The Dark Princess

Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi owns the copyrights to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, but this is a "fanfic" so it's legal. ^_^ DiC, Mixxzine, Toei Animation, and Kodansha Comics also own partial copyright.

        Alexandrite had a groggy headache, her mind had blacked out as soon as Demando had grabbed her and teleported her to the portal. The back of her head and her temples ached with a dull pounding. How long had she been out? She shook her head to clear it and looked around. She was in a black room, left on a bed to sleep off the knockout.
        And probably to wait for her captor.
        She wanted to be back in her own bed, not just because it was hers, but because Jacinth was there. Well, by now he'd be awake, and frantically tearing the Kingdom apart looking for her... how would he take it when he found out where she was? She only knew one thing, she wouldn't want to be Demando when Jacinth came. And right now she didn't want to be herself.
        She heard voices outside the door. It was Demando and two women. One of them sounded her age.
        "Demando, she's barely past being a child!" the young one said angrily.
        "She's old enough. And she's strongwilled."
        "I thought you hated that in a woman..." the elder woman said in a dry voice, she sounded almost like Jacinth, if he were a woman... Alex almost laughed at the thought, but her predicament kept her sober.
        "I didn't ask for your opinion, Petz. Or your's, Beruche." Demando said curtly and Alex could almost picture him scowling. "She's young, but not innocent. The girl's already lost her virginity. Probably to that brat of yours, Petz."
        "Well you shouldn't have kept him in your company." Petz oozed, then her voice sharpened, "He picked up bad habits!" Alex could sense that the woman left right after that. Beruche gave Demando such a cold look that Alex could feel it from the other side of the door...
        "I don't believe you, Demando. Drooling after Serenity is one thing, drooling after Beryl's heir is gonna get your head taken off!" Beruche snapped and stormed down the hall in her blue boots.
        "God, can't those sisters ever back off? I prefer them when they're bickering with each other." Demando sighed and then spoke to a man that Alex hadn't sensed. "Rubius, they're your problem now, I'm sick of hearing them!"
        "Yes, my prince." the voice had an attitude, Alex could tell that the boy was trouble without having to see his eyes. She wouldn't like him if she had to be around him. He sounded like the type that was worse than Demando, he didn't care about the girls he used, he just used them. At least Alex could sense Demando had some honesty about his feelings for her, but why would he "drool after" the Moon Princess?
        The annoying one that Demando had called Rubius left right after that and she was alone with Demando. Well, except for a door betwen them, which made her thankful, until Alex realized even if it was locked, he could unlock it. She gulped and prayed to any diety that was listening that he wouldn't turn the doorknob. Someone was listening, because all he did was sigh and walk away.
        Alex took a moment to listen and sense the area around the door before she dared to test the knob. It wasn't locked. She smiled and opened it, peering down the hallway. Not a sign of anyone was within her sight or senses. They'd all gone off to another part of the Dark Moon. Good. Now she had to find the portal back home. She had to get back to Jace. *********************************************************************         The hallways seemed endless, how large was the palace anyways?? Alex was about to give up, when she heard voices. She gasped and froze in her spot, hoping it wasn't Demando or that "Rubius" she'd vowed to hate before she even saw him. The person came around the corner with a dark blue haired lady. Well it wasn't Demando... Alex tried to duck away before she was spotted.
        "Hey!! Where are you going?" the red haired man yelled at her and she turned to face him with her best royal composure.
        "Why should that be your business?"
        "Hmph, from the attitude, I'm guessing your Demando's brat." Rubius scoffed. The lady glared at him.
        "Rubius, that's no way to refer to the girl. She seems very nice."
        "She's a brat. Ask anyone who's been to the Dark Kingdom while she was growing up." Rubius told her then looked down his nose at Alex. She felt her cool composure ice up and her eyes narrow as her grim smile turned into a snarl.
        "Who are you to call me a brat, you immature Negamoon imp?" she said coldly. "Or would that be wimp?" she smirked, calling attention to his slender chest. Jacinth made the boy look like a stick.
        Rubius was anything but insulted, which dampened her spirits a bit. "Well I see why Demando likes you... obviously more spirit than the submissive girls who lick his boots. Just watch yourself or you'll be under those boots. This is his kingdom, not yours." he told her with a smirk and walked past her. She couldn't resist tripping him as he passed and giggled as he stood up and glared, then teleported away.
        "You really should be careful, he's right, you know. You may have been a princess where you come from, but here you're new and that makes you lower than even a peasant." the lady said with a soft, understanding voice. She was obviously a matriarch, or a big sister. Hadn't Demando mentioned something about sisters?
        "I don't care. When Jacinth finds out I'm missing, he'll tell Beryl and Malachite. They'll have this place stormed so fast it'll make that arrogant jerk's head spin!"
        "Which jerk, Rubius or Demando?" a sarcastic voice said from behind her. Alex gasped and spun to face an auburn haired girl, who looked just a year or two near her age.
        Alex smiled, "Both."
        "Kalaberas, that's not nice, you could be put in a dungeon for talking about Demando that way!" the blue-haried lady scolded. "Forgive my little sister, and please don't follow her example. He may favor you, but that doesn't mean he'll tolerate your mouth."
        "He's tolerated it before, and liked the sassing I've given him." Alex told her, crossing her arms.
        "He's challenged by it, he probably wants to tame you." the lady told her, "By the way, I'm Cooan. You met my littlest sister." she gestured to Kalaberas.
        "Littlest? How many do you have?" Alex asked.
        "Three, Kalaberas is the youngest, then Beruche, then Petz." Cooan answered.
        "Hmm, you're a mess, girl. What's your name?" Kalaberas asked Alex.
        "Alexandrite. But everybody calls me Alex, it's easier."
        "Well Alex, you need a bit of a makeover. You'll never be respected in those things." Kalaberas told her, frowning.
        "What's wrong with them?" Alex held the skirt of her dress, smiling at the softness of the fabric.
        "That dress is from Shaiizar, no one will go near a Youma around here. They don't like them. You'll be shunned if they know you're one. Even if the prince likes you." Cooan told her.
        "I don't care, I don't really plan on being here long. " Alex told them with a royal tilt to her chin, "Now could you two show me where the portal to Shaiizar is?"
        The sisters shared a look then gave her a pitying glance. "Unless you have Demando's permission to leave, you can't." Kalaberas told her.
        "Why not?"
        "The portal is in the throne room." Cooan told her. Alex's face fell and she almost cried. She couldn't run back home... how would she get away? She'd have to think of something, or waot for Jacinth. Too bad for him she had no patience. ***********************************************************         Alex was looking at the clothes that Kalaberas had out for her. "You have got to be kidding me..." she said in a monotone with a straight face. "Don't you have anything that covers my legs?? Or my stomach?"
        "Nope." Kalaberas said and laughed.
        Alex sighed, "Well do you at least have something black and silver?"
        "Yep. Hang on." Kalaberas went digging through her closet and tossed out a small black top, leggings, and a silver cloth with armholes.
        Alex had to admit, it looked good, but she missed her long black dress that hid everything. This not only called attention to her figure, it flaunted it. Good luck keeping Demando away now...
        "Sorry, but pretty much everyone wears this stuff. You'll probably blend in and he'll never find you." Kalaberas said and smiled. Alex throught of something, and grabbed a see-through glittered skirt that draped down to her ankle on one side and stopped at her knee on the other.
        "That's meant to be worn with a leotard..." Kalaberas began.
        "I know." Alex grinned, "Call me a trend setter."
        Kalaberas could resist grinning back. "Actually, I like it. You're gonna have to wear earrings though."
        "You mean those damned black crystal things?" Alex made a digusted face. "The gold'll clash!"
        Her new friend laughed and dug out a pair with silver marks instead. "You are gonna stand out a bit. Can't you be like everyone else?"
        "Depends, is everyone else like me?" Alex said and fastened the earrings. She had to admit, she looked great, but her hair didn't match her look anymore. Curse her vanity, she couldn't bring herself to be seen with bad hair.
        "How could hair like that ever be bad?" Beruche asked, coming in with Cooan.
        "Easy. It looks terrible up, and it looks like my father's when it's down!" Alex told her.
        "Hmm, lemme try some stuff." Cooan volunteered and picked up a brush and some hair things. Alex immedately had her put down anything that wasn't black or silver.
        "What's with you and black and silver?" Beruche asked.
        "Call it a personal thing." Alex said and smiled, letting Cooan take down her braids and brush her hair out. ********************************************************         "Where the hell is she?" Demando was pacing the hallways since he'd checked Alex's room and seen she'd snuck out. That was the last time he'd leave her door unlocked.
        "Where's who?" Saffiru asked, coming up behind his brother.
        "Alexandrite, you know, the new girl, blond hair, wears black?"
        "Oh. By any chance she wouldn't have that gold hair up in a braid and dress in black and silver, would she?"
        "Yes, how'd you know? She just got here."
        "She's in Kalaberas' room, getting 'the makeover'."
        "Oh god, I'd better get over there before they do something wrong, that girl's got a temper about her hair..." Demando rushed down the hall in a very unprincely manner, only to hear laughter and four friendly female voices.
        Cooan, Kalaberas, Beruche and Alexandrite were getting along. Rather than be shocked at this, Demando sighed and opened the door without even knocking on it... and dropped his jaw to the ground.
        "Haven't you ever heard of being polite? You don't have very royal manners." Alex told him as-a-matter-of-factly.
        Cooan was finishing her hair, it was up in a tall ponytail, with a black and silver wrap around the top, her bangs covered her forehead and two strands escaped the wrap to dangle on either side of her face. But the outfit made his jaw drop the farthest. She was seductive enough in the dress with nothing showing... now he fought an urge to order Kalaberas out of her own room. She read that in his eyes and sighed, figuring he'd do it.
        "I thought you'd be attacking them for touching your precious hair. I don't like new people killing my subjects."
        Alex laughed and gave him a geniune smile, for once. "I'm a little old for that. You need to catch up on the Youma's gossip, D-Boy."
        "What did you call me?" Demando almost growled at her.
        "D-Boy. It suits you. You're a little boy, with no manners and no integrity." Alex said smoothly and smirked at him.
        "You forget whose land you walk on now, princess. Forget again and you won't have to worry about storing any memories in that pretty head again." he snarled at her and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
        "Oh... Now ya did it..." Kalaberas sighed. "You're on his bad side."
        "Hey, he's been on mine, so he's got more to worry about." Alex said and examined her nails, they were too short, she needed to stop biting them.
        "You're either brave or stupid. Or both." Beruche told her. "It's messy getting your head cut off, sometimes they don't go all the way through and you have to wait to die."
        "Or you get so stressed waiting for the guy to sharpen his sword that you have a heart attack. It's happened." Kalaberas added.
        "I'm only fifteen!" Alex told them. "If he wants my head or any part of me, it'll be over my dead body." the younger girls laughed at the irony, but Cooan frowned.
        "He may not kill you for that, Beryl would have his head. But he can do other things, things that he'll get away with." she reminded Alex. Alex's face fell and she sighed.
        "What do I do?" she asked as the door opened again.
        "Start by going to the throne room, Jacinth and Zoisite are there. I never saw such a brawl in my life!" Petz said, peeking in. Alex shot out of the chair and past her in a silver-black blur. Petz smirked and almost laughed at the girl's rush. "How can children be so impatient?"
        Saffiru came up to her and frowned, "Because that brawl's getting serious." **********************************************************************         Alex dashed as fast as she could go to the throne room, totally forgetting in her rush that she could teleport there in less than a second. It seemed to be too late, there was an explosion in the room, Demando and Zoisite weren't in it...
        "Jace!! NO!" she screamed then turned on Demando. "You bastard! I'll kill you!" she was about to make good her threat with some Dark Fire when Jacinth spoke from the cloud of dust leftover.
        "Nice try."
        Aelx nearly fainted, but she didn't because she was so close to Demando that he would have caught her. "You're alive!!"
        "Of course. You expected a loser like him to kill me?" Jacinth asked Alex with a smirk.
        "That's.. There's... You should be dead..." A shocked Demando rambled as Alex came up to Jace.
        "I could kill you, but my father would be mad. So I'll make a deal."
        "What is it?" Demando asked wearily.
        "I leave Nemesis, and only return when I'm formally invited, and you never intercept messages to me or from me..."
Jacinth told the Prince.
        "Fine." Demando said with a grin, planning to never invite the boy back again.
        "AND You never return to the Dark Kingdom unless you're formally invited, and none of your messages will be
intercepted."
        "If I don't agree?" Demando asked coldly.
        "If you show up without an invitation, you get killed." Jacinth said smirking. "After all, kidnapping the ptincess is
punishable by death."
        Demando sneered "Fine. As long as I don't have to see you again."
        "Jacinth?" Alex asked, worried he'd forgotten about her little situation.
        Jacinth hugged her and whispered in her ear. "I love you."
        She smiled and whispered back. "And I love you." She was glad to be able to say it.
        Demando decided to stop the show of emotion. "And you are never to see her again as long as she's here." It was more a
threat then a statement.
        Alex frowned at Demando, and almost growled, then stared at Jacinth. He smiled down at her.
        "Fine." he said to Demando. Then turned to Zoisite "Take the princess back to her room."
        "Gladly." Zoisite smiled and took Alex's hand and led her through the portal. **********************************************************************         Alex spent the day with Jacinth, and swore to never go anywhere without making sure he knew where she was. They also spent the night, which made Alex swear to herself she'd make good on the promise. She never wanted to leave Jacinth again. But she had trouble sleeping, as she remembered her friends that she'd never be able to see again, because Jace couldn't follow her. Saffiru was like another big brother, and the Akayashi were like the big sisters she'd needed since she couldn't remember. ***********************************************************************         The next day, Zoisite knocked on the door and Alex yawned, pretending she'd been asleep instead of watching Jace breathe and thinking of her friends.
        "Yeah, Zoi-chan?" she asked sleepily and rubbed her eyes.
        "You have a guest. She had a hell of a time getting past Demando to get here too, so I suggest you hurry up before he sends someone for her." Alex smiled and jumped out of bed, making Jacinth fall out on his face.
        "What the--?" he asked dazedly, pulling himself to his knees and staring at her across the bed.
        "Sorry Jace, I'm in a hurry, I got a friend waiting. From Nemesis." she dashed out the door after running a brush through her hair and Jace just stared at the open door and frowned. Youma and Nemesisans weren't supposed to get along! ************************************************************************         "Oh Kalaberas, I missed you! I wanted to say goodbye before Zoi dragged me out of there!" Alex said and hugged her friend.
        "I know... I'm lucky I was able to get a chance to come here and say goodbye for everyone." Kalaberas sighed and pouted. "Who am I gonna hang out with now? Beruche's getting too old to gab about hair and Rubius klutzing out."
        "Why don't you stay here?"
        "I want to, but I belong with my sisters. I wish you could come back and visit... with you around, I'm not the baby." they both laughed, then Alex frowned.
        "I'd love to visit, but you know the deal, Jace doesn't go to Nemesis and Demando doesn't go to the Dark Kingdom, and I'm not going anywhere without Jace." she sighed, plotting a vicious revenge on Demando. "If only there was a way to get rid of that creep!"
        "He's the prince, you'd never get close enough."
        "I could, but there's no way I'm going to try that."
        "He'd see right through it. Why don't you get him distracted and sneak back to the portal home?"
        "Yeah right, he'd sense the portal being used and follow me so damned fast I'd never even see the other side of the portal. I'll have to wait until Jace comes back and kills him for me." Jacinth came in.
        "What are you two plotting?" he asked. Both girls gave him the most innocent face they could have.
        "Nothing." Alex said and smiled sweetly.
        "Look, maybe she can fake innocence... but I know you too well!" he said and smirked. "What are you up to?"
        "Thinking of ways to assassinate a certian pain in the neck Nemesisian." Kalaberas spat and crossed her arms.
        "I want to see the Akayashi, but he won't let them leave. Kalaberas had to sneak out." Alex told him and frowned.
        "Sorry, but it's too risky to go there, he won't let you leave either!" Jacinth told her and kissed her lightly. "I wish you could go, but there's no way you'd be safe, and I don't want to risk losing you again."
        "I know. I love you, Jacey." she said and smiled.
        "I know. I love you too..." he cuddled her close and whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry."
        "It's okay." Alex whispered back and Kalaberas giggled.
        When Kalaberas left, Alex whispered something in her ear and passed her a note. They both giggled and hugged, then promised to send messengers everyday.

Author's notes: Two more chapters.... getting curious yet?

Chapter Six