Two Worlds

She had her eyes closed the whole time. She couldn\'t bare the fact that she wasn\'t with Endymion. How she missed him so. She felt the wind stop and her feet touch the bare soil. She opened her eyes and stared at the ground. She hugged her shoulders and rubbed her arms downward. She carefully looked at her surroundings. It was dark and a bit misty. The trees looked like they had faces, and there were far too many shadows for her to distinguish what was a branch or a bush. She turned to look at Malachite.

He appeared in front of her and looked down to her. Looking at her reminded him of \'his\' love.

\'How she resembles her. . . almost the same hair, and face. . .\'

He quickly rid himself of his memories and came to.

\"There is a small cottage up ahead. Follow this path, towards the end of the cliff. There are no beast\'s to be aware of. Find it, stay in it, do not come out.\"

He turned to leave and glanced back at her.

\"Unless you want to be sucked dry before the eyes of our Lord.\"

Serenity winced and looked away. She wondered why he was so cold to her. When she looked up to ask him something, he was gone. Not a noise signaling that he had left, nothing. Not so much as a whisper. He abandoned her, so it seemed. She turned towards the path and squinted her eyes, trying to see the trail before her.

\'It\'s too dark. How could he forget that I\'m nothing but a mere human?\'

She blinked at her own words.

\'Of course. I AM, nothing but human.\' she sighed. \'What am I doing here?\'

She could scarcely see the path before her and walked slowly. It seemed about half an hour before she saw a small little house up ahead. It didn\'t look like a cottage at all. Well, more like a two story cottage. As she walked further, closer to it, she could see that there was light in it. She wondered if maybe Endymion had planned this ahead of time. She walked more casual now. Not caring that she was the only one in the forest, alone. As she came up towards the small steps of the stoop, she knocked lightly. She didn\'t know why, she just did.

\'Someone is inside, I can feel it.\'

She turned the small door knob and pushed in lightly, and carefully. She walked in and closed the door silently. There was a lit fire and a table with bowls and wooden utensils. It looked warm and cozy. There were two rocking chairs, four table chairs, and what seemed to be an altar of some sort, by the fire. She walked up to the fire in the fireplace, and put out her hands, near it. She felt her body get warm and the cold wash away slowly. She sighed in relaxation and sat down by the fire, further to warm her cool body. She closed her eyes and took in the warmth of the fire. She imagined herself a \'commoner\', living in this cottage.

She pictured the mornings, two children, maybe more, running around the small cottage. Her afternoons, near the river washing linens and clothes. Her evenings, with the children asleep, her beloved Endymion, and her making love in their bedroom, both wanting another child, loving each other deeply.

She sighed as she opened her eyes. She found herself lying on the floor. She must\'ve been tired as not to feel herself drift down to the wooden floor. She remembered her small fantasy and sighed sadly.

\'It will never be that way. . .even if I pleaded towards the Gods, they will not allow it.\'

Abruptly a calm voice came from behind her.

\"Well they won\'t if you keep thinking like that.\"

Serenity spun her hear round and looked up at her visitor. She pushed herself backwards a little and nearly into the fire, hadn\'t she gotten so frightened. The other young woman just looked at her curiously and smiled. She held out her hand for Serenity to reach. Serenity was hesitant, very hesitant. She didn\'t know who she was or WHAT she was. She could either be a vampire, witch, human. . .maybe even a ghost. She didn\'t know what to do. But, she could feel the blazing fire warming her back a little too much and took hold of the hand. The young woman pulled her to her feet and smiled.

\"That\'s better. Don\'t you think?\" Serenity nodded her head in agreement.

She carefully looked over the young woman and took hold of her appearance. She had the blackest of hair, like Endymion\'s. Her eyes were a dark violet, the fire danced in the reflection of her eyes. She had light skin and was about her height, maybe two inches taller.
Somehow, she felt she knew this girl, but she didn\'t know where or how they would\'ve of encountered.
The other girl turned towards one of the rocking chairs and sat down. She motioned for Serenity to take the other one. Serenity did so and stared at the unknown girl.

\"Rei.\"

\"Excuse me?\"

\"My name. . .my name is Rei.\"

\"I am-\"

\"Serenity.\" Serenity blinked in confusement at the Rei\'s answer.

\"How do you. . .you know who I am?\" Rei smiled and rolled her eyes.

\"It\'s been so long. The last time I saw you, we were about the age of. . . seven.\"

\"I\'m sorry. But you must be mistaken. I\'m-\"

\"The Moon Princess Serenity, yes I know. I\'m heiress of the planet Mars. Well, \'used to be\'.\"

Serenity gasped.

\'So it IS her!\' She cleared her throat.

\"What happened to you? I heard of your engagement. The day of your wedding you, disappeared.\"

Rei sighed and turned away with a smile.

\"Yes, I suppose my disappearance WAS on my wedding day.\" Serenity looked down.

\"I don\'t understand.\" Rei smiled and leaned on her elbows.

\"You\'ll soon understand. The other\'s will be here as well.\" Serenity looked up.

\"Other\'s?\" Rei stood up and walked towards the table.

\"Yes! Lita is out scouting about, Amy is upstairs with Mi-\" the door burst open and in came a very angry girl.

\"I can\'t believe this!\" A tall girl with brown hair and green eyes looked about the room.

She stopped her fuming and looked at both women. She smiled bashfully.

\"Hello!\"

Rei went towards the fire with a small pot and hung it over the reddened bar, right above it.

\"Lita where are your manners? Don\'t you see we have a \'Princess\' among us?\"

Serenity looked towards Rei and Lita, feeling uncomfortable.

\"No, I\'m just as normal as any of you.\" Lita sat where Rei was sitting and smiled at Serenity.

\"We were wondering when you would show up! We had Rei do her fire readings all night to try and figure out when you would finally arrive.\"

Serenity was a little shocked at receiving all of this. Lita cleared her throat and continued.

\"By the way, I\'m Lita, \'used to be\' heiress of the planet Jupiter.\" Serenity nodded her head.

\"So you are the Princess who wondered about and never returned. You got lost.\"

Lita stood silent and began to giggle.

\"So that\'s what they said about me?\" Serenity was really confused now. Lita smiled.

They heard light footsteps coming down the stairs. Another young lady, with blue hair and eyes. She was petite and about the same height as Rei. She looked somewhat worried for a while until her face came upon Serenity. It looked like she was about to bow her head, but instead she kept her stand.

\"Evening ladies.\" Rei turned to her and responded. Lita smiling.

\"Evening Amy.\"

She turned to Serenity. \"Good evening, Serenity.\"

Serenity nodded. Amy sat on a chair by the table and smiled warmly at Serenity.

\"We are honored to have you here with us.\" Serenity shook her head.

\"No. It is I who should be honored.\" All girls looked at one another and giggled. Lita spoke.

\"Serenity, believe it or not, we were to be your court.\" Serenity\'s eyes grew big in shock.

\"M-my Court?\" Rei nodded.

\"Mmm hmm.\" Amy continued.

\"But, due to our \'absence\', that honor was not fulfilled.\" Serenity leaned in with curiosity.

\"What happened . . . to all of you. I remember vaguely. I\'m certain I\'ve met every one of you.\"

The three girls looked at each other. Amy decided to speak first.

\"Since I was of the first to \'disappear\', I shall explain first.\"

Serenity sat comfortably on the rocking chair. Rei withdrew the small pot from the fire and proceeded into making tea for everyone while Amy spoke.

\"I was betroved, yes, we all were. But. . .\" She inhaled deeply and smiled lightly.

\"But I fell in love with another. We planned it out for him to \'kidnap\' me from my home. He did, and we fled here. I couldn\'t be with another man; I couldn\'t see myself doing it. We found this cottage here and I moved in. We spent countless nights here, just the two of us. Later, his Lordship was received news of my where a bouts. He had an army led here along with an army of my home planet. My parents were furious when they discovered the truth.
Zoisight. . .he took all the blame and said word that I was dead. They beat. . .\" She inhaled and squeezed her hands together on her lap. \"They beat him and tortured him, until the Prince, ordered them to halt.\"

Serenity gasped. \'Could it have been Endymion. . .!\'

\"So the tale of \'Princess Mercury being abducted\', was a lie?\" Amy nodded in response.

Serenity took a breath, all to captivate the information. Lita decided to chime in.

\"And to think that she was the \'innocent\' of us all!\"

All girls giggled and Lita continued. Rei was giving out cups of warm tea to everyone and sat down near Amy.

\"Well, I wasn\'t betroved or anything. Actually, I didn\'t even give them the chance to inform me of my betroval. Yes, I did wonder off in the forest, but I knew what awaited me once I returned. So I kept on. For one week I traveled, and traveled. Until I met one of \'Them\'. We argued, we fought, we battled, and we just. . .fell down to it. He would call me his \'forest nymph\'.\" she smiled as she blushed. \"He\'s very into his intuition and all. Being what he is. . .He told me to stay quiet and hidden. He spoke of a grand event that would happen in the near future. So I stayed low, hidden, and quiet. But he does not forget me, he visits when he can, though not near here. But he does.\"

Serenity sighed dreamingly. All this, seemed to be a dream. Rei sipped her tea, and told her story.

\"About THAT wedding. . .well, not much is needed to be said. I thought I could go through with it. Marry a complete stranger. But I couldn\'t. So I ran. I ran from my planet and came here. I was practically living in a cave, until I met \'Him\'. We encountered upon each other, and battled instantly. One battle and all was lost. He hid me here, with Lita. Later, we met with Amy on her own. Then we all just became into togetherness.\"

Serenity sunk in her rocking chair. She didn\'t know how to take all this. This was supposed to be her \'Court\'. And here she was, chatting with them of how they escaped their richly lives and came here to this cottage. They all ran from there destiny.

\'Was it destiny? Or is THIS destiny?\' Serenity was confused. Very. Then, a sudden bolt of shock came to her.

\"What of the heiress of Venus!? Princess Mina?\"

The three remaining girls looked towards one another in unison. Serenity eyed them all carefully.

\"Please, if you should know of any information about her. She is my cousin and. . .\"

Lita put her cup of tea down and spoke softly.

\"She. . .her escape, was not so fortunate.\" Serenity sat up and leaned forward a bit.

\"Not so fortunate?\" Amy shook her head.

\"They were so much in love. . .they didn\'t care who found out, especially her.\" Serenity shook her head.

\"What are you talking about? What happened to her?!\" Rei stood up.

\"Shh! Do you want all of the forest to know we are here?\" Serenity apologized and calmed down.

\"I\'m sorry. Forgive me.\" Rei nodded her head.

\"Mina. . .she was so full of spirit. She didn\'t care what anyone thought of her, or her lover. She spoke aloud to her mother and father about him. They disapproved and she walked out with pride. She was determined to make it work. They met in the forest, but they were ambushed. Vampires and humans all took them by surprise. They refused to let go of each other and were roughly pulled apart. They tried to walk away with them, Malachite with his men, Mina and her soldiers.\"

Again, Serenity gasped in shock. \'Endymion\'s second in command!\' Lita took over the story.

\"Mina managed to get free and used her power to get to Malachite. As you know, Mina\'s power was very bright, and it caused injury to his men.\"

Serenity touched her crescent moon on her forehead. \'Like mine...\' Amy finished the story.

\"This caused a battle. But they took hold of Malachite and put a blade to his throat. They were at the edge of the cliff, the one not to far from here. They threatened again to kill him for sure. Malachite pleaded with her, trying to convince her to stop her attacks. But she wouldn\'t budge. Mina\'s brother, Andrew, walked through the battle. He tried to reason with her, and roared when Mina told him that there would be no other than Malachite. Andrew took hold of the dagger being pressed at Malachite\'s throat, and stabbed him near his heart. Mina thought that Malachite was going to die. She blew him a kiss, and threw herself over the cliff.\"

Serenity had tears running down her face. \'Mina...my poor Mina...\' She clenched her dress from her lap as she looked down, the tears falling from her face down to her lap.

\'She did it all because she believed in love. She always did. It lured her to her own death. A death, caused by love.\'