Disclaimer: Trust me, if I owned Sailor Moon, Darien would not have ended up with Serena. He would have fallen in love with the lesser known Sailor Dreams-a-Lot...aka, me.
Authors Note: Sorry about the delay, I bought a new laptop a few days ago (I am now a very proud mac owner!) and its taken me a while to get all my files switched over and sorted out haha. In this chapter I'll be getting into some core plot, hope you enjoy!
XXX
Serena sat quietly in the chair Darien had pushed her into, and tried to keep her eyes averted from the man who lay in a bloody heap just a few feet away. She also tried to ignore the moody young man who, upon thrusting her in her newly acquired position, began to, much to Serena's annoyance, frantically pace the room. She couldn't lie, although she felt guilty that it was at the expense of a deceased person, it amused her that the usually calm and collected Darien was now having a panic attack right before her eyes.
Not so pleasant, however, was the fact that every so often she could hear mutterings that sounded an awful lot like, "stuck with the wench."
Fighting all instinct, Serena bit her tongue. He had just lost somebody who had clearly been a friend; she would chalk up his insults to grief.
She snorted quietly, Right, because he's been just ever so nice since you've gotten stranded on this rock.
Serena honestly couldn't figure out his attitude towards her. In fact, she had thought that they were starting to get along, that they had bonded by the fire last night. She knew that she was partly at fault for their strained relationship, having been on the throwing end of hostility herself. Yet, she couldn't help but feel as if she had been provoked.
She looked to the man who had so quickly become her only lifeline. She sighed, there would be time to figure him out later. A quick glance to the bed acknowledged what Darien already knew, he was stuck with her.
Feeling as if someone were watching him, Darien quit his uncharacteristic pacing and looked to the silver haired beauty. She shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze and he sighed, "It looks like you'll be joining me on my quest.", Serena chuckled at his choice of words, and his eyes narrowed, "I don't want you to help, I don't even expect you to be useful, but if you do anything to hinder my efforts, I will not hesitate to abandon you without looking back. Understand?"
Serena stared back at him with just as much intensity and hostility. Begrudgingly, she accepted the fact that she had no choice but to comply, and nodded her acquiescence.
XXX
"So where exactly are we going?", Serena finally mustered the nerve to ask. They had been walking in the woods for what seemed like hours, and Darien had not uttered one word to the silver haired girl.
Serena could have sworn he rolled his cobalt eyes skywards, but chose to ignore the rude gesture, "We're going to see the prophet", he explained.
She arched an eyebrow, "The prophet?"
He nodded, and Serena, in vain, attempted to swallow her laughter.
Darien narrowed his eyes, "Does this amuse you somehow?"
Serena shook her head with a slight giggle, "Its just kind of funny. I'm on a quest, on my way to find a prophet. I seemed to have stumbled onto my very own Narnia."
"Narnia?"
"Its a fictional place from a book that was published on earth a few hundred years ago. It was quite popular.", she explained with the smugness she always displayed when demonstrating her knowledge.
Darien raised his eyebrows questioningly, "And you know this because..?", he trailed off, waiting for an explanation.
"I've always had a love for history, Earth's history in particular."
He snorted, "Yet you didn't know what fish were."
Serena scowled, her cheeks turning slightly pink.
Darien started to laugh, but was abruptly cut off when Serena collapsed on the ground, howling in pain.
She felt as if certain parts of her were on fire, a burning sensation only comparable to the few occasions when the mysterious tattoos had laid themselves into her porcelain skin.
Darien was at her side in an instant, "What's wrong?"
"Pain", she gasped out.
"Your back?", she nodded and he stretched down the back of her dress.
The dagger was glowing red, and a quick look to her ankle revealed that the thorns were in the same condition.
Darien swallowed hard, not knowing how to comfort the young woman, who was clearly in agonizing pain. He settled for wrapping his arms around her, much as he had the night before.
Eventually the pain ebbed away into slight discomfort, much to the pair's relief.
Serena noticed that Darien had not let her go, she looked up at him, her eyes still shining at the brims with tears, "I'm sorry", she whispered.
She saw something flicker in his gaze, yet it was gone so quickly that she thought she may have hallucinated; for a moment she thought she had seen tenderness.
Darien cleared his throat, "Its alright.", he let her out of his embrace.
They continued along their walk, the usual silence that accompanied them ever present. It was another few kilometers before either of them spoke. When the silence was broken, it was by Serena.
"Out of simple curiosity, are we nearing the place where this prophet of yours resides?", she asked tentatively, as she pushed aside branches and tried to sidestep the mud.
They were now in a very dense part of the woods, Serena could barely see through all of the foliage.
"If I remember correctly, he should be right...here.", he came to a stop in front of a very robust tree that seemed oddly separated from the others.
Serena scanned the area, looking for some sign of life, "He lives in the tree?"
Darien smirked, "I supposed you could say that."
Before Serena had the chance to ask him what he was talking about, the ground began to tremble, and the only sound which could be heard was the rustling of leaves.
A few meters up the tall tree, the trunk began to carve itself until a face was clearly discernible among the thick bark.
Serena's eyes were wide with shock, as the reality of the situation dawned on her.
The mouth moved, "Who goes there?", a deep voice boomed.
The young woman's jaw fell to the floor, "No way", she mouthed.
Darien didn't seem the slightest bit affected by what had just transpired before him.
"My name is Darien. I've come to you in hopes that you have knowledge I could use in order to eliminate the witch.", he spoke loudly, confidence lacing his every word.
The tree seemed to laugh, the sound reverberating through the surrounding woods, "And who are you to be asking for such information?"
"The one who will destroy her.", he retorted with a conviction Serena had seldom heard before.
The tree seemed to consider his statement, "If you are sure. I do indeed have a prophecy for you, one that has been whispered by the wind for quite some time."
"I would like to hear it please", he asked.
The tree's leaves bristled, "Under the seventh moon/ The Evil One shall come into her ultimate hour/ The sky will burn with 1000 lights/ Earth shall once more plummet from grace/ Damned shall be the children of Terra/ However, should the Moon Maiden return and fight, the Evil One shall be forced back into the hellfire from whence she once sprouted."
Darien's brow creased, "The Moon Maiden?"
"She is the moon's child, her favorite. You must find her, or only failure awaits you."
"How can I find her?"
The tree chuckled, once again sending vibrations through the soil, "This I cannot say."
As Darien lost himself in thought, Serena continued to stare up at the prophet in wonder. It's bulbous eyes connected with her bewildered gaze.
"Curious, very curious indeed.", the tree uttered.
Serena stuttered, "Excuse me?"
"You appear to have no connection to this world, yet the witch has marked you."
She was taken aback, "Marked me?"
"Am I wrong?", the tree inquired in a tone of voice that suggested he really had no doubt in his earlier affirmation.
Serena's thoughts made a beeline to the etchings on her skin, "Yes, I suppose she has."
This small exchange shook Darien from his thoughts, "Why would Beryl do such a thing?"
" Who knows? Certainly not I.", the tree chuckled, as if this were all some fascinating game for it, "However, I propose that you cease your machoism, and let the young lady help you in your task, as she has so generously offered in recent past."
Darien seemed as if he were about to protest, but the face of the tree rapidly sank back into the trunk, melding itself seamlessly with the rest of the bark. No clearer way could be thought of to convey the words "end of conversation".
Darien turned towards his fair companion, on whom a smug grin was spreading across her lips.
"See!", she bubbled, "I told you I was supposed to help!"
Darien rolled his eyes, "I don't see what you could possibly have to contribute."
Serena narrowed her icy glare, "I'm sure there's something. The talking tree said so!"
"Right, and do you normally listen to articulate foliage?"
Serena clicked her tongue, "You're in no position to mock me Darien, you're the one who brought us here in the first place."
With a final, and although he would never admit it, defeated, scowl Darien turned on his heel, "Its going to be dark soon, we should set up camp."
XXX
Unfortunately, along with the darkness had come the rain. Serena sat huddled under a tight grouping of trees, trying to shield herself from the pelting downpoor.
Darien had left her some time ago in order to find something that they could feed themselves with. She hoped he didn't return with that god awful fish.
Serena was glad for the time alone, it gave her time to think, which she couldn't seem to do when he was around.
She had known it from the second The Marsden had crash landed; her life was forever changed. There was no going back, there was no forgetting.
Serena couldn't lie to herself, she had never been normal. Hell, she thought, even her appearance wasn't normal. Things had always happened to the young beauty, inexplicable things which had all stemmed at that fateful night back when she was five years old; the roof incident.
She had tried to push it all to the back of her mind, to cover it all up with rationality and common sense. However, there was no logic known to the silver haired girl strong enough to back up the fact that she had gotten shipwrecked on a condemned planet, inexplicably marked by a witch who should not have even been aware of her existence, and met a man she had first seen in a dream.
The last thought plagued her mind. If that dream had been telling of her future, would the other dreams come to pass as well? Furthermore, she thought with a blush, would that exact moment with Darien pan out?Thinking on how they had been behaving towards each other, Serena found it hard to believe that they could ever share more than verbal sparring.
Right on cue, the man in question strode gracefully through two trees on her left, seemingly unaffected by the fact that he was completely soaked through. Serena couldn't abstain from swallowing hard at the sight of his linen shirt clinging to his muscular chest, leaving very little to wonder about.
Upon spotting her, his familiar scowl returned, "What is wrong with you? Don't you have any idea how dangerous it is to sit under a tree during a storm?"
She arched an eyebrow, "Look around Darien, where am I supposed to stand in order to not be under a tree."
He rolled his eyes and decided to drop the subject.
Serena was tired of their constant bickering, it made their time together seem like a punishment, and not like the partnership it needed to be. She decided to try a different approach.
"Come sit by me", she said, patting the spot next to her.
He looked at her oddly, "And join you under the lightening rod?"
She tried to maintain her sweet smile, "Please just do it."
With an air of reluctance, Darien took a seat on the ground next to Serena.
Hesitantly, Serena broached the subject she knew he had no desire to discuss with her, "So, what's our next step?"
His eyes narrowed, "Our?"
"Well, I haven't exactly figured out how to help you yet. I'm not very strong, and I don't have any fighting skills, but I am smart, very smart in fact.", she rambled on.
Darien let out an aggravated sigh, "Serena, we've been through this. You won't be helping me.", she opened her mouth to reply but was cut short, "And I don't care what the prophet told you."
To her horror, she felt the tears spring to her eyes before she could stop them, she stood up abruptly, intent on hiding her sudden outburst from him, but as she stood, so did he. Darien grabbed her wrist and spun her around.
Serena looked at him expectantly, but he didn't seem to know what to say to her now that he had kept her from running off. Serena decided that she would speak.
"You know, I really don't understand you", she was surprised at how angry she sounded, " Why won't you let me help you? And don't tell me I'm useless, because I'm not!", she hissed.
Darien looked at her, his expression utterly dumbfounded, his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.
"You know what? I know, you seem to have dedicated yourself to the task of hating me. You don't want my help, because the thought of be stuck with me for the next few days, few weeks, disgusts you.", her voice was coming out in chocked sobs now, and her tears mixed in with the pouring rain, cascading down her found herself not caring.
Darien continued to stare at her, not quite knowing where her outburst was coming from. Serena spun on her heel once again, wanting nothing more than to remove herself from the situation.
Darien grabbed her wrist once again, and Serena gave him a look of utter contempt, "What?", she demanded.
The man stared at her straight in the eyes, cobalt clashed with ice blue, his gaze was softer than she had expected him capable of.
He spoke, his voice barely audible among the storm, "I don't hate you."
His words brought on an inexplicable new wave of tears, "Yes you do", Serena said forcefully, with as much conviction as she could manage.
"No", he said louder now, "I don't"
To Serena's surprise, Darien brought up a thumb and wiped away a few tears that were making their way down her reddened cheeks.
A single thought shot through the silver haired girl's mind, He's going to kiss me.
XXX
I take all this time to update, and I leave you on a cliffie! Don't you just hate me? Haha, please review.