A/N: Yo! Here's our weekly update! I hope it pleases as much as the others did :)
SO! Special thanks to Phenitial, Moonlight Pheonix, earlschibiangel, FlameWriter008, sailor cyanide, and HisWabbit for reviewing the last chapter! Also, thanks to everyone who read, favorited, subscribed, or alert-added the story or myself! You guys rock!
Questions?
Moonlight Pheonix and HisWabbit: You'll have to wait and see!
FlameWriter008: I thought it would be a little interesting to see what exactly they were up to. Don't worry, we're going to see what everyone else is doing in the meantime. I didn't think a chapter just about them would be too bad since even the manga and anime dedicate a little time to the villains. There is more main character time coming so no worries!
And now, more story! I do not own Sailor Moon!
"We should go after him!" Arista said.
"No. We won't. We will leave him and his girlfriend alone."
"But Troy—"
"Arista. He saved you in exchange for that much. I gave my word and I won't go back on that."
Lepius nodded. "Why did you promise that?"
Troy ran a hand through his hair. "Because he wouldn't help Arista if we didn't…and I wasn't about to lose another brother."
The three younger siblings were silent as they contemplated what their eldest brother had said.
"My word is my word," he said. "And now, I'm going to put phase three of our plan into motion."
"I'll come with you," Lepius told him. He was glad to finally be able to travel with Troy again. Someone needed to keep an eye on him.
"Fine. Arista, you're in charge of Orpheus."
"What?" Arista pulled on his jacket and glanced angrily at the younger brother. "Why?" Troy and Lepius stared at him knowingly. "Oh fine."
"We'll be back!" Troy said cheerily. He gave a flick of his wrist and then he and Lepius were gone.
+Meanwhile+
As soon as Syrus and Orpheus had gone, Serena collapsed onto the floor. She held herself up with her hands and stared down at the ground. He was gone…he was really gone. Serena knew he would be back, but that didn't stop her from worrying. He was going back to the very people who had landed him in the hospital more than once.
Syrus would return…he had given her his word.
She sat back and stared up at the ceiling. What was that power that had come from her? She replayed the events in her head as she thought about it. She didn't have powers…did she? Syrus was shocked, so if she did, it was obvious that he didn't know about them. And even though the amount of power she released had surprised her, it felt familiar. Maybe her life before the accident hadn't really been as mundane as she thought. So many things felt familiar to her…the feeling of déjà vu she felt at the dance, the power that came from her, the way Darien's kiss felt…
'Wait a minute, Serena! You have a boyfriend! You can't let this go on!' She got to her feet. 'Syrus is dealing with his brothers right now and we'll have to get out of here when he gets back. Who knows what those creeps are going to do to him?'
Serena reached up and pulled her headband off. She dropped it to where her shoes and purse were. Using one hand, she tousled her hair. What a mess she was in. She had told Darien that she remembered being loved by him, which hadn't been a lie. She remembered feeling happier than she had ever been…but then she remembered feeling more hurt and abandoned then she could bear. The more she thought about it, the more pain she felt: emotionally and physically. Tears were threatening her eyes and there was a stomachache coming on. She shook her head.
'Serena, there's no time to get worked up about this,' she thought to herself. 'Every time I think about Darien, my stomach begins to hurt and I feel so upset and scared! If this is how that guy always makes me feel then I need to end things now. I need to focus all my attention on Syrus. He's the one I love and the one who needs me!'
She unzipped her dress and dropped it to the floor. Then she ran to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Hopefully, she could get this done before Syrus returned. She came out and pulled on her undergarments and a red tank top. Then she searched the drawers in the dresser for a pair of fresh pants, but turned up nothing. Looking up at the clock, she saw that twenty-five minutes had passed. Serena dashed to the closet and looked in frantically. Still nothing clean of hers to be found.
'I really need to do some laundry,' she thought, shoveling through a pile of her dirty clothes.
She turned back and grabbed a clean pair of Syrus' baggy jeans. The girl pulled them on and picked up a black belt off the floor. Once she fastened it around her waist, she took a quick a look at herself in the mirror. Not bad.
After she grabbed her wallet, phone, and keys out her purse, Serena went over to the side table and opened up the bottom drawer. She pulled out a small drawstring cloth bag and dropped it in her pocket. Then she put on her sneakers and ran to the door. Her hair was still dripping from her shower and it was leaving a wet spot on her shirt, but she hardly noticed. She was just locking up when Luna appeared.
"Meow!"
Serena looked down at the feline. "Hey Luna. No time to talk now; I've got something to take care of."
"Meow?"
"It's something I should have done a long time ago." She ran off to the end of the hallway and took the stairs.
Luna followed her. 'I wonder where she's going,' the guardian thought to herself. 'She's going awfully fast now.'
Ahead of her, Serena was going as quickly as she could. She was thankful that she had taken up running so that her body was prepared for this amount of stress. If she remembered what Molly had told her correctly, she should be almost there.
The girl ran into the park as a shortcut. She came to a park bench and stopped. Something wasn't right. She grabbed onto a bench and then clutched her chest. 'Oh no! Not now!'
Luna caught up to the girl in the park. She found her in a distressed position at the bench. 'Serena!' She dashed over to the girl and stopped at her side. "Meow?"
Serena was hunched over now. She began coughing, calmly at first, but then her coughs became violent. She let go of the bench and fell to one knee.
'What do I do?' the feline thought frantically. 'Call one of the girls? Go for help?' She looked around and noticed that the nearest people were all the way across the park. "Meow? Meow!"
"Lu-Luna?" She coughed harder and turned to the cat. "It's okay, Luna," she whispered between coughs. "It's okay." She coughed a little more and then the coughs slowed. Soon, they had stopped. The girl heaved in deep breaths, fighting to keep the coughing away. She lifted her hand and found it covered with blood. Luna gasped. "Don't worry," she told the cat. "I'm okay." She pushed herself up again and walked over to a water fountain. The girl rinsed her hand off and when she was satisfied, she dried her hand on her shirt.
Luna approached the girl cautiously. "Meow!" The cat pawed at her jeans.
"I'm okay, Luna, don't worry." She took in a few more deep breaths. Then she bent and took a long drink. Wiping her mouth, she looked down at the feline. "I'm surprised you came all this way. I guess you're following me, huh?"
"Meow!"
"Well, come on then. We gotta get there and back before Syrus gets home."
"Mew?" This was Luna's way of asking her master where they were going.
"To his house," she replied automatically. "Come on. Let's hurry!"
"Meow!" She shook her head frantically.
"Don't worry. I'll run a little slower. Now come on!"
Serena took off again, the cat chasing after her. Luna found that she really hadn't slowed much at all. She was worried. She knew Serena had been sick…but coughing up blood? Had she done that before? Luna racked her brain as she tried to think. She remembered that Serena had been coughing quite violently in the past week. It was possible that she had produced blood. She had also been faint, feverish, weak, jittery, and so much more.
'Oh Luna,' she thought to herself. 'How could you have not noticed? You haven't been doing your job. Serena shouldn't be suffering this way.' She looked ahead and saw Serena cough briefly into her hand without stopping. 'I should have done something…but what? Where did this illness even come from? Is it withdrawal from not having the Crystal for so long?'
The girl continued on, happy to finally see the building in the distance. She coughed into her hand again and kept going. 'Why is this happening now?' she asked herself. 'I took some medicine not too long ago. Am I pushing myself too much?' She ran up to the building's entrance and went in. Luna had barely cleared the doorway before it shut. Tired of running, Serena went for the elevator.
"Come on, Luna! Hurry!" Luna made it into the elevator just in time. "Good girl," she breathed. She pressed the button and then leaned against the railing wearily. "Oh Luna…I think I overdid it." She wiped her forehead and took in a deep breath.
"Mew?" Luna stood nervously before the girl. 'She looks so tired,' she thought. 'This isn't good for her.' The cat rubbed herself around Serena's ankle and purred.
"Don't worry," she said. "I just need to catch my breath."
In no time, the elevator reached the desired floor. Serena and Luna walked out and entered the hallway.
"Ugh, which way is it?"
"Meow!"
"Oh Luna, do you know where the apartment is?"
The cat nodded and turned left. "Mew!"
"Okay, okay!" she laughed. "I'll follow you! You know, it's weird how we communicate so well even though you're a cat!"
'That's right,' Luna thought as she led her down the hall. "If only you knew! I hope Darien can help you out.' She soon stopped at their destination. "Meow!"
Serena looked at the nametag at the door. "'Darien Chiba.' You were right, Luna, this is the place." She took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." She rang the bell and waited. "Come on, come on; open up." She rang again. The girl wiped her hands nervously on her jeans. As she did so, she couldn't help but think about how much she liked wearing Syrus' clothes. "I'll have to be sure to steal these," she mumbled to herself.
After what felt like an eternity on Serena's part, the door opened, and there stood Darien. "Serena?" He was wearing a pair of black sweatpants and a blue t-shirt. "What are you doing here?" He was curious as to why she was there, but he couldn't complain. If she was there, it could only mean that they were taking a step in the right direction.
"Meow!"
Darien looked down. "Oh, hey Luna. You're here too?"
The cat leapt up into the young man's arms. "Meow!" He nodded and stroked the cat's fur.
"I'm sorry to bother you at home, Darien."
"It's not a bother, Serena. Would you like to come in? The place is a little messy because I've been studying all day and I haven't been feeling well lately, but I could sure use a distraction."
"No, thank you. This isn't a social call. I'm here about last night."
Luna raised an eyebrow and looked to Serena and then up at Darien. Darien met her gaze and turned his head. He lowered the cat down to the ground. She circled his legs and finally settled on sitting by the door between the two.
"What about last night?" He thought about how beautiful she had looked in her prom dress and he smiled involuntarily.
"It was you at my prom last night, right?"
He nodded. "Yes, it was. I'm glad you remember."
"Yes. I do…but like I told you, not everything."
"I understand. I just…I just hope this means that you're willing to give us a chance."
"That's what I want to talk to you about."
"God, you were so beautiful." He looked her over and he couldn't help but think of how gorgeous she was at that moment. A bright red tank top accentuated her figure and the baggy jeans she had on made her look comfortable and sexy. Her dark purple hair was curled up and dripping, indicating that she had just taken a shower before she got there. "You look beautiful now too."
Serena blushed. "Don't be ridiculous. I just put on whatever I could find."
He nodded again. "Are you sure you don't want to come in?"
"Yes." She nodded too. "I'm sure. Thanks though."
Darien opened his mouth to respond, but he let out a cough instead. "I'm sorry," he managed between coughs.
"Oh no! I've been sick too! I hope I didn't pass my cold on to you!"
The dark haired man cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, no. It wasn't you. I've had this cough for a while now, and it's nothing major. Anyway, what's on your mind?" He provided her with his undivided attention.
She looked at him uncertainly and nodded. "Okay. Um…do you remember last night when I told you that I remembered you? And I told you that I remembered the feeling of being loved by you?"
"I do. Serena, you have no idea how happy it made me feel to hear you say those words." He pulled her into a hug. "It's only a matter of time before everything comes back to you."
Serena settled into his embrace for a moment. She bit back the urge to wrap her arms around him and cry. "That's not all." She pushed herself free of his grasp and stepped back to look at him. He gazed at her inquisitively.
"What's not all?"
"That's not all I remember. Sure, I remember being loved by you and loving you, but I remember other feelings too." She paused, carefully choosing her words. "I remember crying and being hurt. I remember feeling deserted and abandoned."
"Serena—"
"—it's true, I don't remember actual memories, only feelings; but every time I try to dig deeper into my mind and figure it out, I just feel more angry and more hurt, and I don't know why. It looks like whatever feelings I did have in our relationship are all the ones I'm trying hard to forget." Serena was beginning to feel lightheaded. She rested her arm casually on the door frame to support herself.
"Meow?"
She looked down to her companion and smiled. Then she turned back to Darien. "Because of these feelings—"
"—Serena, listen. I know you're scared and you're right. You and I were having problems before the accident." He turned his head to the side, not meeting any of their eyes. He could feel Luna looking up at him in shock, but how could he explain to the guardian of the very woman that he loved that he had hurt her? "That's probably why you keep feeling such strong emotions whenever you think about us."
"I figured that much…and now that I know that it's true, it'll make this easier."
He turned back to her. "Make what easier?"
"Mrow?"
Serena reached into her pocket a pulled out the small, cloth sack. "This is for you."
Darien took the bag from her and opened it. "Serena…what…why?" He turned the bag upside down in his palm and two items fell into his hand. "Serena…why are you giving these to me? I gave these to you!" He could feel panic rising inside him.
She nodded. "I know…at least that was what I figured. They were tokens of your love for me."
"This ring was a symbol of my promise to marry you! And this locket," he lifted the star locket up by its chain, "you gave me this a long time ago…and then I gave it back to you. We've been trading it back and forth for…for forever it seems."
Serena opened her mouth to reply but started coughing unexpectedly. She clung to the wall and tried to silence herself.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded and finally, the coughing subsided. "I'm fine. Listen Darien, with all the negative feelings and emotions I've been feeling in regards to our relationship, I just don't think it's right to string you along. I don't want you to go on thinking there's a chance for us when there isn't." She took in a deep breath. Her heart was beating wildly. She had to hurry. There was an episode coming on; she could feel it.
"There is always a chance! I can't let you go Serena! I won't!" He grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.
The girl pulled her hand back. "Darien, I can't do this with you! You don't make me happy anymore! That much I can tell. I'm giving you this stuff back to say good bye. I'm going to stick by Syrus. I won't leave him. And I won't sneak behind his back and see you. Syrus was there for me when I needed him and I can't turn my back on him. I love him with all my heart."
"But you can turn your back on me?" His outburst echoed down the corridor. "Serena, I need you! I love you! How can you just give up on us when you can't even remember?"
"Because it hurts!" She glared at him angrily, though tears were forming in her eyes. "Thinking of you hurts! Thinking of us hurts! Thinking of the past hurts! I'm tired of hurting! Syrus doesn't do that to me! He takes the pain away and helps me face another day full of things I can't remember! He doesn't look at me the way you're looking at me now; angry because I can't remember. He holds me and makes everything okay. I just…I just can't do that again, Darien. I'm sorry but I can't do this with you anymore!"
Darien's blood ran cold. "You don't mean that! You can't! You don't even remember. None of this makes any sense! Serena!"
She shook her head sadly. "Good bye, Darien."
"No!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. "We're not over! We've barely begun!"
"Darien! I—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Darien pressed his lips against hers. "You're mine! You hear me? No one else's! Not Syrus', not anybody else's: mine!" He kissed her again, his tongue working its way around the inside of her mouth.
She pushed him back. "Darien?"
"Serena?"
"You have to…you have to…" She put a hand against her head and swayed a little bit.
"Serena!" Darien grabbed her shoulders. "Stay with me! Serena!" She looked up at him with a dazed look in her eyes. "Serena! What do you want me to do?"
All at once, she seemed to come back to herself. "I want you to stay the hell away from me!" She brushed his hands off her body. "I tell you I want nothing to do with you and you kiss me? Listen! Any hope you had of us ever getting back together is just…it's just not going to happen! Good bye!"
Without giving him a chance to say another word, she turned and ran off. "Serena! Serena!" Darien ran out the door and went in the direction he saw her go. When he didn't find her, he ran outside the building and looked about frantically; she was nowhere to be found. Dejectedly, he returned to his apartment.
"I take it you didn't find her?" Luna asked.
Darien shook his head. "How could this happen? How could I allow this? She was so happy last night and she seemed to be remembering!"
Luna nodded. "She did seem to remember for a moment there, didn't she?"
The young man coughed into his hand a few times. It did look like she was about to remember. Once again, it was as if she was about to come back to him, but fate tore her away from him…again.
"Listen, Darien, I understand you're upset, but you have to go after her!"
"Go after her? I can't even find her! I don't know where she went!"
"Probably back to Syrus' place. Darien, she hasn't been well! You have to—"
"—I have to what? Look at these, Luna. Look!" He held out his palm and showed her the star locket and heart shaped ring.
"Oh Darien."
The young prince placed them on the counter and slammed his hand on the table. "I can't do this anymore!"
"You can't do what?" The feline stared up at him worriedly. "You're not giving up on her, are you?"
"Why shouldn't I? She's already given up on me!"
"But Darien—"
She started to protest but the prince's anger got the best of him. He picked up his coffee mug and threw it across the room angrily. Yelling furiously, he began throwing whatever he could get his hands on. Luna dodged what she could. Finally, she decided that it was up to her to find Serena while leaving the young man in peace. She slipped through the partially open apartment door and headed out toward Syrus' place.
Unbeknownst to him, Serena had been in the stairwell on the opposite side of the building. She watched as he ran around the grounds of the building several times in search of her. When she was convinced he was back inside the apartment, she descended the stairs. She gave the building one final look as she walked away.
"I'm sorry, Darien."
"You rotten, little bitch! You tried to get out again! You really are putting up a fight, aren't you?"
The person entered the jail cell and approached the young woman lying on the ground. She swung her foot and connected a black combat boot to the woman's body. The girl let out a cry and curled up in response.
"How the hell did you even get out? Huh? Answer me!"
When there was no response, the person bent down and grabbed her by the neck.
"I hate you, you know. I hate your cute little face and all your petty little emotions! As soon as we get what we want, you're out of here!" The person paused. "Do you have anything to say? Well do you?"
No response.
"You know, it's funny. You keep trying to get out to get to that moron, Durwood. I was actually worried that he would be a threat! I actually thought that he might figure out what was going on! Luckily for me, that idiot amnesiac got rid of him for good! She proved to be useful after all." They looked at the girl in their grasp. "Anything to add? Anything at all?"
Still, no response.
"You good-for-nothing bitch! I hate you!"
The person shook the young woman and threw her across the holding area. The girl smacked into the wall and fell to the ground. From her thin-strapped, thigh-length, pink dress, fell a small, golden key. The person walked over to the girl and bent down. They picked up the key and observed it carefully.
"No wonder you kept getting out! You had the key this whole time!" They gave a laugh. "And I had to keep reeling you back in, wondering how it was that you kept escaping! This whole time! You had the fucking key!" There was more laughter. "How dare you! Do you have anything to say in your defense? Do you?"
In a small whisper, the girl responded, "How could you?"
"What? What was that?"
"I just want to know how you could allow this," she said again, in the same, minute voice. "Why are you letting this happen?"
"Aw! Poor baby! Tell me, does it hurt? Does it hurt to see your little prince in pain? Hm? I bet it does!" She was crouched down next to the girl now. "You know, the more pain you feel, the stronger it makes me!"
Tears fell from the girl's face. "Why? Have you no heart? Have you no sense of compassion?"
The person looped the key through a thin chain and after fastening it around their neck, tucked it away in the collar of their black, turtleneck shirt. "Heart? Compassion? Those are the things you have! And look what that got you!" A snicker. "Now that I have the key, you won't be getting out again, that's for damn sure!" They grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her up as they stood. "The only thing left to do is to punish you!"
The person yanked the girl back and threw her against the wall again. Then they lifted their hands and created two dark energy balls. The person threw them at the girl and she screamed. Black, open sores on her body seemed to pulsate with some sort of dark light as the negative energy travelled through her.
"AAAHHH! Please! I can't take anymore! No more!"
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh no! You're going to take this and more! You're going to learn what happens when you don't do as you're told! I'm going to show you what it means to cross me! I'm going to blast all the brain cells out of your head until you can't think anymore! And when I'm done with that…heh, heh, heh…I'm going to take over and kill him."
"NO!"
"Shut up!" A long stream of thick, black electric energy flowed from their hands and into the woman's body.
She screamed again and convulsed profusely.
"The only purpose you serve right now is sustenance! As soon as I get what I want, you, the amnesiac, the princess, and that prince are all dead! You hear me? Dead! Now suffer!"
"You can't hurt them!" she cried. "You can't!"
"Watch me!"
Without the power or the strength to fight back, the girl suffered her horrible punishment with only one thing running through her mind.
'Darien…'
life705: That's all for now! A bit of a heart-breaker, I know, but there is more to come for our pair. Please stick around for the next chapter, and until then, please review, comment, rant, rave, make suggestions, or whatever! I appreciate the feedback :)
