Negaverse Rising
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Chapter 1
STRUGGLE
Sweating, Serena flailed wildly under heavy weight. Screams. Darkness. Drippy black darkness as her body felt assaulted everywhere at once. Strangely, she realized she was holding a man —not holding him back, but holding him, even as he painfully ripped through her, drilled down powerfully into her. She tried to look down, where she felt his drenched head on her chest. Her naked chest! she realized suddenly, but couldn't see; everything was pitch black; everything was moving sickly, but invisibly.
A welling of fear boiled inside her; the man's heavy hand was on her face. A finger in her mouth... No! She jerked her face away, grasping the bedsheets on either side of her. She was in her bed. She couldn't see, but —ouch! She groaned loudly, but it didn't sound like her groaning. What she said seemed to be different than what she heard herself say; she fell into a further inky blackness, shallowly breathing. Darien. Darien was there through their bond, she intuited; he was trying to calm her down. Kissing her? —She was kissing him back! No, he was just calming her; someone else was —something or someone pushed inside her, making her scream with pain. Inky blackness took her lungs; she couldn't breathe. The nasty goo was pushing inside her with increasing urgency. A tongue was deep in her throat, almost gagging her; she held on tighter, trying to control at least whether or not she could get some air.
Pain seared through her body everywhere, but it was the heavy, smelly presence on her who was yelling, though what the voice was too muffled to make out the words; and then the tongue was down her throat again. As the creature pulled away, she thought she saw his face —but it was a shadowy, cloaked ghoul who laughed maniacally over her. She screamed as he held still and pulsated deep into her body. Then the inky blackness enveloped her entirely; a dark ink pouring over her brain, taking her breath. She knew she must be dying. Sinking into the negaverse, never to be found again.
"I love you," she heard. It was Darien, surely having witnessed this travesty through their bond. When she looked up, she saw a giant black ink spot, exploding into a menacing grimace. She heard herself called for Darien; for help; for anything! Her throat closed, and she swore she'd been hit; felt an ooze flowing down her face, into her eye. She felt around with her mind — big, sweaty man still on her; wetness between her legs. Blackness. Was she even in her room? —Man gone. No man. There was no man, just a swirling, dizzying blackness and echoes of screams and pain.
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AWAKENING
Serena woke up suddenly, and with a miserable headache. She startled; looked around in the bright sunlight. She was in her bedroom, and everything looked fine. She'd been dreaming! A considerable weight fell off her chest, and with sudden glee she leaped up—
..and felt a puddle stream down her legs. She looked at it in horror, then grabbed some tissues to staunch the flow. "No," she cried silently, realizing she was completely naked, shaking as she reached for a robe. She draped the robe around herself, staring at the wall so she wouldn't see the bruises she thought she saw on her chest. In shame, she tied the robe tightly about her, then ran to the mirror.
She looked the same! But on closer inspection, she noticed some of those love bites visible on the sides of her neck; and she gasped as she saw what looked like a small hickey on the corner of her mouth. She touched her mouth, trying to remember how that might have happened. Nothing; just soreness. She patted on some powder desperately over the bruising, trying to hold back panicked tears and as she did so. Who would have done this to her? What if it wasn't real? What if it was some kind of Negaverse assault on her mind; a trap of some kind?
She ran to the bed and pulled the covers back. Stifling a sob, she saw blood on the sheets. She clearly wasn't on her period, although she'd only had a few periods and they weren't exactly regular yet.
No, she realized, sitting in horror on her bed. She'd been assaulted. And she didn't know how; she tried to remember her evening, and there was little memory there. She didn't even remember eating dinner with her parents, although she was sure she must have! She shook her head, as if to clear the cobwebs. Could she have been drugged? Is this something she should tell Luna? The other Sailor Senshi?
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PLEA
Darien had avoided her all day, as usual, but when she saw him walking home around dinnertime, she snuck up on him and calmly said, "Darien!" before falling into step with him.
His blood ran cold; his pace picked up. "What is it, Serena," he said darkly.
She glanced over at him cautiously. "I need your help," she asked meekly. "Something happened last night—"
Darien spun on her, grabbing her arm and stopping her progress: "You have friends, Serena. I'm not one of them." He let her go and continued walking.
"Were you at my house last night?" she shrieked, hurt that he was being so cold to her, even after she'd asked nicely for help. She had to run to catch up with him again, and silently willed him to believe that for once, she wasn't trying to get back together with him; she just wanted an answer.
Darien continued walking, and said snidely, "No, Serena. Why would I go over to see you? I told you, we're finished."
She blinked back tears, nodding, as she struggled to keep up. "It's not that, Darien. I thought I sensed you... —Something horrible happened, I'm not sure what, but it felt like a Negaverse attack."
Darien brushed her off: "That doesn't even make sense, Serena! The Negaverse is gone!" He shook his head angrily, "You're just making up a reason to talk to me—"
She didn't let him finish; she had turned around and run off. She was going to ask him if he hadn't felt she was in danger, and if so did he know anything further about the attack... but couldn't bear to hear any more of his mouth at all. She was positive... she had been positive, that is, that Darien had been calling to her, comforting her through their bond. Maybe even fighting for her! Now she wasn't sure about anything.
But it occurred to her that maybe a stranger assaulting her was preferable to even talking to this mean jerk she somehow used to love.
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COMFORT
Rei held Serena in a warm embrace, shushing her.
"You really think a girl can have that kind of a violent wet dream?" Serena whispered, embarrassed.
Rei deadpanned: "Ever met Lita?"
Serena looked down, embarrassed. "There was nothing nice about this ..dream," she spat out, hardly able to call it that. And her lower lip started to tremble again, "And there was blood too." Serena cried softly, explaining for the umpteenth time to her best friend why she was so sure she'd been assaulted in the night, although she was unable to recall it well.
Rei hugged Serena again, rubbed her friend's back softly. "Shh, shh! Sere, look at me." Rei pushed her friend back gently to look in her eyes: "We can call a meeting and tell Luna and everyone. But we know the Negaverse is gone now! —I really think it's just your period, and all the stress you've gone through with that jerk Darien!" When Serena looked at her unbelieving, Rei said, "You just started this year, right? They can be incredibly irregular. It's really not unusual for that time of the month to come when you least expect it, and with it, to bring all sorts of strange dreams."
Serena shrugged, shivering. "I guess so. I still think I got drugged or something yesterday. I've never had a dream like that, Rei."
Rei looked away. "Maybe it was something you ate. You DO eat like there's no tomorrow. Some food combinations don't mix well before bed."
Serena walked away. Buried her face in her hands. Mortified. "Oh my God! And to think I almost told Darien about it!"
Rei's anger grew suddenly. "I wish I could figure out a way to make you forget that jerk."
Serena nodded solemnly. "Sorry. I know—"
Rei blustered. "Well, on second thought, even if I could make you forget him, I wouldn't. You need to remember what a jerk Darien Chiba is."
"Why?" Serena groaned, smiling slightly at her friend's protectiveness.
"So you don't make the same mistakes again. That's how we grow and learn, Sere. If we forgot every lesson we learned, we'd never get too far!" Rei paused, then said, "I think one thing we have to take away from this is that there's no such thing as 'destiny'. Even if a man were to come from your future and tell you, 'Serena, this is what you must do,' you wouldn't have to do it. It could be a lie! And even if it weren't he'd be interfering with your free choice by telling you what your choice was."
Serena said, "But we were all sent to this time to be reborn and—"
Rei shook her head: "I know I know," Rei said blandly, "I've heard it. But remember, Sere —you're the Princess." She smiled. "Darien just wishes he were."
Serena's eyes opened wide, and then the girls giggled for the first time since Serena's arrival.
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A NEW ORDER
Weeks passed, and Serena still relived memories of that nightmare over and over. But as the physical evidence of an altercation went away, the memories stopped haunting her so much. She was focused on training hard with the Senshi to fight the new enemies they knew collectively as droids. Unlike almost every enemy they'd fought before, these guys seemed to be trained to attack the Senshi, not to steal souls.
And they were tough, at times requiring all five Senshi to dust just one droid. Serena rarely saw either Darien or Tuxedo Mask, even though she always looked for a non-existent Tuxedo Mask after a battle. And the other Sailor Senshi noticed where Serena's attentions were, most particularly Rei.
In those few short weeks, her friendship with Rei seemed to get edgier. Serena knew Rei had expected her to take Rei's sage advice and simply forget Darien; and Serena had tried, at least around Rei, to focus on the tasks at hand, so it wouldn't seem like Rei's advice went ignored. But Serena also knew Rei watched her closely, and had gotten less and less accepting of her 'infatuation' with Darien.
By the end of a month, Rei started taking every chance she could to demean not only Darien, and true love, but any notion of destiny. The latter of which clearly irritated Serena, since it was Serena's very 'kingdom of peace' which the Sailor Senshi were fighting to ensure could come into existence one day! Serena didn't even need to be the princess or queen, she'd argued one time; but it was very important to Serena that such a kingdom, under anyone's rule, could exist one day.
Serena blamed herself for Rei's change, though; she knew that with friends as close as the Senshi, they could feel her hurt as surely as she could feel theirs. Rei merely didn't want Serena to hurt; she wanted Serena to get over Darien and meet a new boy and become the best Sailor Moon she could be.
And all the girls sorta felt just as charitable about Rei's changes, until Rei went a bit too far during training one day. Serena had been studying furiously as the end of 8th grade rapidly approached; she clearly hadn't spent much time sleeping, maybe more due to crying over Darien then due to slaving away at the books. But when Serena's clumsiness in training landed her unconscious on the ground, Rei rounded on her cruelly, not even letting up when Serena struggled to her feet, only to stumble again like she were drunk.
Luna called a sudden end to the day's training session, to Rei's dismay and incessant rants about needing to push through the tough spots. Lita attributed Rei's rantings as PMS, but Ami and Mina both started questioning Rei's mental stability that day. Rei wasn't even somewhat apologetic the next day, when she learned Serena didn't show up at school. Rei insisted that as Sailor Senshi, pushing through common virii like the cold or flu was essential to their training. Rei lost even Luna on that count, and there would be no training that day. Or, come to find out, the next.
Or the next, as Luna and Serena had called an emergency meeting, claiming to have evidence of a new enemy.
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THE ENEMY EMERGES
Serena stood at the front of the group, trying hard to keep her courage up. There stood Darien, angry face on, as if he was furious to have to be in her mere midst. Anger grew within her, and she turned to Rei, who was clearly agitated, even rolling her eyes.
Rei said, "Well, Sere, let's have it. You wanted this meeting instead of a much-needed training session. I've got things to do, droids to battle..."
Serena spat out, "Memories to change; wrongs to cover-up."
Serena got a slight twinge of satisfaction when both Rei and Darien jerked their heads up. She absolutely knew she had been right, but seeing their reactions changed her satisfaction into the stab of pain you get when you give voice to a suspicion and have it verified.
Serena scanned the room for the others she wasn't sure about. Mina wore her usual look of confusion, but Ami blinked and looked down. Bad sign. Serena then scanned her ever-loyal friend, Lita. Lita looked ready to lunge at someone, but like Mina, was utterly clueless. Even Luna's ears perked. Artemis was asleep, though.
Serena continued in the sudden stillness of the room: "I want to know what exactly you did to me, Rei."
Rei recovered on hearing Serena's voice. "I didn't do ANYTHING to you, Serena," she drawled in an almost bored voice while furiously thinking what could have given her away. Darien surely hadn't said anything to her. 'She's just guessing. It's got to be that.' Rei would stand her ground.
Serena held Rei's glare, wondering if Rei had acquired some new ability to scan her thoughts even now. Serena stated firmly, "You've been playing around in my brain, Rei. Hiding memories from me."
When the other girls gasped at the horrible accusation, Rei fought the urge to glance at Darien, to wipe the bead of sweat off her forehead, and instead interrupted with a derisive laugh: "Serena! Even if I could see someone's memories, how could I possibly hide them!"
"Or why would she want to?" asked Mina breathlessly, with an anxiety she didn't like building up inside her.
Rei's harsh laugh had nearly drowned out Serena's whimper, but Serena was having none of it. And Rei sensed that Serena knew. —None of which was lost on Lita as she watched Rei uncomfortably trying to stare Serena down without a trace of a smile on her face.
Serena sucked it up and said simply: "You're the only one that can, Rei." Then she glanced at Darien pointedly before turning back to Rei: "—and the only one who might care to."
Lita grabbed Rei's arm. "What's she talking about, Rei?"
Serena pushed on: "You can fog memories up some. Right, Rei? I've seen you do it before—"
Rei blanched. Rei lied: "No!"
Serena continued slowly, knowingly. "Make things seem like a dream? Yeah.. yes, you can. Something can happen in real life," She glanced over at Darien, and continued a bit more angrily. "something horrible, like, say, a RAPE," and she turned back to Rei, "and you can make it seem like it wasn't real; just a faraway nightmare."
Lita glared at Rei, but then turned to Serena: "She can do it to enemies, Serena. During a battle or something. She can't do that to us! To friends!"
Darien had blanched when Serena said 'rape', staring right at him as she said it. He'd taken a step back. He'd wanted to argue that it wasn't like that! How could she even imagine it that way? They'd shared the most beautiful night of passion ...but then he'd left suddenly; desperately. Remembering the haunting dreams that threatened her death if he stayed with her. He'd left her that night, trying to think of a way to fix what he'd done! He supposed that alone could have made it seem uglier to her, but it couldn't change what had actually happened. She should be remembering a wonderful dream, maybe one that ended sadly, but wonderful all the same.
His mind fought furiously for an answer to this quandary. He'd known she might remember. He wondered if her dreams might be graphic, and replayed over and over in perfect detail, and might make her realize it couldn't be a dream after all. That kind of realistic dreaming, happening day in and day out, was in fact exactly why Darien had broken it off with Serena to begin with; a constant onslaught of terrifying scenes, each one showing Serena dying an agonizingly slow, lonely death. Screaming in misery. Saddened beyond belief. So ..destroyed, that even several lifetimes of happiness couldn't possibly make up for that misery.
Darien allowed his terrifying dreams to play in his memories, strengthening him to figure out what he'd need to do in the face of discovery.
Serena grilled Rei a bit more forcefully now: "You tried to help cover up a mistake. Right, Rei? Even if it meant driving me crazy in the process!"
Mina quietly echoed Lita: "Serena, Rei can do that, to some degree —in a fight, honey. Not to her friends." Mina fully believed something horrible must have happened to upset Serena this much. But she also believed in Rei's ultimate goodness. She started to wonder if the Negaverse might indeed be involved with whatever was upsetting Serena. Maybe it wasn't as 'gone' as they'd believed. "We'll get to the bottom of this—"
Rei's survival instinct kicked in; she stepped angrily towards Serena and hissed, "I'm not the one making you crazy." She grabbed Serena's arm, jerking the meek girl close: "You're the one who tortures yourself about a man who doesn't want you! If you'd just drop him like he dropped you we wouldn't be having this conversation!"
Serena pulled away, saddened not by the reminder about Darien's hatred of her, but by Rei's continued lying. She collected herself, then quietly said, "Rei, I know."
Lita, shocked by Rei's cruelty to Serena, and counting it as an admission of guilt, grabbed the Martian Senshi's shoulder and manhandled her away from Serena: "Know what, Serena. Just let me know. We'll handle this in house." Lita smiled evilly at Rei, then back at Serena. She had the Moon Princess' back, even if the Moon Princess was just upset over that lout Darien. And under no circumstances would Rei mouth off about Darien's cruelty like Serena was the one at fault.
Rei's cruelty wasn't lost on others, either, and it was beginning to dawn on them that something significant had happened between Serena and Rei. It had dawned on Ami almost immediately, but only because Rei had called about a month ago to ask her if it would be possible to make an event seem like a dream in a non-combative situation. She asked if she could hope the effect would continue to work. Rei's examples were primarily child molestation. And yes, it could work, but as Ami had warned Rei, the victim would be a victim all over again, and wouldn't be able to deal with it effectively, dooming them to be a victim twice over. It would be entirely unethical.
Ami spoke up then, a choked voice betraying her knowledge: "Darien," she said, "This is a serious charge. Not just ..rape," she said gravely, "but erasing memories—" Then, forgetting all legal and ethical arguments, she realized she couldn't grasp one thing. She stood and said, "You've been abusive to her for weeks!" Curiosity morphing into courage, morphing in anger, "Tell her you couldn't have done this! Okay?" The cruelty was hitting her full on; and she'd been a party to it, however inadvertently.
"No!" Darien spat out the lie in disgust, disgusted with himself, and channeling that disgust at Ami's accusation. He'd let this get way too far. He usually stayed angry at himself for not being able to hide his desires so much more responsibly. Had he been able to keep a handle on his emotions, he wouldn't have had to ask Rei for help in the first place. And even with that help, he had to avoid Serena every day to not betray his feelings. Without monumental defenses up, he knew without a doubt she'd see the adoration he held for her, and she'd wear him down easily.
"And I haven't been 'cruel'," Darien added, but avoided looking at Serena. "She's a CHILD! I feel like a pervert just BEING part of this group sometimes. There's no way I'd TOUCH her!" he lied, about the biggest lie he'd ever dared. But he had to make them all believe it. He had to erase that night. It was his only hope at continuing to prevent her miserable future.
Darien dared to look at Serena, whose eyes were downcast. He had figured a way out of this yet. Their previous lives, which eased ever-so-slightly into their realities at times, might yet explain this to her. And he felt he could do so nicely, maybe even offering her comfort.
Darien said, "Serena, look, yes we had sex. Often. IN ANOTHER LIFE. Okay? I don't personally revel in the memories, but I get those visions sometimes, too. I —I can't imagine that I would have hurt you, but you're young. What you think of as 'rape' might have been normal lovemaking for our former counterparts!"
If he could work with what Rei had done to her memories, and make Serena think that the 'rape' wasn't evil-intended, but normal lovemaking, maybe she could accept that and get over it. He couldn't give her hope for them now, but maybe he could alleviate some of her apparently nightmarish memories. He was going to have a talk with Rei as soon as he could get a chance.
Serena had listened to Darien's outburst, then his so-called soothing words, with a stoicism she didn't know she had. Mina and Lita approached her to comfort her as his reasonable explanation finished, but she backed away slightly, asking them silently not to touch her. Shaking her head pitifully, she made it clear she didn't want the comfort.
Then she stood to her fullest height. Artemis had woken with the first loud words, and now both cats were watching the proceedings with alarm, but Luna sensed that Serena was about to drop a bomb that would send the room into disarray. Artemis was by her side; they were prepared to take any necessary action.
An unbelieving Serena said to Darien, "You think that I'm remembering you FORCING SEX on me in another life, Darien? That it doesn't translate to this life?"
Darien's hair stood up on the back of his head. The continued rape accusations sounded so true that he'd almost started to believe them. It was then that he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Rei must have altered something significant in Serena's memories, so Serena remembered something that wasn't; a true nightmare of some sort, with him starring in it. And in that moment, he wondered if carrying on with this charade wasn't more cruel than simply signing her future death warrant.
Serena continued, "I'm to believe these vivid dreams that haunt me, and took my virginity, and left marks on me... that they are from another life! Or an over-active imagination!"
Darien stared back at her, comprehending suddenly. She knew because of the blood; her virginity was lost that night. And she'd thought it was rape. His soul crushed in on itself, just starting to realize the enormity of the harm he'd caused.
Rei said, "I TOLD you there were perfectly rational explanations for your 'physical evidence', Serena."
"Ah!" Serena said, still facing Darien. "That's right. It's hormones," she said dryly, then looked over her shoulder at Rei.
Darien said, "Serena, you're obviously very disturbed—"
"No, Darien!" Serena shot back, turning on him wide-eyed. "I'm not 'disturbed'. I'm pregnant!"
Darien's eyes went wide, fixed on her eyes. Shut hard. In a moment, no, in that second, he saw exactly how his irresponsible actions might cost her her life. The visions had been right. He thought they had ended that night because of Rei's actions, and his proven determination to stay apart from Serena, but now he knew better. The dream ended because he'd sealed her fate.
Ami glared at Rei, then transformed and threw a blast of Mercury Bubbles towards Darien, though they flew over the crushed man's head. As the wall crumbled on him, she charged him physically like a bull. "You're the worst person I've ever even HEARD of!" punching him as hard as she could with each syllable.
Lita had pulled Rei to her in a chokehold, then grabbed her flailing arm and put her on the ground forcibly, knee to the back. As Sailor Mercury's punches landed on Darien's crumpled form, Lita hissed to Rei, "Whatever you've done to Serena, you undo it. NOW!"
Luna, however, stepped between the group and Serena, ready to rain hell on the whole room and escape with her charge if necessary. But first, she quickly looked back at Serena. "You're pregnant?" she asked quietly, not quite grasping.
Serena ignored the cat, focused instead on what Lita had just demanded of Rei, and said powerfully, "NO, LITA! I don't want REI to come NEAR me! She might try to FIX me some MORE!" She hugged herself tightly, maddeningly, just imagining what further harm Rei could do to her. She wanted to run far away now; everything was out; chaos reigned.
Darien yelled out in agony when Ami's brutality was cut short by Mina, who had quickly come to his rescue. But all he could see was the near future as chaos erupted. He could see Serena refusing them all; Sailor Moon unable to battle; world collapse... and he groaned audibly. This chaos wouldn't have happened if he had been able to control himself that one fateful night. The one he'd begged Rei to erase.
Rei was screaming in pain from Lita's hold, but was crying out for Serena to hear her.
Mina, the ever-hopeful goddess of love, had sunk to the ground after getting Sailor Mercury off Darien. Hope abandoned. Hopes that the Negaverse had somehow come back and hurt Serena, black hopes that they were, were now replaced by knowledge that her best friends had hurt Serena worse than the Negaverse ever could have.
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JUDGMENT
Nothingness. Serena stared into the deep dark of space, so utterly unlittered with lights, so painfully cold. She was sitting, somehow, knees pulled up to her chest, seeking, but with the knowledge that there was nothing to be found. Not where she was looking. And yet she continued to seek. Her heart crushed as each dim light she found blurred to inky darkness so black it hurt her head, forcing her to try to focus on another dimness.
She suddenly threw her head back in the slushy icy deep, mouth wide open, gasping desperately for strength. Squeezing her eyes shut, she sensed the light she needed, deep in her own body, barely pulsating. She released her breath, stood up and opened her eyes while turning around.
She was back in the temple, cats by her heels, trying to wend a hint of a confident aura as she looked over the group of two-dimensional canvases staring at her, waiting for her next move. The betrayal, the overwhelming betrayal of her mind, her body, by these people still stung her. Her own hurt betrayed her intentions to argue that she was not a toy, a child, to be so callously deprived of basic human rights. Tears stung her eyes as she fought to control her breathing.
And then she grew up. She closed her eyes, letting the tears squeeze out and down her face. She felt Darien move towards her before he actually did, and she gained a bit of hope as her hand struck out to stop him before he could move. 'Yes,' she smiled inwardly as Darien stood but without taking a step; 'I did that.' He had stopped before he had really known he was about to move, because she had held her hand out to stop him. She had finally, finally, gained a step on any of these so-called 'protectors' of hers, those who'd betrayed her.
Rei had gotten through; grabbed Serena's arm, was talking. Excitedly; defensively. Serena didn't know what she was saying; the words were a garble to her. Serena's head dropped down to glance at her cat. Luna launched within that same instant and shredded Rei's arm as she ripped the transform brooch from her body.
Serena heard the next words. Rei had fallen backwards, grasping for the charm that was no longer there. A horrified Mina comforted her friend, then looked at Serena and shrieked, "Serena! STOP THIS! She was clearly wrong but she must have thought she was helping you!"
Serena pondered the scene in horror as the other Senshi sat with Rei; stared up at her. Lita and Mina were innocent in all this, Serena determined. They were just as confused as she had been. Serena didn't feel the need to enlighten any of them, though. She was drawing strength, and wisdom, from her extraordinary pain.
Luna, however, taking a swipe at a slowly-approaching Darien, felt no such compulsion to remain silent. Serena knew Luna was going to speak before Luna spoke, and was content contemplating the source of her premonition. This was new. First, she stopped Darien. Then Rei, indirectly. And she felt she could stop Rei directly now. Just as now she knew Luna would sort this out, and she could observe, take it all in.
"Especially not you!" the cat snapped at Darien. "You son of the Negaverse! Never in all my ages have I heard of such a thing, by anyone called into Queen Serenity's service to protect the world and particularly her daughter! The shame you have brought to your house, and to the name of Queen Serenity and the whole Moon Kingdom, will be forever muddled! And for what purpose?"
Mina blinked back tears, still holding a sobbing Rei from behind, but answered, "Serena, you know none of us could have meant any such harm—"
Serena winced with premonition. She blinked here, jumping to hold the same hand out to Artemis as he made to leap for Mina's throat. "No no no," Serena intoned to the cat, stepping forward after Artemis obeyed her, and as it dawned on the group why Artemis had started to leap. Serena continued to step forward, to Mina and Rei, Lita and Ami, and she knelt before them all, fear pulsating now through her veins as much as revulsion. She finally spoke, gently, to Mina:
"Mina, I'm done. Look where all this 'superhero' stuff has gotten me. I woke up to remember being in love with him," she glared over at the ball on the floor. "—and it got me raped. My own Senshi took pity on HIM and erased my memories." She shook her head and said a little louder, "I dare you, ASK me how I found out I was pregnant?" She blinked back angry tears. "I THOUGHT I WAS A VIRGIN!" Beat. "They TOOK that from me, Mina! And left me with a baby..."
"We'll do it together, Sere!" Mina offered desperately, trying to smile. "We always have!"
Luna, who was suddenly a little unsure about the direction of Serena's thoughts, said firmly, "You don't have a choice, Serena. You're Sailor Moon!"
Serena turned on her cat. "No, Luna, I'm not 'Sailor Moon'. What I am is 14, and pregnant. I'm just a tad beyond caring —about 'Serenity' and Moon Kingdoms! ...dammit Luna, how can I fight 'evil' when it's in my own backyard?"
Luna snapped, "We'll take CARE of that evil, Serena!"
Rei, sobbing, said, "Darien had a weak moment, Serena, and he didn't want to hurt you more!"
"A WEAK MOMENT?" Lita shouted in disbelief.
Lita moved to launch an attack on the man now standing limply behind Serena, but Mina held her back, "No, Lita! There's been enough—"
Lita railed, "WHO DOES THIS? —Darien!" she called out. "You sonofabitch you should be in JAIL!" Wiping her own furious tears from her eyes, she glanced at Serena: "Please, let's call the police! I know we can't do anything about what Rei did except maybe put her damned fires out, but we sure as hell can report a rape. And you've got all the evidence they need—"
"I wish you would," Darien said quietly, like a broken man. "I wouldn't deny it."
Serena spun on him, tears threatening again: "Why?" she asked. "Why did you do this to me? Why didn't you just ignore me? Did you really have to PUNISH me?"
Darien sucked in a sob: "It wasn't like that, Serena! I couldn't stay away—!"
Lita ignored his words. "What, do you hate her so much you wanted to assault her... just for fun?"
It was Rei who said, "He loves you, Serena."
And everyone turned to the stilled Senshi. You could have heard a pin drop.
Mina, ever the voice of reason, said softly to Rei, "No he doesn't, Rei."
Darien addressed Mina, desperately: "I absolutely do love her."
Serena, shellshocked by an admission she certainly didn't think she'd ever hear, turned on him. Whispered miserably, "I BEGGED you to tell me if you'd been to my room that night, Darien! If we'd shared a dream. If you'd felt something with that stupid ...bond! SOMETHING! You wouldn't even SPEAK to me!"
Darien held his hands up defensively, but only to calm her. "Serena I thought it would be easier for you to forget what happened—"
"I'd PRAYED you were there, Darien!" She cried. "At least comforting me; trying to help me! The thought of anyone—" When he reached out for her, clearly pleading with her, she slapped his hand away powerfully, "Don't you EVER lay a hand on me again. If you see a droid attack me, I'd prefer you let him KILL me than have you come anywhere near me, you filthy rapist!"
Darien, completely shellshocked himself by this change in her demeanor, said painfully, "No, Serena; it wasn't rape! You know me! I wouldn't have forced myself on you! It was consensual! And you were sleeping peacefully when I—"
"WHY'D YOU COME TO ME?" she demanded, miserably. "You swore you didn't want anything to DO with me!" She gasped in horror, plagued by the drippy blackness of her memories of a man assaulting her. "Then you said you DIDN'T come to me, that it was a memory from the freakin Silver Millennium! And NOW you're saying you did and that I.. enjoyed it?"
Darien interrupted desperately, pushing her flailing arms down by her side, trying to calm her again: "Sweetheart I promise you something must have gone wrong when Rei tried to make you forget—"
Lita bowled him over and then stood up by her friend: "She told you not to TOUCH her again, idiot!"
Serena said to Darien as he jumped back up: "I can't believe you'd think your promises would MEAN anything to me!"
Lita stormed, "We should kill him."
Darien braved the storm, "Serena please, it's not supposed to be like this! I was wrong to step foot into your room! Things got out of control —WAY out of control, obviously. I couldn't —stop! But I should have! Don't you see? This is all proof that I should have stayed away from you! One night, and now you're pregnant—!"
"Leave him alone!" the castrated Rei begged from behind them all, still on the floor, weakened by the removal of her crystal. "Serena, he made love to you. And you made love TO HIM! I saw it! It wasn't rape. Sure, he came to your room, but you welcomed him into your room!"
Ami, fully disgusted, asked loudly, "And how could she remember, Rei?" She stalked towards Rei, "That was the night you called me, asking if it would be okay to change memories. Do you remember that, Rei?"
Lita asked, "She called you about this?"
Serena's eyes widened, feeling more pain coming her way.
Ami sneered, "No. Rei called to ask me if she could use her powers to help a MOLESTED CHILD forget HIS torments."
"I didn't say it like that, Ami," Rei broke in.
Darien looked to Rei: "'Molested'?"
Ami said, "She asked me that! And what did I say, Rei? I said NO! I said even in that case, you shouldn't erase the child's memory because the act still would have happened, and removing the memory from the ..the VICTIM! would be TWICE VICTIMIZING that kid!"
Ami breathed, collecting herself. Then continued angrily, "Only I didn't know you could have POSSIBLY been referring to OUR FRIEND! That you wanted to help Darien COVER UP an INDISCRETION!" She glared at Darien: "And that, Mr. Chiba, is a best case scenario. You've lied so much today that I'm starting to believe you maliciously raped her—"
Rei defended, "It was a rhetorical question. He didn't molest her! I saw it! She ...Serena," she said trying to put on a calmer air, "—you welcomed him into your room. You guys started making out... I mean, at no time was 'force' involved."
Darien said, "Thank you," then, to Serena, "It was a beautiful night, Meatball Head!"
Serena turned and full-slapped him. She shocked herself; looked at her hand. Struggled to not apologize. She fought a trembling chin, and warned, "Don't EVER call me that again!"
Darien backed up a step, tears threatening. He said meekly, "Serena, I love you."
Something twinged in Serena. But she stomped it out. "I wish I'd never met you, Darien. All your mind games; all the back-and-forth. SNEAKING into my room after you broke up with me..!"
"You got her pregnant, you lout!" Lita joined in the fun, punched him in the face.
Darien took the punch, turned back to Serena. The twinge in Serena was back upon seeing Darien's mouth bleed. And then he pleaded with her, "Can't you remember any part of it? If you could, you'd know I love you! I said it, over and over—"
Lita growled, "Yeah, she's got a memory GROWING INSIDE HER that's going to last about 18 years, ASSHOLE!"
Serena, still looking at her smarting hand, said sadly, "You don't even know what you did to me, do you Darien? You know what I remember?" She sniffed. "I remember waking up, and feeling something heavy on me, like a big boulder. Only it was sweating. And hurting me! I couldn't SEE anything! Just all this awful BLACKNESS! I couldn't breathe! I wanted it to STOP!"
Darien, confused, shook his head violently: "I —I'm so sorry! That's not what happened, though. And Rei was supposed to make it seem like a distant dream, Swee—"
"No!" Serena stopped him, warning him to back off as he tried to approach her again. With agony, she said gravely, "It was a living nightmare! I THOUGHT I WAS IN THE NEGAVERSE!" She breathed deeply, angrily. "But then I saw just a glimpse of your face, and for an instant I felt a little better. There was so much darkness. And pain. But seeing your face made it so much better, and do you know why, Darien? Because I thought," she whimpered now, remembering, "..you could never hurt me! No matter how much you said otherwise, I knew you could never hurt me. So I hung on to that, thinking we were being attacked by the Negaverse!"
Mina was sobbing at the story, while Ami shook her head angrily. Both girls knew Serena loved Darien unconditionally; she had taken the worst emotional abuse from him, and somehow maintained hope. They both knew Darien wouldn't hurt her physically, not the way she was describing. But Ami in particular knew that Rei's dallying with Serena's memories had produced a living nightmare that Serena wouldn't be getting over anytime soon. The Negaverse couldn't have destroyed her any more skillfully.
"And then I woke up," Serena said to Darien, staring icily at him. "And everything was so bright and pretty. For just a second," she glowered. "I KNEW it had been a dream." Beat. "Until I SAT UP. I had the evidence all over me! I tried to ignore it; just IMAGINING that nightmare had been real? I wanted to forget. I wanted to forget so bad." She closed her eyes tightly, then barked at him: "You didn't even bother cleaning me up!" She glared at him, hurt. "The moment I stood up, I knew I'd been raped. I THOUGHT I'd been drugged because of the blackness in the dream. I wondered who I'd met that might have drugged me. I wracked my brain. That was the ONLY reason I approached you that day, Darien. For a little bit of help."
Rei called out, now sitting up in horror at what she'd done. "Serena, this is all my fault! It wasn't supposed to be that much of a mind block! It was just supposed to make it seem a little less real!"
Mina dropped her head. Asked in horror, "Rei, how could you do something like that to ANYONE? Most of all, SERENA?" Sniffing, she wiped her eyes: "After everything this jerk has put her through! And after AMI told you not to! She warned you—!"
"I didn't think it would be this big of a deal!" Rei pleaded. "Serena, I swear! It wasn't supposed to be like that at all!"
Luna interrupted here. "But you knew full well, child, that you couldn't practice your DARK ARTS on a fellow Senshi."
હ
The chaotic room grew quiet. Luna continued, "This violation — this type of violation — is what we're supposed to stand against. But now it's clear, we don't need to worry about droids, or the Negaverse, nearly so much as ourselves. You — Darien and Rei — have become the likeness of the very enemy we were fighting."
Darien mumbled out miserably, "I can explain everything, Serena. I had dreams, visions! —warning me to stay away from you or you'd die! That's why I broke up with you! To save your life! I heard voices—"
"Then you are schizophrenic, Mr. Chiba," Artemis hissed, voicing his disgust for the first time today. "You forced yourself on a GIRL that you claimed you had no feelings for! Endymion would have KILLED a man who'd done that to any girl, much less Serenity! And you got the girl pregnant! Then you had a two-bit magician," he hissed at Rei, "DIG AROUND in the girl's MIND. Tactics rarely even employed by the Negaverse—"
Serena whispered hurriedly, "Artemis, don't! It's enough now. It's over."
She had cooled off considerably, she supposed because she'd finally spoken her deep dark secrets; seen the agony on Darien's and Rei's faces. She'd never understand what possessed them to attack her as they did, but a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders, for the first time since the attack.
Much more calmly, she looked at Darien and said, "It's funny; I think the ONE thing we 'had' to do together was have a child." She stared, "So our destiny is fulfilled."
Darien stared at her, shocked. "You've got to let me explain. I know you must hate me now. I hate me now," his chin quivered. He stood. "But having a child was NOT our only destiny."
Serena glared at him. "You're smarter than this, Darien. You just SAID you had visions that forced you to break up with me; how did you EXPECT us to fulfill our destiny after that. If not EXACTLY like this."
Darien said, "I was going to discover the source of the prophecies, Serena! I'm still—"
Serena shook her head; backed away from them all, taking in the sight as she did, wanting to stop more chaos from happening in the moment. Rei had been effectively stilled; Artemis had almost attacked Mina; and Luna had almost attacked Darien. She was pregnant. Further talk would get them nowhere.
Ami was gathering her things. She chanced a glance up at Serena, who looked simultaneously hurt, and regal. Before her were dumbfounded Senshi, a clearly upset Darien whom Ami had attacked herself, and the cats, drawing a distinct line between Serena and the rest of the group. Ami turned, and left the temple.
Serena breathed out silently. She likewise turned, and left the temple by another passage. She was headed home. Alone.
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AFTERMATH
Mina was ministering to Rei as Lita angrily made a quick meal for the battle-torn group. Lita dropped a bowl before Darien with an angry, "Eat up, loverboy. You made this mess; you're cleaning it up."
Rei, hollowly, said, "That's what got us here." When nobody responded, she tacked on, "Cleaning it up." Pause. She took a bite of the mess, scrunched up her nose, and thought how this was a meal that only Serena could appreciate. She dropped her spoon and started weeping again. "It wasn't like that. It wasn't as bad as it sounded." Mina merely kept wiping antiseptic on Rei's arm. Rei shook her off, and spat out at Lita, "You could have backed me up a little, Lita."
Lita snorted. "I won't even pretend to understand how you could let your friend get raped—"
"She wasn't 'raped', Lita!" Mina shot back. Thought about it. Looked at Darien over on the floor, and demanded as nicely as she could muster: "You didn't rape her."
Darien pulled himself up to sitting position, staring at his hands. "No," he said. "I killed her."
"Oh GET OFF that!" Rei snapped, then mimicked him, "I killed her I killed her. You didn't 'kill' her, Darien. You had sex with her. Your stupid dream almost sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy now, doesn't it."
Darien jerked at that. Might his dream have been some Negaverse trick all along? But it couldn't be; that whole reality had been reset! Beryl was dead; the shitennou, long gone...
Then, rudely, Rei added, "I can't believe you knocked her up! You neglected to TELL me you didn't use PROTECTION! 'Oh Rei, help me. Oh Rei, how can live without her? Oh Rei, I made LOVE to Serena, I couldn't help myself, can you make her forget that, Rei'."
Lita shook her head. "I mean, I KNOW you loved her when you were some king a hundred million years ago, but don't you think that.. with you being an adult, and her being FOURTEEN, you could have WAITED a bit?"
Darien said solemnly, "I should have moved away. I couldn't be around her and not ..want her. Being with Serena... —it felt so natural."
Rei barked back: "You know what else feels natural, Darien? A CONDOM. ProTECTion."
Mina giggled a little, then stifled it. She whispered, "Actually Rei..."
Darien was thrown back to that night, to his urges, not just to have her in her parents' home, not just to fulfill their every desire, but to actually spill his seed into her. It was unlike any urge he'd ever had before, especially not in that moment. There he was, a grown man, making out passionately with an EIGHTH GRADER, and her incredible response. It was like he was breathing air for the first time in his life. It was better than even his memories of their lovemaking from the Silver Millennium.
He recalled forcing through her virginity with fierce need, without clearly thinking of her discomfort until it was too late. He'd been beside himself; he had quickly consoled her when he realized how it must have hurt. But that had let to more cuddling, and kissing... and then his building need, their mutual lovemaking. And ..and it wasn't enough. Everything he'd wanted in life wasn't merely just joining with his soulmate. His mind had screamed with a destiny that said he had to completely give himself to her—
Darien jumped up, gasping for air, desperate for human contact. It couldn't be! He fought a vigorous fight with his own mind. Had he truly intended to...? He closed the thoughts off; made his way over to the table where the girls were; grasped it.
Rei said, "Calm down, big boy. We get it. It was an accident." She rolled her eyes, thinking what an irresponsible lout he was.
Lita, however, asked nervously, "What's wrong, Darien?"
Darien's eyes were still shut tight. Damn it all if he didn't want to go to her now, to Serena, and seal the deal again. His urges were stronger than ever, to have her, to drown her in him. To be her everything; and she his. He opened his eyes, looked desperately at Mina, Lita. "What have I done?" he asked, wincing.
"You knocked her up," Rei dead-panned, but more to get a little humor back into the air in place of the thick tension. She stood. "Look, I'm the one who's lost here. I lost my transform brooch—"
Darien glared at her, taken aback. "Oh God, Rei. I'm sorry!"
Rei blinked back tears, determined to turn this thing around. "I know, Darien. Me, too. But what good's crying going to do about it." She went to her teapot. She was secretly horrified at how physically weak she felt. The loss of that brooch was almost too much to bear. "At least you didn't lose your.." she thought, "your hat? —whatever it is you transform with."
Mina asked, "Do you think she'll want to see us?"
"Serena?" Rei laughed. "She'll want to see him," she nodded at Darien, "no matter what she says now. First time that baby kicks, that weird bond they have —whammo. I'd put money on it. —And we're her friends. She'll understand." Eventually. Rei blinked back tears and lifted the suddenly-heavy teapot.
Darien looked away. Serena had told him, in no uncertain terms, to never come near her again.
Lita said, "She didn't understand why loverboy here hated her. She'll never understand that." Beat. "I'LL never understand that." She looked at Darien. "No offense, but how do you sleep with someone you proclaim to love, then ignore her like you did? What kind of black hole lives in your heart?" She definitely understood Ami's instinct to pummel the guy to death.
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.
NIGHT
Darien had transformed and flown off, across housetops, as far as the city would take him. He got to the treelines, and picked up speed jumping over the treetops. Far. As long as he could. And then he collapsed in a heap in a small clearing, and curled up into himself.
Rei's injurious comments hadn't helped at all. He'd caused the Martian Senshi's downfall, but Serena had been right about them both. Rei helping him had hurt Serena, which went against Rei's sole Senshi duty. "I'm so sorry," he whispered to the air, to Serena. He imagined himself curled up with her, whispering his sorrow into her hair as he stroked the long, beautiful blond streaks away from her face. He kissed her eyes. "I can't stand to see you in pain."
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Serena lay on her bed, glancing down at her still-flat belly. A moon-shaped light glowed on her belly; she felt her forehead warm with the same sign. Warmth encompassed her. She opened her eyes and looked at the wall, at the warm glow from her body illuminating the walls softly. Two moons. She breathed raggedly though, thinking about how her little moon would have only her to depend on. She wanted to run into Mama's room and let her make it all better; get a promise that Mama and Papa would help her to be a mom. She sobbed softly into her pillow. How? How could this happen to her?
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Darien remembered slipping into her room, so soon after they'd broken up. After he'd broken up with her. She'd been crying that night, as the other nights. The room had been dark, and she'd been alone, and crying herself to sleep. He'd been so crushed, tears threatening his own eyes as he realized that the breakup was harder on them both than he could have imagined. —He must have made an anguished noise, because she turned to him. She had never heard him in her room the other nights; that night she was sitting up in bed, staring. Wiping her eyes clumsily, waiting. Hoping.
Maybe if she'd cried out for him; called him. Then he could have hardened himself. Escaped! But as fate would have it, Serena picked that one night to remain silent. He didn't even remember going over to her bed; he was just there. And then he was sitting on her bed, his hand was in her hair pulling her toward him. He remembered feeling her lips near his ear as they embraced; an accidental brushing of her mouth against his skin. He felt her wet cheeks; heard her gasp at his touch on her waist. A mere sound that sent electricity raging through his veins, and only heightened when her arms wrapped around him as if to hold him forever.
His hands had instantly moved to her shoulders, moving the flimsy gown back over her shoulders to contact her warm skin. He'd said her name, then kissed her forehead, her face; captured her willing mouth with his own in the first kiss they'd shared in a week, a kiss which she'd happily and even hungrily returned.
If only he'd stopped there! But time blurred for him even now, thinking back on it. He was pulling her flimsy nightgown down off her body as he pushed that beautiful kiss deeper; he remembered feeling this overpowering need to touch her. Just a little. But when that gown hit her waist, he suddenly had much more than a little — he had it all, and his heart soared as he pushed her back just enough to suckle on that beautiful chest that he'd only dreamed about before now. He maintained that tender contact as he jerked his jacket off.
He had maddeningly pushed her back onto the mattress and followed clumsily, landing hard on her now half-naked body and pressing his mouth desperately over hers again, never wanting her to cry again over him, or over anything. Feeling her naked chest on his nearly-naked body had pushed him over the edge; in that moment, he'd known that not even her dad bursting in and trying to pull him bodily off this girl would stop this coupling; he ached with need to be inside her.
Maybe she'd been struggling a little at that moment. He thought furiously; decided if she had been, it was surely because he'd gotten clumsy and amateurish in his desire, not able to get undressed quickly enough for either of them. He'd tried to kick out of his pants without breaking their kiss, then tangled his hands into her hair to push his mouth more deeply into hers, hungrily devouring her mouth, refusing to hear her weep.
He now particularly remembered thrusting through her hymen with mad desire to change their fates. Breaking through; thrusting powerfully over and over in her tiny frame, feeling her fear and ecstasy as she soared with him. He remembered letting his own desire build past the point of return —that memory came roaring back suddenly. Him grabbing her hips almost viciously as he poured his seed into her; holding her still as she struggled; even kissing her calm, reassuring her tenderly, as he collapsed onto her, fully spent. He held her tightly; told her... told her it was meant to be.
He shivered at the memory, ashamed at himself for becoming erect even now at just the thought of that night. Such a mindblowing night—of course they'd made a new life! Wrapped up in the heat of the moment, he had ensured that he'd be forever linked to her, regardless of what his confused, infected mind might end up doing after taking control of his senses.
.
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Serena sat up, frustrated. Was it really real? she asked herself. She could feel his hands on her, smell him, taste him in her mouth, more now than even the night it happened. She could remember a struggle; searing pain as he forced his way into her. She remembered losing herself. Hurting. Negaverse.
But even that was so fuzzy. She better recalled the bruising the next morning; her neck, her shoulders... she'd been so sure it was real that morning. But then —then, Rei convinced her that your mind could play powerful tricks on you. Serena had told Rei everything. Looking back, Serena realized that Rei had taken her down that path. Wet dreams; violent dreams... the fact that periods are irregular when you start as late as Serena had. Rei had subtly convinced her she'd had a wet dream.
Of course Rei had known just what to say, because ...she'd known the truth! Rei didn't know about the nightmare directly, and had acted like Serena was just ashamed of a wet dream, and explained away so many disturbing things. So well that even now, even after the doctor announced she was pregnant, and even after Rei and Darien admitted the truth, even now, Serena still questioned the dream. Even with the proof of its reality growing, even glowing, inside her.
She ran to the window to get air. She breathed in deep, then was caught mid-inhale by a sharp sensation of being watched. She dropped her head and started crying, yet again. Desperately. How could Rei have done this to her? How was she ever to know reality from fantasy? Pleasure from horror?
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"Well it was clearly not the best timing," Rei answered drunkenly.
Lita, laying her head across Rei's legs, harrumphed heartily. "No shit, Sherlock!" Rei could definitely be understated sometimes. "But ...y'know, even if she weren't pregnant, wounnit just SUCK to have your memories RIPPED from your mind." Lita closed her eyes. Swigged another hearty shot of the bourbon.
Rei winced. "You'd rather she remember more of Darien's mind games? AFTER losing her VIRGINITY? No. I love her. Lita, I love Serena. I didn't want her to remember that. I remember—" she started giggling. "This isn't funny." She cleared her throat. "I remember wanting to strangle Darien the minute he told me they'd had sex and he wanted to take it back. He's such a tool!"
Mina, laying beside Rei, said, "I just don't get it. What she sees in him."
Rei grinned widely. "You ought to have SEEN them. If I ever take a lover, and I'm like they were, just shoot me, okay?" She giggled.
"Rei!" both girls shrieked.
Rei shook her head widely, laughing, "No, really. If you could've seen it. It was SO BAD. They weren't even really ..doing much." She thought better of that. "—well, at the end, yes. Things picked up. But before that... it was really gross. Two leeches, just laying there sucking the life out of each other. Disgusting!"
Mina said, "You shouldn't have looked, Rei."
Rei countered, "I had to! You can't see what you have to blur out without SEEING what you have to blur out! Oh, and it was so embarrassing with Darien right here, watching me, watch THEM." She laughed heartily. "He can be really creepy sometimes." She paused. "But he really does love her. He was in all this pain." She shivered. "Really, I'd hate to be the object of HIS affection."
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Darien rolled over and stared at the sky. A crescent moon. It inflamed his heart; he stood up. He cried out with all his energy.
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Serena jerked her head up again, shivers running through her body. She'd both felt the primal yell in her heart, and then seconds later heard it in the night with her ears. She dropped to her knees, head hanging on the window sill, drawing in the air sharply as if for dear life. The cooling air, brushing across her face, down into her nostrils, filling her lungs.
Artemis walked up behind her. "It's him," Artemis said.
Serena turned on the cat who'd been watching her all night. She grabbed him gently, picked him up: "Why me, Artemis? Why'd they do this, to me?"
Artemis squirmed uncomfortably. "Set me down gently, please. Princess." Trying to maintain some air of dignity as the gangly beanpole dropped him unceremoniously on the bed, Artemis went to licking his fur before replying. "Lady Moon, it's because you picked stupid friends. I've found that if I surround myself with only the top quality of friend, then I don't have such issues."
Luna purred, rubbing up against Serena in what she hoped was comfort. "You trust him implicitly, Serena. The man could have taken out a gun and shot at you, and you wouldn't have moved. You trust him." She sat quietly. "I can't imagine a situation where the man would have come to your room, and you would have turned him away."
"I know," she said softly. "Me, neither. —Though I'd like to think I would have stopped it from going that far!" She really, really hoped that was the case. Having sex, with her parents in the next room, didn't add up to her; she wouldn't have done that! She continued, "What must have happened, and what I remember, are two different things. I don't remember anyone coming in. I remember waking up and —being hurt."
Luna spat, "Well, obviously Rei's 'magic spell' didn't have its intended effect. They were morons."
Serena shook her head. "How could I ever trust him again?" She rolled back over on her side. "I know —or I thought I knew, that we were supposed to have this beautiful future together. But everything I really know about him now...? I don't see it ever happening."
"Maybe he's sick," Luna considered out loud.
"And Rei?" Serena asked.
"And Rei," Artemis agreed sternly. "She acted foolishly. Worse than foolishly—"
"Foolishly enough," Luna interrupted, "that I actually considered that maybe Queen Serenity's hopes had been doomed to fail with those two idiots along for the ride. The Queen had good intentions, of course. But trust us, as we saw it all —Endymion would have never come close to hurting you. He died for you. And you for him."
Artemis added, "And Princess Mars had a very different personality; almost brooding. That one never would have acted so impudently!"
Serena whimpered again. "I can't believe I was such a 'problem' for them that they'd resort to mind control." She rolled onto her back. "My brain, it still feels like mush. I don't know what's real or not. I'm not sure what they've told me is truth, or lies. But mostly, I don't understand how Darien could have done ..that. To me. To anyone."
.
.
"Oh he man-handled her some alright," Rei said. "But you'd never call it 'rape'."
"But then why'd you agree to erase it?" Lita asked. "She wanted him, he wanted her.."
"That's just the thing," Rei said. "He swore to me that she would die if she remembered what happened." Beat. "Oh yeah, originally, Darien was asking if I could literally make it not happen! He said he couldn't live with it. How could he walk by her and not want her, yadda yadda." She cleared the cobwebs: "Very pathetic."
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SORTIE ONE
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ℵ
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"Now is the time," Saphir announced, opening a door into the other world with a wide sweep of his hand. "Remember, strike hard. Disappear. On my mark, we take a scout. Just one—"
"Or a masked man," the angry Queen Beryl smiled evilly.
Prince Diamond, who wouldn't be making this trip because of his infatuations, flew over to the horrible witch and bowled her over: "We succeed this time because our foibles are under control now."
Rebounding, transporting to the opening, Beryl sneered at the self-styled 'prince': "You're one to talk, from what I hear. —Fine. We'll make a little side wager, you and I. The one who goes after a former object of devotion first, that one takes the smallest Earth city and can't increase his holdings for at least a century."
Diamond, shivering at the thought, declared, "Nevermind your wagers. Just focus on the mission."
Saphir, eyes rolling, swept through the wormhole first, muttering, "Second chance, every advantage on our side, and we'll lose it yet if you keep this up."
.
.
Building after building went down, countless businesses destroyed in downtown Tokyo in a sudden sonic blast of darkness. Luna had moved to wake her charge, only to find the girl transformed and disappearing out the window.
Rei sensed it, woke the other girls. "You guys go; I'll be behind you—"
"Rei," Sailor Jupiter said, somewhat drunkenly, "You might be able to help us better here. I'm sorry." She and Sailor Venus headed downtown, leaving the broken Rei behind, headed slowly towards her fires.
Sailor Mercury and Sailor Moon arrived simultaneously, opposite each other. Mercury sighted the first of many droids, attacked with her Mercury Bubbles to pin him. The droid easily ducked her attack, but only to be hit by a flying rose: "EVIL DROID, YOU ATTACK BUILDINGS UNDER THE GUISE OF NIGHT! DIE LIKE THE COWARD YOU ARE!" And the droid flashed out of sight.
Luna, meanwhile, yelled at Sailor Moon as a droid approached her. "DO SOMETHING, SAILOR MOON!" Luna advised hurriedly.
Sailor Moon had grabbed her tiara as soon as she'd seen the droid, but then time seemed to stop. Images came unbidden to her mind;, she saw incredible destruction, children crying, stuck under the rubble, long after the droids were gone. Slowly, as if moving through Jello, she flung her tiara at the nearest droid, even as she heard Luna's warning. Even more slowly, as if she'd been drugged, she saw the droid disappear into dust; she wondered idly if Tuxedo Mask had come to her rescue, trying to forestall what he'd believed was her imminent demise.
Sadly, she pinched the air for her tiara —it wasn't there. In her stupor, she watched it fling through the air in another direction; it dusted another droid. Smiling inwardly, she lifted her hand again, still feeling as if she were moving in slow motion, but happier now as her tiara had taken on a power of its own and was changing her nightmarish vision of the screaming children into a beautiful city landscape again.
Only, the tiara still didn't return. Sailor Moon stepped forward, onto the ashes of the first droid she'd dusted. Looking down at the ash heap, she mentally envisioned her tiara slamming powerfully into more droids. Looking up now, she saw it sailing lightly back to her hand; and this time, when she reached up for it, it landed gently in her hand.
Ç
And time started moving again. She gasped for air; felt brimming over with power. When more droids appeared now, adrenaline kicked in and her heart started racing; once again, she started to speak her incantation of disapproval about android lifeforms, when her tiara took off again. The more droids she saw, the more easily her tiara bounced through them before returning to her. She hadn't even spoken yet; her tiara had done work before like never before, taking out five or six droids while the rest of the Senshi had worked together on one, and now a second one.
Luna yelled up, and Serena heard her, and looked up. She tossed her tiara almost nonchalantly as several more droids attacked her directly, but she paid attention to the dark hole above. She heard something.. she heard talking. Disturbing talking, though she couldn't discern the words. She started breathing hard. Angry, evil talking; then something about Sailor Mercury. Abandoning her tiara, Sailor Moon made a crazy, head-first dive towards Sailor Mercury.
.
Tuxedo Mask landed on the ground beside Sailor Moon and Mercury, just as Jupiter and Venus arrived looking quite harried. "What the hell are you doing," the troubled Tuxedo Mask shouted at Sailor Moon, grasping her Moon Tiara pointedly. "This thing's worth its weight in gold tonight, but you just abandoned—"
"They want Ami," Sailor Moon said sternly as she took back her tiara, and more droids appeared. More than she'd ever recalled seeing at one time. Or in a month of attacks total. While the droids had fled Mercury for the moment, they were destroying everything in sight! She stood and instinctively grabbed her brooch, preparing to throw her tiara: "GO AWAY!" she yelled.
And was nearly knocked backwards with the incredibly loud echo of her own words in her brain, sucking the breath right out of her lungs.
And the droids disappeared.
And Serena staggered, but remained standing. Shocked, but standing.
Sailor Jupiter, who had been rounding up her most powerful attack, was left dumbfounded at the sudden disappearance. "Ow!" she said, not having a way to release her power now. Eyes darting at Sailor Moon in shock. But they were all left mouths agape as Sailor Moon seemed to turn white and take off, straight for the black hole looming in the sky.
Sailor Mercury gasped, "Huh, that was easy —where's she GOING?"
Tuxedo Mask followed her instinctively. Or tried to. He made it to the top of a building that hadn't been demolished; yelled after Serena: "Sailor Moon!" She didn't slow; she darted higher still, even faster. And to his horror, the black hole started closing. Rapidly. He imagined her being captured; never seeing her again.
He ran and leaped off the building, and defying physics unlike ever before, was carried up quickly toward the hole himself. He caught a glimpse of Serena, willed himself to her mightily even as his arm muscles constricted and complained.
"GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Tuxedo Mask demanded in his own earth-shattering rumble.