Chapter 2: A mysterious man.

Thanks for sticking with me, everyone! If this is your first time, welcome! If this is your second, hello again, my friends! I love you guys?

(15 years later)

Serena woke up on June 30th, her birthday. Well, it wasn’t only her birthday. She naturally shared it with her twin sister, Mina. They were turning fifteen on that day and were excited. Mina woke up shortly after Serena and they dressed. They both wore gray dresses that had black bodices with gray sleeves. Their clothes were always plain, but they knew nothing better than the bland colors that they wore daily.

“Happy birthday, Sere!” Mina said happily.

“Happy birthday, Mi!” Serena replied in the same giddy tone.

Mina went over to her sisters bed and grabbed the brush from the table in the middle. They chatted happily as Mina brushed Serena’s calf-length gold hair and twisted it into her usual unique style of two braids. She then looped those braids at the last minute and smiled at her handiwork.

“It looks beautiful, Mi!” Serena said when she glanced in their little mirror.

“I thought I would try something new for my sister on our birthday,” Mina admitted.

“Can I try something with yours?” Serena asked.

Mina nodded happily and they traded places. Mina’s hair wasn’t as long as Serena’s, but it was the same color. They were twins in every way but their height (Mina was taller by nearly two inches) and their hair length. Serena brushed her twin’s hair and then spied a red ribbon on the floor. She hadn’t seen it before and couldn’t place it’s origin, but nevertheless she grabbed it and tied it into her sister’s hair. When she was done, she shrugged.

“Sorry it’s not as pretty as mine. You know how I am with hair,” Serena said sheepishly.

Mina’s smile was bright and true, though. “It suits me well. Thank you, little sister.”

Serena smiled and they hugged before getting off the bed and slipping on their matching black flats.

“Good morning girls,” Amy greeted when she saw the twins come down the stairs. They all kissed cheeks and smiled.

“Happy birthday,” the fairies (or peasants as they were now) greeted in unison.

“Thank you,” the twins replied in a giggling unison. They grabbed plates, silverware, and cups without much thought and began to set the table. Lita and Raye brought the food over and the strange family sat down to enjoy a quiet breakfast. What the good faeries didn’t know was that the twins kept kicking one another and sending each other silent messages just from their looks. By the end of the meal, Serena had won.

Mina glared one last time at her sister before turning to their guardians. “May we go on a walk today?” she asked. She hated having to ask her aunt’s questions that she already knew had a negative answer.

As expected, the trio of older women exchanged alarmed and frightened looks. Another and much faster silent battle went on between the three, and Amy had unfortunately lost. She looked up guiltily at the girls as she spoke. She hated telling the girls no to anything.

“I don’t know, girls. You’re still so young,” Amy said cautiously.

“Aunt Amy, we are fifteen today. Next year we’ll be sixteen. We aren’t children anymore,” Serena declared, her chin held high. But her voice was gentle, not wanting to hurt the feelings of her dear aunts.

All three of the guardians looked at one another sadly. They didn’t like the thought that in one year, they’d lose the girls. In one year, they’d lose the girls that they had raised together. In one year, they’d lose the girls that they loved more than anything in the world. None knew what they’d do when the girls were out of their hands and home with their parents, where they truly belonged.

Raye gave an exasperated sigh and got up. She made her way to a closet and opened it, searching for the baskets that belonged to the twins. She could see the excitement in their matching eyes as she handed them out. “If you’re going out, you might as well pick some berries and nuts for tonight,” Raye decided.

“Thank you, Aunt Raye!” the chorused. They hugged her before exciting the house.

“Raye!” Lita and Amy gasped. They both thought that it was agreed that the twins weren’t old enough.

She shrugged. “I trust them.”

“Still, we should warn them,” Amy said, biting her lip nervously. Lita nodded her agreement and Raye sighed and nodded as well.

The twins walked out of the house, ignoring the calls of their aunts shouting to not talk to strangers and to not go too far. They had heard this warning ever since they could remember, though it was always silly because their caregivers were never far. They knew that no one ever came into the woods, anyways, so they had nothing to worry about. They had never seen anyone besides themselves and their aunts. They knew that there were more people in the world, but to the girls it felt like there was only the five of them.

They walked lazily away from the cabin, both of them twirling their baskets in the air. Soon, the cabin was far out of their eyesight and they reached a little brook where the best berries grew. They had come here once with their caregivers, but never returned to it because of how far away it was. Still, they knelt down at separate bushes and began to pluck the ripest ones.

“Mina, do you ever wonder why we can’t talk to anyone?” Serena asked as she shifted through the blueberry bush, careful not to get pricked.

“Not since I was younger. Now I just figure that they wish to keep us safe,” Mina replied.

“From what?” Serena asked her older sister.

Mina paused in her picking to think. After a while, she shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

“Hmmm, it must be something good,” Serena said with a definite nod. After they had successfully plucked as many berries as they desired, they moved on to a nut tree to begin gathering those, as well as the random fruit they found here and there.

“Serena, I have a question,” Mina said as she reached up to grab a delicious looking apple from a tree.

“What is it?” Serena replied, busy with shifting through the grass for some suitable nuts.

“Who are out parents?” Mina asked, turning around to face her sister.

“What?” Serena asked.

“Come on, you know you’ve thought of that just as much as you’ve thought of the other question. It’s obvious that our aunts are not our parents for none of them look like us and we’ve never seen a man around the cottage,” Mina said. “Well, we’ve actually never seen a man,” she added thoughtfully.

Mina and Serena hardly knew anything of men, except that they wed girls and helped to produce children. Neither could pluck the image of a man from their all-too brief experience with them when they had just been born and were unsure of what one even looked like. They had expressed to each other strange dreams in which a strange person was with them. It would have short hair, unlike their long. It would be taller then them with broad shoulders unlike their own slim ones. It had no breasts like they did, and their waists were not as narrow. They had no curves at their hips, and wore some sort of odd garment on their legs that separated them. Every time the girls had these dreams, they would wake the other one up and express what they saw. They finally concluded that this was the mysterious ‘man’ that they were told nothing about.

“I…I don’t know. I mean, I’ve thought of it before, but I always dismiss it,” Serena replied.

“I’ve had dreams about them, I think,” Mina said as she continued plucking.

“What?” Serena asked excitedly. She set down her basket and grabbed her sister’s arm. “Tell me of them! Oh please tell me,” she begged, her blue eyes bright with excitement.

Mina sat down with her sister on a log and began to tell of her dream. “We were babies, maybe newborn. And there was this beautiful woman holding us in her arms. She had such pretty blue eyes and silvery blonde hair that looked as long as yours is now. She looked really tired but was smiling none the less at us. She kept kissing our foreheads and was repeating things I couldn’t hear. Then someone else appeared. It was a man, I think, for he fit the description from our dreams. He had brown hair and was smiling at us. He took me in his arms and then put me in a bassinet. Then we were being carried down a grand staircase and there were people everywhere.” Mina stopped talking.

“Then what?” Serena asked, tugging Mina’s arm in excitement.

“I wake up,” Mina replied. Serena gave a sad sigh. They remained silent until Serena perked up again.

“I had a dream with a man in it last night!” She declared happily. This time, Mina’s blue eyes were the ones filled with excitement. “Well, we were in the forest together. And we were dancing together. It was so much fun. I felt like I was floating on a cloud or something.” Serena smiled brightly. “He was so beautiful. He had this dark hair that was as dark as Raye’s, but his had no gray. And his eyes were so dark and beautiful.” Serena closed her eyes and smiled again. “I can still picture him perfectly.”

“Oh Serena, that sounds glorious,” Mina said with a happy sigh.

“Hello?” a deep voice called. The sisters gasped and stood quickly, which caused Serena to stumble backwards over the log.

“Oww,” Serena moaned when she landed with a thud.

“Serena,” Mina snapped through clenched teeth. She grabbed her sister’s arm and tried to pull her up.

“Excuse me? Is someone there?” the voice repeated. The sisters stopped struggling and gasped. The voice was calm and tender, but they were still scared. They had never heard a voice so deep.

“It’s a stranger,” Mina said in an urgent whisper. “Get up, Serena!” Mina said, still trying to help her sister up.

“Mina, I can’t!” Serena whined in protest. She had landed hard on her butt and her feet were stuck in awkward positions, making it hard for her to get up.

Suddenly, a man came through the clearing, a white horse trailing behind him. Both girls gasped and looked at him. He was tall with raven hair and deep blue eyes, his face undeniably handsome and his body well toned under his dark blue tunic and gray leggings. He came farther into the clearing and cautiously approached the twins.

“Hello. I heard your voices while I was riding and I wanted to make sure you were alright. It’s not often that one hears two female voices without a male one accompanying them. The woods are dangerous,” he said, his velvety smooth voice making the girls both blush. He let go of his horse’s reigns and approached the log. “Let me help you, madam.” As easily as could be, he bent down and picked up Serena, who gasped in surprise. He set her down sitting on the log and smiled. “Are you alright?”

Serena nodded dumbly, while Mina just stood by in shock. The man studied the girls. “Are you alone?” he asked. They looked at each other then nodded dumbly once again. This caused the man to chuckle softly. “Can you speak?” he asked.

“Wh—oh. Forgive us for being so rude. It’s just that, well, we’re not supposed to talk to strangers,” Mina said shyly.

“And we’ve never seen a man before,” Serena blurted out. Mina gasped and looked at her sister in surprise. She hadn’t expected her to reveal that to the stranger.

“Well, I suppose there is a first time for everything,” the man said, standing to his full, tall height in what seemed like pride. His grin was so charming that Serena felt her heart flutter in a way it never had before.

“What are you doing out here if it’s so dangerous? You look to be alone,” Serena asked. She didn’t know where her bravery came from, but that it was suddenly there.

“Clearing my thoughts,” he replied simply.

“You do that in the woods?” Serena asked.

“Well, I can hardly do that—,” the man stopped, suddenly seeming uneasy. He then smiled brightly at the girls. “What were you doing out here?”

“Oh, well we live right over there,” Serena said pointing in the direction of their cottage, “and we were out picking berries for dinner tonight.”

Once again, Mina was in shock at her sister. After their whole lives of being told not to speak to strangers, there was her little sister, talking up a storm with a mysterious (albeit handsome) man and even telling him where they lived! Mina grabbed her sister’s pointing hand and wretched it down. “Would you stop defying our aunts?” Mina whispered harshly.

“Oh Mina, he looks harmless,” Serena whispered shyly.

“You wanted to know what we were being protected from. Well, little sister, it’s people like that man! You don’t know who he is or where he’s from. You could be offering up information to a man who wants to hurt us or our aunts,” Mina rattled off, her voice hardly a whisper anymore.

“Perhaps I should leave you girls to your picking? I wouldn’t want to hear any information that would cause me to want to go and harm you or your family,” the man said, slightly amused.

Mina blushed at being heard but quickly overcame it. “I beg your pardon, but I do not appreciate being made fun of. Now I am taking my sister and I kindly ask you not to follow us. Good day,” Mina finished with a cruel huff.

“Well, madam, I do not appreciate being spoken about as if I was a common criminal. And you may return, but it appears as though your sister does not want to,” the man said. He gave Serena a charming little smile when she blushed.

“Set this man straight,” Mina told her sister.

“Mina, I—oh Mina, you know I—,” Serena started, looking between her twin and this mysterious man. She knew that she should be a good girl and follow her sister home, but her natural curiosity was killing her. She wanted so badly to learn about what life was like for a man. “Please don’t go home without me Mina. I don’t want to make our aunts worry. I just want to stay here a little while longer.”

Mina and the man’s mouths dropped in shock. Mina and the man had both thought that Serena would go with her sister, but her curiosity was far too great for her to be able to see any other answer.

“Your name is Mina?” the man asked the elder sister. Somewhere in the back of his mind, something clicked, but it was so faint that he hardly realized it. “It’s a lovely name.”

“Flattery is getting you nowhere with me,” Mina said bravely.

The man chuckled at her and then turned to Serena. “May I know your name, little angel?”

Serena’s heart fluttered again and she could feel herself become lightheaded. Her cheeks were stained red and all she could focus on was that their handsome creature had called her an angel. Her? She was nothing compared to him! She felt horribly inadequate to even stand by him. Still, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Se—,”

“Stop it!” Mina hissed, cutting her sister off. “You’re done enough defying for today. We’re going home right now.”

“I see that I’m causing some tension. I’m terribly sorry, dearest angel. I will leave you now. And I swear I will not follow you back to your home. I have no intention of harming you, or your family,” the man promised. His tone was serious, though he was secretly amused. The sisters were funny, and incredibly beautiful. He could think of none that compared to their level of glorious beauty. And, of course, their antics were humorous. He had little experience with women acting out of the element of ‘perfect lady’. Even his own sister rarely exposed her true self to even himself. The raw emotions that these angels were displaying as plain as the day was riveting to his view on women, though he had to admit that they could hardly pass as full-grown women. They were somewhere between being pretty girls and beautiful women. He hoped against all hope that he would catch a glimpse of them in the future to see their beauty fully bloom with womanhood.

“Mina, look what you did,” Serena said to her sister, pointing at the man.

“I’m doing nothing but protecting you, my little sister. Now let’s head home. This man is obviously aware that his presence is stressful and that we should part company as soon as possible,” Mina said, venom in her voice.

“Endymion,” the man said.

“Endymion?” Serena repeated.

Endymion was surprised when his heart gave a tiny flutter at the little angel speaking his name. He smiled charmingly again. “My name is Endymion.”

“That lovely. Let’s go!” Mina said, tugging on Serena.

“Meet me here tonight,” Serena whispered.

Mina had missed this in her rampaging, as she had planned. Endymion, though, did not. He smiled and nodded in his understanding.

“What time?” he mouthed.

“Midnight,” Serena replied. She smiled and turned around, willing her sister to lead her away. They grabbed their baskets and were off.

“I suppose I will be sneaking out tonight, Sampson,” Endymion informed his horse as they walked off. The horse snorted as if he doubted his ability and Endymion laughed merrily before swinging himself up. As he rode home, he could think of nothing except meeting this mysterious angel again in a few hours time.

Serena, too, was distracted with thoughts of Endymion. Mina was making it difficult for her to get lost in her thoughts, though, for she ranted the whole way home about how stupid her sister was to give away so much information to someone they didn’t even know.

“How could you go against their wishes so quickly, Sere? Are you daft?” Mina asked as they trudged home.

“He’s harmless, I swear,” Serena insisted.

“No, he’s not. He’s a stranger and there’s obviously something wrong with strangers or else our aunts wouldn’t be so adamant in keeping us protected from them,” Mina replied strongly.

Serena just sighed. “I know, I know.” She then stopped as they neared the cottage.

“What?” Mina asked.

“You’re not going to tell on me, are you?” Serena asked, fear creeping into her eyes and dread seeping its way through her body.

Mina’s face softened. “Of course not, Sere! We’re just going to keep this a secret. Who knows what would happen if we told our aunts?” She then smiled. “I’m sorry I went so crazy on you. I didn’t mean to. It was just that the way he looked at you gave me a weird feeling.”

“He looked at me in a certain way?” Serena asked, suddenly excited.

Mina didn’t seem to notice the excitement, though, because she was too focused on trying to figure out the way Endymion was looking at her. Finally, it dawned on her.

“Remember the time that I wandered too far away and got lost? Well, I can still remember the look in all of your eyes when you found me. It was like there had been no light in your life and suddenly it was turned on. Something like that,” Mina said.

“That’s—flattering,” Serena muttered, blushing.

“Oh no! Don’t you start getting ideas, Serena! Strangers are dangerous remember?” Mina said. Serena sighed and nodded to her sister. Mina took that as submission and she wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s get inside. They’ve got to be worried.”

“Alright,” Serena agreed. As they made their way into their home, she felt slightly guilty. Though she had not agreed to never see Endymion again, she still felt like she would be betraying Mina tonight when she snuck out. ‘That is if I can sneak out,’ she reminded herself. She then set her teeth, determined that she would be there at midnight. She was too curious, after all, to resist.

End of chapter!

I love Sere. She’s so adorable. I really have nothing to say right now except thank you for reading and please, if you have time, review!

-Serenity