved her parents. She couldn't go
back to the castle, she couldn't be there. There was only one choice
in the falling snow, and that was to disappear. And that's what she
did.
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End of Chapter 5
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