ENDLESS LOVE

Chapter 2

By Jackie Punsal


	It was dark; Darien's eyes couldn't focus well.  His head was 
hurting, like there was a knife behind his neck.  He lifted his hand to 
try to rub his eyes, but then he realized that his arms were 
restrained.  "Shit," he whispered as he tried to move.  He could barely 
move; he was so badly beaten.  There was a graze above his left eyebrow 
and the blood from his nose had dried.  He groaned as a sharp pain 
pierced his side.  Suddenly, the door opened and a bright light flooded 
in.  Darien winced and saw a silhouette step in.

	"Ah, I see that our dear king has awakened," Cirrus said.  A slow 
smirk ran across his face. "So good of you to grace us with your 
presence, your highness.  Would you like something to eat? Drink? I'm 
sure that the dirty water beside you will suffice."

	Darien stared at him with deep contempt.  He didn't answer.  His 
head turned down.  Cirrus's smile turned into a frown and anger filled 
his expression.  He stooped down and smacked Darien.  Darien's nose 
began to bleed again.  

	"Don't you dare turn your face away from me when I talk to you, 
" Cirrus raged, "I won't tolerate it."

	Darien slowly looked up and spit in Cirrus's face.

	"You son of a bitch!" Cirrus raised his hand to strike him again, 
but he was stopped by Cumulus.

	"Cirrus," Cumulus held his hand from striking. "We don't want his 
highness to be too badly beaten. We want him conscious enough to 
witness his future crumble." 

	Cirrus looked at her and rose.  She in turn went down to face 
Darien.  Cumulus grabbed his face to look at her.  Her sharp nails dug 
deep into his flesh. "Besides, his insolence only justifies our 
cause."  She let one nail trace the contours of his face. "So handsome, 
even when he was younger.  Too bad you have to die." She shoved his 
face violently and got up.

	"What do you want from me?" Darien said as he struggled to face 
his enemies.

	"Why Endymion, we want only for you to experience the pain that 
you will put us through."  Cirrus said as he stepped closer to Darien. 
"For years my people have led a life of shame and torment.  We have 
watched our brothers die under the hand of you and your court.  We have 
hidden and led a life of secrecy, banished from a place we once called 
our home."  He started to smile.  "Now we will seek our revenge."  He 
started to walk away.

	"Sailor Moon will kill you.  You are no match for her, she is too 
strong."  Darien said in a hoarse voice.  Cirrus turned around, his 
smile even wider.  He and Cumulus started to laugh.

	"Sailor Moon?  Haha."  Cirrus laughed even harder. "I don't think 
Neo-Queen Serenity can fight...now that her heart is crushed."

	"What?" Darien's anger exploded. "What the hell did you do to 
her? If you laid a finger on her, I'll..." He lunged forward but was 
hindered by his restraints.

	"You'll what?  You're in no position to threaten me." Cirrus 
kicked him.  Darien, obviously hurt by the blow, fell hard against the 
wall.  "Besides," Cirrus said as he regained his composure, "How could 
I hurt her when you were the one who broke her heart?"

	Darien looked up in confusion as Cirrus threw a small cube to the 
ground.  On impact, a light emerged from the cube.  A holographic image 
appeared before Darien, replaying the events that happened earlier.  
Darien couldn't believe what he was seeing; he was the one talking to 
Serena, he was the one making her cry.  The holograph looked so real 
that he struggled to go to Serena, to hold her, to comfort her.  But 
the holograph ended and the light returned to the cube.  "How did you 
do that?"

	"Oh it was fairly simple," Cirrus said. His figure started to 
shift.  Changes occurred throughout his body in a ripple effect. Soon 
Darien was looking at his own face.  "If you have the right costume."  
Cirrus said in Darien's voice.  "You see Endymion, the Ominous Clouds 
possess a rare feature. We can alter our molecular makeup to resemble 
any thing we want, from just a single touch." Cirrus slowly morphed 
back to his original form.  He cracked his neck, "Ahh, if I could only 
come near enough to touch the king in the future, I wouldn't have to 
deal with this shit."  

	"How could you do that?"  Darien said, his eyes flared with rage.  
"How could you be so cold, so heartless?" He turned his head down in 
exhaustion.  "Just kill me and spare Serena.  She doesn't deserve 
this."

	"Oh, we will Endymion." Cirrus said as he started his way out of 
the room. "We can't have you go back to your lovey and ruin our plan.  
But I'm afraid that we can't spare anyone. We have to destroy the rest 
of the chain, now that we have broken the strongest link."  Cumulus 
followed him out and shut the door, leaving Darien in darkness once 
again.

***************

	"I wonder where Serena went." Lita said as she stirred her soda 
with her straw. "She was in an awful hurry."

	"That was very peculiar," Amy said thoughtfully.   "She looked 
like she saw a ghost.  She just jumped up in the middle of lunch..." 

	"That's nothing like her."  Mina butt in. She looked down  "I 
still think that we should've ran after her to find out what was up."

	"No..."  Raye said firmly.  She looked at the group. "Look guys, 
I think that it would be better if she spent some time by herself.  You 
saw how she was when she was telling us about her problem.  She barely 
got a word out. Serena just needs time to sort things out.  The best we 
can do is wait until she's ready to confide in us."

	There was a brief silence.

	"Raye's right," Luna finally said as she stood up. "We should 
just leave her alone. Besides, Darien's coming soon.  When they are 
together again, she'll realize that there was nothing to worry about."

	All the girls nodded.  A tiny beep came from Lita's watch.  She 
glanced at it. "Guys, it's getting late." She started to rise and the 
rest followed. "I think we better go before the rain gets worse." 

	All of them stood by the restaurant's entrance.  They were 
opening their umbrellas.

	"It's really pouring."  Mina commented, "This is so weird, 
especially since yesterday was such a nice day."  She turned around to 
see Raye staring into the rain. "What's the matter Raye?"

	"I don't know...I feel something."  Raye said as she squinted. 
"Something strange about this weather...it doesn't feel pure...it 
doesn't feel...natural."

	"What do you mean?" Lita said. "Is there something evil?"

	"I don't know," Raye put on her hood. "It's too vague to see.  I 
think we better keep our eyes open just in case."

******

	Serena glanced up.  It was beginning to get cold.  The rain 
drenched her entire body.  She curled herself into a tight ball and sat 
on the wet cement, trembling.  Her vision was blurred from all her 
crying, the raindrops beat savagely on her bare head.  Her hair had 
fallen down and her umbrella now lay a yard away from her.  Just a foot 
away from her lay the fragments of her locket.  Their locket, the 
locket that represented their bond, lay in pieces scattered before her.  
She unwove herself from her safe position and started to pick up the 
remains.  Serena held up the locket and was startled that it started to 
play its melody.  The tune that she once cherished started to wither 
away as it slowed down and came to a stop.  She squeezed the broken 
star in her hand and started to weep, only this time no tears came 
down.  She had cried all her tears. "How could he do this?  How could 
he do this?" She whispered. "How can all my dreams, all my happiness 
end in just one single moment?" She began to rock. "There has to be 
something wrong, he must be protecting me....But...he broke...our 
locket...." She tried to sob again. "I was right..."  She dug her head 
deep into her arms and felt the raindrops slow until the rainfall 
finally halted.

***********

	"What is that?"  Lita said as she spotted an object that was 
blocking the sidewalk.

	"It looks like someone's hurt." Mina said as she picked up her pace.

	"Oh my gosh..." Amy gasped as she brought one hand to her mouth.  
"It's Serena!"  She started to run towards the figure that was sitting 
on the ground a few feet away.  All the girls started to run with her.

	"What happened to her?"  Raye asked as they came closer to her. 
"I knew I felt something, I hope she isn't hurt."

	The four girls slowed down as they approached the trembling girl.  
Her head was down and her hair was out of place.  Serena looked up, her 
eyes bloodshot and her face tear-stained.  Raye breathed a sigh of 
relief when she realized that Serena wasn't physically hurt.  She bent 
down and sat next to Serena.  "What's the matter?" She tried to 
make her voice as comforting as possible, but she couldn't hide the 
fear that she had in her eyes.  She was so afraid that Serena was 
harmed.  She slowly placed her arm around her friend.  "Are you ok? 
Did you fall? How long were you out here?"

	Lita, Ami, and Mina knelt down in front of Serena, each trying to 
comfort her.  Luna jumped down from Amy's shoulder and nudged Serena's 
leg with her nose.  "Serena, please tell us what happened.  We can't 
help you if you won't tell us."

	Serena started to rock back and forth again.  She held her legs 
close to her body, her eyes stared blankly beyond her knees.  "I was 
right." She whispered.

	"Huh?" Raye said.  She then noticed that Serena was holding 
something.  Raye brought her arm from around and slowly opened Serena's hand.  
The girls all gasped.  The broken locket lay in Serena's 
bleeding hand.  

	"Serena, what happened?  Who broke your locket?"  Amy asked as 
she picked the shards that dug deep into Serena's palm. Mina picked up 
any pieces that fell to the ground and Lita ripped a strip from her 
long skirt.  Serena sat there, motionless and speechless as Amy slowly 
wrapped her hand with the piece of cloth.  "Thank you." She finally 
whispered and returned to her initial position.

	"Serena please tell us what's wrong." Lita pleaded. "We want to 
help."

	No answer.

	"Serena, this isn't fair," Raye said. "We are so worried about 
you, please answer, who broke the locket?"

	Serena looked into her friends' concerned faces.  "Darien broke 
it."

	"Darien?"  The girls shot confused looks toward each other.

	Serena put her head down again and mumbled, "He came back early.  
I saw him at the restaurant.  He was the one who broke our locket..."  
She started to cry, still no tears. "He doesn't want the locket 
anymore...he doesn't want me..." She looked up.  Her face had turned 
red as she tried cry. "I told you he wouldn't love me anymore."

	The girls all hugged her and tried to comfort her.

	"Maybe he's just protecting you."  Mina said, "Raye felt 
something earlier, there might be another danger that's coming."

	Serena shook her head.  "But he broke the locket...and looked me 
straight in the eye...He wouldn't go that far just to protect me..."  

	They thought for a moment. None of them had a response.  

	"Come on," Raye said after a few minutes of silence. "We should 
get you inside before you catch a cold.  We can go to the shrine and 
finish talking."  She and the other girls helped Serena to her feet.

***********
 
	They slowly walked through the streets.  Surprisingly the streets 
were empty and the skies were unusually dark for the time of day.  Raye 
suddenly stopped, leading the other girls to a halt also.  "That 
feeling," She started to look around. "I can sense it again...this time 
it's stronger...guys, we better get Serena to somewhere safe."  They 
picked up their pace and covered Serena's head.  A fog started to creep 
around them, soon they were unable to see where they were heading.  

	"It's like a we're lost in a cloud." Mina commented.

	"There's evil in this cloud," Raye whispered. "Pure evil."  
She turned to Serena, who lay limply onto Lita.  "We have to be careful." 

	They huddled close together, defensively guarding Serena. Amy 
brought out her handheld computer and typed ferociously.  "My computer 
isn't picking up anything," She said, her eyes still fixated on the 
screen. "Wait, something is coming near us."

	"From where?" Mina looked around.

	"I can't tell."  Amy said, still typing. "The computer cannot 
distinguish the object's position.  It's coming closer...wait, the 
computer is giving me some coordinates."  She slowly looked up. "It's 
directly above us."  As soon as the words escaped her lips a red bolt 
came from above them.  

	"Watch out!" Artemis yelled.

	They jumped in time to dodge the bomb.  The smoke cleared and the 
fog rolled out. 

	"What was that?" Lita said as she recovered from the 
hit.   The girls got up, except Serena who was still on the ground, 
frightened like a kitten.

	"I don't know," Mina said. "But it sure was strong."  Their sight 
had become visible and realized that they were in a dead-end alley.

	"I'm surprised you weren't killed," a voice called from above 
them. They all looked up.  Cumulus stood on top of the adjacent 
building. "I was sure that it was strong enough."

	"Who are you?" Raye yelled at her.

	"I'm Dark Cumulus, but I don't think it matters," She jumped down 
to a lamp post. They stood their ground. "You're going to die anyway."  
She let another bolt of light escape her eyes and attacked the girls.  
Raye reacted quickly and transformed.

	"Mars Crystal Power, Makeup!" All the rest except Serena followed 
her lead. 

	"Jupiter Crystal Power, Makeup!"

	"Venus Crystal Power, Makeup!"

	"Mercury Crystal Power, Makeup!"  They landed and they were fully 
transformed.  Mars looked back to Serena who was clutching her brooch "No,
 Serena, just stay there, you're in no shape to fight." 
She looked towards Cumulus. "Mars Flame Sniper!"  

	Cumulus quickly jumped out of the way and landed on another post.  
She laughed, "I'm so glad you transformed, I was beginning to think 
that this fight would be too easy.  Hehe."

	"What the hell do you want?" Jupiter raged at her.

	She continued to laugh, "Why for all of you to die, of course." 
She said matter-of-factly and jumped down.

	"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Jupiter tried to catch her off guard, 
but she was unsuccessful.  Cumulus had dodged her attack.  "Damn 
it!"

	"Oh don't be so cross Jupiter, it's not your fault that you're 
too slow." Cumulus toyed with her opponents.  Cumulus jumped high and 
glanced at Serena in the corner. "Oh,"  She landed on top of the 
building again, the Senshi got ready to attack her. A smile spread 
across Cumulus's face, "Neo Queen Serenity...my, my, my...what's the 
matter?" She said with fake sympathy. "Catch a little cold? Why don't 
you join us...it would be fun.  You could regain your....damn it! 
Shit!" Cumulus looked at her shoulder, it was grazed and bleeding. 
Venus had attacked her with "Venus Love and Beauty Shock." Although the 
attack hurt her, unfortunately it didn't maim Cumulus.  She started to 
laugh again. "Well played Venus, but not good enough." Cumulus held her 
hand on the wound.  She lifted it and the graze disappeared.  The 
senshi gazed up at her in shock, but continued to attack.  

	"Mercury Aqua Mirage!" Mercury screamed.  Her attack was also 
left unfruitful.

	"She's too damn quick!!" Mars yelled.  She looked up to see 
Cumulus laughing her head off.

	"This is too much fun!"  Cumulus said with a little giggle. "But 
I'm afraid that I should finish the job I was sent to do."  She did a 
flip and landed on the ground. She flicked her wrist and revealed her 
fingernails. With her left hand she deftly took each from the cuticle.  
Every time she removed one, another long one grew in its place.  She 
now had unlimited daggers to throw.  She did another flip in the air 
and did an air assault above the Senshi.  They dodged away.  Venus, 
showing some acrobatics of her own, jumped and did a quick Crescent 
beam towards Cumulus.  Cumulus seemed to curve herself around the 
attack.  She landed and raised her hand towards Venus.  A strong force 
pushed her into the wall of building.  Two nails flew from Cumulus's 
fingertips and pinned her down.

	Jupiter ran towards Cumulus in an attempt to ram her, but she was 
brought to halt.  "I can't move!" Jupiter yelled.  Mars and Mercury 
were also frozen on the spot when they attempted to attack Cumulus.  
Cumulus smiled evilly. She rose her hand higher and their bodies 
followed.   

	Serena watched in horror as her friends were tortured.  She got 
up, her legs still shaky. "No, Serena." Luna said as her head poked 
out from the dumpster beside her. "You can't transform now, you're too
 weak to fight her."  

	Serena grabbed her brooch. "I can't just sit and watch her do 
that to them. I have to do this. Besides, the crystal will give me the 
strength I need." She stepped forward. "Moon Eternal Makeup!"

***********

	Cumulus brought her hands even higher and suddenly plunged them 
down.

	"Stop!" 

	Cumulus rose her head.  The girls were just inches away from 
being slammed into the pavement.  Cumulus's grin grew larger. "Why, 
Neo-Queen Serenity, you finally decided to join the fun and transformed 
into the legendary Sailor Moon." She snapped her fingers and let the 
girls fall to the ground with a thud. "I am very impressed."

	"You should be." Sailor Moon said as she stepped forward.  She 
was still unstable.  The surge of energy from the crystal had left her 
trembling even more.  "I am certainly not having a great day today, and 
you had to come and ruin it some more. Well, I'm not having it.  I 
stand for love and justice and all broken hearts.  I will punish you, 
in the name of the moon!"

	"Cute." Cumulus said totally unaffected by the speech. "That's 
awfully nice Sailor  Moon, but I'm sorry, I just can't let you do 
that." Cumulus threw five daggers (nails) straight at Sailor Moon.  
Sailor Moon rolled away from the attack.  As soon as she got up a bolt 
of light went towards her. Surprised at the attack, Sailor Moon was 
caught off guard and flew to the wall.  She hit the brick wall and five 
daggers followed.  She was pinned her down.  "God, this is too easy!"  
Cumulus exclaimed, "I've got the legendary Sailor Moon trapped and 
cornered.  How does it feel, huh, Sailor Moon?" She didn't answer, her 
body was so weak.  She hung limply on the wall.  "Aww...too tired to 
fight back huh? Well, we'll end that soon." Cumulus retrieved a sharp 
nail from her finger and prepared to throw it at Sailor Moon. 

	"Aww shit!"  She dropped the nail and looked to her leg.  The two 
cats had bitten her.  "Troublesome cats. Why can't I just kill someone 
in peace?" A bolt came from her eyes and blasted the cats off her leg.  
Luna and Artemis flew back and slammed into the dumpster. "I hate 
cats."  Cumulus took another nail.  "Good bye Sailor Moon. Tell me how 
happy your life is when your dead." She flung it at her aiming for her 
heart.  Sailor Moon screamed in pain as the nail pierced through her 
flesh....