A Double Edged Sword Part Five
Split Personalities
by
Sailor Janus
Disclaimer: Everything in this story is property of Naoko Takeuchi except Janus/Deidra and the villains unless she wants them.
*~*~*~*
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"
Deidera groaned as she rolled over and shut off her alarm clock. Slowly she sat up she and suddenly cringed with the realization that her head was pounding even worse than the previous night.
Burying her face in her hands she slowly rocked back and forth, pleading for the pain to go away. 'Oh this is just going to be one of those days,' she thought disgustedly. "Well, can't be late. Nope don't want that, or the teacher will have me flogged," Deidera sarcastically said to herself as she climbed out of bed and then froze. "Wait, I don't even remember getting home.... must be the headache."
Without a second thought, she carefully walked to her bathroom for more aspirin before beginning the task of preparing for school.
*~*~*~*
Somehow Deidera managed to make her way to school and even 20 minutes early at that. Deciding that perhaps she'd feel better with some fresh air, the burgundy haired girl found a seat under a tree and took out her notebook and began writing.
You mock me. Twisting our love and turning it into a game. Am I not your princess? No, I'm nothing more than an animal, a trophy that you only want to hunt down and then preserve even if it means ripping out my soul and sealing my doom.
Deidera winced in pain as she dropped her pen in her notebook then closed her eyes, slowly opening them again and stared at ground for a brief moment when she suddenly heard a voice.
"Hi Deidera!" Minako called out cheerfully as she ran up to burgundy haired girl. The girls all agreed to be friendly to the new sailor senshi, deciding on the fact that she probably acted the way she did because she was lonely and had difficulty making friends. The facts on the past and Silver Millennium were not a concern to them yet.
"Oh, it's you. Here to brightly bounce in a new day?" Deidera dryly said as she looked up from where she was sitting on the ground.
"What do you mean?" the usually perky blonde said as she slowed to a stop.
"You know, 'Hi, I'm Miss Sunshine, here to brighten your day!' It gets really old, really fast," Deidera shrugged at the girl who looked like she was going to either yell at her or break down crying.
"You don't have to be so mean and insult me!"
"Well, I guess you have something new for your diary. 'Dear diary, I really do not make people as happy as I thought.' And another thought, what's with you representing love and beauty when you lack both?" the senshi of Janus bluntly added as she stared at the girl.
Minako's face started to turn bright red as she stomped off.
"Wait Minako! I thought we could have some tea after school! My treat! Then we can giggle about boys and comics! I even have the newest Sailor V comic! I'll even give it to you if you want!" Deidera called out with a giggle. "Hmm, guess she doesn't like tea."
"Hello Deidera. What's wrong with Minako?" Ami asked with a smile as she walked up to Deidera who was staring at the ground once again.
"Oh nothing, I guess she finally got a clue."
"What are you talking about 'She got a clue?" Ami asked as she looked perplexed at the younger girl.
"Oh you know, a clue. Just like you need one about how boring you actually are." Deidera shrugged again.
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, I mean, do you think studying every single second is the only way to get through life? There are still many chances to fail in the future. Even if you are the smartest person in the world, which you aren't."
Ami's eyes filled with tears as she ran off.
Deidera blinked as Ami left, "Huh? Ami? Where are you going? What's wrong?" she cried out as she saw blue haired girl running away from her. "Hmm, that's odd."
'Oh I wish this headache would go away already! It seems to get worse and worse. Constantly pounding and pounding and pounding,' Deidera thought as she brought her head down on her hand.
"Hey Deidera!" Makoto shouted to the girl who was leaning on her hand.
"Hi, Makoto."
"Hey, you didn't meet us at the cafe. I thought you said you were gonna treat everyone to breakfast...and lunch.... and dinner...and even dessert now that I think of it which is really nice but you don't have to," the brunette said as scratched her head and sat down next to the burgundy haired girl.
"I did? I don't remember saying that," Deidra said, as she looked very confused. 'When did I ever say that?' she thought.
"Yeah, you said all that yesterday after you showed up at Rei's with 55 dozen cookies which might I add, was a little much but that is just my opinion. Well, at least Usagi and Minako didn't mind," Makoto explained.
"I showed up at Rei's and I baked?! Wait, I can't even make toast without burning it!"
"Yeah, and wow were you hyper and perky! You were even more so than Minako!" Makoto laughed.
"I was perky? I'm never perky!" Deidera stated as she looked at the tall girl. "And I don't recall being at Rei's either. Are you sure you don't have me confused with someone else?"
"No it was you! I'm sure of it. Geez, either you have a really bad memory or you really are a pathological liar!" Makoto said as she got up from the ground and dusted her skirt off.
"I am not a pathological liar!" Deidera shouted looking angry.
"Whatever, catch you later." Makoto said as she walked off.
"What is going on here?! Why is everyone acting so strange! And why won't this pounding stop!"
"Hi Deidera." Hotaru softly greeted as she walked up to the girl who appeared to be rather enraged. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"
'Oh no, please not again. Three angry people are all I can take!' Deidera looked wide-eyed at the petite girl as she backed away and slowly got to her feet. "I-I don't know! Just- just stay away from me!" Quickly she turned to run away from the dark haired girl.
"Deidera!" Hotaru called after her when the girl suddenly turned to face her. Her eyes strangely had a bluish tint to her normal green color.
"Hotaru! Hey! I decided that we could have a party at my house! Yeah, so invite everyone you know and it'll be so much fun!" Deidera said cheerfully as she bounced up and down. "Oh! I got shopping to do! I should probably buy several different kinds of chips. Think 10 different flavors are enough? No better make 15 or 20. Oh! And I better make a cheesecake and get some cool music! Oh and it'll be such a blast!" she giddily clapped her hands as she smiled.
"Deidera? A party? And on a school night? What is with you?" Hotaru asked confusedly.
"What? Can't a girl have some fun!" the burgundy haired girl giggled.
"But why a party? I thought you said you would never have one because they are too messy after all that is what you said in the debate on parties yesterday in class."
Deidera stared at the shorter haired girl for a brief minute.
"Deidera?"
"And what makes you think I am going to have a party, not to mention why should I invite you?" the girl coldly said as she looked down at Hotaru. "You are too boring with your stupid obsession with lamps not to mention your choice of friends and clothes!"
"But I thought you liked my lamps and my clothes! Why are you saying all of this?" Hotaru asked in a state of shock. 'What is wrong with her? She never acted like this before.'
"Ha! I was just making it up. Now get out of my way! You're such a waste of space." Deidera dryly said as she pushed past Hotaru, almost knocking the girl to the ground.
"That was strange." Hotaru said as she watched the girl push past the other students and then suddenly paused before she continued walking to class normally but oddly, she seemed to have difficulty keeping her balance.
"Hotaru. Hotaru."
"Huh?" the girl said as she looked at who was talking to her. It was Usagi.
"Hey, is something wrong?" the blonde asked.
"I don't know, but I suspect that there might possibly be. I think we need to have a meeting after school."
"Do you think we should invite Deidera? She is one of us after all." Usagi asked thinking about the new sailor senshi.
"No, this concerns Deidera." Hotaru simply said as she shook her head. "We need to have everyone but her at the meeting. There is something strange about her, but I can't seem to figure out what it is."
Suddenly loud screams were heard as the students raced to see what the commotion was. Usagi and Hotaru exchanged glances before they ran to the site of the panic.
When they finally pushed through the crowd they were shocked to find the screaming was coming from Deidera.
The poor girl was lying on the ground, clutching her head while screaming and sobbing. She appeared to be in much pain.
"What's going on?" Makoto asked as Minako, Ami, and herself raced up to Usagi and Hotaru only to gaze down at Deidera in worry, confusion and pity.
Suddenly, several teachers ran out to find the source of the screaming. One ran back in the school to call for medical assistance while the other, Miss Leona raced over to try and help calm Deidera. Unfortunately she appeared to be very inattentive to the woman who tried to consol her and continued to wail hysterically on the sidewalk. Other teachers soon rushed out of the building and tried to help other students, who appeared rather shocked by cries coming from the girl, to move on. After a few failed attempts to clear everyone from site, the principal finally ordered the other students to leave the premises immediately or they will have detention.
Quietly, Usagi, Makoto, Ami, Minako, and Hotaru left the newest sailor senshi on the ground as she continued to shriek in pain, deciding there was nothing they could do there and entered the school building, walking slowly down the sparsely filled hallways.
"Meeting after school?" Hotaru softly said as they approached an abandoned corner of the building.
The others nodded in agreement as the soldier of destruction contacted the rest of sailor senshi.
*~*~*~*
"Haruka! Did you hear about-" Michiru called out as she hurried to the tall blonde woman's room and walked in only to find her sitting quietly on the floor in what appeared to be in deep thought as she tensed her face. "The meeting." Michiru finished as she sat next to Haruka. "What is it?"
"We should have realized it sooner."
"Realized what? Haruka?" the aqua haired woman asked, as she looked confused.
"That this is probably because of our newest enemy! Why didn't we figure it out in the first place! It's happening all over again! We are wrong once more just like that whole thing with Hotaru!" Haruka shouted with frustration in her voice.
"This is not like with Hotaru! This is nothing like with Hotaru! We didn't know-"
"Exactly!" the blonde said as she abruptly stood up. " We don't know! We don't know anything! We are really slipping this time!" She stomped out of the room as Michiru scrambled to her feet to go after the furious woman.
"Slipping? What do you mean?!"
Haruka turned quickly and practically got in Michiru's face and she stated in a very harsh tone, "We. Are. Slipping! We know nothing about the new enemy. Nothing about its intentions. Who it is. What it wants or even how to stop it! Our powers don't even work for crying out loud!"
"Haruka, calm down! We'll figure something out."
"HA! We are worthless and there is nothing we can do about it! We couldn't even defeat that last monster. Janus had to do it for us! All our attacks bounced off it like a freaking pinball machine!" Haruka said as she threw her hands in the air practically going hysterical and Michiru helplessly trailed after her.
"Haruka, we'll figure something out. Don't worry."
"Yeah, right! We are finished. Face it, Michiru!"
"Haruka, calm down, now!" Setsuna softly ordered as she entered the room.
The enraged woman glanced up at the older woman then turned away. She didn't feel like hearing a lecture from the almighty elder of the sailor senshi.
"I know how upset you all are because of the turn of events which are occurring at the moment, but we cannot lose control over this!" Setsuna explained, as she looked the other two in the eye. "We may not be able to change what has already happened but we can try to correct it."
"HOW?!" Haruka shouted as she threw her hands in the air. "You are forgetting one thing, Setsuna. None of our powers work! Remember?! We might as well just give up. It's over. Completely over. We are finished."
"Haruka, we are not even close to being finished yet. We just need to gain access to more power that we probably didn't even know existed," the green haired woman said sternly.
"Maybe that's why Janus came. Maybe she is the one that will help us find this new power." Michiru said, hoping Haruka would cool down before she went on a real frenzy. "Think maybe we should join the others at the hospital?"
"It's worth a try. I'm just hoping that Deidera is okay. From what Hotaru explained, she seemed quite hysterical and in a lot of pain." Setsuna softly said. 'Why would a thing like that happen? It just doesn't make sense. Either there is something terribly wrong with her that has nothing to do with our new enemy or they did this to her. But why?' she thought as she stared out the window.
"I guess it's worth a try to see if she might know what is going on. I'll grab my car keys," Haruka said as she left the room to fetch her keys.
Soon the three women departed the mansion for what seemed to be a rather long trip to the hospital.