Hi all! I am FINALLY getting this next chapter up, and I am very happy (^_^) that people actually wrote to me to tell me that they wanted the next chapter! People care! (^_^) I think that the story is getting more self-explanitory by now, so I won't detail everthing that his happening here. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me. If you have any comments or even hate mail, e-mail me then too! At least I will know that you are reading it. (^_-) I would like to thank the Stupendous Lianne because, quite simply, she rocks! She is one of the nicest people I have encountered yet. It would behoove anyone to read everything that she has ever written, and also visit her page, it's incredible. I would also like to thank my coolness friend, Sailor Rae. She has always been there for me. Okay, please read the story now! (^_^) Ancient History: Chapter 6 by Sailor Charon The senshi immediately took up fighting positions around the room as Prince Epsilon began to glow with energy. Raye took the position closest to Serena and brought up her right hand offensively, holding a ward against evil. She stood straight, defending her leader and glaring at her enemy with an expression that could have caused demons to cower in fear of her. Demons, but not Epsilon. Epsilon struck out with a leg, kicking Raye's hand and causing her to drop the ward. Raye looked up in surprise as another blow came quickly, knocking her to the ground before she even had time to begin a defense. The other girls immediately stepped into the fight. Mina swung around in a round house kick, expecting to make solid contact. Prince Epsilon blocked the kick with a fore arm and lightly pushed Mina back out of striking range. Lita came next, punching furiously, trying to get at the threat and kill it before it could harm anyone she cared about. The first few blows were deflected in much the same way Mina's had been, but then Epsilon used a minimal amout of magic to repulse Lita and push her away from him. All of the girls took their turns, but then stepped back angrilly again as they realized they were being toyed with. "I've had enough of this! Venus Star Power!" The golden haired Mina immediately lost her usual sweet and mellow tone in the frustration of not being able to land a single hit. The other senshi immediately followed suit. As the four girls transformed, Serena merely stood inert, gazing from Darien to Epsilon and back again. She was only beginning to realize the significance of the family tie between the two, and she was in a minor state of shock as she could merely look on. Her eyes captured every detail of both faces transfixed in her sight. Epsilon even looked like Darien, they had the same high cheekbones and quick eyes. Epsilon was a bit huskier than her boyfriend however, and maybe even a little taller. Serena blinked in surprise as Epsilon turned his gaze onto her. "Aahh, Little Princess. How wonderful it is to see you again. My, you are looking a bit baffled. Allow me to assist you in understanding." The dark prince spoke with a syrupy voice that didn't even sound authentic. Epsilon moved with a speed that Serena wouldn't have attributed to him, wouldn't have attributed to any human, and grasped her by the back of her head. This sudden movement served to bring Darien out of the stupor he had been thrust into at the sight his lost brother. His eyes finally cleared and he saw Epsilon lowering his face ominously toward his princess. As Epsilon bent down to give Serena a kiss on the mouth, Darien sprang into action. He crashed into Prince Epsilon from behind, knocking him to the floor. Serena was knocked free from Epsilon as Darien sprawled with him on the ground. The two boys rolled over and over again, neither gaining the leverage to throw the other off or the time to employ a magical force to repulse the other. They then slammed into the wall and stopped rolling. That would have been a good thing. Unfortunately, Darien was under Epsilon at this time. Their eyes locked. "Darien!" Serena ran to the pair and began to tug on Epsilon's shoulders, trying to pull him off Darien. The enemy twisted quickly, never taking his hands off Darien's shoulders, and slammed her into the wall. She hit it with a hard force and fell to the floor beside the two. The entire time, Epsilon's eyes never broke contact with Darien's. In a flash, they both remembered . . . *************************************************************************************************************** Prince Darien didn't celebrate his sixteenth birthday. He went out into Silver Meadow and laid down on the grass quietly. The tall blades came up all around him and the sun shined merrily above. The sun seemed to laugh at him, giggling at first and then laughing uproariously at the pathetic nature of the boy it shone upon. Darien felt hot under the beating laughter of the merciless sun. The young boy looked up into the sky. It was blue, and a radiance shone from it that could have given him solace any other day. Any other day it could have given him solace for all of the struggles that a young prince had to deal with while learning to be both a man and a leader. Any other day it would have comforted him from the stresses of learning both the arts of diplomacy and war, easing his confused conscience. Any other day it might have given him relief after another fight with Eppie . . . But not this day. Not on his birthday. This was the day that Eppie was leaving for good. Darien closed his eyes and reopened them, trying to blink away the tears. I will not cry. I will not cry. Princes don't cry, they don't cry. I will not cry. Tears are a sign of weakness. They prove me a coward like Eppie says . . . I will not cry. I cannot cry. Even as Darien ordered his body to accomplish his bidding, a solitary tear slips out from under his defenses and ran down his smooth cheek. Today, Eppie would be leaving to join another power. He was leaving to join the enemy, and Darien knew it. He had known that something was wrong with Eppie ever since he had seen him studying the forbidden arts four years earlier, but only now was the full realization that he had lost his brother striking home. There had been differences between the brothers. Their relationship over the past years had gone up and down like the waves of the ocean, and the emotional currents seemed just as inexorable as the perpetual rising and fallings of the crests on the waves. There were points that Darien and Eppie were just as close as they had been when they were much younger. The brothers would practice together, and study together, and confess which girls they liked to each other. But there were also times when the two were unable to be in the same room without a confrontation. Eppie became cold and distant always as such times. He would push everyone away, and belittle his brother mercilessly. Darien, at first, was too shocked at this change to do much of anything but sulk. As he grew older however, the younger boy began to step up for himself, and began to argue back when his brother went into one of his phases. As time progressed, the two became more and more distant. The periods between the moments of respite and friendship became longer and more disturbed. Eventually, the two princes of Earth hardly ever spoke to each other except to say harsh words. Darien had been determined to change that. He had one day, two weeks before his birthday gone to speak with Eppie. He had gone to really speak with him for the first time in what seemed like eternity. Darien found Eppie in his chambers, and he initiated the talk. It was that day that Eppie told Darien that he was leaving the Earth Kingdom. Eppie had already discussed it with his parents and told them of his decision to join with some organization called the "Nega-Force." The king and queen had been very grave, and very sorrowful at the prospect of losing their oldest son, but had eventually conceded. They didn't really have a choice, Eppie had more of told them that he was leaving than asked for their permission to leave. A date had been set: Endymion's birthday. The younger prince was nearing the age of ascension, and on his birthday, he would be able to take over his brother's role in society legally. When Darien came of age, Eppie would leave and forfeit all of his rank and title to join with the unknown organization called Nega-Force, leaving Endymion as the crown prince. No one had told Darien of this, and Darien never thought to ask about such an unlikely occurrence. Until Darien went to repair his relationship with his brother, only to find out it was too late. So now Darien had come of age and he lay in the grass of Silver Meadow with tears he refused to permit streaming down his face as the sun laughed at him from above. So Prince Darien didn't celebrate his sixteenth birthday. A shadow fell across Darien's eyes and he looked up to see brown eyes staring back down at him. They merely looked at each other for a moment, then Eppie bent over to sit in the grass beside Darien's prostrate form. For a moment, Eppie stared into the distance across the meadow, then he spoke. "Wipe away your tears, Darien. You don't want to show cowardice now," Darien angrily wiped at his face with the back of his right hand. Eppie's off-hand comment seemed to strike at him now even more than usual. It wasn't fair, today was supposed to be a happy day. Eppie wasn't supposed to leave now. He wasn't supposed to transfer the weight of being the heir to the throne to Darien. And he wasn't supposed to make his last conversation with his baby brother be mean and distant. Darien turned his head away from Eppie. "Hey, Darien. Don't turn away like that. I'm not trying to sound mean. It's just that now you have more of a responsibility to be mature." Eppie sighed. "C'mon, Darien. I'm trying to make this easy on you too." "Easy on me?!?" Darien's voice came out as biting as it was incredulous. "What, you think that going off and joining the enemy right now, with so little notice will make the transition EASY on me??" "The Nega-Force is not the enemy. I don't know where you keep getting that notion from." "I can sense it!" Darien's voice became softer as he spoke to his brother about his innermost workings again, probably for the last time. "I can sense it. I can feel the energy pouring out of their base in Earth orbit. And it is not nice, friendly energy, I can say that much. I can feel the darkness that seeps into every crevice that we allow it into. An evil so great that I wake up screaming in the middle of the night when I have nightmares about it. I can feel that energy, and it comes from the Nega-Force. And now I can feel that it comes from you too, Eppie." Darien looked up into Eppie's eyes. "You're becoming one of them, Eppie. One of the people on the other side. One of the people that will be the enemy soon enough, I can sense that too." They both sat quietly for a few moments as Epsilon registered all that Darien had said. He did not doubt the validity of what his brother claimed, Darien's magical skills were far better tuned and accurate than were Epsilons. Eppie, for the first time in a long time, questioned his decision to leave. He then just as quickly rejected the idea. Joining the Nega-Force was the only option open to him. They were the only one's who really understood him, and Epsilon knew that he was becoming more like them every day. He could feel the dark energy festering in himself as well as Darien could, and it both terrified and elated him. Epsilon looked down at his brother's upturned face. He leaned in close and whispered into Darien's ear. "Race you across the meadow." Darien shot straight up. "What?" "I said, 'race you across the meadow.' what, are you scared you can't keep up?" Epsilon's face held a playfully mocking expression. "Eppie, I won't be baited into childish games, nor will I go running around like I was five years old simply because you challenged me to a race." "Well then, fine. If you don't want to run with me, then don't. I'll run alone." "Fine. Run alone." Endymion's voice held a hint of pain. "Okay, see ya!" Epsilon began to trot across the meadow, never once looking back. Darien didn't know what to do. He knew that Eppie was still going to be leaving today, and nothing was going to change that. This stupid race wasn't going to change anything. But he also knew that this was his last chance to run across the meadow with his brother. His sentimentality eventually won out. "Hey, Eppie, wait up!" Darien ran after his brother at breakneck speed, trying to beat him to the end of the meadow. Just as he pulled in front of Eppie, who still wasn't running at full speed, he felt a heavy weight fall on top of him. Darien rolled into Eppie's tackle, laughing as Eppie tried to settle his weight on top of him. Darien threw himself to the side and rolled over, pinning Eppie to the ground by pushing his weight onto Eppie's shoulders. "Gotcha, Eppie!" Darien grinned and Eppie laughed. And the sun laughed along with him. **************************************************************************************************************** Epsilon and Darien's eyes flickered in recognition once again as the shared memory faded away to be replaced by the present. Prince Epsilon of the Negaverse shifted his weight on top of Darien. Serena began to stand up, wobbling a little on unsteady feet. Darien opened his mouth, "Eppie . . ." Epsilon started as his younger brother called him by his nickname, but then seemed to get a hold of himself. The room suddenly became dark as a shadow formed in the center of the floor. The temperature of the room dropped several degrees. From the forming shadow in the room, a murky voice emerged as if dripping from a rusty water spicket. The voice was not identifiably male or female, but was definitely evil. "Enough toying with them, Prince Epsilon. Take them now. I have use for them." Then as suddenly as it had come, the shadow disappeared and the room was left empty save the four very surprised senshi, Darien, Epsilon, and Serena. As the scouts began to recover their wits, they started toward Epsilon threateningly. Epsilon seemed to take no notice. He removed one arm from Darien's shoulder and hooked it around the still unsteady Serena's waist. He pulled her close to him and then leaned down close Darien's face. "Gotcha, Darien!" And all three of them vanished into a brief swirl of mist. #################################################################################################### Well, thank you to everyone who continued long enough to read this. I love you all. (^_^) Please, e-mail me if you have the chance. I'd really appreciate it because then I know that you read it. Thanks again! Ja ne! -Sailor Charon