Serena stumbled down the corridors blindly, moving as if she had forgotten how to walk. Countless times already she had run into many of the youma readying for the attack, and each time she mumbled a few harsh words to them so as not to blow her cover. She had no clue as to where she was going, but she knew she just had to get away from the creatures surrounding her as soon as possible. She felt like she was going to hurl, and she probably would when she stopped to catch her breath. Tripping into another youma, she cursed loudly and used all the strength left in her arms to send it flying into the wall. Without slowing down, she continued down the hall.
When Beryl had given the details of the plan, she hadn't failed to leave anything she wanted to happen out. That included every little gruesome thing she wanted to happen to the senshi. In the middle of her speech about what should be done with Mars' insides, Serena had made the feeble excuse that she needed to observe the youmas progress in fighting skills and had left. Surprisingly, Beryl had dismissed her and continued explaining her tactics with Malachite.
She was definitely going to be sick if she didn't get out of here soon. Everywhere she looked, there was the sight of youma practicing new and improved attacks and sharpening a deadly looking weapons. Looking at them, she couldn't help but picture her senshi being caught by a blast or something worse, and that was what was making her sick. After all, she had always had a great imagination.
Bursting through a door, she looked around Malachite's room and finally collapsed on the bed, trying to clear her head of the worry and fear for her friends so she could think of a way to help her senshi.
(^_^) ~~ (^_^)
Andrew sighed as he stepped out of the arcade, locking it behind him. It was really late and he was supposed to have been home hours ago, but one of the machines had started acting up and he had spent the last few hours fixing it. It wasn't good for business if your most popular game was out of order.
He used to take so much joy in his job, but nothing had been the same since his best friend had disappeared. It had been years since Darien had first gone missing. Actually, a better term would probably be vanished. At first, he had just thought that maybe he was locked up in his apartment studying or something – he did that sometimes – but after a week of not seeing him anywhere, he had gone to the apartment and gotten no answer.
Needless to say, by this time he was worried. Using the spare key Darien had given him, he had gone inside and looked around. Nothing was missing and everything was in it's place, even his clothes were hanging in the closet and folded in the dresser. Andrew had just sat on the couch, staring at nothing and thinking of what could have possibly happened. The police hadn't been able to find anything at all, so they called off the search.
Andrew had been distant ever since. Not quite as cheerful and talkative as he used to be. Darien had been his best friend. They had told each other everything and helped each other through hard times since they were in high school, which had been quite a while ago. Despite how social Andrew seemed, his only true friend was and always would be Darien. Heaving a sigh, he turned a corner and started up a path through the park, taking a shortcut.
The only other person who had really missed him had been Serena, and she had taken his disappearance much harder then Andrew. They had become a lot closer since that day, almost inseparable. Like brother and sister. She was the reason he was now worried, since he hadn't seen her in days. He couldn't help but worry the same thing that happened to Darien had happened to her.
He couldn't lose another friend.
(^_^) ~~ (^_^)
"So what else do you guys want to do?"
Everyone just shrugged, too distracted to answer Mina's question. They were all still at Darien's apartment, at Luna's insistence, and it had only been an hour or two since Serena had vanished. After a few hysterics, courtesy of Mina and Artimis, Amy had suggested they do something to keep them occupied for a while.
Luna hadn't explained why she had wanted the senshi to stay, shrugging it off as 'just a gut feeling', but she was basically in charge of them all, so Lita had suggested they watch a movie to help the time pass until someone could come up with a plan on what to do about their current situation. They had all agreed on a movie, and now were just sitting around watching the end credits on the screen and listening to the end song.
"Well we can't just sit and do nothing." Mina stood and walked over to the TV, turning off the power before sitting back down by Rei on the couch. Again, no one replied. Mina sighed in frustration and slammed her fist in her palm, catching everyone's attention. "That's it! I'm sick of all the tension and silence in this apartment. We've all been thinking about the same thing, and it's obvious we will be until our problem is solved. God, I don't even think any one of us even paid attention to the movie!" She waited for someone to speak up, but all she got was blank looks.
Jumping to her feet, she balled her hands into fists and stamped her foot, not caring if her throwing a tantrum was childish. She felt like throwing one, so by god she was going to! "All of us want to save Serena and for the last hour or so all we've been thinking about is how to break that damned curse without her having to die!" Mina was yelling, but she didn't care. She was determined to come up with a plan to save her best friend, whether they helped or not. "The only thing we've been doing so far is trying to forget about our problems. Trying to make it so they're not real just because we don't want to think about what will happen if we really do fail to come up with a plan. Well they are real! And they're not gonna go away just because we try to ignore them!" Lowering her voice, she relaxed her stance and sighed heavily. "Serena is in the hands of the Negaverse, and she's dying." Tears welled up in Mina's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "We have to save her." Her voice cracked and she sat down by Rei once more, lowering her eyes. "We have to."
Artimis jumped up into her lap, purring as she slowly scratched his ears, trying to comfort her. "We'll figure something out Mina." She raised her eyes to his face, studying him for a moment before nodding.
Lita nodded as well, stroking Luna, who lay in her lap. "The only problem about that is…where do we start?"
Everyone once again fell silent.
(^_^) ~~ (^_^)
Serena slowly sat up, smoothing down her hair and her tank top as she finally composed herself. There may not be anything she could do to stop the youma army from attacking, but that wouldn't stop her from at least warning her friends and Darien so they could be ready with some kind of counter attack.
Standing swiftly, she ran up to the door and peeked into the hall, making sure no one was coming so she wouldn't be caught. Seeing it was clear, she shut the door and moved into the center of the room, concentrating. It's now or never Serena. Closing her eyes she began to concentrate, but something went wrong and instead of warping to Darien's apartment she fell to the ground with a short scream, curling into a ball.
It felt like torrents of electricity were thundering through her veins, ripping painfully throughout her entire body and sending searing pain through her mind. Struggling to her hands and knees, she cried out as another painful assault tore through her body. "What's…happening to me?" she gasped out, tears flowing down her face.
She was thrown violently backwards, a large burst of metallic red energy shooting out of her body in all directions. Then, as if nothing at all had happened, she lay motionless on the floor, breathing heavily. As the pain and confusion dimmed, Serena's eyes widened and she struggled to her feet.
Oh no! The blade's magic is taking over again! She balled her hands into fists, shaking slightly as an after-effect of the previous few moments. I have to warn them before it's too late!
Concentrating again on warping to Darien's, she soon disappeared in a shimmer of blue.
(^_^) ~~ (^_^)
Rei and Mina were in the middle of arguing over who's plan to infiltrate the Negaverse was better when a large crash came from inside Darien's room. Everyone fell silent, listening for anything else that may happen, but all that they heard was the sound of their own breathing. Darien stood from the couch and motioned for the girls to stay seated while he went to check it out, followed by Luna and Artimis.
Apprehensively he closed his hand around the door knob, hesitating before turning it and inching the door open a crack. Nothing happened. Opening it all the way he cautiously looked around the room, not seeing anything out of place at first. Luna and Artimis peeked in from behind his foot, slowly entering the room.
As Darien entered, he saw that the lamp on the night stand on the opposite side of his bed was knocked over and broken. Stopping again, he looked at the floor around his bed, noticing a few tiny braids of golden hair on the opposite side. His eyes widened when a low moan came from across the room, followed by a mumbled curse.
A figure got up from the floor, using the end of the bed to lift themselves. Their back was to him, but he had known who it was the minute he had seen the braids; so had Luna and Artimis. Before the person could turn around, the two cats had already started for them, laughing and purring in happiness. Turning around with a huge smile on her face, Serena hugged both to her and giggled.
"I missed you too!" She laughed, placing them back on the bed after a few moments. Slowly, she looked up at Darien, who had been silent through the entire exchange. She smiled and took a few steps toward him, stopping before she actually got to him. "I told you I'd be back." Her voice was quiet and barely audible, but he heard her.
Closing the distance between them, he pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead, smiling down at her. "I know." They held each other in silence for a while, knowing that this momentary peace couldn't last.
Reality came sooner then either wanted as all of the senshi piled into the room, curious as to why Darien hadn't returned yet. When they saw Serena, their mouths fell open in shock, except for Mina's, since she was too busy laughing.
Serena let go of Darien and gave Mina an odd look, raising her eyebrows. "What are you laughing at?" Mina doubled over, holding her stomach while more giggles escaped. Shakily, she pointed to the broken lamp, laughing harder. Everyone looked where she was pointing, wondering if their friend was on drugs or something.
Amy studied the lamp, then looked at Serena, then looked at Mina. "Oh!" Her eyes lit up as she suddenly realized why Mina was laughing. The others looked at her, waiting to hear her great revelation. "She's laughing because she figured out what the crash must have been. Serena did you fall on the lamp?"
Serena put her hand behind her head and giggled sheepishly. "Umm…I haven't really gotten used to warping places by myself, and I kinda ended up floating above the night stand." The others started to crack up, making Serena blush. "It's a lot harder then it looks!"
Lita slapped Mina on the back, grinning at the small blonde. "And we always say you need to pay more attention to things."
Rei just shook her head and went over to Serena, pulling the surprised girl into a hug. "Please tell us you're here to stay this time." She murmured, making it so only Serena could hear. Serena tightened her grip on Rei, but didn't reply.
"How did you get away Serena?" Luna asked, sitting on Darien's bed. Serena stepped away from Rei and cast her eyes to the floor, not wanting to meet their gaze.
"I snuck here to warn you." Her voice wavered slightly. Darien, worried about the sudden change in mood, wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her to him.
"Warn us about what?"
"Queen Beryl has rebuilt her army. They're invading before sunrise." She raised her face to look around at her friends. "I came to warn you so you can be ready. They're crossing over just outside of the city, where no one will notice at first. It's the place we used to go for picnics Amy." Amy nodded to show she remembered the place. "They plan to surprise you, but you need to be there so you can at least get rid of as many youma as you can."
"How big is her army?" Lita inquired, her eyes wide.
Serena was silent before answering. "I haven't even seen them all. I would say there were enough to completely cover the city, maybe more." She tightened her grip on Darien's arms. "Beryl will be leading them, with Malachite and I right behind her."
Mina stepped forward her eyes tearing up. "But, if there's that many, we can't possibly beat them! You're going to be helping us right Serena? We can't fight without you!"
Serena stepped out of Darien's embrace and backed up a bit from the group. "There's also another thing I have to warn you about." When Lita took a step forward, Serena took a step back. "The magic is taking over again. I don't know how much longer I'll be me anymore."
"No! That's not true!" Everyone turned to Amy, most with teary eyes, like her own. "You have to fight it Serena!"
"I've tried, I really have. I'm just not str-" Her words were cut off as a strange metallic red aura began to glow around her, slightly lifting her. Serena could feel the painful rush of power going through her veins, and realized if she didn't go now, she would release another blast like last time. If that happened, one of her friends could get hurt, and she couldn't bear that. Looking at them one last time, she warped out of there before she completely lost control.
TO BE CONTINUED
