When Love Strikes Chapter Two November, 2001 The next few weeks went by uneventful. Serena, Amy and Tony picked Seiya up from the Airport. Raye and the rest couldn't make it because they had classes. They learned more about Seiya and the group-spent nights hanging out together, or just sitting around the living room watching movies and TV. " Serena! Wake up, Gel!" Seiya shouted from the door. Serena moaned and threw a pillow at the longhaired green eyes Seiya. " Go away!" She said Seiya easily caught the pillow and threw it back at her, " Now why would I want to do that?" After being hit with her own pillow, Serena sat up and glared at her friend. Unaware that her tank top had slipped exposing her breasts. Seiya eyed the two perfect white globes. "Ya know luv, if I were straight ya'd be tempin' me." Serena looked down at her and pulled the shirt back into place, she'd never been an overly modest person. She looked at Seiya, they'd found out after picking him up that he was gay. Not that any of them minded too much. He was fun to flirt with and knew more about fashion then Serena, which was saying a lot. " Well then I guess it's a good thing you're gay, isn't it?" Seiya gave her a mock pout, " I'm hurt luv." Serena tossed her pillow at him again. " If only that were true. Besides what would Kyle say if he say you talking to half naked women?" Seiya caught the pillow again and grinned, " It's half naked men, I have to worry 'bout luv." Serena picked up her copy of Othello off hr nightstand and looked at it as if trying to decide weather or not to hurl it at him. " You're incorrigible, Seiya." She said putting the thick book back down. Seiya smiled and pulled the door closed as he left, he stuck his head back through, " I luv ya too babe." He said then shut the door before Serena could come up with a come back. He sauntered into the living room. Raye and Amy were sitting at the table discussing the upcoming winter break and what they wanted to do on it. He walked over to them and gave them each a peck on the cheek, " Morning, gels." " Hey Seiya," Amy said drinking her coffee " Is the princess awake?" Raye asked taking a look at the map on the table in front of them. " Yes, she is." Serena said walking out of her room, wearing an orange and black wetsuit. It was zipped halfway with the arms and upper body part flapping around her hips. She was wearing a multi-colored bikini top; her hair was done in a french knot at the nape of her neck. She had a duffel bag at her feet and a towel slung over her shoulders. " She lives," Said a mocking voice. Lightened with a lilting Scottish Brogue. Serena stuck her tongue out at Tony, admiring his sleek well-built body silently. It was encased in a black and gray wetsuit; Tony had his on properly but like Serena's it was only half zipped. " Stuff it, Scottish boy and let's go." She said kissing each of the girls' cheeks and hugging Seiya. " We'll be back in a couple hours. We need to get more dive time in before exams." Amy smiled, " Okay, have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Serena eyed her friend as she headed out of the door after Tony, " And what is it that you wouldn't do, Ames?" Amy raised a brow and didn't answer. Serena just smiled and closed the door, Amy had started dating Zoicite just after a couple weeks and they had started sleeping together after a month. She smiled; she was glade that her friends were happy. " Penny for yer thoughts?" Tony's voice invaded in her thoughts Serena shrugged, " no biggie. I was just thinking about Amy and Zoi." Tony nodded as they walked down the street toward the research dock. " They make a cute couple," he said. Serena nodded and pulled on the upper part of her suit. " Rena, can I ask you something?" " Sure," Serena said " What are the scars on your stomach and lower back?" Serena paused, trapped in the past. She could still feel the metal as it bit into her. Tearing through her skin like a hot knife through butter. " Rena?" Tony asked trying to get her attention " I had an accident a few years ago. I was riding the motor-cross circuit with my little brother and cousin. We were first and second in the middle of a race when my cousins' bike blew. Shrap metal cut into me; I was knocked off my bike. My wrist was crushed when it was run over by another rider. I lived, with only a couple scars to show for what I had been through. My cousin wasn't as lucky, he died almost instantly when his bike exploded." She answered shivering at the memories. Tony looked at the small woman at his side, and tried to imagine something like that happening to her. Serena unconsciously touched the scars on her side. She knew that they looked like burn or acid scars. Her father had offered to pay for plastic surgery to have them removed, but Serena has declined. She knew it was small compared to the life of her cousin, but she had kept them in remembrance of him. " Rena, why is there a boat with your name on it at the dock?" Tony asked making Serena blink and look to where he was pointing. She let out a squeal at seeing the small black and silver speedboat. She rushed up to is and ran a hand over its sleek sides. Tony raised a brow, and followed her to the side of the boat. " I take it that this is your boat?" Serena nodded, " Yea a gift from my devoted father, when I turned nineteen. I had to leave it in Michigan when I came here." Tony looked at the sleek craft, storing the information away in his memory. Suddenly a young man emerged from the steering shaft. He jumped over the side of the boat and ran toward them. " Rena!" the man yelled and lifted Serena off of the ground spinning her before lowering her back to the ground. " Sammy!" Serena said and hugged her brother again really quick. Then stepped back, " What are you doing here?" Sammy smiled, " Father sent me to deliver the 'Rena'." Serena smiled she'd been getting homesick recently, " Aren't you supposed to be in school, young man?" Sammy raised a brow; " I'll have you know that I already took my end of term exams." Serena suddenly remembered Tony and turned to him, " Tony I would like you to meet my brother, Samuel Alexandre Coleman." Tony shook Sammy's hand, " Tony McClarty." Serena wrapped an arm around Sammy's, " are you going to do the dive with us?" she asked Sammy nodded, " Sure." Tony and Serena went and picked up their dive equipment from the research building then walked back to the boat. Sammy was standing at the wheel dressed in a wetsuit of black and green. " Let's book it!" He said as Tony and Serena climbed on board. Serena was tossed back into Tony as the boat tilted against the waves, " Sammy this isn't a race!" Sammy just laughed and increased the speed of the boat. About an hour later Sammy slowed the boat down and looked over his shoulder at his sister, " So where to?" Serena looked around, taking in landmarks and other things, " change course by two degrees northeast." Sammy nodded and changed the direction of the boat, a half and hour later they were stopped and getting their air tanks on and checking each other for screw-ups. Serena looked over at her brother, " Tony and my masks are fitted with radios so we can talk to each other during the dive." Sammy smiled and pointed to the microphone on his mask, " What channel are you two going to be on?" Tony raised a brow and looked at Serena, " Four right?" Serena nodded and lowered the dive bouy into the water; the orange flag stuck up letting passing boats know that there was a dive going on. She slipped her mask and respirator on. " Ready?" She asked over the radio. The other two nodded and Serena gave them a thumbup sign before falling off the side of the boat into the water. She surface and smiled, "I'm going down you guys can follow when your in." " Okay," Sammy said. Tony nodded Serena turned and dove under the water swimming down she watched in amazement as the fish swam passed her. A school of silver backs swam through her and for a moment She felt as though she was walking on the moon because all she could see were the fish. Sammy and Tony caught up to her after the fish cleared. She turned to face them treading water for a moment infront of them, " Tony do you have the camera?" " Aye, Rena." Tony said tugging on a rope at his belt, the boxlike camera floated into his waiting hands. " Good you can start videoing the reef, Sammy i want you to check for any evidaence of toxin posioning." Sammy gave her a thumbsup and turned swimming a little ways away. Tony was already at the reef taping the creatures. Serena was about to go join him when she spotted a silvery thing on the ocean floor. She looked around then swam down to it. She couldn't tell what it was in the dim light so she shoved it into a pocket of her wetsuit and joined Tony at the reef. Two hours later they resurfaced and climbed into the boat, Serena tossed her gear down and unzipped her wetsuit halfway. Then plopped down on a bench and leaned back against the side. Sammy sat next to her and Tony stood at the wheel. " We need to be getting back." Serena and Sammy nodded. " You drive Tony." Serena muttered curling up agianst her brother and leaning her head on his shoulder. " Okay," Tony said he started the boat and turned them around heading back to the island. ****** Later that night after saying goodbye to her brother Serena went through her gear from ealier and blinked when she pulled out a flat metal disc that had algey covering it. " What the..." she muttered and took it into the bathroom and ran hot water over it and scrubbed it clean. She blinked, it was a really old looking amulet. " This must be what I picked up from the floor." She said and looked at it close, it looked almost spanish in origin and was engraved with some sort of writing. She couldn't be sure what, in the center was a black stone that didn't look like any she had ever seen before. " It's pretty..." she muttered and slipped it over her head and headed back into her bedroom. She had to write up the report from that days' dive. She sat down at her computer and turned it on, she logged onto the net planning on checking her mail before typing the report. She smiled at the new mail Icon and clicked it, she had two mails from her father. One from her cousin Zoe and one from Anonmyus. She read and replied to the ones from her family then clicked the anonmyus one. Serena frowned, to her it looked like an old journal writing. November 16th ' I have placed extra men on the ramparts. But do not know if it will hold the men of the wyrm back. I can only pray that this reaches the maiden before it is too late for her to help us. I pray that she arrives safely on our lands. I have not heard much about here except that she is truely beautiful. I must go now my sister Mina is knock on the chamber door. She's sounds so frightened, as so am I. If there is a maiden out there please...please help us. Signed, Lord Darien Lynchaster earl of Northhest' Serena stared at the strange email then quickly created a new folder and stored it there. She typed up her report and emailed it to the Aquatics professor before climbing into bed. As she drifted off to sleep she unconsciously clutched the amulet that she had found ealier that day. The next morning she woke up feeling groggy as if she hadn't had a goodnights sleep. And rolled onto her back staring up at the celing and fingering the amulet without realizing it. She tried to remember the dreams she'd had the night before. She couldn't remember much except for the fact that it had been as if she was outside the peoples realm of reality. She could see and hear everything they said but they couldn't see and hear her. With a frustereated groan she rolled out of bed and stumbled to her computer turning it on she walked out into the hall in search of coffee while her computer booted up. " Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of thebed," Jadeite said from his seet at the table with Raye where they were drinking coffee and nibbling on toast. " Stuff it Jade, unless you want to deal with my wrath before i've had my caffine fix." "Oooo, she told you." Zoicite said as he emerged from Amys' room. His long blonde curly hair tangled around his head. Serena glared at them all and picked up her 44oz mug of coffee and went back into her room slamming the door behind her and locking it. She sat at her computer and surfed the net for a while before checking her mail. She took a sip of her coffee, " Let's see...Spam,spam,spam,Zoe,Zoe,Father,Zoe on Richarts name,Spam,Spam,Richart,Anonomyus." Serena quickly read all of the ones from her family and friends then deleted the spam mail and stared at the link with Anonomyus scrawled across it. Shrugging she clicked the link, again what looked like an old journal entry popped up on the screen. ' November 24th We have managed to hold off the Wyrm, but I do not know how long it will last. My sisters' Mina and Hotaru are sick. A strange plauge has swept the castle, Only Myself, Lita, Andrew, Haruka and few others seem to be uneffected. I begint to deny all accounts of people having seen the maiden. If she was real would she not come help us in our hour of need? I will defeat the Wyrm myself if she does not come soon. I have been told that the Maiden has two different colored eyes. It seems to me to be more the mark of the devil than of God. I grow tired... I will write more later. Signed, Lord Darien Lynchaster' Serena frowned and quickly stored the email with the old one and turned off the computer and pulled off her clothes before falling back into bed. She dropped off into unconsciousness imedeately. And was once again plauged by strange dreams. Only they were more clear and she could tell now that in the dream she was walking a castle. She couldn't help but notice how quiet it seemed than the last dream. Over the month before winter break, Serena continued having the strange dreams and getting the emails. She often found herself looking for the emails when she got online. Then one day a week before break she got one that wasn't written by Darien. But like the others they were written in an old journal format. 'December 20th My Lord has fallen ill, and like the rest of the castle it seems as if there is now hope of recovery. I have been faithfully started writting in Dariens' journal and pray that he will live to read what I have written. I still hold hope that the Maiden will return one day and save us. The Wyrm grows ever stronger, as the days pass. And winter is upon us. I must make this short, a hunting party is leaving the keep. I plan to ride with them. Lord Andrew Greskin' Serena broke out into a could sweat, Darien was sick? She shook her head and stored the email with the others. She now had over fifty emails, in this strange format. She sighed and stood walking out into the front room. She smiled at her friends, she'd told them months ago who her father was and they didn't seem to mind that she was from a 'gifted' family. " Hey Princess," Raye and Jadeite said and continued snuggling with eachother. Serena looked at them ignoring the nickname, " Hey guys where's Zoi and Amy?" Tony had left campus early for winter break so he could get home before he was snowed out. And Seiya had left a fewe days after when his boyfriend Kyle had shown up to take him away. Raye handed Serena a letter, " It seems they took off early too." Serena read the note and blinked, " She's pregnant?" Raye nodded, " two months." Serena leaned back against the couch and grinned like a fool, "You guys leave tomorrow?" They nodded, Serena smiled, " Well have a good trip if I don't see you in the morning. I'm totally worn out." "Goodnight Rena." Raye and Jadeite said. Serena said her goodnights and climbed got up walking down the hall to her room. She climbed into her bed and fell into a deep deep sleep. She never noticed when the amulet she found in the ocean started glowing or when the strange light engulfed her. As it faded her room was left empty only rainbow sparkles inthe air stayed and then they too were gone. ******* Darien yawned, and opened his eyes. He'd felt better, he'd woken up for the first time in a senight the night before. He dropped his arm back down to his side and frowned, when he encountered a lump in his bedspread. Serena rolled over and snuggled into the warmth, shivering slightly. She metally reminded herself to yell at Raye and Jadeite for turning off the heater. She frowned in her sleep and ran her hand over the warmth next her. She opened her silver eye and frowned it wasn't a pillow she was rubbing on. It looked like an arm, she lifted her head and found a hald naked man laying next to her and screamed. Dariens' eyes snapped open and he shot out of his bed, only to be met with a scream histartical female. " What in Gods' bones are ye doing in my bed?" He yelled Serena continued to scream and scrambled off the bed dragging the fur spread with her. " Your bed!?!" She yelled back her lavender/Silver eyes gleaming. "I should be asking YOU what you are doing in MY bed!" Darien growled low in his throat, he'd been sick for two weeks and on his first morning not feeling like horse dropping he's confronted with a histarical female. " Take a look around lady, I know my own room and CASTLE!" His sentance finished as a yell Serena blinked and looked around, finally what the man sunk in, " Castle?" she said weakly and dropped unconscious to the hard stone floor. The dry reeds scattering from under her.