Title: Friends For Life Author: Grace Parts: 1/? Email: GraceSpradlin@hotmail.com From the Beginning... Serena looked at her best friend, Darien. They had been friends since they could remember. She was only seven right now and he was ten. The boy was the Prince of the Earth. His parents didn't mind him hanging out with Serena for her parents were friends with Darien's. Serena's mother, Sarah, and Darien's mother, Gia, were best friends from the start so Serena was always over at the palace with Darien. He walked over to a tree, peeked around it, and motioned for Serena to follow him. Serena tiptoed up to him and gave him a strange look. He pointed around through a bush for her to look. She peeked through and saw Nephrite, Zoicite, Kunzite, and Jediete. She got what Darien was trying to say. Darien held up five fingers then whispered, "When I say 'zero' go!" Serena looked back at the other guys. She nodded her head as Darien whispered,"Five.....Four.....Three.....Two... ..One.....Zero." They both jumped from the bushes and yelled, "BOO!!!!!" The four first-hand generals jumped then ran, screaming their heads off. Serena and Darien burst out laughing. "ENDYMION?!?!?!?!" they both turned and saw the Queen with an angry expression on her face. "Uh oh!" Darien said as he grabbed Serena's hand. "Wha--?" but she was cut off as Darien put a finger to her lips. "Shhh. Let's go sneak in the palace and say we were in there the whole time. Let's hurry!" They ran to the back gates of the palace and Darien climbed a tree. He put his hand down and Serena grabbed it and helped her up. The walked out on a branch and jumped in Darien's balcony. "We--" but he was cut off as Queen Gia walked into the room and looked at the two of them. "Endymion? What were you doing scaring your friends? They were practically in tears!" Darien looked at his mother than answered, "Mother, it was a joke. We thought they were tough enough to handle it." Darien looked at the floor and started fidgeting with his fingers. "Please, do not do that again. They are your friends. Why don't you spend time with them, anyways?" Gia looked at Serena then back at her son. "I'm sorry, mother. We will include the four generals in our group. We were going to play with them too, but they said that Serena had to leave because she is a girl." Darien glanced at Serena who had tears in her eyes. Serena never liked it when the other boys wouldn't let her tag along. "I will talk to them, but as for now Serena your mother is waiting to take you home. And Endymion dinner will be in ten minutes so freshin' up." Queen Gia walked out of the room and left the two alone. "Bye, Dare." Serena walked to the door. "Bye, Sere." Darein waved as she walked out of his chambers. Serena headed for the carriage waiting outside, in front of the royal palace. Her mother waved to her for her to run. When Serena got in the carriage, it headed for their cottage. She looked out the window. She never did like riding in carriages. It wasn't scary, she just didn't like it. They were riding through the woods now, and it was awefully quiet for this time of day. Serena layed her head back and closed her eyes. All of a sudden the carriage jerked to a stop and she was thrown to the other side, smack into the wall. Her mother grabbed her waist and pulled her into a sitting position. "Why did we stop?" Serena's dad peered out the window. The carriage door was jerked open and a man who had his face covered, yanked Serena's dad out and another man grabbed her mother. Serena was too frightened to do anything but crouch down in the far corner of the carriage. She looked out and saw about four or five men. She snuck out of the carriage and climbed underneath. She could hear her mother screaming. Serena didn't know what to do. She started crying but made sure they didn't hear her. One of the men back-handed her mother to get her to shut up. "Shut up, you damn wench!" the man growled. "Hey, don't hurt her! You heard what the boss said!" one of the other men said. "Change of plans!" he pulled out his sword and stabbed it straight into her father's chest. Her father slumped to the ground, not having enough time to utter a word. Then the man took his sword and slashed her mother's throat. Her blood spilled everywhere before she too, slumped to the ground. Serena hadn't saw that much blood in her life. She couldn't scream or they would probably go after her, too. She looked again at her fallen mother and whimpered. She heard the men ride off into the woods with the horses that were used to pull the carriage. She peered out from under the carriage and it was almost dark by then. She could tell that she was probably a good 5 miles away from home and 3 miles from the palace. Serena crawled out from beneath the carriage and headed for the palace. She was in a zombie like state because of the shock. To her, she didn't hear anything, smell anything, or feel anything. She let her feet take her where ever they were going. It took her two hours but she managed to reach the palace. Right at the front gates, she passed out from exhaustion. The guards, recognizing their prince's best friend, ran to her and carried her into the medical chambers of the palace. Serena woke up the next day feeling very hungry. She sat up and looked around her. She noticed right away that this was not her room, nor was it the cottage she lived at. Then the last moments of the other night came crashing back into her memory and she started to whimper. She was all alone now. Her parents were now dead and she didn't have any other known relatives. The door to her room cracked open and a small boy walked in, and she knew it was Darien. He walked over to her and hugged her tight. He didn't know why his best friend was crying. He knew that she was a very tough girl and it would take a lot to make her seriously cry. Yes, she would cry when people hurt her feelings but it wasn't this serious. Darien pulled back to look in at her. Her face was smudged with dirt and her clothes were torn. Her eyes were bloodshot, now. "What happened Sere?" He needed to know who did this to her. The only response he got was that she grabbed on to him tighter and cried harder. He sighed. After about a good ten minutes, her sobs died down to mere whimpers. In the other room, the Queen was pacing back and forth. 'Why did Serena just appear at the front gates? I thought she went home with her parents. I have got to talk to her.' Gia walked to her son's bed chambers. Darien had insisted that Serena take his room for the night. She peeked in and saw Serena crying softly in Darien's shirt. 'What happened?' she needed to know. If anything happened to her best friend, Sarah, she would practically go on a killing spree. She walked over to the end of the bed and motioned for her son to leave. He placed Serena back on the bed and walked out leaving the Queen alone to talk with her. She sat down beside Serena and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Serena dear? What's wrong? Why are you so upset?" Serena looked into Gia's eyes. She began to cry again but then stopped herself. She had to get it out in the open so nobody would ask her again. "When we *sniff* were riding through the *sniff* woods on *sniff* *sniff* our way back *sniff* home, we were attacked *sniff* *sniff* by a group of men with *sniff* masks. One of the *sniff* men took his sword *sniff* and..." she paused and looked Gia straight in the eye. "...he *sniff* he *sniff* he killed papa and mama. *sniff*" This time she did not hesitate to cry. She broke down and Gia pulled her into her arms. "Poor baby, I am so sorry. You saw this happen?" Serena nodded through sniffles and coughs. "I will kill whoever did this to you and your parents." Gia was pissed-off now. After about twenty minutes later, Gia could here the soft pitter patter of the rain against the window. The girl's sobs had died down and she knew that Serena was now asleep. Gia knew that Serena had no other living relatives. She also knew what she had to do. She tucked the young girl under the covers and kissed her good-night. In the hallway, she leaned up against the wall. 'Damn those bandits!!! Why the hell did they go and do that?!?!?! I will get rid of them varmints if it's the last thing I do! Nobody kills my best friend and her husband, while leaving their child alone, without me doing anything. I will kill every last scum on this planet until I get the people who did this to Sarah and Seth!' Gia was now in tears, herself. She had been best friends with Sarah since they were toddlers. They were like sisters. When Sarah had turned eighteen, she met a man named Seth who worked in town. She loved him and he loved her. They married and four years later they had Serena. Gia had married the Crown Prince of Earth, Edmond. A year later they had a son who they named Endymion, Darien for short. From that point on, Sarah and her family would come to the palace and visit the Queen. They would put their children in the nursery while they had tea. When Darien got older, Gia though he needed some guards, so she made it so that any young fellow who wanted the opportunity, just to come up and demonstrate their skills. It turned out that Nephrite, Jediete, Zoicite, and Kunzite had made the job. They were very skilled in the art of self-defense. They all lived in town but since they recieved the job of being the Prince's royal guards, they moved into the palace. From then on, Endymion and his guards would take every weekend to practice, no 'if's' 'ands' or 'buts'. Queen Gia walked over to her chambers. King Edmond was inside getting ready for the day. He was always a late sleeper. "Good morning, honey." He kissed her on the cheek while buttoning up his shirt. He saw the wary look in her eyes, and immediatly got worried. "What's wrong?" She looked at him then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Serena's going to have to live with us." He looked at her and noticed she was serious. "What happened?" He put his belt down and sat next to her. "Occording to Serena, Sarah and Seth were killed last night on their way back to their cottage." One by one, the tears fell from her eyes. All the King could mutter was a "How?" She looked at him and shook her head. She didn't know why someone would be so cruel. He hugged her while her body shook with uncontrollable sobs. King Edmond didn't know what to do. All they could do, was take Serena in. They already loved her as their own daughter. He looked down at his wife. 'This will take a lot of adjusting to, that I wish we never had to do.' He looked out the window and sighed. This was going to be hard for all of them to handle. He just hoped it would pass. He didn't want this burden layed on everyone here in the palace. Edmond placed his wife down on the bed and let her sleep. They could sleep through the day, the guards could watch over the palace for the day. He leaned back and fell asleep with Gia in his arms. TO BE CONTINUED......... Email me at Dedicated4Christ@hotmail.com Tell me if you like it. Should I continue with it? Well, send me comments or flames, and encouragment!