Chapter Eight: Anarchy

"Where is Serena? Why isn't she eating dinner with us tonight?" Jed looked down to see that a little girl was tugging on his brown shift. He sighed. This was the fourth child that had asked him before he had even told them which table could get up to get their food first.

"When you sit down, I'll explain it to you, I promise Keiko." The little girl nodded and ran to pick a seat. Once all of the kids were sitting, Jed cleared his throat.

"Serena's won't be here for dinner tonight because she's incredibly busy trying to help some people outside the church. She did say, however, that she loves you and wants you to have a good dinner. All right, so tonight we're going to count backwards again! Go to it!"

Jed stood and watched as the oldest kids, the ones who were sitting at the last table, got up first, grinning and smirking with each other. Apparently they were pleased they had guessed the correct tables tonight. As they stood in line for the buffet of food laid out before them, he could hear bits and pieces of their conversations. There were clothing topics between the girls, and three of the boys were discussing the upcoming football season. It was good to hear them all so relaxed and carefree. He doubted he had ever been that carefree as a child, and was glad he could help others have what had never had.

Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder sounded overhead, louder than any natural storm. Some of the younger kids screamed, and the older girls jumped. Jed smirked. So Serena was working with thunder. Well, at least the blonde woman would be in a good mood when she was done working out tonight. Play with thunder, fire, water, energy and ice always made her feel like she was somehow connected to her friends, the one that had died before he had ever gotten to truly know anything but their names. He knew that he could never fill the empty gap that they had left within her heart, but that this fight in some ways would help to go on healing it slowly.

"Hey Brother Jed, look outside, look in the courtyard!" One of the older boys called him back out of his thoughts. Jed's eyes drifted slowly to the window, thinking that the boys were only fooling him into looking so they could either begin a food fight, or sneak out of the meal. And then he stopped and stared. Outside in the courtyard, people were pouring in from one of the wrought iron gates that had been locked up and overgrown with weeds for decades. How the people had even found the door on the street was beyond him, it was beneath so many tangles of thorny roses that he himself had given up trying to. Yet here they were, pouring into the church courtyard?

"Candace, James, you two are the oldest, so you're in charge. I'm going to go find out what's going on, keep the kids inside and don't let anyone but me or Serena in."

"Alright Brother Jed." The two teenagers, both seventeen in age, looked at each other in mild shock. What was going on?

Jed snuck out the kitchen door and into the courtyard. Standing on the edge of the fountain, he noticed that people were beginning to gather to him, and as the courtyard filled with more and more people, they encircled him, as if waiting for him to speak. Finally, he spoke up.

"Why have you all come here?"

"Father, we didn't know where else to come!" A woman, crying, shouted out to him. "Pray for us! Ask God to repeat the miracle that he once proved he could through Jesus!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Jed blinked.

"Father, we came to the cathedral's doors, but they were locked. Why did you lock us out? No church is ever supposed to be closed to people of faith!" A man yelled.

"You mean to tell me want to pray in the cathedral?" Jed was finally beginning to understand what these people wanted, but not why they wanted it.

"Of course we wanted to pray! It's the only thing left to do! The whole world's gone crazy out there! There's sure to be another war!"

"Yeah, with all of the rioting and protesting, and the finger-pointing, there's bound to be another war!" More and more people began to speak up, shouting out about how the city had become a royal mess.

"Please, stop! Tell me, what could be the cause of another war? The last two wars have ended, and the world and colonies are at peace! The ESUN has been working hard, along with the Preventers to keep us safe, why would they allow another?" Then, suddenly, the crowd went silent. The first woman who had spoken now spoke again, but this time she was much quieter.

"Father, don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"Relena Peacecraft. Someone shot and killed Relena Peacecraft." Jed stopped. Had he really heard them right? Relena Peacecraft was dead? But she was the public glue that held politics together. She was the one person that was nonpartisan in every decision. So then; Chaos had already begun to play her hand of cards.

"Please! Father! Help us! We're scared, we don't want another war! Can't you pray for us? Ask God to resurrect her? Ask for a new savior? Ask for something, anything to prevent another war? We need a miracle!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a Father, my name is Jed, and I simply help to maintain the orphanage that resides here. And this is no longer a place of worship. So please, if you wish to pray, go home and pray to your God. Or better still, go to the church down the street, the new one, and pray there. Don't come barging in here, breaking open the gates, and expecting a miracle from God!" By now he had used his last iota of patience, and these people, these disgusting sheep, scared to reap what they had sown, were coming crying to him? No. He would not let them disturb Serena's training, nor the children. "Get out! Get out of here right now!"

"Jadeite." A calm, peaceful voice stopped his rampage. Pushing her way through the crowd, Serena stood up on the edge of the fountain beside him. "If you feel that you need a place of worship, please, enter the cathedral and pray. We have no priest here, but I'm sure that God will hear you nonetheless. Please, go around to the front of the church, the doors have been opened for you."

"A woman can't be a priest you know!" Someone called out from the crowd.

"I am not trying to be. I'm Serena, the current owner of the property on which the cathedral sits, and I run this orphanage along with Jed. And I'm telling you, you may go in and do as you see fit." The people finally, after her words, began to filter out of the courtyard slowly, and into the church where they found places to sit and begin their prayers.

"Serena! Why did you do that? Now you have no place to train!" Jed let his anger and frustration out to her. She simply smiled.

"She's getting to you Jed."

"She's not getting to—huh? What?"

"I said, she's getting to you. You're letting Chaos make you mad. Don't you see it? She's made these people so scared that they would do anything to make their fear abate, including return to the church and the religion that's barely hanging on to a thread. Just try to have a little more patience. I think I'm starting to get back into the old swing of things anyway. I don't really need the building to practice in, I can go out into the city and help stop the riots. That would be good too. It would weaken her. Well, to a certain extent. I highly doubt that she's going to become weak just because one city has stopped rioting."

"Okay, Serena, that was a really long thought." Serena looked up, and Jed was smiling at her. She smiled back. "Sorry I lost my temper. You were right, she was trying to get to me, but I won't let her. I'll keep watching the kids, just do what you have to do."

"Thanks Jed. And be careful of those people, who knows what Chaos will have them doing next."

"Right. Oh, Serena! Did you here why they were all so scared?"

"Huh? No, I just thought it was all the rioting?" Her blue eyes gazed up at him in concern. "What else did she do?"

"Serena, she killed Relena Peacecraft. These people, they all think another war is about to start!"

"What!" The blonde woman's jaw dropped in awe, and her petite form began to shake. "She didn't even need a full day to bring everything we've worked so hard for, all the peace that humanity just achieved, she didn't even need a full day to topple it!"

"I know. Just be careful, all right? If you aren't, who's going to come back and tell me when I'm losing my temper?" He tried to make their heavy conversation into a joke, but Serena failed to laugh.

"I don't know Jed." With that, she jumped down from the fountain. "I think I'm going to go over to the Preventer's headquarters and see what they've planned to do about the riots. Maybe I can see something they haven't, or help in some way that they can't. See you later Jed." Quickly she turned to leave, without giving Jed any time to object.

"Bye Serena!" He called as she shut the gate behind her. Then she opened it and stepped back into the courtyard.

"I decided I'm going to go transformed. I'll get there faster, and it'll be safer if I take the rooftops." Jed simply nodded. He hadn't seen this in over five hundred years; it was amazing to think that she still could frighten him with such a transformation. He watched as her hand, trembling lightly, reached up to her brooch.

Once she had it grasped in her tight hold, she threw her hand into the air and shouted those words he had once dreaded hearing. But this time, instead of fear or panic; all that washed over him was a warm sense of safety. As light, bright white energy enveloped her small frame, he watched as ribbons of pink slowly spun and wove themselves together to create her outfit. Her boots, gloves, and hair were just as her remembered them to be; he knew she was in her lowest transformation stage. Only her hair, silver instead of gold, had changed over so many years.

"Okay, well, I'm off!" She told him when she had finished. And then she did leave, jumping high onto the top of the fence, and then over it until Jed could no longer see her.

Serena had forgotten how much she truly missed having the wind in her face as she jumped and bounded over rooftops and buildings. She had changed much in the time she had been known as a super heroine, from being a crybaby weakling to being a klutzy princess to being a worried mother, to being a hardened warrior. The last transformation had not been her choice, of course, but now that she was what she was, she could not change back. Besides, she needed all her strength to battle her returned enemy known as Chaos.

"I wonder what my friends would think of me if they could see me now? I wonder what he would think?" She spoke aloud, trying to keep herself company. The sun was finally setting upon the day, though no one would know it from the heavy clouds that were settled in over the city. Her draw to the moon told her that her home was becoming visible, and that made her feel even more lonely than ever. Home was so close, yet so far. Would she ever truly find it?

Landing one last time, she stopped to catch her breath. She had finally arrived at Preventers headquarters. How would she get in? Down below her were rioters, tearing up every part of the street. They were looting the stores around the building, throwing rocks at both windows and people, there were fistfights, cars dragging people underneath them, and shouting and screaming like nothing she had ever heard. These people were completely enraged, and they were letting all of their inhibitions go right on the streets. Even the Preventers building, which had a chain-link fence built around the base and armed guards every three feet apart, wasn't safe from the vandalism that was going around. Well, she wouldn't be able to enter from the street; that was certain. No windows open meant she couldn't get it that way, and she didn't see anything on the roof that looked like it might be an entrance. Well, at least it was a smart and safe police compound.

Just then from above her she heard the loud, roaring noise of an older helicopter. The shuttle landed on the Preventers roof, and from a trap door in the ceiling came a bunch of people. There was a stretcher, with a black body bag lying atop it. Instantly Serena knew whose body must be in the bag. Following it closely came three men, one she knew to be Zechs Marquise, Relena's brother, and two more dressed down in Preventer's uniforms. She also seemed to recognize the pilot, but couldn't quite remember his name or where she knew him from. Well, chances were that these were the elite Preventers… Wait! Lady Une herself had just stepped out from the trap door! It must have been the most elite then. Good! Maybe she wouldn't have to sneak into the building, she would follow them to their safe landing site and from there, well, she would just have to play it by ear.

When the chopper took off, Serena followed behind, making sure to stay as low to the rooftops as possible, so as not to attract any unwanted attention. She followed them for what seemed like forever until they finally got into the countryside. Stopping within the trees and bushes, Serena watched them land behind a gate with the initials W.M. And then she almost fell out of the tree when Duo Maxwell walked out onto the grass to greet the occupants of the copter.

"Okay, since when does Duo Maxwell know Relena Peacecraft and Lady Une? And… that helicopter pilot, that's Quatre Winner himself! Now I know where I've seen that face before! Incredible!" She shook her head as she whispered. Once the large group of people had all moved inside, Serena snuck over the gate and right up next to mansion, where she found an open window on the second floor and jumped in. Walking down the hall, she stopped, suddenly aware that voices were coming her way.

"I just can't believe she's gone. It's really hard to handle." A woman with dark, short hair and a raspy voice came into sight. With her was a taller blonde with cool slate eyes.

"I know. I feel terrible. Miss Relena always was a good friend to me, even when I tried to betray her during the first war. She stuck by me, forgave me, and now… everything she worked so hard for is gone. It's as if her death turned back the clock of time."

"Dorothy, Zechs cried for an hour after we left the conference hall. He just kept telling me how terrible it was to see his sister like that. And I was too choked up to say anything, but Relena was my sister too!"

"I know Lucy." The two women had not noticed her as they walked by, and were suddenly out of earshot. Serena gulped. These people, these weren't just Preventers. These had been Relena's closest friends and family. This was their mourning period, and she was interrupting it. Guilt ate at her stomach, and she suddenly felt nauseous.

Still, Serena followed the path the women had taken, careful to stay hidden in the shadows, and found that they had gone down a flight of stairs to the first floor. Quickly hopping the banister, she landed noiselessly on the marble floor, and stepped into the shadows. Lights were off in all but one room that she could see, so she slipped up beside the door to listen in. There was a lot of crying, but there were also some calm voices over all the hysterics.

"We need to figure out a way to stop the rioting and convince people that the world is not going to end because Relena is dead." A tall man with hair covering one of his eyes stated. Serena nodded. Yes, they did.

"We need to convince the colonies that it wasn't Earth that did it, and vice versus with Earth." Zechs added quietly. The dark woman whom she had overheard kissed him on his cheek, and Serena came to the conclusion that they were married, and that she had been Relena's sister-in-law.

"What we need to do right now is cry." One very bold woman with short dark hair and two twins in her lap held them tighter. Duo's wife? Must be.

"What you all need to do is let me think." And Serena stopped. That voice belonged to Hiiro Yui, the man she had met in the graveyard, the man who… "We can't let this anarchy go on much longer, it's chaos out there." Serena nearly fainted.

Just wanted to let you know, this chapter is going to be re-edited, but I thought I should put it up so you had something to read. I'm sorry it's such a bad chapter, but I have some good upcoming installments that should dazzle and amaze! -Vixen