Hey guys, here's the next chapter. Let's see how the scouts are doing shall we?
The scouts had ducked out into small room near the area where they had first entered this crazy place. Mercury scanned the area before they decided to stop and rest. She typed away on her mini computer, checked the graphic map on her visor and saw that the area was free of hostile entities. She sighed in relief and turned to signal the others that this was where they could rest. "It's safe guys, bring Serena over here." Mercury said.
Jupiter peeked out from around a corner and adjusted Serena on her back to get more leverage before she decided to go over to Mercury. "Okay, the coast is clear. Let's head over." Jupiter said as she made her way over Mercury.
Mars and Venus nodded in approval and made sure to keep close to Serena while watching the rear for any signs of the enemy. "Stay close to Serena, I'll keep an eye out behind us." Mars muttered to Venus as she trailed behind to make sure they weren't being followed.
Venus nodded and kept close to Serena. "Alright, but don't let your guard down. We still don't know what we're up against." Venus replied quietly.
Mercury waited for the girls to get inside the room and closed the door behind them. She didn't want to leave them open for an enemy attack. They needed to regroup and make sure that Serena was ok. "Okay, we should be safe for now. We need to make sure Serena is ok." She motioned towards a small chaise in the corner.
Jupiter carefully walked over and allowed Mars and Venus to help ease Serena off her back and onto the plush furniture. "Here, prop her head with this pillow." Venus said as she passed Jupiter a pillow.
Mercury checked her pulse once more and breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems that her pulse has grown stronger, she seems to be doing ok." Mercury replied.
The other girls shared a collective sigh of relief and looked on at their slumbering friend. "So, now that we know she's going to be ok, what do we do from here?" Jupiter asked.
Mars raised a hand to her chin and thought carefully. "Well, Serena's safety is first. But we still don't know where Darien is or even if he's ok. After just barely finding Serena in time and in the situation she was in, we can assume that this enemy isn't to be taken lightly." She replied.
Mercury turned back to her mini computer and tried to find a way out of this place but as she retraced the path they had previously taken she noticed the portal they had come through was closed. They were going to have to find another way to escape this place. "Well, we can't go back the way we came, the portal has since closed. And Mars is right, we need to find Darien before we can leave this place. But with Serena still recovering I'm not so sure we can do much of anything at this point. We can't split up, it would only leave us vulnerable to this unknown enemy. We need to stay put for now." Mercury observed.
Jupiter sighed angrily as she thought of how they found Serena strapped to a medieval device being tortured mercilessly. "Ooh, they better hope we don't catch up to those creeps, cause they're gonna pay for what they did to Serena." She muttered angrily as she slammed her fist into her hand for effect.
Venus placed a calming hand on Jupiter's shoulder. "Right now we need to focus on Serena waking up, and then finding Darien. But as soon as everyone is safe, we will teach those dirt bags a lesson. No one messes with our princess." Venus assured.
Mars stayed close to Serena's side and thought back to feeling she had when they were near the enemy. It was intense and almost suffocating. Whoever had dared to dream up such a horrible scheme wasn't their typical enemy. This person was evil, almost sadistic in nature and that thought scared her. If this person was willing to go this far with a young girl who couldn't defend herself, what would happen if they were faced with a formidable opponent? As things stood the odds were not on their side. Yes, they had fortunately found and rescued Serena in the nick of time, but there was still the question of Darien's whereabouts and whether or not he was safe. Then there was the fact that this unknown enemy was still lurking in this strange place just beyond their reach. For all that evil energy, they had a crafty mind and just managed to escape their wrath as they broke in to find Serena. But the reason for hiding out of view still concerned her. What could this enemy possibly gain by remaining hidden? Buying time? Preparing for something beyond their comprehension? Gaining the element of surprise? These unknown factors disturbed her and she hoped beyond hope that she was just overthinking the matter.
Serena was in a world filled with light. Hovering over the edge of reality. She felt as if she was floating and the feeling calmed her. Before this she could remember small bits and pieces of the events that had transpired what seemed like long ago. She had been tricked into sitting down in some strange chair with the promise of returning home to her friends and family. He had seemed pleasant and coaxed her in letting her guard down. But once she sat down...something awful, something terrible had happened. The details were still fuzzy in her mind almost as if she didn't want to remember. But there just beyond her mind's eye, it hovered there. She struggled to reach this fuzzy memory as she remained suspended in the air. Something inside her urged her not to go towards this memory but the curiosity of it all got the better of her and she reached out to touch this floating memory.
It was when her fingertip had brushed the edge that the light turned dark and a rush of pain and anxiety accompanied the onslaught of this memory. Her eyes widened as each unbearable moment flashed before her. She had been tricked, and she had been tortured. She could hear his voice, his laughter echoing in her head and she placed her hands over her ears to stop the sound from getting in but it seemed to be coming from inside her head. The memory of the pain flooding her body made her cringe and she whimpered softly for it to stop. Then flashes of a man filled her vision completely. He was handsome, had raven dark hair, and stunning green eyes that pierced her very soul. No, this man was not who she wanted to see. She fought desperately to change his features, to make his eyes the deep blue she longed to see, for his hair to take on the sheen she remembered, for his features to change shape into the man the loved.
The pictures of each man flickered back and forth in her mind and she tried to block the other one out but it seemed to linger on its own accord. No, she wanted him to disappear but still he remained like a haunting reminder in the back of her mind. She shook her head fiercely and managed to find her voice amongst the chaos. "No! Darien is the one I want. Darien is the one I love! Darien!" She screamed into the air hoping to banish the mysterious man from her thoughts and for a moment he seemed to recede and give way to the image of Darien. Tears sprung to her eyes as she longed for the image to spring to life, to hold her in his arms and whisper sweet nothings into her ear. For Darien to assure her that everything was going to be alright and mean it. Just as she looked up to find comfort in his deep blue eyes, his image seemed to get further away and disappear from her sight. She reached out instinctively and begged for it not to go. "No, Darien, don't go. Please, Darien, don't leave me. Darien? Darien!" And as his image blended in with the darkness a small flash of light made itself known in the distance and began to grow. She had to shield her eyes as it grew brighter and then she felt herself being hurled towards it with amazing force.
Serena could feel the light burning through her eyelids and fought to open her eyes. She groaned softy as her head spun and the dizziness pervaded her thoughts. She very slowly moved her head side to side and was glad she still had some motion in her body. She felt someone grasp her hand and hold it gently. A small smile formed on her lips and she knew it had to be her love, Darien. "Darien..." She sighed. She opened her eyes against the blinding light and as her vision cleared, she saw four faces hovering over her filled with concern. She looked around anxiously for the face she longed to see and was disappointed that Darien was no where to be found. But that disappointment was short lived as panic took its place. "Darien? Where's Darien?" She tried to sit up but the sudden movement made her dizzy and she fell back.
The scouts were relieved when Serena had stirred and show signs of rousing. They had all gathered around her and waited eagerly as she attempted to open her eyes. Mars who had been by her side throughout had reached down and taken her hand in her own, hoping the sensation would urge her friend to wake sooner. They all felt a pang of guilt when she sighed Darien's name and hoped she wouldn't do anything rash when she found that he wasn't here.
When she looked up at them and seemed content, they all felt a rush of relief but when her eyes darted back and forth searching for Darien that guilt returned. When she tried to spring up Jupiter and Venus gently pushed her shoulders back and she fell effortlessly. "Shh, don't push yourself." Jupiter hushed.
Mercury came into view and placed a hand over Serena's forehead. "Yes, you've been through quite a lot in the past few hours. You need to regain your strength." She said softly.
Serena fought to get herself into a sitting position, but failed miserably. It was only with the help of Jupiter and Venus that she was able to sit upright. "Take it easy, Serena. We know you're worried but we're working on it, ok?" Venus assured.
Serena took a deep breath and tried to calm herself when a thought struck her. "Hey, how did you guys even get here? And where is here exactly?" She asked.
Mercury came to sit beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We suspected something was amiss when Mars alerted us to a strange aura coming from Darien and when we arrived at his apartment we discovered an ominous portal in his living room. Needless to say we knew you had both been abducted and we made a decision to rush in after you. And since arriving to this place we've been searching for you both and managed to find you when-" She cut off the last part, exchanged looks with the other scouts and wasn't sure if she should mention the predicament they had found her in. "When my computer picked up a reading on your energy and we brought you here to keep you safe while you recovered." She finished quickly.
Serena took in this information and thought back to the previous events. She had certainly been through a lot in the past few hours and she could hardly believe the outcome up till now. Mars saw that she had been processing the information and knew that Serena might have some information on this unknown enemy. She came to sit beside Serena's other side and placed a hand on her leg to get her attention. "Serena, I know that a lot has happened and that you need to rest, but we need to know if you have encountered the enemy. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, but we all need to know exactly what we're up against here." She said as she met her eyes.
Serena blinked in confusion and then came to conclusion that the scouts had not encountered Kyo or his father since arriving. She knew very little herself but squared her shoulders as she prepared to recount what she had learned thus far. "Well, you see it's kinda complicated...There are two men here, a father and son who seem be alone as far as I know. But the thing is that the son, his name is Kyo and he has somehow found a way to take over Darien's body and it was him and not Darien who has been acting strange all this time."
Jupiter recalled the moment he had begun to act strangely and blurted out her thoughts. "It was that day at the temple. The day we found him passed out in the courtyard!" She deduced.
Mars narrowed her eyes and knew it to be true. "So this guy, Kyo, has possessed Darien and was on earth in disguise, but for what purpose?" She mused.
Serena began to continue her explanation. "He told me he was there to conquer the planet but...somehow changed his plans when he started to spend time with me. I thought he was Darien and of course I didn't treat him any differently so he got the idea to bring me here and marry me. I was shocked but I had to turn him down. I love Darien and he tricked me into thinking he was someone he wasn't. He said he would let me go when I told him I didn't love him and wanted to go home, but...But his father didn't seem to agree and he told me he would send me home but he put me in that chair and...and..." Serena shuddered at the thought and the girls tried to comfort her.
Venus came to kneel in front of Serena and looked into her eyes for support. "Hey, it's all over now and we're gonna find Darien. It's all gonna turn out ok, like always right?" She said trying to lift Serena's spirits.
Jupiter gave Serena a thumbs up and her winning smile. "Yeah, come on, Serena. With the Sailor Scouts on the job, this thing will be wrapped up in to time." She assured.
While Jupiter and Venus tried their best to cheer up Serena, Mercury and Mars had to hide the feeling of foreboding they both felt at this knowledge. They smiled wryly trying not to rouse suspicion but they both exchanged looks and knew what the other was thinking; this enemy was not only after Serena, but willing to do whatever it took to get her here and keep her there. This wasn't looking good at all, but they needed to protect her and keep her safe. If Darien was being controlled by the enemy then they certainly had their work cut out for them.
Alright another one down and some more angst to go with it. Please review and give me some inspiration to get going on the next chapter. Reviews make the world go round.