A/N: I thought I would sit down and write for a few minutes. Maybe five. Ended up writing for a good 3 hours. Once I started, the chapter wrote itself. XD So, enjoy! And thanks for all your support.

Disclaimer: All rights are reserved to Naoko. I do not own Sailor Moon, but the story is all my creation.

Summery: She came once, sucked under the spell of Endymion's eyes. She left, forgetting everything. Now she's back, learning it all over again... but this time, she's running for her life from the beginning.

Elf Dawned Book 2: By Chance...

Chapter 9

The door to Amelia's cottage opened up slowly to reveal everything as we had left it. The door handle was broken, from Endymion twisting the knob to get us out, I assumed. I heard Frost breathing deeply, and I closed my eyes to take a few minutes to remind myself to breath as well.

I took a few steps and rounded the corner into her bedroom where her torn up body still lay. The smell was worse, if it was possible, and I felt my gag reflex acting up.

I wasn't the only one.

"Oh my Lord… that poor girl," Frost murmured. She pressed her face against my hair and let out a sob.

I felt like sobbing myself. "It's okay, Frost. We can't do anything for her now. But hopefully she'd have done something for us. We need to see if she might have foreseen a clue… whoever did this wouldn't kill her without a reason."

"What if he took it?"

I had my doubts too. Obviously he would have torn the place apart if he were looking for something she hid, and since everything looked mostly in place, it was either a short search, she told him before he killed her, or she died because he knew she could help them, in theory.

"Do you see anything?" I whispered.

Frost murmured, "Besides the obvious?"

I ran my hand across the table where her eyes sat in a jar. This was where he wanted our attention. So maybe it was because it distracted from whatever she might have left behind. I said so to Frost.

She nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's under the mattress?"

I looked to where Amelia lay. "Why would you think that?"

She shrugged. "Bring attention to something far enough away, but hide whatever it is in plain, obvious sight?"

It made sense. But I couldn't do it… she was lying in her bed, looking ragged and scary. Just a day ago I had watched her fumble with her basket as she stared regretfully at the fruit she had lost. She wanted to make pie. Now she lay cold, murdered in her own home. It was my entire fault.

I walked towards the bed, breathing through my mouth, and knelt down next to Amelia. "I'm sorry," I whispered as I lifted the first mattress and dug under it. I went all the way around until I felt a tiny slip of paper. I pulled it out and looked at it. It was an empty, torn triangle that had the last part of a sentence written on it in neat script. It said '-up your blood' .

I turned the tiny strip over, but it said nothing else. Whatever she might have left for us, someone else had gotten here first. I put the slip of paper in my dress pocket.

I was about to dig under the mattress in hopes of finding something else when I heard the door creak open and some footsteps heading towards the room.

Hastily, I slipped into her closet and shut the door, just as someone entered. Suddenly, my breathing seemed too loud, and the light that fell through the cracks was too bright.

I got to the floor and tried to peer out from underneath the door. I could see a shadow, and the footfalls sounded heavy. They crept to the desk, and then to her bed. Then I heard a male voice curse, and the creaking of the mattress. I sighed. It was a good thing I had come in here first. We weren't the only ones that made the assumption.

I got up and pressed against the wall, hoping he'd leave.

There was another squeak of the door, and at first I thought he had left, but the footsteps led towards the room and the man that had been searching the mattress flung himself at the closet door. Light flooded my vision as he stepped in, saw me, looked back, and closed the door. I only got a slight look at him, but I knew him instantly. It was that man in the hallway with the tattoos. But he had none this time, and he didn't smell like blood. His eyes were warmer. But he was the same guy. I opened my mouth to scream. In a second, his hand was on my face and he had a knife at my throat.

"Do you want to get us killed?" he murmured into my ear. "I'm gonna take my hand off, only because I know you'll struggle and make noise. If I do, do you promise not to scream, kick, or move?"

I nodded mutely.

He let go and pulled the knife from my throat.

"Okay, there she is. Take her out boys."

I pulled my attention to the man that was in the room. Soon, I heard more footsteps, and I knew it must be the team Endymion had sent. I didn't want him to know I was here, but at the same time these men might save me from the guy who possibly murdered Amelia.

With that thought I reached for the door knob, and in a flash he had me in a corner. I opened my mouth to scream, but his mouth fell on top of mine. His lips were dry and he tasted of mud. Him kissing me sent a chill through my spine – and not a pleasant one. I tried to push him off, but he was a wall of stone. I was about to make my knee connect with his groin when suddenly he was stumbling away and holding his cheek, letting out some more curses in a whisper. It was then I realized that Frost must have bit him.

I wiped my mouth with my hand, still tasting the mud.

"Only Endy gets to kiss Serena!" I heard her hushed yell at him.

He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and rubbed his cheek with his other hand. "She was going to scream. And Endy? As in Endymion? As in she is the girl I've been hiding from?"

I glared at him. "What do you mean you've been hiding from me? I saw you!"

He looked at me, his eyes wild. "What? Where?"

"Other than here, you mean?" I raised my eyebrows and he shrunk into a corner of the closet. "At the palace."

He stared at me like I was nuts. "Why would I be at the palace if I was hiding from you?"

Footsteps that drew closer to the closet stopped our speech. We waited with bated breaths, me unsure of why I was scared to just open the door and leave, until whoever it was out there left. I heard him call to whoever else was there that now that they had the body they'd come back to clean the place out later.

When the door creaked closed, the guy flung open the door and bolted out.

"Oh no you don't," I murmured. I chased him, and when I was close enough, I jumped on top of his back, my momentum bringing him to the ground.

"Please, leave me alone!" he said, trying to squirm out.

"Uh, no." I grabbed the knife from his belt and brought it to his neck. He instantly stopped squirming. I heard Frost exhale, and wondered vaguely how she hadn't fallen off.

He was staring at me with frightened eyes, and since I had him I took the time to look him over. He had the same white hair, and the same clothes that he wore at the palace. When I searched his arms, he had no tattoos.

"Who are you? And why are you hiding from me?"

He stayed quiet, so I pressed the blade deeper into his flesh. I knew I cut him a bit because I heard him gulp. "You wouldn't kill me."

"And why not?"

"Because you want answers only I have."

I pressed the knife farther into his throat, all the while feeling like puking. His blood was flowing onto my fingers, warm and metallic. "What makes you think I want answers all that badly? You seemed like a threat at the palace, my life is in jeopardy, and my aunt is gone. Frankly, I'm kind of tired of playing the princess waiting to be rescued."

His eyes narrowed. "So do it. Kill me. It won't solve your problem. He's not me. He'll come. He always comes."

I felt Frost slowly climbing down my hair from the back.

"Who is 'he'?" I asked.

A few seconds ticked by as we stared at each other. Even though I had the upper hand, it didn't feel like it. He didn't think I would do it. But finally, he relaxed underneath me and rolled his eyes up to the sky. "You are in way over your head, little girl. This isn't Aunty Beryl coming after you. This is the real deal."

I scoffed at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, that's right. Lover boy took away your memory, and eye girl told you not to probe. Let me clear things up. You-"

"No!" I cut him off. "Don't tell me."

"I thought you wanted answers." He was mocking me.

I growled at him. "Not those. I want to know who you are and why you're hiding from me. And I want to know who 'he' is."

"I would tell you," he said, "but that knife is giving me a hard time speaking."

I shrugged. "It'll be harder to speak with your head cut off. Now tell me what you know."

He sighed. "My name is Amethyst. Thyst for short. I'm hiding from you because He saw you. He is your greatest nightmare."

It was me who rolled my eyes this time. I saw Frost come in behind him and in one fluid motion she grabbed onto his white hair and pulled. "Tell us what you know!"

I resisted the urge to laugh when I saw his annoyed expression. "Who are you? You bite me and pull my hair, what did I do to you?"

She pulled his hair again. "I'm on her side."

"Oh." He sighed. "Alright. Alright! So I got into a little trouble with some demons from my – and your - world, and they put a little curse on me. I tried to get rid of the curse by asking some gypsies, who only spited me and made it worse. They didn't imagine what would happen when the two curses clashed. It had never been done. I was stupid. I knew the gypsies cursed us, but the spell was driving me mad! I thought they could help. Now He is part of me, and He's blood thirsty. Literally. I came here to get your help, but I realized too late you didn't know anything. Then He saw you and realized what you were, and then you lost your memories and now He's after you. He thought you were with your Aunt so He attacked, realized you weren't and… He did something…"

I stared at Thyst beneath me. He was staring at me with a cold fright that I recognized from the image of myself in the mirror every day. I took the knife off. "You have to come with me. Endymion will help you."

"No!" he said, staring at me with wide eyes. His hand held the cut at his throat closed. "He can't get you. He got everyone else. If He gets you then your world will die! You are The Princess Serenity. You can stop Him, but not if you're dead." He spoke dramatically. Every name and title sounded with importance from his tone.

I was shocked, and trying to figure out how to convince him to come with me. We couldn't just leave him alone...

He took my shock as a cue to exit, pushing me off him and running away. I was going to go after him but realized I wouldn't be so lucky this time. And I also realized, too late, what he might have meant when he said that… He… did something to Aunt Rose…

Frost looked at me. "We have to tell Endy…"

I nodded.

"We have to finish searching the place though…"

Frost gave me a look. "We found all that we were going to find. She left something, and now it's gone. We have a piece of it…Endymion will know what to do with it."

I stared back at the house, but knew she was right. We weren't as lucky as we could be, but lucky enough.

"But wouldn't she have known we wouldn't get the-"

"Serena."

I sighed and took out the note.

-up your blood, it said. As in, 'give up'? Or 'throw up'? Or 'drink up'…?

I grimaced. I didn't like any of those.

When we finally got back to the castle, I quickly went to look for Endymion. He wasn't in his room, and he wasn't in the Kitchen.

I went to his secret room. He wasn't there either.

I was about to go into the training room when I bumped into him. He was in his armor, and he looked better than had before. Not even a trace of a cold that I had seen when we first went to visit Amelia.

"Endymion, we've got something important to tell you."

"Me, too!" he said, smiling.

"What?"

"We're going to the Bon Fire!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Endymion, me and Frost found something related to the case. It's important."

He nodded. "That's wonderful! Let's save it for after. Tonight we enjoy."

"Endymion, I really don't think that's a good idea," Frost said. I was surprised to hear her say his full name, but I knew the effect she intended to make.

He didn't seem to get the hint. "Ladies, I understand. But it's been a long week for all of us. Things are always going bump in the night, and I know you're tired of it. Tonight, we'll talk. But first, we will have a few drinks of ale, and enjoy the celebrations. Serenity, I think it's time to show your face again. I know I said you should be discreet, but," he took me by the shoulders, "this will be fun. I promise."

I didn't like the idea. Neither did Frost. But from the look of Endymion, I knew he wasn't doing this for us, mostly. He was doing it for himself. He was tired of things going bump in the night.

So I agreed.

Before he let me go, he brought me to him and kissed my cheek. Then he turned me around and ran his hands through my hair. "What did you do?"

I smiled. "I just thought it would get in the way. My hair was getting torn up anyway. I didn't have time to brush it out fully like I usually do."

He nodded and released me. "I like it. You look beautiful any way."

I smiled, and turned to leave. I would need to wash up. I had gotten mud and dirt all over myself. Not to mention blood.

Frost scolded me while I took a bath, and then helped me pick out a dancing dress. I brushed my hair, moisturized my skin with my nutrients, and then picked out some lace to tie into my hair with to keep it out of the way.

I met up with the gang outside, the last to arrive. They were all excited, clutching their dates.

Amy smiled at me in approval. "You hair. What did you do? It looks great."

Mina cocked her head. "A little choppy, though…"

Lita elbowed her. Nephrite was holding her arm in his, interlocked, but his eyes were on me. And when I said on me, I meant on me. It was as if he were seeing something else that no one else was.

I looked away, uncomfortable.

Endymion stepped up beside me and took my hand. I smiled at him and he led us to the carriage. There were guards all around who held on to the carriage, and I assumed they were to walk this thing to wherever it is we were going.

We all piled into the carriage.

The entire ride, I was aware of Nephrite and the way his stare bore into me. The ride was long enough for it to sink in.

When we got there, I recognized the place as the one where we took the secret path back to my world. Today it was crowded with elves who danced by the bon fire. The girls and their soldiers left the carriage to join the crazy dance rhythm. It was absolutely magical. The drums held the beat while everybody else kept it alive. There were elves by the fire, and elves dancing. Some guys were doing flips and spins, trying to impress the girls who seemed very impressed, but you could tell they'd seen it all. It was one big flirting game, and I liked it. Chemistry and electricity was flying in the air… it was contagious.

Endymion smiled at me. "You ready?"

I nodded. When I got out, however, the drums faltered. Whoever was playing them had definitely noticed us, and the missed step in the beat caused everyone to turn to me.

There was suddenly a dull silence, only interrupted by the cackling of the fire and the last few bangs of the drum before they, too, stopped.

Endymion got out behind me. "It's alright," he called.

"Traitor!" Someone called from the crowd. There was a rouse of agreement. "Filth!" and "Dirty Bloodhound!" were also belted a few times.

I shrunk back into the carriage as Endymion shielded me with his body. "Hey! I said it's alright! We are forgiving folk. Serenity came here tonight to share the fire and join in the fun. What happened was a mistake. Start the drums up again, please."

When there was silence, he glared at the drummer. He nodded, grabbed his drum, and began a new beat.

Ruefully, the elves began to go back to their business. I saw a nice ally and inched towards it.

Endymion caught my arm. "Where are you going?"

"I just need to get my bearings. I'm gonna sit by that wall." I pointed to the wall.

He nodded. "You always liked that wall. Go ahead, you're safe."

I ignored his comment about the wall and went to sit by it anyway. When I sat down, I realized that I was staring at something I had seen before. It was a familiar angle. I cocked my head, trying to see what I somehow couldn't. The fire playing on the sand as bare feet danced across it, celebrating…

I settled for just watching Endymion. He was dancing with some men close to the fire. He was the most impressive. He had unbuttoned his shirt and I watched as he flipped in the air, smiling. The draining dance seemed to give him energy. He was graceful, and I loved watching the fire play on his muscles. I loved the added fire in general. It made everything look more untamed, heated and erotically sensual.

I felt eyes on me, and when I turned, I saw Nephrite was still watching me, even as he led Lita in a winding circles. If she noticed, she didn't let on.

I realized that I was going to have to talk to him. But not now. Endymion had said that we needed to enjoy right now, and it might be the only time that we would. I didn't know what was coming, or when it was coming, but I knew that we had right now and that was what mattered.

Strangely, I felt completely content to just watch. It was as if I had done this many times before, and it still seemed to bring a smile to my face.

Ray and Jadeite danced their way towards me.

"Hey champ," she said. "Wanna join?"

I shook my head.

Jadeite seemed happy either way. His attention was all on her, leading her in twirling circles. He whispered something in her ear as they danced away.

My eyes found Endymion again, and he was watching me. But he didn't come to me, instead sharing a meaningful smile with me that I could and couldn't figure out.

It seemed as if my past was chasing me today. More so than usual.

I pressed my eyes closed and leaned back, enjoying the beat that matched my own heart.

TBC

A/N: Worth the wait, you think? Hopefully the inspiration keeps coming. Fingers crossed!