Hello my pretties! This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of my account on . That's right, Exactly one decade ago, I signed up to this site as a pimply, geeky little teenager, to write awful sappy love stories. And here I am ten years later... the pimples are mostly gone... I'm even geekier than I was before, and I'm still writing those horribly sappy love stories (But hopefully my writing style has improved over the years).
Thanks to: TaliMoonAngel668, life705, deedee, Jessica, Miss Katrina Malfoy, AnnyP, SerentiyMoonGodness, Seleine, Fluffy, Big Fan, boston, SusanGold, Usako, TropicalRemix, Moon Princess Selene, ScarletL, CharmedSerenity3, UniversalBunny, sailormoon489 and SulliMike23 for reviewing the previous chapter.
Title: Akai Ito
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: T
Chapter: 15 – The Shadow Proves the Sunshine
"My heart is darker than these oceans
My heart is frozen underneath
. . .
Two scared little runaways
Hold fast till the break of daylight when
The shadow proves the sunshine"
Serena's dreamy eyes languidly opened for a second before shutting once more. She felt his chest rise and fall with every breath. Her index finger gently nudged his, as the rest of her fingers lay snugly intertwined with his.
"Endymion?" She queried as they both lazily lay on Darien's bed. He turned toward her, his eyes focusing on hers. "Do you love me?" Serena watched as he looked away pensively for a moment.
"It's hard to say. The brainwashing from the Dark Kingdom has changed me. I'm filled with dark thoughts and my memories are faded. Any foggy memories that remain are of Princess Serenity."
"Oh, I see."
"I wish I could be Darien for you, princess. But it's hard enough for me to maintain my composure around you as it is. I've been reprogrammed to kill you, and it's getting harder and harder for me to control myself around you." Prince Endymion sighed in frustration. "I fear the dark energy is taking over. I don't know how much longer I can do this. With every battle I have to face against you, my will is weakened and the Dark Kingdom strengthens its hold over me."
"I want to help you. Surely there's something I can do." Serena jolted upright on the bed eagerly.
"I'm sorry, Serena." The prince shook his head in dismay. "The only thing that can help me is the Silver Crystal. Without that crystal, I cannot stand a chance of fighting the Dark Kingdom. I'll probably never return to being the same Darien that you know and love."
"But what if I healed you using the Crystal?"
"It's no use!" Prince Endymion barked before he could check his frustration. He calmed himself before continuing once again. "I'm sorry, but we've been through this. It wouldn't work. Would you not lend me the Silver Crystal?"
"Endymion, you said it yourself, the dark energy is taking over you. If I gave you the crystal, it might just destroy you both. I can't risk losing you again." Serena sat up on the bed and placed a hand on the Prince's arm in an attempt to calm him.
"Well, I'm afraid that's an idea you're just going to have to get used to, because without the Silver Crystal, I, Darien, have no hope of surviving the Dark Kingdom. Do you have any idea what they would do to me if they found out I was seeing you?" Prince Endymion stood from the bed and began to pace up and down the room. "Maybe we shouldn't do this anymore. You're right, we're both different people now. You're nothing like the princess that I fell in love with." Before Serena could respond, Endymion grasped the corner of his cape, flicking it as he turned and disappeared, back to the Dark Kingdom. Once again, Serena was left alone in Darien's apartment bedroom, sobbing at the loss of the man she loved.
"Why is this so hard?" She called out to the empty room. "Is love really meant to be this difficult?" She was answered by a familiar beeping in her pocket. Wiping her tears away hastily Serena reached for her communicator. Another battle, at the lake. Was he doing this as an act of revenge? She took a deep breath to compose herself as she stood up in the empty apartment and transformed.
She was right. He was on a rage filled rampage, summoning monsters and sending orbs or dark energy surging towards civilians.
"Stop! Endy, please stop!" Sailor Moon called out, not having time to announce her presence in her traditional manner.
"Why? Why should I? This is what you want isn't it? You've discarded me, pushed me aside to become corrupted and evil. You've given me up to the Dark Kingdom."
"That's not true!"
"Don't you trust me, Sailor Moon?" Prince Endymion swirled another orb of dark energy within the palm of his hand as he stood twenty paces in front of her.
"I do," Sailor Moon pleaded desperately. "I trusted you with my life."
"Then why won't you lend me the Silver Crystal? Why don't you want me to be free?"
"I do!" Sailor Moon stepped closer to the armour clad man. "I trust you, Endymion. I'll give you the Silver Crystal." The pretty soldier stepped forward and grasped hold of her brooch. Pastel pink ribbons of silk enveloped Sailor Moon's form as she de-transformed back into her civilian form.
"You'll do no such thing." Sailor Jupiter announced the arrival of the other Sailor Soldiers.
"Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!" Sailor Mars chanted as she projected a paper charm toward the Dark Prince. He smirked and side stepped her attack, pushing Serena in the way instead. To the surprise of all involved, the scroll's trajectory ended swiftly and became fixed in the air, merely a foot away from Serena.
"What in the-"
"How did-"
"Let me do a scan." Sailor Mercury clicked her visor in place as she typed numerous digits and calculations into her palm held computer. Serena stared at the back of the talisman in disbelief. She was abruptly snapped out of her trance as she heard a groan escape from the lips of the man beside her. He cursed out loud as he struggled to move and regain control of his body.
"It worked?" Sailor Mars exchanged confused glances with the other Sailor Soldiers. Serena reached her hand out in front of her to check if there were any strings magically holding the talisman up in mid air. The air around her hand felt cool.
"Sereeeena!" His anguished voice rang through the air as he called her name. The teenager swiftly turned to face the man who she assumed was the source of the cry for help. Prince Endymion fell to his knees, clutching his head. "Serena!" The voice called out once more. It wasn't Endymion.
"Darien?" Serena's voice trembled as she looked about her. Sailor Mars' eyes shot up in an instant. The familiar aura manifested itself around the scroll.
"I'm detecting a strange energy where the talisman is." Sailor Mercury frowned as she attempted to decipher the code on her computer screen. "It seems to be human energy, but that can't be right. There's no one there."
"Sere... I love..." His voice rang out again before the anguished cries of Prince Endymion drowned out the sound. Flashes of light played out in his mind's eye. Endymion struggled to gasp for air as visions swarmed around him. A test paper. A black shoe. An elevator transformation. Paper roses. A kiss. A confession. It couldn't be. Those visions couldn't be his memories, could they? How could memories hurt so much? Surely they must have been implanted. Endymion clutched one hand on his temple as he used to other to reach for Serena. He stumbled upon her roughly and used his fingers to pry the brooch from her fingers before groaning and disappearing to escape the agony.
"My brooch! The crystal!" Serena called out in fear as she desperately grasped and clawed at the space that Prince Endymion had previously occupied. "He has the crystal and I can't transform!"
"Serena, we told you something like this would happen." Sailor Mars reprimanded as she cautiously approached the distraught teen and the mysteriously levitating paper charm. "Now, what are we going to do about this?"
"Is it a monster?" Sailor Venus also approached carefully from behind Mars.
"Should we try to vanquish it?" Jupiter's trigger happy fingers began to twitch with sparks of static electricity.
"No!" Serena leapt to her feet in a heartbeat. Looking up at where the talisman levitated, she reached up and plucked it away, dropping it to the floor. "Why can't I see you anymore?"
"I don't understand." Venus watched as her leader discarded the paper scroll and stared pensively at the air around her.
"He's been protecting her all along." Sailor Mars began to explain, but became distracted as a glowing red fibre caught her attention. She watched as it twitched and expanded to wrap around Serena's right ankle. She displayed no inkling of its presence.
"Who's been protecting her?" Sailor Jupiter cocked her head to the side as she struggled to keep up with the odd conversation, or lack of, currently occurring.
"Darien..." Serena waved a quivering hand in front of her. A chilling draft of air enveloped her and tousled her hair as it danced across her bare skin. She shuddered slightly as she shut her eyes and savoured the feeling. A cool easterly breeze picked up, and Serena could have sworn she heard her name being carried by the wind. "Darien." She whispered once more. She could feel his cool fingers graze along her cheek momentarily before disappearing.
"How is this even possible?" Sailor Mercury continued to enter figures into her computer.
"Akai Ito." Both Serena and Sailor Mars answered in unison. The blue eyed teen glanced over at the dark haired priestess with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. Could she sense it too?
"Wait a minute, so that means Darien's spirit really did follow Serena around for a week?" Venus also attempted to understand the situation.
"I told you, I'm not crazy. Destiny made it so I was the only one who could see him." Serena frowned. "But something happened when Darien died. I lost him."
"Or so you thought." Sailor Mars interjected. "Serena, I would have told you earlier if I had known, but I think Darien has been by your side this whole time. Every battle you've had against Prince Endymion, Darien was there, protecting you. It was his aura we sensed."
"Then was that his voice that we heard just before?" Venus questioned. Her query was confirmed with a nod from Serena. She was strangely quiet as the Sailor Soldiers continued to discuss the strange occurrence. Something wasn't quite right, and the Soldier of Love could sense it. Something had changed within Serena, and it was strengthening her bond with Darien. Sailor Venus slowly approached Serena, who avoided making eye contact with the guardian of love. "You've been seeing Endymion, haven't you?" Serena continued to look away. "You kissed him."
"I..." Serena wrung her hands together nervously. "How did you-"
"You said it yourself, at the hospital, the day that Darien passed away. You said 'The moment we kissed, he stopped being a spirit and became real,' and seeing how you weren't aware of Darien's spirit this time, it wasn't him you kissed. Darien's aura is becoming stronger somehow, and I think it's because of your contact with Prince Endymion."
"Serena, we told you not to see him anymore, but you went and met up with him anyway? What were you thinking?" Sailor Mercury uncharacteristically scolded her leader.
"I wasn't. I just wanted to see him. I knew it was dangerous, but I needed to be near him." Serena answered quietly. Hot tears began to form in her eyes.
"Well, it doesn't matter now. As strange as it may seem, it was probably the best thing that Serena could have done." Sailor Jupiter shrugged, forming a plan of attack in her mind. "It seems that Darien's spirit and his body can't be dominant at the same time. When Serena could see him, his spirit was at its strongest, but his body lay in a coma. Now that the Dark Kingdom has awakened the dark warrior within his body, it seems that his spirit is weakened. So it looks like the way to defeat Prince Endymion, is to keep seeing him."
"It's dangerous, but it might just work to strengthen Darien's spirit, and weaken Endymion's body." Mercury mused as she endeavoured to keep up with Sailor Jupiter's convoluted theory.
"It won't work, it's too late." Serena fell to her knees as the gravity of the situation dawned upon her. "He already has what he wants from me. He has the Silver Crystal. By now, the Dark Kingdom is probably planning to use it to destroy the world." She quietly sobbed into the palms of her hands. "My prince has betrayed me. He has condemned us all. It's over."
Prince Endymion stumbled and grabbed hold of the balcony railing as he reappeared at the one place he knew he was safe to hide at for now. At the apartment, he knew he could lay low and evade the Dark Kingdom for long enough to allow him to collect his thoughts. He wondered about the likelihood of Serena appearing and discovering his hideout, but decided against it. She had bigger things to worry about. After all, he had just stolen the Silver Crystal.
The sound of her voice still rang in his ears even though he was across the other side of town. It was a curious experience, still being able to hear her conversation. Was it a trick? Maybe another one of her mind games? As Endymion held the brooch in his hands, doubt began to set in. Confusion fogged his senses and every belief that he had previously understood to be truth, suddenly became uncertain. A wave of nostalgia overcame him and he clutched at his head once more. His mind struggled to search for memories that were no longer there. There was nothing that he knew for certain. Yes he was the Dark Prince, warrior for the Dark Kingdom, but at the same time, there was a certain appeal to Serena's innocence. Something within him wanted to believe that she was right and true. The more time he spent around her, the more comfortable and familiar it felt. And then her voice...
"It won't work, it's too late. He already has what he wants from me... My prince has betrayed me. He has condemned us all. It's over."
"My Prince has betrayed me."
"My Prince..."
Her words moved him to feel in a way he had never felt before. Guilt overcame his senses and in a moment, he wanted to take it all back. He wanted to make it right and return to her the Silver Crystal. But the suspicion programmed into his mind wouldn't let him drop his guard. For all he knew, it could've all been a well planned trap. Endymion groaned once more as he stalked into the apartment and slumped across the bed. Until he could sort out his thoughts from his feelings, and figure out a plan of attack, he would drop from the radar and disappear. The Silver Crystal was far too important to simply hand over to the wrong person. Until he could figure out friend from foe, Prince Endymion decided that he would remain in self exile.
. . .
There's another chapter guys. I'm a little behind in my chapters so I may not update Akai Ito in a little while. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I'll get motivated to continue on with this story, but I seem to be a little distracted with Summer Rain at the moment (and a little sick too) But anyway, please review ^_^
Crystal Saturn
