A fan fic by Caleyndar.
Rating: PG.

Notes: Lestat and Louis are another two characters from
the "Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice. They'll have a
larger part in the story later.
        This chapter has a rather dark ending. It may hurt
some to read it.
        As always, thanks to those who have e-mailed me.
Any questions, just ask, and I will surly answer.

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me; only the
few I make up. The story, however, is mine.

The Name Endymion...

Part Two: A Deeper Truth...

Chapter 2...

        A prince stood there, his long black cape lined with
blood red flowed from his shoulders, a single long stemmed
red rose held in his hand. His deep ocean blue eyes stared
out from behind a mask; it hid his identity, but still
showed his handsome face to advantage. A small smile graced
his pale lips, and his jet black hair neatly brushed and
shining from it's recent clean.
        I no longer felt like a fifteen year old. My
innocence was gone, as if it never existed. I seemed now a
young man, filled with devious plans to deceive others, to
spy like a low life. But I needed to do this. For my own
sanity. Slowly, Serenity's actions and Armand's accusations
were devouring my soul. I knew that if I did not learn the
truth now, I would surely go insane.
        And what if what Armand had told me was true? Then
what? Would the truth destroy as surely as the lack of
knowledge? I didn't know.
        I turned away from the mirror and closed my eyes.
        In a flash of silver blue light, I was gone.
        I don't know how far I travelled. I only knew where
I wanted to be, and that was enough to accomplish the task.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing where that news
reporter had been; outside the main gates to the Moon
Palace. There were royal guards dressed in full silver and
grey armour standing at the gates, and attendants were
letting the royalty who had invitations through. I
materialised an invitation in my hand, and walked swiftly
up to one of the attendants. He glanced at it and waved me
through. This was too easy.
        Ascending the wide sweeping steps up to the main
entrance, guarded with splendid marble statues, I watched
with alert eyes at those around me, dressed magnificently
in their best gowns and tuxedos. Some glanced at me,
wondering half heartedly why I was wearing a mask.
        Night was apon us, and the sky was dark, filled with
the stars in the galaxy. The brightly lit ball room was like
a candle flame in a darkened room, and it was so appealing.
I walked, dazed, through the huge doors, into the extensive
ball room, whose light streamed from the large crystal
chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. Painting decorated
the walls, filled with royal people, all dressed
beautifully, their cheeks rosy and eyes bright and shinning.
The many glass arch windows reflected the people who already
danced with one another and the glittering light reflecting
from the crystals chandeliers.
        At the far end of the ball room were two thrones,
both empty. So the Queen and her daughter had not yet
arrived. I walked and stood by the wall, not far from the
thrones. People whirled by me, all splendid beauties, but
I saw none of it. I merely wanted to talk to her. To hold
her in my arms and kiss her. To whisper in her ears that I
love her, and will love her for all eternity.
        I shook my head, reminding myself the reason why I
was here.
        The musicians ceased to play their sweet melodies,
and there was the voice of the trumpet in the air,
announcing the arrival of the Queen and the Princess.
Everyone stopped dancing and looked towards the main
entrance. A plush red carpet had been laid out, extending
from the grand entrance to the stage where the two thrones
sat.
        The doors were pulled open, revealing a golden
light. It faded, and two royal guards, each carrying the
flag of the Moon Kingdom entered. Following them was the
queen herself, dressed in a silver gown, over flowing with
pearls and gems interlaced with it's design. Her hair was
styled in a similar way as Serena's had been, only her hair
was silvery grey, like the moon itself.
        A moment passed, and then she entered.
        My Princess; the Princess of my Heart.
        I closed my eyes, willing myself not to feel the
swell of emotions within me.
        She walked into the ball room, her hair done up
like her mother's with small silver pearls tucked into her
hair. The gown she wore was much like the one she had worn
to Luke's party. Only it was much more beautiful and
delicate. Where were the wings and golden halo, my dear
Angel?
        Behind her came four girls, the same age as she,
each dressed in a different coloured gown. Blue, red, green,
orange. All were beautiful in there own way. And even from
this distance, I sensed a great power from them. I narrowed
my eyes, thinking it unusual.
        Following the four girls were Diamond and Sapphire,
dressed like princes of the highest order. Best not to let
them see me. I shielded my mind from them, using a trick
Armand had taught me.
        The doors closed once more, and when the Queen and
Serenity reached the stage and turned to face their guests,
and announcer began to speak in a booming voice.
        "Presenting her majesties, Queen Selenity, and her
daughter, Princess Serenity," the voice said. "Princess
Serenity's court; Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter." The girls
stood up in turn; the one in orange, then red, blue and
green.  "Princess Serenity's escort and Prince of the Black
Moon Kingdom, Prince Diamond, and his brother, Sapphire."
        I could not help but smile when Serenity made a face
at the title 'escort'.
        The musicians resumed playing shortly after, and
Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter joined in, pulling a
reluctant Serenity behind them. I saw them, and walked
swiftly closer to where I had last seen her. Luckily for me,
Diamond and Sapphire stayed with Queen Selenity.
        There she was, standing alone, without a partner
yet. Her court was already dancing with the many young men
in the room. This was too perfect.
        Without saying a word to her, I clasped her small
hand in my, and placed my other on her waist. She didn't
look up at me as we waltzed to the sweet music. How
wonderfully she danced, like all the other times we had
danced. Only this time, there was no smile, no happiness.
Slowly, but surely, we moved towards the balcony.
        The fresh night air that greeted me was so
refreshing compared to the warmth inside. I stopped when we
were alone, standing above the gardens, filled with flowers
of colours from a rainbow. There was a magnificent fountain,
pouring moon lit water into the pool below. The music
floated out to us, a ghostly melody in the night. Her hand
slipped away from mind without her realising, and she placed
both her hands on the stone railing, looking out into the
darkness, unseeing, never noticing the starlight pouring
into the gardens or it touching the pool of gleaming water.
        I watched her for a moment, wondering what was
wrong. And idea came to me, one that might cheer her up.
Materialising a rose in my hand, I held it out for her. It
was like all the other I had given her; red, just blooming,
with a long stem and green leaves.
        A moment passed, and her eyes seemed to focus on the
rose with a start. And without taking it, she turned and
looked up at me with her large blue eyes. Such an innocent
expression. Her eyes ran over my figure, my jet black hair,
my lips which she had known like no other, my hands. Then
she boldly lifted her hand and took the mask away from my
eyes, her soft delicate fingers just brushing my cheek. How
I wanted to hold her hand there, feel it pressing my face.
        Her hand dropped down to her side, and we stared
into each other's eyes for an eternity. How I wanted to
touch her face, to taste her lips. To feel her golden hair
slid through my fingers and hear her sweet laughter in the
air all around me.
        Finally, I spoke. There was no warmth in my voice.
Only a coldness which I had never shown to her before. "I
want to know why you lied to me, Serenity. Why you would
not tell me you are the princess of the Moon Kingdom."
        I could see clearly that she was shocked by my tone
and my words. And I regretted ever saying them. Tears welled
in her eyes, a sight sad enough to break my heart. Without
saying a word, she turned and ran away from me, the tears
spilling and falling like molten silver as she ran.
        I crushed the rose in my hand, it's tiny thorns
slicing my skin. I didn't care. I deserved the pain.
        Why had I talked like that to her? I am such a fool!
Let me die! Tears began to form in my own eyes, clear
droplets not yet fallen, but still full of regret, pain,
misery.
        "Hey, you Ass Hole!" an angry voice yelled at me
from behind. "What in Hell did you say to Serenity?" the
voice demanded.
        Hearing the strange voice, I turned around in shock,
my movement shaking the tears loose from my eyes. They fell
from me, two sparkling gems in the dark night, like angels
falling from Heaven. A girl stood before me, dressed in a
red gown, her violet eyes flaring, her black raven hair
shining deep purple in the light. Her face was filled with
anger for me.
        A moment passed, and I remembered who she was; Mars.
I was speechless. What could I say? How to explain to her
about all that had passed, and how I felt for her Princess!
This was torture, this was Hell. Let me die! Death would be
less painful.
        "Answer me, you idiot! Or I'll have the guards
arrest you for upsetting the Princess!" Mars threatened.
She was very fiery, and I believed that she would do what
she said.
        "Does it really matter now?" I whispered. "She'll
never talk to me again." A pain clutched my heart when I
said that. The tears were flowing freely now. How I missed
my Innocent Life. How I missed all the times I had been with
Serena, held her tight, whispered to her that I loved her,
kissed her, loved her sweet laughter and kind nature.
        Mars seemed to soften slightly, her eyes became
clam, and her face no longer seemed to hard. She said
nothing to me words for a moment, and then quietly asked,
"Who are you?"
        I smiled softly. "Your enemy, Prince Endymion, of
the Earth Kingdom," I answered. "No need to call the guards.
I'm leaving now. But please, tell Serenity I love her, no
matter what. I don't care that we are at war. I will do all
that is in my power to see to it we are together for
eternity."
        And with that, I teleported home, crying all the
way.
        Why did I feel so torn! Did I hate her or love her?
With all my soul, I wanted to hold her and say I love you,
now and for the rest of time. Yet another part of me wanted
to shake her, to yell at her, demand to know why she lied to
me, why she used me, even if she did love me.
        Love me. Did she love me? That look in her eyes,
the sadness, the pain. Did that mean she loved me? Why is
this universe so complex!
        I tore off my cloths and stepped into the shower,
letting the hot water cascade down my back, a steaming water
fall. The water matted my black hair, fell into my eyes. It
merged with my tears until they became one. How long I stood
there, just letting the water run over me, I did not know. I
only knew that at some point I felt eyes watching me, and
that I felt his presence nearby.
        "Not now, Armand," I managed to say, not bothering
to turn to look at him.
        "Only now do you miss her. Once you've realised how
much you love her," Armand laughed softly. "And you thought
you could just forget her, hate her. But you can't."
        I shut the water off and grabbed a towel and wrapped
it around my waist. "Don't talk to me about her!" I snapped.
"You have what you want, don't you? You never wanted me to
be with her! Now she hates me! Because I believed what you
told me!"
        Armand watched me calmly. "What I told you was
true."
        "I wish it wasn't!" I yelled, storming out of the
bathroom. "Don't you think it hurts?" I shouted at him,
anger flaring up within me. "Hating her? Oh, I know I
should, but I can't. She owns my heart. God, Armand, I am
torn. Half of me hates her for deceiving me. Half of me
loves her to death."
        "Life hurts, Endymion. Just accept you and her were
never meant to be. It would be easier. After all, your
kingdoms are at war. Sooner or later, you will forget about
her, and she, you," Armand said a little harshly, his voice
frank, hiding nothing.
        He left then, leaving me alone once more.
        How to make him understand that I would never be
able to forget her! And I doubted she would be able to
forget me too. We were soul bonded. Of that I was sure.
>From the moment I laid eyes on her and kissed her. Our soul
had become one. And nothing, not even death, could ever
separate them again. At least we will have eternity.
        I walked slowly to my room and clothed myself in
black silk bed cloths. The cloth was soothing against my
warm skin, as was the sheets on my bed as I slipped under
the covers. The pillows were soft, and invited sleep. More
than anything, I wanted to slip into unconsciousness, just
to forget my pains, even if only for a few hours.
        How wrong I was, to think sleep would release me
from my pain.
        Dreams plagued me through the night. Her sweet face,
infused with pain as she looked up at me, her eyes filled
with tears. And my harsh cold voice hurting her.
        Again and again, I felt her delicate fingers brush
my face as she reached up to take my mask away from my eyes.
She still had it. She had run off with it clasped tightly in
her hand. That image of her stayed with me for quite some
time, silent tears flowing always from her eyes and down
her silken smooth face. And always that look in her eyes;
'you hate me, you don't love me any more'.
        A harsh metallic voice met my senses when I awoke
the following morning. It spoke of various things; dress in
correct uniform for the classes, report to them on time,
obey all orders or punishment will be enforced.
        And what classes did I have today, my first day at
this new and wonderful school? Well, there is my time table
in the information computer situated on the wall. Self
defence classes. Uniform; shorts and top, black of course.
And always with that insignia. I didn't want to go.
        Who was in my class? No one I knew. Where was Nick
and Dawn? Some where, but not here with me. This room was
too barren. God, the lights are too bright. And there are
too many mirrors. I don't want to fight. I want to lie down
and hate myself for what I've done to her.
        Fight!
        Fight? Why should I fight this opponent? I don't
even know her. And she doesn't want to either. She has the
same coloured hair as my Princess. And she looks so lost
and afraid.
        Fight!
        Don't yell at me! I don't want to fight!
        My teacher materialises a cane in his hand. So, he
has powers too? What a small universe this is. And now he
threatens to use it? Yes, why not hit me? Better than to
obey you, you bastard! I would rather die than ever take
orders from you!
        It came down hard across my face.
        Her again. Tears streaming down her face from her
sad, sad eyes.
        God, it hurt! The pain was stinging my face. Was
that warmth blood running down my face and neck? Am I lying
on the ground?
        Get up and fight!
        No! I will never!
        Again it hit me. Across my back this time. How
strange this pain was. It seemed to pulse out through my
body and merge with the other source.
        "Do you want another?" the voice of my instructor
demanded.
        Tom, my horse riding instructor, was never this
mean. He didn't even hit his horses. I turned my head away
from him, my face still stinging from the first blow. The
other nine students in my class of ten all stood in a
corner, watching with frightened eyes.
        Another cut came down on my legs.
        I will not cry out! I will not give into this pain!
        "Get up!" the instructor shouted at me. He grabbed
the back of my top and jerked me up.
        Without thinking, I struck out at him, hitting him
squarely on the jaw. He let go of me, his mouth open, one
hand covering where I had struck him. Then his expression
changed, from shock to pure out rage and anger. With a
gesture of his hand, I was flung back into the wall. My
head impacted it with a loud crack. The world began to
darken, but I would not slip into unconsciousness. My
teacher crossed the room menacingly until he stood above me.
        "I hope this will teach you to behave," he said
coldly, his voice barely containing his anger. "Now get up
and report to your next class."
        I pulled myself up, glaring at him all the while.
With a little help from the girl our teacher had wanted me
to fight, I stumbled out of the training room. We made our
way to our next class, which fortunately didn't require any
physical activity.
        The teacher was saying something. The Moon Kingdom
and the Black Moon Kingdom are our enemy, as is the Shadow
Kingdom. At all costs, they must be destroyed.
        The Moon Kingdom.
        Why did you lie to me, Serenity? Did you think I
would have loved you any less if you had told me the truth?
But the question was, would I have hated her? She destroyed
me kingdom! She killed my parents. And she hurt me. Am I
still bleeding? Why doesn't someone send me to the sick bay?
But then, in such a place where teachers were still allowed
to beat their students, why would there be one? After all,
we deserved the pain, right?
        "Are you paying attention!" the teacher shouted at
me.
        No, not this again.
        The crop landed centimetres from where my arm rested
on the desk.
        God, when will this day end?
        Pay attention!
        Pain was born on my arm. I looked down at it, a red
throbbing welt marking my limb.
        Have I died and go to Hell? How could Armand allow
this? Did he know how his teachers were treating us?
Whipping us and beating us?
        The same booming mechanical voice sounded over the
speaker system. End of lesson two. All students report to
the mess hall for lunch.
        "Darien!" Nick's voice called to me.
        I stopped and turned around. "Hey, Nick," I said
when he caught up with me. "Well, how was your first
classes?" I asked, limping along with him towards the mess
hall.
        "Better than your's," he said, very much concerned
when his eyes fell on my multiple wounds. "God, look at you!
You're bleeding, Darien. And I thought I got it bad when my
teacher slapped me across the face for not paying
attention."
        "Well, I got most of this for not fighting," I said
making a face. "And this welt on my arm for day dreaming.
The teachers don't take any crap from us here, do they?"
        "No. I hate this place, to put it frankly. How I'll
last for the next few years, I'll never know," Nick said as
we walked into the mess hall and picked up our food. "And
this, I must say, looks more like something fit for a worm!"
        I laughed softly. "Well, better to eat it than
starve."
        We sat down at a table, metal, with cold metal
chairs, and began our midday meal. Dawn joined us soon
after, looking very unhappy. It looked at if she had been
crying, and Nick stood up to embrace her. After a short
while, Dawn calmed down and sat, with Nick following suit.
        "How can people be so mean?" she asked softly. "My
teacher beat one of the student's in our class until he was
unconscious, and then just left him there." She hadn't seen
my current state yet, but I understood perfectly how she
felt.
        "What do they mean to achieve with this anyway?"
Nick demanded, an arm still around Dawn's shoulder. "To
scare us into behaving?"
        "Most likely," I replied. "When the student's in my
class saw our teacher hit me, they were afraid. Their tactic
here is to threaten us into submission. Either we join them,
or they'll hurt us."
        Dawn looked up at me. Her eyes widened and she
started crying again.
        "It's alright, Dawn. I'm not hurting that badly.
Not as much as David and Luke were hurting after their
little fight with Diamond and Sapphire!" I joked, but found
it rather depressing.
        We left for our afternoon classes when lunch was
over. None of us wanted to be late.
        The next few days passed much like the first day. I
still refused to fight in my self defence classes, and my
constant wondering mind angered my teachers to the point
where they were beating me in every class. Nick and Dawn
tried to reason with me, that what I was doing was
pointless; that it was better to submit to them than to be
hurt like so.
        Finally, after the first week of my training, I was
sent to see Armand. My teachers were fed up with me. Even
Nick and Dawn had given up trying to reason with me. Well,
at least I had provided them with the perfect example of
how not to behave. I smiled at that thought as I walked
towards Armand's throne room. What did he find so
interesting about that room?
        The guards saw me approach and opened the door for
me without a word or glance in my direction. Armand's throne
room was as it had been the first time I had seen it.
Nothing seemed to have changed. The dragons which made up
the columns seemed to glare down at me with their gems eyes,
menacing giants who threatened me without words.
        As soon as I entered though, I knew that Armand was
not alone. I felt the presence of two other beings with him,
and they, like Armand, were not human.
        A heavy oak table, darkly stained, sat in the middle
of the room. At it sat two figures in chairs, playing chess
as if there was no other care in the word. One of them I at
once recognised as Armand, the young man that looked like a
boy, and the other I did not know. The stranger looked
older, a man in his early twenties, with dark hair, black
in fact, and the brightest green eyes that seemed to hold
immense power and demand respect.
        The third I did not see until he spoke, in an almost
annoyed tone, and rather impatient too. "Why the two of you
waste your time playing chess, I will never understand,"
the other stranger said. He sat, lounging in Armand's
throne, watching the other two. Like the other man I did
not know, he looked to be in his early twenties, with
shoulder length golden blond hair, and grey eyes.
        "Lestat, how else do you expect us to pass
eternity?" the man with black hair asked in a logical voice.
He moved a piece and then looked up at Lestat. "And may I
remind you, that you often played chess with your father
when you were mortal."
        Lestat gave off a cruel and bitter laugh. "Louis,
Louis. You think I liked it? My good for nothing brothers
forced me. And my father. Well, I am so thankful to you for
killing him."
        "I only did as you pleaded of me, Lestat, and back
then, I knew nothing better! With you for my teacher!" Louis
shot back, anger seeping into his voice.
        "Please, Lestat, Louis. We have company," Armand
said without looking up from the playing board. "And Louis.
Checkmate." Armand stood and turned to me. He looked me up
and down for a moment and then frowned. "Why are you like
so?" he finally asked.
        I was slightly confused by his words at first, and
then I looked down at myself. I wore only a pair of black
shorts and a black shirt as I had just been to my self
defence class. And they showed off my welts and bruises
perfectly, both on my arms and legs. "Well, your teachers
didn't like me," I said, and sat down on the marble floor,
feeling very weak and tried all of a sudden. Had I been
eating? Probably not. My mind was always else where these
days.
        Armand walked over to me and lifted me easily. He
set me down at his chair, looking rather concerned.
"Endymion, why are you doing this to yourself?"
        "Ah, so this is the long lost Prince Endymion of
the great Earth Kingdom," Lestat said, jumping out of the
throne and walking up to the table. "He doesn't look so
great," he said, and laughed at his own joke. Louis glared
at him.
        "I'm doing this because I hate my life, and I would
rather feel this pain now than to suffer what my hearts
deals me," I muttered, staring off into space.
        "Lestat, Louis, if you could just leave us," Armand
said softly.
        "Oh yes, King Armand!" Lestat said with a laugh, and
teleported away.
        "Why I put up with him, I'll never know," Louis
mumbled, and followed Lestat.
        Armand moved around the table and sat across from
me. He looked at me without saying anything for a while, as
if studying me.
        "Who were they?" I asked, breaking the silence.
        "Old friends of mine. Don't concern yourself over
them," Armand replied. "But Endymion, you can't continue
like this. My 'teachers', as you call them, will not stand
for it, and they will hurt you more and more. Don't you fill
angered by the pain they cause you? Don't you wish to fight
back? Where is the hate in you? And Endymion, when they beat
you, why do you not use the powers I have taught you?"
Armand asked, reaching across the table and touching my
face. "And your beautiful face. It's black and blue," he
muttered with a shake of his head.
        "I don't feel anything, Armand, except for the pain
in my heart and soul," I said softly.
        Anger seemed to fill Armand. "So Serenity is the
reason of all of this?" he demanded. "Endymion, don't you
realise she is doing this to hurt you? And you think she
loves you? Think again, my dear mortal friend. She thinks
nothing of you. See for yourself if you do not believe me."
A magical portal appeared in front of me, and through it I
saw what Armand meant.
        Serenity sat on her bed, all white, with a snow
white canopy. She held her face in her hands, silently
crying, her tears still flowing. Clasped in her hand was my
mask.
        "Serenity?" Mars's voice called to her.
        "Go away, Mars! I don't want to hear your taunts!
Just leave me alone," Serenity sobbed.
        Mars came into her room anyway, still in her red
gown, and sat down next to her Princess on the bed. She
looked a little uncomfortable, but placed a hand on
Serenity's shoulder. "It was that boy, wasn't it? The boy
in the tuxedo. He said he was Endymion, Prince of the Earth
Kingdom. What did he do to you? And how does he know you?"
        "He's just some fool I met on Earth!" Serenity
cried. "I hate him, Selene, I hate him! I wish I never met
him. Oh Mars, I wish I'd never gone to Earth!"
        "But why do you hate him?" Mars asked gently, which
seemed very unlike her nature.
        "Because my mother is upset with me because of him!
He was there, in my grasp, and I lost him! Oh, if only I had
never met him. My mother wouldn't be angry with me now if I
never met him!" Serenity exclaimed, throwing herself on her
bed.
        Mars tried to comfort her, to no avail.
        The portal faded, and I stared at it, wide eyed, not
wanting to believe what Serenity had said. "It's not true.
It can't be true!" I exploded, standing up suddenly and
backing away from Armand. The chair fell down as I pushed
against it.
        "I'm sorry, Endymion, but what I showed you really
happened. Right after you left her," Armand said quietly.
"And as much as you don't want to believe it, it's the
truth. She does not love you! She used you! You heard what
she said. Need I remind you?"
        "No! I've heard enough! Just leave me be!" I shouted
at him. "I hate this world! I hate who I am! I hate my life!
God, Armand, why does this have to be so? I was so sure we
were meant to be!" I dropped to my knees, and stared in a
daze at the floor.
        "Endymion, don't you see? She never loved you. And
her kingdom killed your parents. Revenge, Endymion, revenge.
When she is dead, her body lying at your feet, your pain
will end. I promise you that. When you kill her, your pain
will die too," Armand said.
        I looked up at him. He stood above me, looking down
at me. "My pain will end," I echoed softly. I felt light
headed. There was a flash of blue and silver light, and I
felt the most immense power fill me, lifting me, changing
me.
        The light faded. I stood, facing Armand. Power
welled inside of me, and I stared through my black vacant
eyes and saw the image of Serenity dying, my crystal sabre
through her heart. I smiled at that. For the pain you've
caused me an my family, Serenity, you will die. I will make
sure of that, my dear, sweet Princess of the Moon Kingdom.
        I changed. Maybe I wanted it, maybe I despised it.
But I changed.
        "Darien!" Nick said desperately one day when he
caught up with me after a class. "What is wrong with you?
First you get yourself almost killed from all the injuries
you forced apon yourself from your teachers, and now this?
God, Darien, it's like you've become a totally different
person. You're so cold now, and so distant."
        "Well, at least I am unharmed," I said, a smile
playing on my lips.
        "Yes, but you're not yourself! It seems as if you
have one obsession within your soul that you can not rid!
You care about nothing except that obsession! Where is my
best friend? Where is the guy that use to laugh at my jokes
and talks to me when I'm feeling down?" Nick asked.
        "Gone. Why feel at all, Nick? In this world we live
in, it's better not to feel. Nothing matters except the
ultimate goal," I said, my eyes becoming vacant.
        "And what is that ultimate goal?" Nick questioned,
almost angrily.
        "To see the destruction of the Moon Kingdom," I
smiled evilly.
        "You don't mean that! Don't you know who belongs to
that kingdom?" Nick exclaimed. He knew. He knew everything.
About Serena being Serenity. About Endymion belonging to the
Earth Kingdom, and that the Moon Kingdom had destroyed the
Earth Kingdom.
        "Yes. Yes I do," I whispered like a mad man. "It's
my only reason in life."
        Nick stared at me then. Stared as one stared at a
stranger that had just called their name. "I don't know
you," he whispered. "You're not Darien." And then he turned
and ran away from me, almost as if he was afraid of me.
        From that day on, I was constantly cold to Nick and
Dawn, and everyone else that cared to cross my path. My
eyes remained dark always, and seemed to be filled with
hatred at the universe around me. And when my symbol did
appear on my forehead, the earth was always black. No love
touched my heart nor soul; no light penetrated the darkness
within the walls I had built for myself, to protect myself
from the pain it would otherwise feel.
        To my teachers, I was no longer the dreaming
student. I was the student who followed every order, every
demand, who completed all tasks with a ruthlessness that
surprised and shocked them from time to time. In the self
defence classes, I fought as they wanted to me to fight.
And more often than not they had to stopped me from hurting
my opponent to the point of fatal injuries. And I never
let my teachers touch me with their hard canes again. My
powers made sure of that.
        I found out that their powers where nothing compared
to mine. Their minds were weak, and I could easily just
twist a thought here or there, so that they no longer
remember why they wanted to hit me at all in the first
place. And it was so amusing to do that!
        "Get to work!" The cane appeared.
        "But of course!" I whispered back. I narrowed my
eyes. The power flared.
        The teacher shook his head, and then looks confused
for a moment. Why did he have the cane in his hand. I was
doing my work!
        "Good, good. You're doing well," the teacher said,
and walked away.
        I laughed in my mind.
        Nick and Dawn soon became lost to me. I saw only my
lust for revenge, and I fed only that want. Everyday, after
the classes I was forced to attend, I would train by myself,
becoming more powerful with the powers I had been born with.
        I soon became the most powerful student. I topped
all the classes, caring for nothing but becoming the best
so that I would have the power to destroy her. I spoke to
hardly a soul, barely even seeing Armand. On the days when
no classes ran, I spent all my time in the silent library,
reading this book or that. And why did I do this? Well, I
did need to know information about the worlds around me, and
how or when this contraption was invented to kill a girl.
How else would I learn how to kill Serenity? To make her
pay for hurting me and destroying my once perfect life? She
would have to suffer. Yes, suffer intense pain as I had. I
smiled darkly.
        Whether a spark of humanity still existed in me, a
spark of love for this girl I was so intent on destroying,
I did not want to know. I didn't want to dwell on that pain
again, to feel that soul searing pain that tore at me
always when I thought of how I had loved her.
        Instead, I forced myself to train, to push myself
to limits I could barely stand. I used my powers until I
fainted from shear exhaustion, and studied till I feel
asleep at the desk in my study.
        My old life was forgotten, my Innocent Life. Did I
still care about my lost friends? David and Luke? Did I
still miss my adopted family, my dear sister Michelle with
her sweet smile? And what about my beloved horse, Wild
Spirit, the one thing that had kept me sane when I had
first found out the truth about myself? And Earth. Did I
not miss the sun rises and sun sets? The vast blue skies
with theever changing patterns in the clouds? The wind that
blew through my hair as I galloped wildly with Wild Spirit
through the mountains. Did I still care about all of that?
        No. Nothing matter now. Nothing but the destruction
of Serenity, and the ending of my eternal pain. And peace.
I wanted peace. Please, no more pain. Just sweet peace.
        And so the first year of my new life passed by.
Taking with it my humanity, my friends. Giving me my powers,
my coldness, my hate, anger and pain. Darien no longer
existed. It was only a name. Now, only Endymion, Prince of
the Earth Kingdom existed. Darien was dead.

End of Part Two, Chapter Two.