AN: I did make a mistake by not mentioning a certain fact in the first chapter's AN, but a few people reminded me about this via reviews. This story is set to fit snugly into pure canon (if that sentence works right...), with all the details except the ages. Serena is 16 and Darien is 18, but no, this story is set before the existance of Sailor Moon. This is why they don't recognise any of the Sailor Scouts :)
Many, many thanks to fellow fanfic author, Kaitlyn Fall for her extensive betaing to get this story to A) make sense and B) appeal to anyone with half a brain. Thanks Kaitlyn-chan!
"Arrrg," Serena moaned as she came to. The last thing she remembered was getting thrown into a cold and damp cell by the burly guards. Funny, the ground didn't feel cold or damp...
"Ahh!"
Serena rolled off Darien's stomach in fright, slumping onto the ground and smacking her head with a loud thud.
"Ah geez," Darien muttered beneath his breath as he woke up. He raised a hand to his head. "Why did you have to scream?"
"Darien, where are we?"
His eyes snapped open, but it was a pretty useless effort. Once again, they were in the dark. As Darien tried to make out the outlines and silhouettes, he sat up slowly, having to lean on the cold wall for support.
"Are we in a... dungeon?" he asked. He shook his head. "No way."
The blonde whimpered beside him. "What?" he snapped. He saw her shake her head quickly and deflated. "Sorry," he said. "What?" he asked in a different tone.
He heard a shaky intake of breath as her hand reached up to wipe at her eyes. Oh god, she was crying. Now what was he supposed to do? "There there." Darien reached a hand out in the dark to pat her shoulder awkwardly. At his touch, Serena burst into tears.
"I...I...I just w-want to g-go home," she cried. "I d-don't want to b-be here anymore. The p-p-people are mean and I'm s-stuck with you, and you don't l-l-like me and..." She slumped on her side and cried into her arms on the stone floor. Darien stared at her back as her sobs shook her shoulders. His heart sank.
How would they get home?
He sighed and went to shuffle over to her, when suddenly Serena sat up, snapping into an alert pose. "Did you hear that?" she said. Darien started to shake his head when he heard something too. "Did you hear that?" Serena repeated, crawling backwards like a crab.
Darien's hand shot out and gripped Serena's wrist, tugging her towards him. "Shh," he said. "Don't make a sound."
She nodded in the dark and leaned into his side, tying her arms around his waist. He was vaguely aware that she had stopped breathing and stilled entirely, but the sudden extra beating of his heart took up most of his attention.
A strange sound echoed around the dungeons, bouncing off the walls and into their cell. When a dim light appeared, floating somewhere in the distance, Darien drew an arm around Serena, for her own comfort of course. The light descended slowly, dancing in a spiral shape until it paused mid air. Silent whisperings hissed through the air and Darien and Serena clutched each other tighter.
Oh my god, Serena thought. I'm going to die here, and I won't even know what's going to kill me!
Beside her, Darien was thinking, That thing can't get in through the bars, can it? What could I use for a weapon around here?
The echoing sound returned as the light began inching closer and closer. Serena was now taking sharp little breaths as her heart beat furiously in her chest. The anticipation alone would kill her if this thing didn't.
The light grew brighter and brighter as it edged closer to them, and they could now see it was a flame. This did not lessen the couple's fears as both immediately produced graphic images of ways to die by fire.
The light was getting close now; only a few more feet. From the dim light of the flame, a hooded white face glowed from behind it. Serena's eyes widened as they took in the terrifying features of their killer, then slammed shut.
Darien, who'd kept his stare transfixed on the face, leaned forward as another face made itself present. The echoing sound was revealed to be the soft clopping of their shoes as they snuck over the stone floors.
When the flame was directly on the other side of the bars, it lowered. The owner of the torch which held the light source lowered their dark hood to reveal a mass of long, blonde hair. Serenity handed the blazing torch to her companion, Endymion, and reached into a pocket in the cloak she wore. Pulling out some bread, she pushed it through the bars.
"Here," she whispered, eyes sympathetic. "I trust you haven't eaten in a while."
Serena peeked one eye open at the voice. When she realised who the intruders were, she shuffled back, shaking her head mutely. Serenity's eyes softened at the sight, but when she opened her mouth, Endymion said,
"Leave it." He turned his attention to Darien. "Who are you and who has sent you?"
Darien frowned at his harsh tone. "I'm Darien, and I haven't been sent by anyone."
The look he received told him Endymion didn't believe him.
"Really," he said. "We had no idea who you two were until we got here. All we wanted was to find out how to get home."
"And you thought the best way to do that would be to dress up as royalty and attend a celebrational ball?"
"No!" Darien snapped. "I told you, we didn't even know who you were. Everyone just called us Endymion and Serenity and kept dragging us places."
Serenity's eyes turned from Serena to Darien. "Where are you from? How did you get here if you can't go home now?"
"That's just it! We don't know how we got here. One minute we were back on Earth and the next we were on the Moon!"
"You forgot the part about the horrible black thing," Serena whispered in the dark. Serenity and Endymion exchanged looks, one surprised and one disbelieving.
"What black thing?" Serenity asked quietly, reaching for the cell bars and leaning forward as close as she could to Serena.
Serena shuddered. "It was like a nightmare. A place where you couldn't see anything, and you couldn't hear anything. One minute you were floating in thin air and the next the pressure was crushing you. It was unbearable." She shuddered again and Darien reached for her hand to pull her back to him.
Serenity turned slowly to Endymion, who looked just as shocked as she did. "You don't think it was a time vortex they're talking about, do you?" she whispered to Endymion, which went unheard as the two in the cell embraced. Endymion glanced back at his doppelganger and tried to think of some way to prove they were telling the truth. Only royal members of the courts knew about what a time vortex was like; although the girl had described it with enough detail to sound believable.
"She doesn't have your birthmark though," Endymion murmured as he recalled the blonde's non-attempt to prove her identity. Serenity frowned delicately, her brows creasing on her porcelain skin until she gasped. "We have the ability to hide it if we wish, but that's only in dire cases. What about yours?"
Endymion nodded. It was true, he did have a royal birthmark like Serenity did, but the Terran royals had kept its existence a secret for as long as they'd had it. "Darien, do you have a birthmark anywhere on your person?"
Darien looked up at the urgent tone and thought carefully. "No, I don't th -" He paused. "Hang on a minute..." He turned and pulled up his thin undershirt – he must have been stripped of the armour whilst they were unconscious – and stared at the back of his right hip. He squinted through the dark, trying to see what he was looking for.
Endymion, however, saw where Darien was looking and leaned forward. It was exactly where his birthmark was; the Terran's didn't have the one spot like the Lunarian's did. It was a different case for every family member. Endymion's was on the back of his right hip. "Is it shaped like a rose? A rose in bloom?"
Darien nodded slowly, staring at the slightly different-coloured skin, illuminated in the dark.
Serenity turned to Endymion, who was shaking his head in amazement. "It's them, it's really them Endy, I just know it."
"Who?" Serena asked as she crawled slowly on her hands and knees to the iron bars. Serenity turned excited eyes to her.
"What age are you from?"
"You mean what year?"
"Year, age, whatever. What is the time called?"
Darien and Serena blinked at each other.
"The time we are currently in is called the Silver Millennium," Serenity explained patiently. For some unexplainable reason, this name rang a bell in both Darien and Serena's minds. When Serenity sat, waiting for an answer, Serena ventured her answer.
"Er... 2010?" She felt like she was answering a question in class, one that Miss Haruna knew she would not know the proper answer to.
"Two thousand?" Endymion raised his eyebrows.
"Two thousand and ten?" Serenity asked at the same time. "But that's almost a thousand years into the future! Oh gracious, that means you're our future selves." She stuck a hand through the bars to Serena. "It's a pleasure," she grinned. Serena took it in her own and smiled back.
Endymion and Darien were now sizing each other up, trying to see who was better off. Serenity smacked her boyfriend on the arm as she saw this. "Don't judge him! He's you!"
Darien and Endymion broke out in identical grins, and for Serena and Serenity, it was like watching them in a mirror.
Suddenly, from high above them, yelling could be heard through the stone ceiling. Serenity and Endymion instinctively glanced back the way they came.
"Sorry, we've got to go," Serenity apologised. "We snuck out of bed to see you and it looks like they've noticed."
"Bet it was Venus," Endymion smirked, dodging the smack heading his way again. "What?" he defended. "She's as overprotective as a bear."
Serenity rolled her eyes. "And Malachite isn't?"
Endymion tapped her affectionately on the nose. "That's why they make such a good pair."
"Aww!" Serenity cooed, before the increasing volume of voices drew her eyes back up to the ceiling. "Look, we've got to go." She glanced once more at the exit, somewhere down the dark corridor. "But we'll come get you in the morning, all right? Once everything has been sorted out."
Darien nodded, but Serena cried out. "Morning?! But it's so scary down here! And it's freezing!"
Serenity turned back to her and sighed. "You're right." She unclasped the cloak she wore and tugged it off, passing it through the bars to Serena. Serena took it in confusion. "We can't say we've been down here to see you yet, or we'll get in trouble, which might not help your case."
The yelling above them was getting louder as more people joined the searched party.
Endymion stood up, holding the torch aloft. It was burning out anyway. "Come on, Sere," he muttered, throwing a look behind them. Serenity waved gently to Darien and blew a kind kiss to Serena before allowing herself to be lead away by Endymion.
Serena and Darien watched as they darted down the long corridor and up a spiral staircase. Now that their eyes had adjusted to the light, they could make out the path the torch had made before.
Once Serenity and Endymion had disappeared from view, Darien and Serena waited with bated breaths for the voices to stop. Minutes passed, and Serena grabbed the handful of bread Serenity had left behind and broke it in half. As her and Darien sat eating the food as quietly as they could, the yelling stopped rather abruptly.
Serena flinched as she recognised the voice that was first to break the momentary silence.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WENT FOR A MIDNIGHT RENDEVOUS?"
Sailor Venus.
Now, I don't think I have to remind you of what the green button does ^_^ ALTHOUGH, if you want something totally FUN to do!, you can click the button when you begin reading chapters, and review as you go along! I like to review with this method, as it gives the author my initial reaction to what I'm reading, and I find it very useful :) Also, it just makes the review slightly longer, but that doesn't matter! That's just crazy, old me!
I'm supposed to be posting only one chapter a week, but yes, it does look like I've been rather impatient, doesn't it? Four chapters in basically two weeks. (Maybe it's the giddiness I get from reviews? :P)
xx
Carmen