Out of Time
Chapter Ten: The Will of Serenity
AN: Whew! Another chapter is finally making it onto the Web. Sorry for the wait, everyone! Pre-Calculus is a cruel taskmaster.
Fighter froze at the sound of Healer's voice outside her door. How was she going to explain this? Serena and Wolf exchanged glances, and in rapid, frenzied gestures, the two began to formulate a last-minute explanation for their presence. Healer knocked again, the sound louder this time. Fighter felt beads of perspiration forming on her forehead. How in the name of all the powers in the universe were any of them going to explain this? The sun was about to go supernova and kill them, and they had to get out of here! Furthermore, Serena was here without any of her guardians, which would be considered strange no matter where you were in the universe.
"Fighter?" Healer called again.
Fighter glanced at Wolf and Serena. Wolf was apparently still arguing with Serena, and losing, judging from Serena's obstinate expression. "Will you two quit arguing?" the raven-haired woman hissed almost inaudibly.
"He started it," Serena hissed equally quietly.
"Fighter, if you don't answer, I'm coming in, whether you like it or not," Healer threatened.
Wolf growled, "Serena, we need to get out of here. Fighter can explain things. You are not strong enough to use the power required to stop this yet, and you'd be a fool to try."
Serena lifted her chin, and a fierce light gleamed in her eyes. "Then I guess I'm a fool, because I'm not leaving. I'm staying here and finding a way to defuse this situation before a bunch of lives are destroyed."
"Fighter, I mean it," Healer warned.
"Sorry, Healer, I was sleeping," Fighter blurted in desperation, and both Serena and Wolf stopped their whispered argument long enough to make faces at her. I was desperate, she mouthed.
"Well, you're needed out here. An emergency meeting's been called."
"What for?" Fighter asked, even though she had an idea already. Wolf and Serena exchanged glances, and Serena continued to silently argue in favor of her idea using gestures. Wolf argued equally silently against the idea.
"The sun's gone supernova," Healer said glumly. "It looks like we'll have to get out of here. And we just got back!"
Serena shot Wolf a look that quite clearly said I told you so. Wolf's jaw tightened slightly, and he shook his head no firmly and decisively in a way that should have left absolutely no room for argument. Serena simply raised her eyebrows at him in a way that indicated that she was not going to give this up without a massive fight.
Fighter, meanwhile, sighed. "I know," she said. Both Wolf and Serena's heads snapped around to look at her.
"How? You've been asleep!" Healer replied dubiously.
"Actually, I haven't." Fighter went to open the door, glancing at her two uninvited visitors.
Serena simply nodded, and Wolf closed his eyes briefly, clearly having given up maintaining any sense of order at this time. The raven-haired woman opened the door, and Healer stepped in. When she saw Serena, her eyes widened, and she wheeled around to face Fighter.
"What's she doing here?"
"I had a little accident involving time travel/teleportation," Serena informed the silver-haired Starlight. "I'm sorry I barged in like this. I really couldn't help it."
Healer turned to face the blonde. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"It's a long story," Serena sighed. "And I really don't have time to give anyone the explanation that they deserve. I'll be more than happy to explain it all later, when I nip this issue with the sun in the bud."
Fighter groaned, and rubbed her temples. She could feel a headache coming on. "Odango, for the thousandth time, you aren't doing that!"
Wolf seconded this. "Princess, I know that you want to help, but you aren't strong enough. You will be eventually, but right now, you aren't. Not yet. Now, come on. We need to get out of here."
Healer's eyes flitted from Wolf to Serena to Fighter, and it was clear that the Starlight was becoming steadily more confused. "What exactly is going on here?" she demanded.
"Well, I keep getting tossed through time and space, and I'm supposed to stop this thing that's apparently equivalent to some massive black hole from sucking the universe out of existence, and apparently, it's currently trying to destroy Kinmoku," Serena explained, staring with sudden interest at the floor. "And Wolf's apparently here to help me, but instead, he's arguing with me and telling why I shouldn't do this or that."
"Excuse me for trying to keep you from killing yourself," Wolf grumbled.
Serena raised her head to look at him, and he took a step back. She heard both Fighter and Healer inhale sharply. "Wolf, I have never walked away from someone who needs help before, and I don't aim to start doing so now." Her voice rang out, clear and authoritative, the voice of a girl no longer, but that of a queen. "If I leave now, I would turn my back on everything that I believe in, and I would regret it forever.
"I understand the risk to my safety," she continued, "But I have faced impossible odds before. Why should I not withstand them again? If you truly wish to aid me, then come with me, and help me to do what so clearly needs to be done." She softened her voice then. "Please…I do not wish to quarrel with you. Help me, Wolf." The change in her tone had clearly done something. She could see Wolf's resolve wavering.
"Is that your will?" her companion asked after a short period of silence.
"I would not force you to go against your own will, but I would greatly appreciate your assistance," she replied. Serena had no idea where these words were coming from. It was as though they had been sitting in the depths of her soul, resonating for centuries…and now, they were free to be expressed.
"Then I will go with you…my Lady."
Serena felt confusion well up inside her. She was used to his casual way of addressing her as 'Princess', or jokingly calling her 'milady', but the way he sounded now…it was almost as though he were a knight pledging himself to a lady, in the romantic style of the Middle Ages. Her eyes were drawn to Fighter and Healer. Both of them were looking at her with something like awe. As she turned her eyes back to Wolf, she happened to see herself in a mirror.
With a start, she realized that she had become Serenity. And her locket was, as far as she knew, on the floor of her bedroom on Earth…in her own timeline. So she'd done it under her own power. Well, that explained the gasps of the two present Starlights and Wolf's sudden change in attitude from sometimes almost condescending courtesy to subservience.
Her form as the Moon Princess had changed a little, though, she noted with a faint stirring of surprise. The crescent moon insignia of the Moon Kingdom glowed on her forehead as always, but a delicate gold diadem set with tiny diamonds and rubies rested lightly on her brow. Her dress resembled that of her future self, Neo-Queen Serenity, except that a pattern of gold-flowered embroidery now shimmered around the bottom of her skirts and at the waistline. She had little time to ponder the change, as Wolf recovered himself.
"Shall we go, then?" he asked. His tone was brusque as usual, but a hint of deep respect now lay beneath it.
"Yes, I think we had best take care of business before the situation becomes any worse."
Wolf leaned close and whispered, "To teleport, focus on where you want to go, and want it desperately. Now, we both know that we want to be near enough to the sun that we can fix the problem, but we don't want to be so close that we get barbecued."
Serena nodded, and focused on her goal, closing her eyes as she summoned the power that she now felt singing in her veins.
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Fighter mentally sighed as the argument between Wolf and Serena continued. This was not helped by the fact that Healer was hissing in her ear that they (Fighter and Healer) ought to just leave the two debaters alone and figure it out themselves; the two were too busy arguing to get anything done!
When had Serena become so obstinate? Granted, she'd been stubborn, but that had kept her alive in the battle with Chaos. But this new obstinacy, this almost suicidal willingness to try and alter a natural phenomenon was new. Fighter knew perfectly well that even though her Odango pretended to be hopelessly dim, she was not so big a fool as she wanted to let on. The raven-haired woman had seen sparks of a perceptive soul under the dumb-blonde façade. But this…she could suddenly see why the Outers practically stalked the blonde. It was becoming clear that unless you sat on her—figuratively and possibly literally speaking—she would run off and land herself in all manner of bad situations. Suddenly the Outers' overprotective attitudes made a lot more sense.
Serena was now rubbing her temples and clearly running out of patience. Even when she was being an obstinate pain in the ass, she was adorable…Fighter shook herself. Now was not the time to go into an infatuated daze. She had to keep Serena from running off and doing something stupid.
The raven-haired Starlight jerked out of her thoughts when she heard Serena say, "And Wolf's apparently here to help me, but instead, he's arguing with me and telling me why I shouldn't do this or that." She mentally cheered at Wolf's calm response.
This elation did not last long. A soft glow outlined Serena's form, and as the blonde lifted her head, golden light washed over her, changing her into the Moon Princess…with some changes, Fighter noted distantly. She had very little time to take it in, as Serena began to speak. As the raven-haired woman listened, she wondered when the girl had become so mature. Had this been happening gradually, so no one noticed, or had it happened here and now, right this moment?
The sudden transformation had clearly affected Wolf as well; he was listening in shock, and staring at the girl as though he hardly recognized her. Fighter knew the feeling. It felt uncomfortably like when she had found out that her Odango was actually Sailor Moon, except that that last incident had led to weeks of tension between the two groups of Senshi. This incident would not…instead, it would probably result in war if Serena…Serenity…had her way and didn't survive the effort.
She saw Wolf close his eyes, and knew that he had finally given in. He leaned close to the blonde and whispered something in her ear. The Moon Princess nodded, and closed her eyes. Seconds later, both disappeared in a swirl of silver and gold lights.
"We're screwed," Healer sighed, and walked out.
Fighter rolled her eyes and followed. "No, we're not. It'll be fine." 'I hope,' she thought. 'Please let her get back safely.'