As promised, here's the next chapter! After this, only 2 more to go!

Thanks to: CharmedSerenity3, AM, LoveInTheBattleField, SerentiyMoonGodness, MissTexMex, Usagi-mamo, Princessa de Silence, Perfect Beauty, Miss Katrina Malfoy, SailorMoon489, UniversalBunny and Guest for reviewing the previous chapter


Title:Akai Ito
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: T
Chapter: 19- Afterlife

Everyday, a choice is made
Everyday, I choose my fate,
and I wonder why would I wait
till I die to come alive

"I don't understand..." Endymion struggled to stand as his heart and his head began to wage an internal war within him. "These images..."

"They're of our past." Princess Serenity held out her hand for Endymion to take. She could sense the dark energy still within his body, but knew that he was fighting to make sense of the memories that the Silver Crystal was starting to replenish. The prince eyed down the woman in white suspiciously for a moment. She approached him slowly and cautiously, fully aware of his mistrust of her and the memories being seared into his mind.

"Now now," Kunzite waved a cautionary finger. "Queen Beryl will have none of that." The warrior called upon the Dark Kingdom for energy as he formed a dark orb and hurled it toward the couple. Prince Endymion acted upon thousands of years of instinctual impulses programmed into him, as he surged forward, placing himself in front of Serenity and taking the full impact of the blow. His voice rang out clear across the lake as he dropped down to his knees, body trembling from the electric surge of Dark Energy.

"Why..." Endymion's voice cracked as his eyes grew dark. "Why did I protect you?" The dark prince stumbled back onto the ground momentarily as he shook the foggy remnants of some sort of brainwashed Moon Kingdom dream out of his head and turned back to Princess Serenity. "What form of deceit did you use to implant those images into my head?" Endymion rose to his feet once more and approached the princess. Towering over her, she did not move as he raised his right hand, placing it around her throat.

"Endymion!" Kunzite bellowed. "Finish her off."

"Endy, no." Serenity pleaded as she felt his grip begin to tighten around her neck. "Endymion, please remember me." Her pleas became broken and raspy as her prince lifted her up ever so slowly with his hand around her neck and pushed her petite frame up against a nearby tree. Serenity swung her feet, struggling to reach the ground with her toes. Her head began to pulse as the breath escaped from her lips and the blood was blocked off. Was this it? Everything she had fought so hard for, the man that she had never given up on, was it all for nothing? Would he be her demise?

A single tear trickled from Serenity's cerulean eyes and rolled down her porcelain cheek. It slowly followed the contour of her jaw line, toward the point of her chin before eventually dropping onto Endymion's hand. It was such a little drop by then, but it felt as though it had seared straight through his flesh, and the dark prince instantly released his hold on his captive. Serenity dropped to her knees, coughing harshly as she gasped, taking in as much oxygen as she could. Taken slightly aback at the Princess's unexpected attack, Endymion swiftly reached to unsheathe his broadsword. With her head bowed down at his feet, he knew he could make quick work of her execution.

Serenity's eyes shot up at the sound of the prince drawing his sword, "Darien!" She raised a defensive hand as her desperate plea stopped his sword merely an inch away from Serenity's neck. His heart began to race in his chest at the mention of the name.

"Sere..." The sword clattered loudly as it fell to the ground beside the tearful princess. "I remember you." A strange feeling overcame Endymion as he dropped to his knees before Serenity. She reached her hand up to gingerly cup his cheek. Relief took over as Endymion closed his eyes and savoured the feeling of her healing hand. The energy from the Silver Crystal channelled through the princess and attempted to cleanse Endymion, the process of which began to drain Serenity, soon transforming her back to her civilian form.

"You swore you'd always protect me, Darien." Serena reminded with unshed tears still glistening in her eyes.

"I swore I'd always love you." The armour clad prince covered his hand over hers as she slowly leant in to press his lips against hers

"Pathetic." Kunzite rolled his eyes at the weakened warrior, holding his hand out to expel another surge of dark energy. Through gritted teeth, Endymion groaned in agony, taking the full force of the energy bolt. "This is for Zoicite." Another three bolts of dark energy flowed from Kunzite's hand, hitting Endymion directly from behind.

"Serena..." Endymion reached out, placing his hands on the girl's shoulders for strength. "Help me, please" He pleaded, not knowing that the energy passed through him and into her body. "I can't take much more." The Silver Crystal immediately reacted, repelling the dark forces, but not before the petite girl let out an agonizing shriek.

"Bubble Spray!" A thick cloud of dense mist swiftly rolled through the park, cloaking the location of all Sailor Soldiers, Serena and Endymion.

"Venus Love-Me Chain!" A golden glimmer of light briefly flashed through the dense fog before the chain immobilised its target.

"No, wait!" Endymion roared as the chain tightened, crushing his arms down by his side.

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Fire Soul!" Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter combined their attacks, hoping to free their leader from the Prince's grasp. Maybe then, it would buy enough time for her to escape. The mist slowly dispersed, and through the thin veil of vapour, Serena watched in muted horror as the combined attack hit Endymion between his shoulder blades.

"Stop!" She cried out through her tears as Endymion's eyes rolled back and he collapsed at her knees. "Darien!" Serena cradled his unconscious body as she gently stroked his cheek, trying to check for signs of life. The Sailor Soldiers hesitated as they slowly began to approach their distraught leader. Did they have it wrong? When they arrived on the scene, it seemed as though Endymion was about to attack. He was still evil, right?

At that moment, Kunzite suddenly appeared behind Serena, wrapping an arm around her neck, placing her in a choke hold. A smirk of satisfaction spread across his features as he watched a look of distress and panic befall each and every one of the Sailor Soldiers.

"Thank you, girls." The dark kingdom general drawled, "I couldn't have captured the Princess without your help." A laugh escaped his twisted lips as he vanished, taking Serena with him, before any of the Sailor Soldiers could retaliate.

"No..." Sailor Mars shook her head in disbelief. "What just happened?"

"We need to go after him! He has Serena!" Jupiter surveyed her surroundings, prepared to pounce back into battle.

"Where?" Mercury began, "We don't even know where the Dark Kingdom base is."

"What about him?" Venus nodded toward the unconscious prince. "He would know. He could take us."

"If he's still alive." Sailor Mercury carefully approached Endymion to check his wounds. To her shock, he slowly began to rouse, groaning in pain. Sailor Venus ensured that her chain was still wrapped tightly around the prince's body.

"Serena..." Endymion groaned, feeling rather groggy as he came to. "Where's Serena?" He asked as he met the stern gazes of the four Sailor Soldiers.

"Why don't you tell us, lover boy?" Jupiter sent a spark of static electricity shooting toward Endymion, zapping him slightly. "One of your little lackey's just kidnapped her, and we want her back."

"He has Serena!?" Endymion's voice boomed as she struggled against the restraints. "You have to let me go. I have to find her."

"Not so fast." Jupiter sent another zap from her fingers to subdue the prince. "We know you need Princess Serenity as part of your sick, twisted scheme to rule the world but-"

"I'm not evil." Endymion interrupted, still wrestling with Venus's chains. "It's me, Darien." The armour clad prince powered down back into his civilian form as proof.

"Yeah, right." Sailor Venus scoffed. "Like we'd ever fall for your split personality act. We've seen it one too many times, buddy."

"I'm telling the truth!" Darien growled, growing impatient. "I don't have time for this, we don't have time for this. Serena's in danger and I need to find her, now!" The dark haired man summoned a razor sharp rose in an attempt to cut himself loose, but not long after he had, Sailor Jupiter promptly put an end to his escape attempt.

"Wait, this rose..." The Amazon green suited soldier analysed. "It's red."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Darien frowned in annoyance. "I have all my memories back."

"You've had them back for a while now." Sailor Mercury crossed her arms, still unsure whether or not the man before her was telling the truth. "All of this was because evil Prince Endymion was using those memories to get to Serena."

"We need to get him back to the temple so I can do a fire reading." Sailor Mars stated clearly. "I may also be able to cleanse his aura of any remaining dark energy."

"Rei!" Darien bellowed loudly in protest. "We don't have time!"

The dark haired priestess hesitated for a moment at the use of her civilian identity. Her violet eyes scanned his icy blue ones for the answer as to whether or not he really was back to normal and cleansed of all evil. She found her answer, but couldn't be certain. "Sorry," her voice softened as she broke eye contact. "But we can't be sure we can trust you otherwise."

. . .

Beads of sweat clung to Rei's forehead as she gathered all her energy and focused it onto her fire reading. The flames danced wildly as images of Prince Endymion from the Moon Kingdom simmered across the fire. The priestess shut her eyes tightly in concentration as she repeated the mantra over and over under her breath. The visions in the fire soon transformed into a figure of a man dressed in a top hat, cape and tuxedo, before the disguise faded away to reveal Darien, his fiery figure removing a tear from Serena's eyes. The flames soon died down, leaving the fireplace glowing, only with the dull embers of the now extinguished fire.

"Rei, what did you see?" Ami was the first to speak up. The priestess merely opened her eyes and continued to stare at Darien for a moment longer. A sad expression reached flashed across her face as she rose to her feet and walked over to the dark haired man. Kneeling before him, she bowed her head low to the ground.

"My prince," Rei addressed before lifting her head, although refusing to make eye contact. She turned to the other girls, nodding directly toward Mina, who released the binds around Darien's body. "It's him." She confirmed before turning to address Darien personally. "Although there is still a dark cloud over your heart, you're definitely Darien, and you definitely have a strong desire to protect Serena."

"Right, then where do we start?" Lita wrung her hands together in nervous anticipation.

"Maybe we could use the Silver Crystal to track down Serena?" Ami suggested.

"No," Darien shook his head. "As long as the lineage exists, only descendents of the Moon Kingdom can use the Silver Crystal, and besides, even if we could use it, it would still be useless." He explained, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I don't have it anymore. I gave it back to Serena."

"Oh no..." A small gasp escaped Mina's lips as she realised the consequences of the Sailor Solders' actions. "We came in too soon and attacked the wrong person."

"Now, Serena and the Crystal are at the mercy of Queen Beryl and the Dark Kingdom" Lita shook her head in dismay.

"And we have no way of finding her." Rei added, a heavy feeling resting upon her heart.


. . .

Brief chapter, I know... and a little bit of a twist on the traditional Tuxie kidnapping script, but I wanted Moonie to be the one kidnapped for once. It happens in the anime and manga, but is seldom ever written about unless it's by a rich prince turning Usagi unto a slave... but anyway! I'll update again in the next week or so. The next update for Summer Rain should be in the next few days... and it's a really cute one too!

Crystal Saturn