The Darkest Secret

Act Twenty Seven: Fading

Serena: Seriously…this story gets crazier by the minute. What's up?

Starlily11: Just be quiet.

During the following days, Serena began to realize that something was seriously wrong. She felt tired and detached all the time, and her appetite had gone down frighteningly quickly. She did her best to hide it from her aunt and her mom. They had enough to worry about, what with taking care of Adel and putting up new protective wards around their new residence. The blonde forced herself to eat, even though some days she woke up and felt nauseous at the very mention of food. She knew she ought to say something about it, but she was, quite honestly, afraid of the answer. But she also knew she should keep her promise to Seiya. She could sense Katherine's fear, and the Nephilim urged her several times a day to seek help.

Finally, the blonde went to Arriane. She didn't want to tell Trista, and definitely not Amara. They hovered enough as it was. If she told any of the other Sailor Scouts, they would blab, and she would never have a moment's peace. She didn't want to be coddled; she wanted to find out what was wrong and get to the bottom of it. She told no one where she was going, and successfully evaded Luna's questions. Hopefully, she would be able to honestly say she was fine when she got back. When she reached Arriane's residence, she knocked. The fallen angel answered almost immediately. When she saw Serena, she seemed surprised.

"Serena. Well, this is a surprise. Come in."

Serena obeyed, and clasped her hands in a vise-like grip to keep them from trembling. She failed. Once in, she sat down.

Arriane noticed the blonde girl's pallor, and she examined her closely. She couldn't keep her face completely calm once she noticed something odd. The girl's soul looked like it was mere days away from leaving her body. Strangely, though, there seemed to be another soul there to take its place. The other wasn't forcing one out; there was a darkness between the two lights that was forcing them apart. To an angel, a person's soul was like a bright light, but it grew darker as the purity left them. The light being forced out was one of the purest souls she'd ever seen. The one that was anchored was a bright light, but it was a mere flicker compared to the one being forced out.

"Two souls…" Arriane murmured.

"Yeah…Arriane, I know this sounds crazy, but I guess you can see it. I don't know what to do."

"First, you can tell me what you think is going on, and then I'll see if I can help."

"You promise you won't call the men in the white coats to take me away?"

"Of course."

"Okay…here goes…well, for starters, I know that there's another person sharing a body with me, and we argue all the time. Her name's Katherine, and she's the one who's a Nephilim. I'm just Serena. Ever since I got stabbed, we've been separating and growing apart. We used to be merged, but we were aware that we were separate people after a while. But it was only awareness. Soon, we'll be completely separated, and that will make trouble. I think I'm being forced out…I feel…weak, and I'm never hungry. Neither of us have slept in days. The last time we slept, I slipped away for a minute…as in out of my…our…body."

"You're right. One of you is being forced out. And it's some seriously dark power. I didn't see it last time. Lucifer wants his daughter to release him badly. It appears that he feels that you are somehow keeping Katherine from him. He sees you as an obstacle and is trying to eliminate you."

"And he's succeeding. I don't know if I can hold on. Arriane, what can I do?"

"It isn't hopeless yet. You can fight this for a time. Katherine's time is drawing near; if you can hold on until then, I think I can find a way to reverse it."

"How do I fight it?"

"Hold on to what's dear to you. Think about the people you love, keep them close to your heart. That will help."

Serena thought for a moment. When she was with Seiya, the numb feelings did lessen. Maybe Arriane was right. "Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Remember, love is what shields you."

Serena nodded, and left the apartment. As she walked back, she thought about her friends and Seiya, about her mother, Aunt Lisa, and Adel. She kept them close to her heart, and she felt less like slipping away. When she got back, her mom asked her where she'd been. The blonde replied that she'd just taken a walk. Luna raised an eyebrow, and Serena flashed a genuine smile. "I'm fine, Luna. In fact, I feel pretty darn good." 'As long as I know where my heart is, I can stay. Arriane will find a way to fix this, and no one will ever know there was a problem in the first place,' Serena thought.

'Uh, yeah. What if that backfires?' Katherine inquired.

'You're so pessimistic, Katherine. Show some optimism for a change.'

'Every time you think along these lines, something always happens that makes the plan go up in smoke. It's hard to be optimistic considering that type of history.'

'If it gets too bad, I'll say something. But for now, I'm going to go find Seiya and initiate a make-out session.'

'You'll forgive me if I slip away for that.'

'Of course. Otherwise, he'd be kissing two girls at the same time.'

'This whole arrangement is insanely creepy.'

'I know.'

Serena did indeed find Seiya, and the couple most certainly did find a nice, private, quiet spot in which to engage in French kissing and groping. However, it was cut short when Amara and Michelle barged in and caught them. The Outers had accepted the Starlights, but they still weren't too keen on their Princess making out with anyone, let alone someone they had only just begun to even tolerate. Seiya and Serena both had blushed for the longest time. By the time they managed to escape, it was almost dinnertime. Serena was forced to pull away, and sighed as she did so. The numb feeling of detachment started up again. She fought it.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. School started, and the forced separation grew harder to fight. Serena struggled, and some days she woke up feeling unbelievably depressed. Some days were good, some days were bad. The whole situation was a lot like fighting some sort of cancer, Serena mused silently. Except that it couldn't be fought with radiation and chemotherapy. This type of cancer wasn't physical…it was emotional and spiritual. Serena forced herself to smile, even when she wanted to just lie down and surrender. But she never did. She had too many people she loved, too many people she had no desire to hurt in such a way. And so it was an eternal, unending battle that no one could see. Katherine sometimes tried to help, by letting Serena take a backseat and taking care of the homework load. The girl had enough to deal with without bad grades. So the blonde's perpetually bad grades took a turn for the better, but it was still difficult.

Eventually, though, things started to show. It got to the point where Serena would sometimes just stop eating, and she would spend whole nights tossing and turning, battling the dark force that assaulted from the inside. The light in the girl's eyes dimmed visibly, and her fair skin sometimes took on a sickly pallor. Her weight would fluctuate. She'd always been slender, but she started losing a scary amount of pounds, but then gain them back. At first, it was assumed that her poor color could be attributed to stress, but then came the days when Serena would just lie in her room not doing anything…just stare at the ceiling with a hollow look in her eyes. She didn't speak at all; she was completely silent. She wouldn't answer the phone or speak to Luna…it was like she simply wasn't there.

After a while, Seiya had had enough. He'd tried to remain calm and optimistic, but he was starting to fear for Serena's life. He could see her slipping away, and he couldn't understand why. It was killing him, watching her fight some inner battle. Mercifully, there was no evidence of self-harm, but somehow, this was worse than the last time something similar had occurred, when Ken Tsukino had forced Serena to keep his adultery a secret. This time, Serena was literally wasting away, even though she tried to hide it. Luna couldn't figure out what it was, and it seemed that Serena was blocking the Time Gate. Something was seriously wrong.

Seiya couldn't take it anymore. He entered the blonde's room and stayed there, waiting for her to acknowledge that he was in the room. After he observed her, he realized that her mind was elsewhere. This scared him worse than anything else. He knelt beside her and touched her hand. He could feel her light fading out. "Odango," he whispered. His hand trembled slightly, and his voice broke. "Tell me what's wrong, please. Don't leave me like this." Tears stung his eyes, and he contained them, but for one. That single tear escaped, trailing down his cheek.

Serena lay on her bed, dazed. How long could she fight this dark thing inside her? It gained a little more ground every day. And every day, a little more of her resistance was worn away. She knew she was hurting Seiya, but the numb, cold, dead feeling was overpowering her. Her strength was almost completely gone. She'd tried to handle it, but she just couldn't hold on anymore. Sudden warmth on her hand shook her out of her enforced state of apathy. Vaguely, she heard Seiya's voice, tender and caressing. But there was something new in it; what was it called? Oh, yes…sorrow. Seiya shouldn't be sad. The blonde pulled herself all the way back into reality. Seiya was trying not to cry, but a single tear had escaped. That made her realize how bad this was; how deeply she was buried in this whole mess.

She put her other hand over his trembling one. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Another tear escaped Seiya's control. "Odango, why? Why are you leaving me?"

"I can't fight it anymore, Seiya," she whispered. "I just can't…I've fought so hard, but this thing inside me…it's so strong…"

Seiya whispered, "You promised me you'd tell someone about this." His tone held a trace of growing wrath.

"I did…and she told me to keep the people I love close to my heart. I've done that, but there's nothing else I can do…"

"Who did you talk to about this?"

"Arriane."

"Isn't there something else?" Seiya asked pleadingly.

"Not that anyone knows of. I've tried…"

"If you would stop blocking Trista from the Time Gate, she could find something."

"I'm not blocking Trista from the Time Gate."

"You aren't? How…" Seiya paused. He had an idea. "Lucifer," he hissed. "That's the only explanation. He wants you to release him so bad that he's willing to kill you to get what he wants." His eyes softened as he looked down at Serena. "We'll find a way to save you," he promised. "I won't let you die."

Review, people. I need reviews to fee my imagination. Right now, my imagination is about to die of starvation.