Okay, here's Chapter 5 - Sorry it took me sooo long to
get chapter 4 out - I actually had a completely DIFFERENT
plan for how I wanted this plot to work out - so I had to
revise a few times until I liked it and had it exactly
how I wanted it!  Anyway, I hope you're still reading,
because I am still writing, and thanks for the email those
of you who did!!! I really really appreciate it :) And
without any further adu...

(Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Sailor Moon!!)

Rating: PG-13
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           ~<@>~   A Dark Lust - Chapter 5   ~<@>~
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	Serena. There she stood, a thin white sheet covering
her bruised body. Her blue eye's clouded over to a new gray
shade, hiding any hint of their once bright shine. Those eyes
were just a memory to Darien as he looked at the love of his
life now. Oh Gods, what had he DONE to her?
	Darien stepped closer to the mirror, reached out in
front of him and placed both of his hands on it's cool flat
surface. Tears stained his cheeks as he searched for words.
But nothing came - all he could manage was a meek, shaky,
"Serena..."
	Serena closed her eyes, a deep look of hurt and
sorrow lined her features, wells of tears splashed from
her jaw onto the cloth she held so tightly around her. She
too, stepped close to the viewer, and placed one of her hands
over where one of his rested. She opened her eyes back up,
looking deep into Dariens eye's, those eyes she feared she
would never see again...
	"No! Serena don't think like that," Darien pleaded
softly, reading into her thoughts. "We'll be together soon,
we will! And Serena, I'll get him for what he's done to you,
I swear it I-" Serena shook her head and spoke quietly,
trying to avoid breaking down - she couldn't let him see
that, "Darien... I -" Serena froze. Darien noticed the change
immediately - then he listened carefully, and heard the sound
of a door closing, then footsteps sounding throughout the
large room. Serena was visibly shaking now, causing Darien's
already shattered heart to crack in every last place possible.
But anger grew inside him, he knew who had just entered the
room.
	Erebus strode up beside Serena and casually slung
an arm around the girls bare shoulders, causing her to let
out a quiet sound of fear and disgust. Erebus didn't seem
to notice, he grinned happily, "Serena darling, I thought I
asked you to wait for me before you contacted him?" Darien
growled quietly. Serena looked from Darien to Erebus, then
at the floor, and quietly mumbled an apology. "Very good!"
Erebus smirked.
	Darien sneered, the hatred he felt icing over what
was left of his broken heart. "Erebus," He said coldly,
"you will pay dearly for what you've done - Let her go -
and I MIGHT consider killing you quickly." His words, though
quiet, were far more threatening than they could've been
if he had shouted them out. Luna looked at Artemis, the
tone of his voice was chilling.
	Erebus paused a moment, as if to consider what
Darien had just said - then shrugged it off. "Serena, my
dear, Shall I tell him what we've decided, or would you
like the honor?" Serena just kept her eyes lowered to the
floor and shook her head. "Very well then!" Erebus' grin
grew wider, "Serena has agreed to stay here with me!"
	Darien's eyes widened, "WHAT?!" Erebus chuckled,
"IN exchange for the four girls I captured along with her.
She didn't enjoy watching them be hurt, so I agreed to
let them go - if she remained here, with me. It's a done
deal, I'm contacting Nebil right away to release them
back to your home. You see? I can be gracious!" Darien
shook his head, pleading with Serena, "No! It can't work
this way! Take ME instead - please I beg of you!!" Erebus
quirked a brow at this, "YOU are begging ME? How very
interesting. You know - there was a time I might have
considered taking you up on that offer. A very long time
ago indeed, but now - it's out of the question. I have
what I want - in more ways than one. I have the beautiful
princess, and I have you - obviously in deep pain. It's
wonderful. I wouldn't give it up for the world, Darien."
	Darien felt hot tears again, Serena was obviously
crying now, her head still bowed, how he wished he could
see her face, tell her everything would be okay.. then
suddenly she did look up. Straight to Darien, the love
in her eyes was so apparent, even Erebus who wasn't
looking at her at the time could feel it's presence, much
to his distress. She mouthed, "I love you, my prince."
And Darien let out a sob, "Why are you doing this? Serena
please come back to me - you can't stay there!!" Erebus
narrowed his eyes, "This is a DONE deal. She stays. There
is no bargaining here. Come on Serena. Your conversation
is over!" He grabbed Serena roughly by the arm as she
shouted out her last words to Darien, "Please protect
them Darien.. Please!"

	The mirror returned to it's normal setting and
Darien looked back at himself, he was very pale. He
was lost, just staring blankly at the mirror - until
he felt a small, warm, fuzzy paw touch his right hand.
He looked down at the little paw, then slightly up to
see Luna, smiling. Darien didn't understand, when
confusing expressed itself very clearly in his eyes,
and he was about to speak Luna shushed him, "Before
you say anything," She said calmly, "we must think
about this - if we have the scouts back - that means,
we have AMI back. We can fix the computer! She must
be able to do it! And we can get Serena back in just
a few hours! And then we'll have all of them back with
us!" Artemis smiled slightly, he looked from Luna up
to Darien, who surprisingly seemed calmed by this.
Even somewhat relieved. Maybe this wasn't such a bad
turn after all?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Nebil placed a hand on the large doorknob and
began to push it open when a beep sounded on her left
hip. She glanced down to the blinking red light on her
communicator. Nebil sighed, "What now?" She quickly
pulled it off of her belt and opened the little computer.
"Yes?"
	Erebus' face appeared, "Nebil, we are going to
release the four girls, immediately, don't enter the
cell chamber until I arrive, it will only be a moment."
Nebil gasped, "But why?! Don't we need them to keep her
here??" Erebus shook his head, "No my dear, she has
agreed to stay if we release these girls." Nebil shook
her head, "And you believe that?? What guarantee do we
have that she won't take off as soon as they're released?"
Erebus laughed, "You worry too much Nebil - I am leaving
her power crystal with you - there isn't much this girl
can do without it. I trust I'll be leaving it in good
hands? We'll need it later to begin tracing energy back
to the planet." Nebil shook her head in disbelief...
then sighed, "Alright, I'll be waiting here for you to
arrive..." Erebus waited for a moment, Nebil sighed
again, "...master." Erebus grinned, then his picture
disappeared.
	Nebil felt like throwing it across the room,
but she just slipped the contraption back onto her belt
and sat down on a small chair to the left side of the
large doors leading to the dungeon, and waited.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"DRATS!" Mina shouted to herself, though all four
of her cell mates could hear. They were all in one cell
now, waiting, quietly waiting for Nebil to open the cell
door, so they could all get her at once. But still - she
didn't come. They'd used the Sailor Transport what seemed
like hours ago, and they still waited... and waited.. they
had heard someone turning the knob, and all four of the
girls had prayed it was Nebil. But the turning stopped,
and whoever it was, seemed to've wandered off.
	Ami frowned, "I wonder why they didn't come in?
Do you suppose they could know?" She said worriedly.
	Rai shook her head, "Don't be so paranoid Ami,
there's no way they could know about our Sailor Transport,
they couldn't even know that we'd be able to do it through
those open barred windows either. Maybe they just got
called away or something? We just have to be patient"
	Lita groaned at this, "Patient?! How can we be
patient Rai?! You heard that scream just as clear as any
of us - there's no doubt in my mind that that was Serena!
We aren't doing what we're supposed to do - she's getting
hurt! We seriously need to get out of here!" Lita punched
a fist into the stone wall to her left, then grunted and
shook her hand.
	Mina sniffled, "Oh guys, I'm so scared for her -
what do you think happened? Oh I hope she's okay... oh
Serena please be okay..."
	Ami put a hand on Mina's shoulder, "I'm sure she's
just fine - that probably wasn't her at all.. maybe there
are other prisoners in other parts of this ... place. Don't
worry Mina, the likely hood of us getting out soon is very
high - I'm sure of it..."
	Rai nodded, trying to comfort Mina, though her own
pulse was raging a mile a minute with worry. Had that been
Serena's scream? She had a feeling... a deep down feeling,
it had been her dear friend, and it terrified her to think
it could've been.
	The four girls gathered into a circle and hugged
eachother tightly, Mina spoke, "No matter what - we'll
all get through this together - and that includes Serena!
We're here to protect her, and we'll continue to do so..
they better watch out, we're breaking out of this joint!"
	All the girls nodded in agreement, and silence
once again filled the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Nebil paced impatiently outside the chambrr doors.
What was taking him so long damnit! She had been looking
forward to playing with the scouts, releasing a little
anger this whole situation had built up inside her. Nebil
shook her head, what was the point? How was this girl so
easily deceiving him? She could see right through her lie,
it had to be a lie. Why would anyone choose to lose their
own life for anyone other than their one true love? She
hmph'd, it made no sense to her.
	Nebil was quickly taken away from her thoughts
when the sound of footsteps echoed down the large corridor.
Erebus, followed closely by Serena, walked happily down
the hall and stopped just before Nebil.

	"Well, are you ready to give the girls their news?"
He looked back at Serena and grinned, then back to Nebil.
"Shall we?"

	Nebil put a hand on his chest stopping his forward
step - his eyes narrowed, and she quickly pulled it back,
"A-Are you sure.. that we should release them?"

	Erebus brushed off his chest, "Of course I am certain.
I could easily capture them again, and she would watch them
all die if she were to ever betray me, and she knows this.
Isn't that right my lovely?"

	Serena nodded slowly, never taking her eye's off the
ground. Nebil sighed, then swiftly turned around and pushed
open the large doors, then held them open for the other two
who followed her in. How she wished she could wrap her hands
around that girls throat and end this stupid game already.
But she held back, and shuffled through her pocket to get
her keys. Oddly enough - no one spoke a word throughout this
entire time. They just watched, and Serena kept her sobs
silent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Mina and Ami stayed hidden in the dark shadows
behind the large cell door. Out of Nebil's sight. Mina
held her fists in front of her.  Ami held her breath as
she listened to the footsteps coming closer. It was time.

	Lita stood as still as she could, she could just
barely see beyond the door, and she knew it was Nebil who was
about to step into her doom. She almost grinned - but thought
better of it. She'd do plenty of smiling soon enough.

	Rai just stood still. Straight, proud, ready to
pounce. Flames tossed back and forth behind her dark eyes
as she stood in wait. Her heart flickered as the keys clanked
against the metal door. She too, held her breath as the key
was being turned and the door began to open..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Darien stood in his bedroom doorway, so as not to
distance himself too far from the mirror in case she tried
to contact him, but also to be able to grab Ami and put her
to work the SECOND they arrived in his apartment. What was
taking so long? He wondered.

	Luna and Artemis couldn't sit still. They prayed
that Ami would be able to fix the computer quickly. They
would need their princess back should this Erebus decide to
attack... they all needed her back. Luna couldn't bring
herself to think of what a world without the moon princess
would be like. Where would they all be? Who would she be?
Her soul purpose in life had been to be this girls guardian,
now look how well she'd done... Luna shook her head sadly
as another salty tear dropped to the floor.  Artemis leaned
over and licked her cheek, not saying a word, but comforting
her with his eyes...

'Please let them be alright..'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay - tried to post this last week, forgot to update the
*template* so you didn't get to see it :( I apologize for
this taking so long, I've been stuck in a moving process, and
now, finally, two weeks later, i'm all unpacked and ready to
continue this story! thanks for all the emails! Keep'm comin',
I like to hear what you think :)
(old msg:
UGH! I'm sorry guys, i had to cut this one at an odd time
because I don't get home from work until usually 7pm, and
to get the deadline (which unfortunately is really hard for
me to do because I'm on the west coast and get home at 7pm!)
I had to cut it here :\
Sorry sorry..
Till next time, toodles!)