Rated: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or any affiliated characters. They all belong to Naoko Takeuchi and a slew of companies. However the story and idea are my own. Do not take, copy, or steal them. Thank you and enjoy the story.
Darien's mind raged against the darkness surrounding him. His body was weak, his breathing ragged and stressed. He often wondered if he was living at all until the pain would gash at him again, tearing open his very soul like a flesh wound. Beryl laughed wickedly at his every twitch. That is how it started.
Yet soon, days later, the Queen of the Dark Kingdom realized that Darien's will was not to be broken so easily. Laughter turned to screaming, amusement, torment and frustration. "He can't possibly be so strong! He'd have died if not for the negative energy circulating through him. How can he resist it!?!"
In the back of his clouded mind, Darien recalled the events leading up to his capture. Along with that, he remembered his past life, and his identity. The young, incapacitated man had found his Princess in Serena, and, more importantly, found the true love he had been waiting for. That was his great strength.
Speech returned to him as the dark energy helped him recover. Although it dug into his mind, his very soul, it couldn't taint him. He had a lifeline for sustenance, his one chain of hope, and as soon as he was able, he would call for her, softly, as in a prayer to be rescued, "Serena."
Beryl was, of course, enraged by his devotion. She would scream and curse and pull at her hair at his slightest utterance. She couldn't erase his memories completely. Progress had been made, the first fifteen years of his life slipped from his mind easily, and most of his past life as well. It was the years he spent with his Princess that stayed, the years he did not want to forget that remained.
However, his weakened cries for help, along with observation of Sailor Moon for extended periods of time, gave the Queen of the Dark Kingdom the trump card she needed. She waited another weak, until Darien, still as weak as a newborn physically, had regained his strength of mind. This was when she made her deal.
She approached him, trapped in the capsule where the dark energy perpetually worked at him. She smiled wickedly at his curious glance up at her. "Prince Endymion," she hissed. "I can see you're not about to cooperate."
"What do you want, witch?" he whispered, although he desired more of a bark.
Placing her hand within the capsule, she stroked his face. "I want a King to rule the world by my side."
His answer was short and simple, "I won't."
"Ah, but you will. You'll never escape from here..."
"Sailor Moon will save me."
"She's not strong enough, I'd kill her before she had a chance. On the other hand, it's you I want, Prince. I'm willing to make a bargain for your freedom." She gave him a lopsided grin. "After all, you know you're princess could rush in too hastily to rescue you. The longer you stay, the more danger she is in. That, and I may kill you eventually."
"What trick are you playing?"
"None. Don't you want to get out?"
Darien closed his eyes to fully contemplate the situation. < Everything Beryl says is true, unfortunately, and I'm sure if I stay long enough, resist her, she will kill me. > A light smile crossed his lips as he thought of Serena. < And right now, finally knowing that I... > A blush crept over his cheeks, and he laughed, ever so slightly. < I certainly do have a lot to live for now. How sad must Serena be to have lost me, and I've no way to tell her I'm alive. > It took him a few minutes until he conceded. "What do I have to do?"
"Hardly anything," Beryl replied. "You simply have to go to Tokyo and observe your princess. I will give you proper, positive, energy to assist you, as you shall have to go astrally. All you have to do is observe her crying for you, in any sort of way."
He blinked in disbelief. "That's all?"
The witch nodded, and he agreed to her terms. She made the arrangements, telling him he had until midnight the next day. He didn't see any harm in playing her game, whether or not he was freed. The way he saw it, he had nothing to lose; he knew, given Serena, that she would be bawling her eyes out over him. Even he cried often out of longing for her in his imprisonment.
He arrived as she walked home from school with her best friend, Molly. They were laughing about something that happened in school, and Darien smiled to see her again. More than anything, he was relieved that his absence didn't destroy her, that she had retained her sunshine among her friends. Soon after, the two girls parted ways, and Darien wanted to see just how much interaction he could get with Serena.
"Hey! Meatball Head!!" he called as he went to grab her shoulder.
He was upset when he found he couldn't touch her, and she apparently couldn't hear him, no matter how loud he yelled or how much he concentrated. He frowned, slowing his pace. "She can't hear me," he thought out loud. "I really thought she's be able to, or, at the very least, sense me." He scratched his head in confusion. < Why can't she feel that I'm here? > Then, he realized, < Maybe it's better that she doesn't. As much as I'd love to talk to her, I need her to cry, not smile. Of course, there's always tears of joy. > He grinned.
He followed her through the course of her day. She went to the arcade, then home, and finally, after dinner, up to her room. This was the point Darien waited for. She would think of him when she was alone, he knew. She would think of him and start to cry, and then he would win the game. She flopped onto her bed, looking very tired but also very pensive. With quite a lot of pleasure, the young man sat down beside her and, despite the fact that he couldn't really touch her, began to mock run his fingers through her golden bangs. His lips upturned as he let a few sad tears run from his own eyes in his longing to touch her. Slowly, with all the warmth he could gather, he bent down to kiss her soft, pale lips. There was a spark as he did, an awareness. The blonde jolted upright, but continued the motion out of bed, then into the bathroom. Darien followed her in ardent curiosity, awaiting her reaction in earnest. When he watched her begin to fill the tub, then remove her clothes, he quickly left the room, passing through the closed door in embarrassment. < I can't watch her like that. >
She came out looking refreshed, then went downstairs for some warm tea. Afterwards, she quickly went up to bed and fell into a deep sleep. Somewhat disappointed, the prince laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. He could feel her warmth, much to his surprise. He kept gazing at her closed eyes, perhaps a nightmare of him would bring a tear. He definitely couldn't sleep.
Hours passed, and Darien's despair grew. "You didn't think of me once today, did you?" he asked sullenly. "I know we aren't that close. I know that; we only just found out who we really were, what our feelings are. Maybe it's because I've never had anyone before, but I knew, as soon as I learned the truth of my past, I knew it was love that drew me to you in this life. That's very hard for me to say, that I love you, because I've never felt this way. I know I always made fun of you, but you feel the same, right?" Doubt inched in upon his mind with every word, and new truths began to resound in his mind. "I hardly know you, I've never seen you really cry, except for when you thought I was dying. You've got so many friends and admirers, you don't really need me, do you? That crush on Andrew, you were hoping he was Tuxedo Mask, weren't you? You know he has a girlfriend..." He nuzzled against her, still feeling nothing but warmth as tears seeped out from under his eyelids. "I should have told you right off that I was attracted to you. What a fool I was. Now it doesn't even matter that I'm gone. Just cry, okay? Just cry a little bit and I'll make it all up to you, I swear it. One tear, just one, all right?"
Much to his surprise, as he opened his eyes to gaze upon her once again, he found his tears were very tangible, so much so that they were running down Serena's face. He wasn't sure what to think of it at first, so he merely laid there with her until morning.
She was late for school the next morning, and Darien found himself struggling to keep up with her as she ran, mainly because depression had slowed him down. He had already given up trying to make her cry, all he had now was a few hours of watching her, from which he would draw every ounce of pleasure he possible could.
It was in her Algebra class that she had a test that day. She struggled over the first few questions, then admitted defeat. Hiccups escaped her, with sobs to follow. Darien choked. The tears wouldn't count, he reckoned, so there was no reason for her to cry now. He didn't want her to, and, even though it was a test, he wanted to help. "Aw, Meatball Head," he groaned as she looked at a somewhat easy question. "Don't you know the answer's 24?"
The young girl lifted her head, perking up completely. Looking down with newfound concentration, she wrote down the answer to the question. Darien was shocked. "You can hear me! Serena, you can hear me!!" Completely forgetting about the test, he tried to explain, "I'm right behind you, right here! The Dark Kingdom has me, and..." He watched her expression grow sour as she seemingly ignored him. He walked around to the front of her desk, kneeling before her to see her face. "Hey," he called, waving his hand. "You heard me, didn't you?" If she did, she took no notice of him now.
He grew more and more somber as the day progressed. It was past eleven at night when he nearly went hysterical. Serena didn't even mention him once. Not once. He was the last thing on her mind. He'd lose the game, which was fine, but she wouldn't even try to rescue him, which was not. He spent most of the day screaming at her, trying to get her to cry, but now was the moment of truth, and with tear filled eyes he fought to the last. "DON'T YOU MISS ME AT ALL!?! I'M YOUR PRINCE, I LOVE YOU, CAN'T YOU SEE THAT!?! DAMNIT SERENA DON'T I MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?! NOT ONE THING!?! DON'T YOU EVER THINK OF ME AT ALL!?! I... i..... why don't you just...." He couldn't believe how worked up he was. He fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands. He'd never felt the way he felt about Serena before, and maybe he felt it too strongly. It was overcoming him, he knew, but he couldn't help it. In following Serena, not one person mentioned him, he wasn't missed at all. How horrid and wretched a thought, he was not missed by anyone. If anything, Serena was probably happier, no one was making fun of her now.
Tears soaked Darien's hands, and a new plan came to mind. He ran a finger down her soft, creamy cheek, transferring the tears to her. Her hand met his a moment as she touched the moisture. "Just say my name," he instructed. "Please, just say my name and I'll be happy. You don't even have to cry, just let me know you think of me."
As he did this, a faint glitter from across the room caught his eye, dim light reflecting off gold. With only minutes left, he knew it was exactly what he needed. Reaching under her bed, he touched the star locket, yet was unable to pick it up. However, as he touched it, it opened, and began to play it's soft, woebegotten melody. He left it and approached her, leaning over where she sat to take her hand. "It's me, Serena. It's Darien, Prince Endymion. I love you."
Her eyes widened, but instead of any positive reaction, she swallowed hard and walked, quite calmly, into the bathroom. He yelled her name in a last ditch attempt, but the game was over. His astral form dissipated, and he was once again in the Dark Kingdom.
As soon as he realized it, he tried to choke back his tears. Beryl had won, he admitted to himself with agony. Serena didn't miss him, the fact broke his heart, the most painful experience he had ever felt. There was no reason for him to live anymore. Part of him was furious, wanting nothing but revenge for his betrayal, but moreso, he wanted to put an end to his miserable, lonely existence.
Hearing only Beryl's mad laughter echo in his mind, he let go, and the darkness began to shroud him, tainting him. He welcomed the oblivion. "What's wrong with me!?" the young girl sobbed as the water trickled down her back. "I keep thinking of him!! Hearing him, seeing him.." She choked back the screams that tore at her throat. "I can't let anyone see me like this. I can't tell anyone.... How can I tell anyone without telling them I'm Sailor Moon? Everyone just tries to cheer me up; I don't WANT to cheer up!! I just want Darien back!!!" She pounded her fists against the wall. "I want him so much, I'm hallucinating like when he was first gone. It's getting WORSE not BETTER!!!! Why can't he... Why can't we go get him back now!? I just want to know he's alive...."
He mind kept thinking about her dream, in which he told her to cry. She did, she was, always during her shower, that was the time she allotted for herself to mourn him, while she had complete and utter solitude. Too bad she didn't realize that the solitude was too complete; Darien's allowance of her modesty kept him from seeing her tears.
When she got the test back the next day; saw the answer was correct, she knew she couldn't have imagined it. "He really was here. I didn't imagine it," she cried inaudibly. It was then that the tears flowed, and heavy sobs followed, much to the confusion of her classmates. Tears flowed for all to see, but too late, she'd already lost the game. The End.
Hope this met your expectations. I'd love commentary on this story. Most people don't write me about the more depressing ones, so I never know if you want me to continue writing anything like this. Please send your opinions, statements, praise, complaints to mangetsu@email.com so I may know how to please the readers. Thank you all for reading.
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