Destroying Serena

By:Danni Lynn

Chapter 1:

Laying crumpled onto the grass clutching her stomach in agony, blood dripped onto the ground, staining the green, red. The night sky casting long shadows from the full moon, made no warmth for a winter's night.

A figure stands before her, dagger raised high with cold eyes wide in exhilaration. This was the moment; yes, the perfect moment, when the light of the world would be abandoned to flee into the tendrils of the darkness. The Dark Kingdom could call to its glory once more, and rise to build the utopia of utter destruction!

Heart pumping in fear, the blonde female could only moan low in misery at the outcome of this tragedy. How could she let this...creature win? What had made her lose the will to fight? Where were her...friends?

What a strange word that sat at the tip of her tongue, after such a long time, the word was foreign to her lips; her mind. Sheltered in self-loathing, she had ignored the signs of her progression as she had traveled into the spirals of madness, unaware of the effects that it was taking onto the lives of the ones she loved. Yet, didn't somewhere in her heart, she knew they would leave? What was wrong with speeding up the progress?

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the air of the frozen night, as the gleam of the blade caught the light of the moon, appearing to be nothing but a flash of white as it came down fast upon the withering blonde. Malice, and murder-intent cackling in the atmosphere, the blonde came to her senses at the last second, where her defense mechanisms kicked in and she lurched her body side-ways to avoid the oncoming death blow.

Hissing as she lay crouched, she expelled the pain that ran through her and forgot about the blood that drenched the ground, nothing in this world mattered anymore except her survival, and the one thing that was keeping her away from that, was this man...no, monster, that dared to threaten her life. Her life! Of all people, of all times, it would choose now.

Narrowing her eyes, she drew her lips back into a snarl as she gripped her tiara in her left fist, readying herself to attack. Her opponent had stumbled slightly as the dagger had sliced through air, not allowing himself to become disoriented on his mistake, he tensed, setting up to finish this.

This was no longer the will of either opponent for the sacrifice or saving of this world. It had stepped the boundaries of understanding, and had become the natural instinct of life; surviving. One would not walk away from the other till one lay dead at the other's feet covered in blood and heart long since become stilled.

Raising her arm, the blonde called to the power that was in her royal blood, as she threw the tiara that was surrounded in a halo of white, into the air towards the creature, but, alas, time extended forward too slow as the man grimaced and flung the knife towards the blonde who was already thinking she had won. For what seemed like forever, the knife sped into the air like a bullet as the tiara spun like a disk, each heading for the death of the other combatant, though only one truly knew the outcome of this collision.

Clenching his teeth, the man groaned as his chest was hit with a force of power that was like poison to him, as the tiara dug deep into his skin, it was not deep enough to be a fatal wound, but the pain was immense as the white light flooded into his blackened veins, yet, he stood his ground, waiting, for the other opponent.

The blonde's eyes widen slightly as the blade met its destination; her heart. Gasping aloud, blood spewed from her mouth and dribbled onto her chin as the rest splashed to the ground, meeting some of other the blood that had fallen out of her abdomen wound earlier. Hardening her resolution, as her heart began to bleed internally, she did not waver on her feet, because the tiniest movement would cause her to fall to the ground, of course, she would be dead long before she ever hit the dirt.

Raising her eyes, she glared forward through the night, as white mist spewed from her lips as the frigid air finally began to chill her. She met the gaze of her attacker, and they gazed at each other. Interlocked with death as it began to film their eyes, yet, neither moved. Standing firm with a will that she had earlier believed had left her, yet, her battle rival could only desperately watch as his own began to wane.

Then as the white power that was killing him and power of the darkness, he knew, finally, who would win. Coughing, black blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as a fire from inside began to absorb him. Ah, sweet death was depriving him the right of this win, though he grinned as his pupils began to dilate and his blood vessels began to burst.

"Princess...," He croaked as his eyes began to roll into the back of his head, his silver hair losing its shining magnificence. "Even though...we both lost this match.." His body was losing its stability as he began to sway. "I still own the one thing that you can never gain back...your...," Falling to the ground, his body hit the hardened dirt with a soft thud as his eyes closed for the final time, but his last breath carried his last word as it was hissed from his lips, "Innocencccceeee". He was dead.

The blonde heard the last word as if she was far away as her knees gave in on themselves and her soul began to depart from the body, but she wasn't filled with grief or fear for the death that was already taking her, but rage. Rage was what consumed her, as she fell forwards and the blade was plunged all the way through her heart from the impact of the Earth as its redden tip stuck from the outside of her back. Even though, she was already dead, she had enough energy to say her final words, "You bastard." She whispered through clenched teeth as her eyes went to the back of her head and blood flowed from her lips, pouring completely to the ground.

The light had fled from the world, as had the darkness.

A sudden jolt brought the sleeping figure awake, as a blood-curdling scream emitted from her lips, as she leaped into a sitting position, her violet eyes wide in a pain that wasn't there. Her white kimono top was loose and part of it hung loosely on her right shoulder, showing the white tank top beneath that covered parts of a scar that ran from her shoulder across her back where it stopped at her left hip.

Panting slightly, she tucked her shirt tighter into her sash and fixed her kimono back into its more traditional way, while she pushed the covers of her tatami mat away from her. The winter air instantly caused her to shiver as rain softly pelted against the tile roof. Putting her hand over her heart to cease its rapid beating, she closed her eyes and took deep calming breaths, but she could still see flashes of her dream.

She opened her eyes and stood up, with ebony hair falling to her waist, keeping some parts of her warm. Giving an irritable sigh, she ran a hand through her raven hair, unable to understand the message encoded in the message in the dream.

Obviously, it dealt with her Princess being killed, but why would a general from the Dark Kingdom want to kill her? From the recent battles it was apparent that they wanted her alive, so what would be the reason for him to kill her? Or was that dream just a dream? She had had them in the past but most were a vision.

Though, from the dream the Dark Kingdom had already known who the Princess was and the general had called Sailor Moon princess, but was he mistaken? The scouts were still trying to find the Princess, yet, with the identity of their missing royal head figure unknown it was increasingly becoming a problem for the scouts now that they had all five warriors with the newly acquired acquaintance Sailor Venus.

If her dream was true, and Sailor Moon was the Princess, then...the raven grimaced at the thought. Though she had few memories of the Princess, she knew that everything that the Princess was, Sailor Moon was not, except...except, their heart.

Deciding to put away the tidbit of her dream mentioning Sailor Moon as the Princess, the raven haired priestess sighed tiredly as she made her way to the kitchen where she could brew some tea before she went to consult the fire about her strange...nightmare.

Flicking the light switch on in as she pushed open the paper paneled door, the priestess jumped at the sight of another figure sitting in the chair next to the other set of kitchen doors that led to the courtyard. "Gr-grandfather!" The priestess yelled as she leaned against the wall to steady herself, cursing mentally at herself for being so scared of a old man, she pushed away all thoughts of her nightmare; dream to the back of her mind. Slowly the silver haired figure turned to face the priestess with a calm expression, his eyes hiding any emotion except fondness for his granddaughter. "Yes, Rei?" He replied with an amused tune that the priestess noted in his voice.

"What is wrong with you? Its the middle of the night, and not only that but your sitting in the dark!" She hissed annoyed at the old man, who watched her bemused as he sipped from a cup that had waves of steam rising from the cup. Not saying a word, Rei's grandfather tapped the chair next to him as he set his cup back onto the table and turned his gaze back towards the open doors, watching silently as the rain fell from the sky.

Grunting in correspondence at her grandfather's invitation, she shuffled towards the sink and filled the teapot with tap water before she placed it on the stove to heat. As the priestess was searching her refrigerator for some coffee cake that her friend, Lita, had made for her days prior, the silver-haired man turned towards his granddaughter and gazed at her with serious eyes.

"Did you sleep well, child?" He asked gently though his tone implied something more, knowing that her grandfather sensed something, Rei took no hesitation in giving her parental figure the basis of her dream. Telling him how she fears for a dear friend of hers and that calamity might arise, sooner rather than later. Also, that her dream had another meaning but she just couldn't figure it out.

Through all of it, the old man's gaze never once flickered with surprise but was alighted with the emotion of misery for he knew he was helpless for helping console his granddaughter's pain. He knew that the child before him was special, had always known, even when she was in his daughter-in-law's womb.

For the child possessed much of the power the old man himself had, but there had always been that undercurrent of something more; something greater beneath the unveiled extent of her powers and when her friends came along, he sensed they were all very special; especially that pig-tailed blonde one. She had a bright aura around her, a very...peaceful one at that. It was that aura, he suspected, which drew his granddaughter and the others towards her. She was very hard to hate.

"Have you consulted the Great Fire about this?" He spoke warily, suddenly feeling very exhausted in the early hours before dawn, old age was finally catching up on his problematic sleeping order. Rei nodded her head as she poured the now hot water into a teacup she had gotten from the cabinet. "I was on my way after I was finished with my tea." She confessed as she placed a tea-packet into the water, preferring not to make the tea the way she would normal have done. The modern way was much faster, less tasteful, but...convenient.

"Alright then, I shall get some shut eye with whatever night is left. Its tiring being old you know." He joked as he gulped down the rest of his drink and placed it one the table while he giving Rei a lighthearted grin. Her brow creased in concern as she frown, now agitated at the state of her grandfather. "Grandfather! Please try to get more sleep, it is unhealthy not to rest your body properly, you could get yourself sick!" She chastised as she slapped him lightly against the arm, which was her signal of being scornful and loving. He walked away with his hand waving behind him as a sign of goodnight. She grunted as she sat down in her seat.

"And Rei," The old man turned midway out the door to glance at Rei over his shoulder, she raised an eyebrow with an slight smile tilting the edges of her lips upward. "Yes?" She replied, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair. All attention on him, waiting. "Please be careful. I need you to...I need you to find yourself a damn husband to give me some great-grandchildren! Do something useful, its boring to see you chase away all those beautiful women that come by to pray!" The word live was stuck in his throat, so he dared not scare her in giving way that he knew more than what was going on, thus changing his serious tone to a joking one.

Moving away just in time, Rei's grandfather dodged the oncoming teacup that smashed in the wall beside him. With a smirk gracing his face, he fled the room from a fuming Rei that glared holes into the space her loving relative had previously taken place in.

After several minutes and gulps of tea later, Rei had found her composer as she picked up the shattered clay cup and dumped them into the trash while muttering obscenities that were coming to the forefront of her mind. It was time...to go to the Great Fire and find out what her dream meant.

Rei made her way to the meditation room where the pit that honed the fire rested. She would get answers, well, she hoped anyway.

~+!Serena!+~

"I told you last time, Serena, this is not a game! Please be more focused next time. Had that been a real youma, you would be dead by now!" A black feline scolded as she strutted up next to a panting blonde that was clad in bruises and scraps, while also clutching her stomach where she was sure she had a broken rib, or two.

Tears forming at the edges of her eyes, Serena stared down at her adviser with anger. "I tried hard avoiding that attack! Its your fault for making that youma too strong! I thought this was suppose to make me better, but its just making me injured!" She whined as she began to sob, where a enraged Luna glared annoyed at her charge.

"Are you admitting that your weak?" Luna hissed through her fanged teeth at the childish girl, who she was now doubting in her decision on making the blonde the leader of the scouts. Startled at the tone in her adviser's voice, Serena sobered quickly and met the gaze of her companion with a determined face. "No." She sternly replied, showing no sign of her earlier sob fest.

Sighed wearily, Serena sat down on the concrete floor, grimacing as she went, from the stabs of pain that were coming from her abdomen. Luna smiled inwardly abit, the face that Serena had just shown her was what had made her chose this girl to be the leader. Her determination.

Luna had proposed the idea of the new training system she had just finished creating for the girls to get better and hone their skills, to be more pacific, Serena and surprisingly the blonde had agreed without hesitation and was eager to start...in the beginning. Now she was crying about every little injury she made, which was never good but annoying.

The training exercise was a little room underneath the arcade where Luna sat in a control room where she could arrange the power of the youma and the surrounding on where the battle would be taken. The trainee would be placed in a tiny ten by ten room, where they would be teleported to a planet or place on the planet and battle a youma of so-so power. If the youma proved to be to strong then the trainee would be teleported back into the room before final injuries occur. If the trainee defeats the youma, then they are rewarded with the knowledge they might be able to live another day for a real-live youma attack.

So far the only trainee Luna had had was Serena, for the simple fact that Serena, even though she was the leader, was the least skilled fighter out of all the scouts. Actually, Luna had built the training room because Serena had gone to her adviser pacifically and asked if Luna would train her. Though, she would eventually tell the rest of the scouts of the training room, she wanted Serena to be the first one, a guinea pig have you. So far, Luna eyed a teary Serena, was not going to well. The room was completely functional, but the trainee itself...wasn't.

"I guess we'll stop for today. Since its proving to be too much for you." Luna grumbled as she began to head out of the room and towards the exit. When she felt that Serena wasn't following her, the black feline frowned and turned back to look at her charge, becoming increasingly agitated with the unwilling girl. "What now?" Luna mumbled as she waited for the blonde to reply.

Her charge's back was to her so she didn't see the blonde's lips move, but she could have sworn she heard Serena mutter something. Unsure she heard her right, Luna moved back to stand in front of the girl and looked at her waiting. "Say that again." The feline commanded.

Serena tilted her head to look up at the feline's face, her resolution now confirmed. "No, we'll finish what we started." Her mind now set to win the battle. Luna had called her weak and now she wanted to prove herself. Not just to Luna, who she knew didn't really believe that but sometimes doubted her, but to herself. She wanted to make sure she didn't always need the help of the scouts. Its wasn't fair to them or to herself, if she needed saving every battle. Luna was giving her a chance to make herself better. Now was the time to not give in like she wanted to.

"Alright then. Good luck." Luna gave her consent as she padded away towards the control room. Serena took a deep breath and stood up, cradling her stomach in the mean while, she'd heal in about half a day, but she wanted to win against that youma. "Return battle site prior. Commence." Luna said over the intercom. For a brief second, Serena had a sense of weightless before she felt was slammed into the ground. She was on a planet where prisoners were sent by Serenity, her moon mother. The planet's gravity was twice that on Earth, to keep the prisoners more firm to the planet, but to Serena, it was like carrying a piano on her back. She always knew she weighed much more than she appeared, but when it was placed on you times two, well, it really beat the cake.

Grunting to the sudden heaviness of her body, Serena turned to face the standing figure that watched her curiously with amused eyes. "I see you've returned , but was means do you have in being here?" It growled as it began to circle her like prey. Not allowing her back to face the youma, Serena moved with it. Noting every movement the creature made.

So far, the creature had given her two broken ribs, and she planned to pay back for that. Calming her racing heart, and stilling her thoughts, Serena gave a wistful smile. "To defeat you, of course." She coolly disregarded. The youma stopped and threw its head back, with what sounded like metal against metal that was some form of laughter as its many sharp teeth was barred at her. "Oh, child, you amuse me." It cackled, as it suddenly leaped towards her, knowing that she wasn't fast enough to dodge the oncoming attack with the gravity fighting against her, she placed her hands over head to try to protect herself as best as possible.

A fist came flying into her chest that took the breath out of her, as she fell hard to the ground, gasping desperately for air. Serena's clenched eyes came open when she felt the chilled coldness of the youma move next to her, studying her with that calculating gaze. "What? Never seen a beautiful girl before?" She rasped as blood began to dribble from the edge of her lips while giving the creature a arrogant grin.

Not enjoying the amused expression on Serena's face, it bent down and picked Serena up by the throat with ease. Lifting her up off her toes, the youma squeezed on the blonde scout's throat, crushing her esophagus and blocking her airway. Giving a strangled cry, Serena shouted in agony as she tried fruitlessly to get air, but the strength of the youma was too strong. All she had to do was give up and the pain would be all gone. It was so simple. Yet, what would happen to those that she cared about? What would become of them?

Feeling herself growing in determination, Serena cracked a bloody smile before she promptly lifted her foot into the air and kicked the youma into the stomach. Though the weight of her body was hard to move, Serena had enough strength to kick the creature off her. She wasn't strong, but when she set her mind on something, she felt invincible.

The creature instantly let go and grabbed it stomach in agony,dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes, Serena grabbed her tiara and threw it at the youma. "You terrible child! I'll kill you!" It roared as it lunged for her but was stopped by the tiara that ripped through its stomach like butter. It dropped to the ground, dead.

Serena smirked as her surroundings faded. "My bad, it was me who killed you." She whispered jokingly as she collapsed to the ground of the training room, exhausted from the battle. Serena's breathing was shallow as she gasped for air. Two broken ribs and a half crushed throat, peachy, Serena mentally grumbled.

"Serena!" Luna called as she came racing to her charge's side, alight with pride and concern. "You won! I'm so proud of you!" She cheered as she nudged the blonde's face with her nose. Serena gave Luna a weak smile as she finally took a deep breath and clambered to her feet.

"All I did was survive another day, Luna." Serena consoled as she headed for the exit that let to a trap door across the street from the Crown Arcade. Luna nodded her head in understanding as they both made their way out the door and down the street as the rain began to fall in the bitter cold.

A block away from her house, Serena's communicator went off. Muttering a string of curses about the rain and cold, Serena answered with a tired smile. "Hey guys, where's the youma attack?" She asked as Mina's face popped onto the screen. The other blonde gave a small chuckle at Serena's joyless tone. "You answered on the first ring! I'm so proud of you! And you knew what I was going to say, can you read minds?" Mina joked as she wagged a finger at Serena, who rolled her eyes and smiled.

"But, Mina seriously, where are you guys?" Serena questioned as she felt her patience begin to wear thin from lack of sleep. Losing her smile, Mina sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "The park, Zoicite found the last rainbow crystal holder, Rei and Lita are fighting him off for now." Clearly frustrated, Mina gave a small smile before she clicked off, leaving Serena alone in the dark.

Luna was already running towards their new destination, her slick pelt shining in the gaudy post lights, as the rain began to pound harder against their bodies. Suppressing a shudder, Serena wasted no time in dashing blindly towards the park, where it seemed to be a local hot spot for youma's to appear. Why not the busiest part of Tokyo? No, it just had to be the park. Grunting at the irony, Serena gave a small goodbye to her warm bed and quiet peace of rest, as she struggled to keep her breathing steady, still hurting from the training.

As Serena and Luna turned the last corner for the park, Serena stopped and bent low, her hands resting on her knees, trying to breath. Her feline adviser watched worriedly as Serena gripped her stomach in an effort to keep her chest movement minimum as to ease some of the pain. The sound of battle could be faintly heard over the freezing sleet that was now causing the ground to become slick with slush.

"Serena, just stay out of the way for the scouts to weaken the monster then just finish it of. No harm will come to you if you do that and you can walk off free of any new injuries." Luna suggested as she rubbed herself affectionately against her charge's leg, who stopped for movement to scratch the feline appreciatively. Nodding her head in agreement, Serena transformed into Sailor Moon and charged into battle, heeding her adviser's words.

Sailor Jupiter jumped backwards just in time to dodge the blow Zoicite sent at her, as Sailor Venus was trying to coax an unconscious civilian awake, which, as Serena arrived, assumed was the target Zoicite was after, a rainbow crystal carrier.

Throwing her tiara at the distracted general, Sailor Moon wasted none of her precious breath on words that she just bitterly thought as Zoicite turned to look at her as he deflected the attack with a smack of his arm. "Silly child, your toy won't harm me." He snarled as he lifted his arm and opened his palm towards Serena, where Jupiter stepped in front of. "How about this?" She screamed as lightening came crashing down towards the unsuspecting general, who at the last second dodged a lethal blow, luckily getting away with his left arm charred.

Crying in agony, he dropped to his knees cradling his injured arm, his hair sticking to his face as water dripped into his eyes. Jupiter looked back Serena and gave the scout of the moon a grin as she turned back towards their opponent and went to stand in front of him. "What will you do with all the rainbow crystals?" Sailor Jupiter demanded as she impatiently waited for Zoicite to answer.

Suddenly, the harmed general began to impetuously laugh as he sprang at Jupiter, who at the movement of the general slipped on the slick pavement fell backwards and smacked her head against the concrete with a sickening crack! A scream of fury from Sailor Mars took the attention of Zoicite as she ran at him, unable to use her fire in the middle of a downpour. As she raised her fist to punch him, he ducked low and knocked her knees out from under her, where as she fell took her left arm out to catch her but only wound up twisting it in an unnatural way.

Blood began to rapidly pour from Jupiter's body as she made no consistent movement, while Mars' shrieks of pain filled the night sky as she lay huddled on the ground nursing her arm. Seeing that the dog was down, Zoicite raised his foot and kicked Mars' in the abdomen, enjoying this form of torture. Sailor Moon scanned the area, looking for the rest of her companions.

Mentally noting that Sailor Mercury and Venus were aiding the civilian, Moon assumed that Tuxedo Mask was somewhere in the vicinity watching, probably waiting for the rainbow crystal to appear. Turning her attention back onto the now quiet Mars, Moon sucked in her breath and began to run towards the creature that was slowly killing her friend. Silently, she moved as fast as she dared, being extra careful to let the heavy rain mask her footfalls. When she was no more than a foot away from the general, Moon moved her fingers gently towards the distracted Zoicite neck, hoping he wouldn't notice till she completely had him in her grasp, but within a second lapsed of time, Sailor Moon was no longer standing behind the general who was torturing her fellow scout, but was staring into the cold eyes with someone who had long silver hair,

and was holding a knife to her neck.

Okay, obviously this was not one of my Sailor Moon action blood pack scene, with guts and gore, but this was something I came up with when I woke up and I want to know what you think on this first chapter. Please review!

-Danni