~Garden Gone Rampant~

Garden Gone Rampant


by Sunhawk

Epilogue

Darren lounged comfortably on the hotel room balcony and watched the antics below him. The rest of the band had taken over the hotel pool and seemed to be enjoying it fully. Darren smiled slightly as he watched Ben chase a screaming Anna and toss her into the aquamarine water.
Daniel, who was momentarily resting at the pool’s edge, noticed Darren watching them and waved cheerfully. The singer grinned and waved back, chuckling quietly. The group had begged Darren to join them but tonight there was a full moon and he wanted some quiet time, to think.
The dark-haired one absently played with the silver necklace hanging around his neck, remembering where he had gotten it from:
Darren had been sitting on a bench in a nearby park (not Central Park), soaking up some sun and trying to sort out his thoughts. He was piecing together all the bits of information he had, trying to understand what had happened just a few days ago.
Then a sudden movement beside Darren had startled him out of his contemplation. He looked up quickly and found that there was a large, black bird sitting beside him. Same as the last one he’d seen, blue eyes and all.
“Um, hello.” The singer said nervously, wondering what this bird was doing here. A faint lightbulb went off in his head.
“Lyruna?” he said hesitantly “is that you?” The bird didn’t say anything but Darren could have sworn he saw an amused twinkle in its eye. It hopped closer to him and shook its head slightly. The singer noticed that it had something glittering in its beak. Darren pondered for a moment, then slowly put his hand out. The bird lowered its dark head and dropped something into his palm. It almost slid out again and Darren had to scramble to grab it. The bird made a noise suspiciously like a chuckle and took off, dropping a piece of black paper into his lap as it glided away.
Darren opened his hand and studied what lay inside. It was a beautiful silver necklace, made out of a metal that seemed to shimmer and gleam. It had a small pendant on the chain that looked incredibly delicate, almost as fine as a single wire. Darren pulled experimentally at the links, they were much stronger than they looked. The singer lifted up the necklace to get a better look at the swinging pendant it held; it was a exquisite silver crescent moon, twinkling as it moved.
Darren slowly put it around his neck and did up the clasp, jerking his head back in surprise as a sudden noise (like a bell) sounded into the park air. The dark-haired one felt the chain to see what happened and realized that clasp had disappeared, the links were now seamless, unending. Darren sat still for a moment, the shrugged mentally. The singer looked at the slip of black paper he had been given. Written on it was a message in the same ornate, silver writing as the last note he had gotten.
It read:

Wear It Always
Protection And Prevention
No Longer Fear
City Or Moon
Happy Belated Birthday
~Lyruna~


Darren shook himself out of the memory and smiled as the moon came rising over the horizon, almost on cue. The necklace did seem to work, the moon’s light no longer acted as a transforming catalyst. Now, all it did was make Darren feel a little distant and often quiet. The band took it in stride, used to the singer’s peculiarities.
Darren pulled his gaze downward from the moon and watched Daniel for a little, as the guitarist cruised along easily in the pool.
Daniel was a bit of a puzzle. He seemed to remember what had happened that night in the park, but he acted like it had happened to someone else and he had just heard about it. Darren didn’t remember much about that fateful night, but he had resolved to tell Daniel as much as he could about everything else. It had been rather difficult and Darren had been watching Daniel’s face the whole time, fearful of what he might see. The singer had seen Daniel struggling hard to grasp what Darren was saying but Darren was glad he was trying. The old Daniel would have just laughed at him.
What did I do to deserve such a good friend? I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t found me. Darren thought, feeling very grateful towards his best friend.
Almost like he had heard Darren’s thoughts, Daniel turned around and looked up at the singer again. The guitarist waved again and made a gesture that was half question, half entreaty. It translated to something like Why are you just sittn’ there all by yourself? Come join the fun!
Darren considered for a minute, then nodded and waved like Yeah, ok, hold on a sec.
Daniel grinned widely and swam off. Darren went inside to grab his Star Wars swimming trunks.
After a few minutes, Darren came running out onto the deck, screaming “CANNONBALL!”
The singer jumped into the pool, causing a huge splash that swamped over the pool’s edges. The girls shrieked and Daniel laughed loudly. Above their heads, unseen and unnoticed by all, a shape passed briefly over the moon, it looked like a huge crow but of course it wasn’t a crow. Crows don’t fly at night.
The shape quickly passed into the night, leaving the unblocked moonlight to fall the oblivious band.
Darren glanced up one last time at the moon, then grinned. Being Elven wasn’t normal, but he hadn’t had a normal life in a long time.
He had his friends and he had his music.
Darren was happy.

~fin~

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