Act Eight: A New Sailor Scout…and a Great Christmas Present

Serena: I hate you.

Starlily11: Stuff it, Blondie!

Seiya: Hey, watch it! That's my girl you're being rude to.

Starlily11: Buzz off.

For the next few weeks, all seemed quiet in the new Tsukino residence. Serena continued to spend her afternoons at Renee's working on the latest Pre-Calculus brain fryer. She kept in touch with Seiya and her other friends, but said nothing about the stories she'd heard or the things she'd seen. Seiya had clearly mentioned that she might have seen something, because the Outers had asked about it. The blonde simply denied that she'd seen anything, and, so Seiya wouldn't get an earful, mentioned that her imagination had always been entirely too active. The others had accepted it with a little reluctance, but, as she never mentioned anything again, it was agreed that Serena had truly simply had an attack of the over-active imagination.

Unfortunately, that peace was not to last. Mr. and Mrs. Tsukino decided to go have a date night, and Sammy was having an overnight at a new friend's house. Serena's parents had asked her repeatedly if she was okay staying home by herself. She'd given up the silent treatment; it had gotten boring. The blonde had replied that yes, she would be fine. If she got scared, she'd just call Seiya or something. That having been said, the girl was left alone. In the neighborhood's haunted house.

As soon as everyone was gone, the blonde felt the negativity grow heavy enough that it could easily crush her. However, she was determined to ignore it. She pulled out her I-pod, flopped down on her bed (her mom had caught her sleeping in the broom closet; wasn't pretty!), and began listening to her Evanescence playlist. Breathe No More and My Immortal were her favorites. Sure, they weren't the happiest songs in the world, but they were beautiful in a dark, hauntingly lyrical way.

Somewhere in the middle of Tourniquet, the blonde saw the witch and her wolf emerge from the mirrored closet door. 'This bitch isn't going to get my life force!' the blonde thought. She leapt from the bed and raced to the kitchen, searching for some way to defend herself. She grabbed a butcher's knife and turned around. The witch was standing in front of her. Too late, the blonde realized that a knife wouldn't do much good against a ghost. She ripped her ear buds out of her ears and tossed her I-pod aside. Then, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Nice socks." As soon as that left her mouth, she thought, 'What the fuck? Why did I just say that?'

The witch looked down in confusion, and even the wolf was disconcerted. Serena made a run for it. She had to get out of the house! The blonde raced to the door, unlocked it, and ran. As she did, she realized she still had the knife clutched tightly in her hand. She threw it away, and before she knew it, she was at Renee's. At a loss as to what to do next, she shyly rang the doorbell. Mr. Woods answered.

"Serena! This is a surprise! Come in, come in."

Serena walked in, and then looked over her shoulder. Mr. Woods took in the girl's pale face and noticed how when she looked over her shoulder, it was like she expected someone to be there. So he decided to try and ease her mind.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Some water would be nice, thank you," the blonde answered shakily.

Mr. Woods brought her a glass of water, and she sipped it. Renee walked in.

"Hey, Ser! What's up?" the redhead chirped.

"Ghost," Serena mumbled.

Renee's face paled. "Did something happen?" she asked.

"Almost. I don't know what she was going to do, but I knew that I had to get out."

"Did she hurt your parents?"

"No. They weren't home."

"Is Sammy all right?"

"He wasn't home, either."

"Oh, that must have been so scary!"

"It was."

Renee knew then that it was time to tell Serena the truth. She took the blonde's hands and said, "Come on. Let's talk." Serena nodded and followed. Mr. Woods gave his daughter a questioning look. The redhead returned the look with one that said, 'She has to know.' The man nodded.

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Once they were in Renee's room, and Serena was sitting comfortably on the bed, there was an awkward silence. Renee paced, unsure of how to begin.

Finally, the redhead said, "I guess it's time for me to come clean."

"Come clean? What do you mean?" the blonde asked.

"I know who you are, Princess Serenity."

Serena's eyes widened. "How…?"

"It's all right." Renee pulled out what looked like a transformation pen; it closely resembled the ones the Sailor Scouts had. There was a difference, though. Rather than a planetary symbol, it had an ornate engraving of the sun on it.

Serena closed her eyes briefly, and let the memories come to her. "You're Sailor Sun," she said at last. "You protected me when the other Scouts were called away."

"Yes, Princess. I was awakened a few months before you moved here. Queen Selenity knew that you would need someone to protect you."

"How do you fight a ghost? They're mist."

"The entity that haunts your house isn't so much a ghost as it is a demon."

"Uh-oh."

"The witch wants your energy, badly. Even in death, she still has immense power. Her current goal is to gain enough energy so that she can rejoin the living. And you have just what she needs."

"Lucky me," Serena muttered sarcastically. "Why hasn't she gotten enough yet?"

"Firstly; no one has ever stayed in that house longer than two weeks. Second; the Silver Crystal is extremely sensitive to witchcraft. If she tried to take more than a few drops or cause serious harm to you, it would send out a call that would have every Sailor Scout that is currently on this planet at your location within ten minutes.

"The problem is, even mere drops of your energy could be enough to power a nuclear plant for two years. Fortunately, she has to use so much power and energy to appear, it could take months or years for her to get enough power to do what she wants. Unfortunately, though, she has a bigger plan for you, and I honestly for the life of me cannot discern what it is."

"How can I stop her?"

"I made you a charm that can prevent her from stealing your energy, but I don't have enough power left to make three more. The witch would move on to steal the energy from your family members."

"What can I do?"

"The Silver Crystal's power is more or less unlimited. You could use it to banish her to the spirit realm permanently. I wouldn't do that, though, considering…"

"I know. But I can't just stand by and do nothing."

"I understand. Keep an eye out, and if something happens, call me with your mind, and I'll be there."

"Thanks, Renee."

Renee hander her a thin, golden chain. On the chain hung a gold charm in the shape of a rose. Serena could feel the protective spell radiating from it.

"Never take this off while you're in the house; you'll be vulnerable if you do," Renee warned.

"Thank you."

"I'll always be glad to help."

Serena hugged her friend, and Renee escorted her home.

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A couple more months passed without incident, and Christmas break rolled around. That was when Serena's parents gave their children the best gift of the season.

"Kids, how would you feel about going back to Seattle for a few days?" Mr. Tsukino asked on Christmas Day.

Serena gave a shriek of joy and pulled her parents into a massive, breath-stealing hug. Sammy whooped and joined his sister.

"I take it that's a yes," Mrs. Tsukino told her husband with a smile.

"When can we leave?" Serena asked eagerly.

"Tomorrow. I've already made the arrangements," her father told her.

Serena squealed and hugged him again. Then, she ran down to the basement and called Seiya.

"Seiya, guess what?" she squealed.

"What is it, Odango?" Seiya asked.

"I'm coming back to Seattle for a few days, and I'm leaving tomorrow!"

Seiya stared at the phone for a minute, not believing what he was hearing. Finally, it sank in. He let out a whoop. "What time will you be here?" he asked.

"DAD? WHAT TIME WILL WE GET THERE?" Serena yelled.

Her dad answered, "IF WE'RE LUCKY, ABOUT SIX O'CLOCK THE NEXT EVENING!"

"Six o'clock the next evening."

"What airport?"

"Seattle Tacoma International."

"I'll be there. We all will."

"Great. I can't wait to see you…all of you."

Seiya hung up a few minutes later, grinning broadly. He turned to Taiki and Yaten.

"Was that Serena?" Taiki inquired.

"Yeah," Seiya answered. "She's going to be here in two days for a visit."

"Oh, good!" Yaten said happily. "I get a break from shopping with Mina. Ever since Serena left, I've been stuck being her shopping buddy. I love her, but I am really sick of helping her pick out shoes, dresses, and every other thing under the sun!"

Taiki smiled and said, "I'm glad she's coming back, too, Seiya. This means that Amy can stop worrying for a while. She's been so worried about Serena that I'm starting to worry about her. Besides, it's been depressing without her around."

"I second that," Yaten yelled from the bathroom.

"So, who wants to endure Mina's ear-splitting shrieks of joy and tell the girls?" Seiya asked.

"Not it!" Yaten yelled.

Taiki backed away and gave the lame excuse that he had homework. Seiya sighed picked up the phone, and began dialing.

AN: This was late, so I tried to make a bunch of stuff happen.