A New Darkness
Serena stared out the window as she wrapped a shawl more tightly around herself. It had been a week since she had brought Maxfield, Sapphire and Diamond back and since the attack from the monster, and yet Serena was still recovering from lack of energy. She had really worn herself out. But the lack of energy was not what had her worried. And she was no longer worried over Darien throwing her out if she did anything wrong. He calmed that fear. No, she was worried about the fact that no other creatures had shown up since then.
Darien wrapped his arms around Serena as she leaned back against him. She didn't know why but something about the monster and the way it had attacked made Serena cautious. She had gone over the scene a dozen times, but could not seem to find anything out of the ordinary. But the sense of foreboding grew evermore.
So she ran over the scene once more. They had run outside. They saw the monster charging toward Lita. Its intention to kill her. Mercury threw—
Suddenly it clicked. Its intention was to kill Lita. It had harmed no one else except her. And then when they arrived it attacked them, but it never made a real move toward her, only toward the scouts. It knew who the Sailor Starlights were and it was trying to kill them, like an assassin. Dear goodness, what was she going to do? Serena turned to Darien with fear in her eyes. She had to warn the Sailor Starlights. She quickly told Darien what she had remembered and they both transformed each running out into the night streets to warn the scouts. Serena was headed toward Rei's and Lita's. Darien was going toward Ami's home and Mina's home as well.
Serena ran as fast as she could toward Rei's temple and arrived, barely in time. A new monster had attacked while the house was sleeping, and Rei was such a wreck that she hadn't even had time to transform. Chad and Rei's Grandpa had been barred from the room and could not get to her. But she could. Eternal Sailor Moon wasted no time. As the monster came crashing down for the deathblow, she blasted it with a beam from her tial and scent it crashing against the wall, breaking through the temple. Serena quickly went to Rei as the monster began to recover.
"Serena?" Rei asked weakly.
"Shh…" Serena murmured. "If you have the strength, transform. If not, wait till I'm done with him, because we have to go to Lita's before it attacks her."
Nodding, Rei stood up and transformed into Sailor Mars. Eternal Sailor Moon jumped through the wall of the temple she had made and searched for the creature that had been there only moments before. She felt something move in the air and turned around only to see it charging at Sailor Mars.
"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"
"CRESCENT MOON TIAL ANNIHALTION!"
The two powers blended together piercing the creature and leaving nothing but dust. It's screams echoed threateningly and Sailor Mars could not control the chill that ran through her. That thing had known who she was, and had tried to kill her. What did it mean?
"Mars!"
Sailor Mars turned to Eternal Sailor Moon and saw the desperate expression on her face. Lita and the others were still in danger. Snapping out of her trance, Sailor Mars began to run after Sailor Moon and toward the home of Sailor Jupiter.
When they arrived they were almost too late. Lita had tried to fight but had found no time to transform into Sailor Jupiter. Lita was trapped beneath the creature's claws and it slowly began to seal Jupiter's fate. Sailor Mars and Sailor Moon Eternal would not let that happen.
"MARS PHOENIX ATTACK!"
"ETERNAL MOON BLAST!"
Both attacks blew the monster away from the fallen friend and Sailor Moon and Mars quickly rushed to her side. Lita smiled up at them and whispered. "It's about time. But how did you know I was in trouble?"
Before Sailor Moon Eternal could answer that question, the monster raised itself once more from the ground. How it had survived the blast Mars and Moon gave they would never know. Mars looked fearfully down at Lita. "Looks like we're going to need your lightning to defeat it, Lita. So my suggestion is you transform…NOW!"
Lita got the hint and transformed as Sailor Mars attacked once more. "MARS FIRESTORM CRASH!" By the time the monster was beginning to recover from one of Mars' most powerful attacks, Sailor Jupiter was already in action.
"JUPITER ELECTROCUTION!"
The monster screamed in suspended agony as the lightning bolts raged throughout its body and Eternal Sailor Moon finished it off. The crescent moon on her forehead glowed with power and with a cry of fury destroyed the creature. "CRESCENT MOON ELIMINATION!"
Then there was silence.
The Sailors were weak from their struggle to survive and the energy they had put forth to defeat the creature. But they could not stop. Ami and Mina were still in terrible danger. Running from Jupiter's home, they headed toward Mina's. They arrived just as Tuxedo-Mask and Sailor Mercury did. The five of them rushed into Mina's home and dove into a battle with a horrendous beast. Mina had managed to transform and was using all she had on the monster.
"VENUS LOVE CHAIN AND CIRCLE!"
But it had no affect. The rest of the group came in from behind the monster and began to attack it, giving Sailor Venus enough time to move out of the way of the creature's intentions.
"MERCURY AQUA ILLUSION!"
A mist clouded the room and allowed Venus to slip away from the monster and into the safety of the group. The beast searched frantically for the Sailor it had intended to kill, but could find nothing in the thick, icy cloud.
"MARS FIRESTORM CRASH!" Mars attack tossed the creature across the room, making it scream in the pain she had inflicted and the confusion of where the attack had come from.
"MERCURY AQUA RHASPODY!" Mercury froze the creature's arms and legs making it unable to move as Jupiter and Venus attacked.
"JUPITER THUNDER REVOLUTION!"
"VENUS WINK CHAIN SWORD!"
The monster assassin bellowed in agony as the two attacks inflicted the maximum amount of damage without actually destroying it.
"This is for going after my friends." Eternal Sailor Moon readied her tial and cried out in the fury of justice. "ETERNAL MOON TIAL RAGE!"
The assassin's cries fell on deaf ears until the silence came. The group turned to each other and went into crushing hugs of thanksgiving. They were all safe!
But the celebration didn't last long as echoing laughter resounded through the air. The group looked up to see a floating specter with no definite shape hovering about them, laughing. "You may have defeated the assassins I sent to kill the Guardians, but you cannot stop the inevitability of your own destruction and the destruction of life of this planet. So the Guardians live." The floating specter vanished and then reappeared floating before the face of Sailor Moon Eternal. The misting winds of the specter formed a laughing mouth and glowing eyes. "But you will not escape my snare." And with those words the image vanished, only its laughter echoing until there was silence.
"What did it mean by that?"
"What is that?"
"Why did it send assassins to kill us?"
"Why did it call us Guardians?"
"What did it mean by the destruction of life on the planet?"
"What is going on?"
"How did it know who we are?"
All these questions were being raised as the Sailor Starlights pondered what had gone on. But unfortunately, none of the questions asked could be answered but one.
"Serena, how did you know we were in trouble?"
Sailor Moon Eternal looked up at her friends and her heart clenched. Because of my stupidity they were almost killed. It's my entire fault they were put in so much danger. Her eyes gazed at her friends and she was full of guilt. But she struggled to smile and said, "I remembered when the first one attacked Lita. It only attacked Lita. There was a bunch of other people around, but it did nothing to them. Almost like it was avoiding them. Its sole purpose was Lita. That's when I knew you were all probably in danger. I didn't know if you would be attacked tonight, only that you were all in trouble."
Everyone nodded, accepting the answer and realizing it for themselves for the first time. But to Serena, it wasn't them that should have seen it, but herself. And she had almost figured it out too late. She had let them down again; even they hadn't realized it themselves.
And with those thoughts, the Seed of the Lost grew.
* * *
Darien had no idea what was wrong with Serena. It had been almost a month since the assassins had attacked the scouts and they had seen nothing of any more monsters returning. Yet Serena moped around the apartment, she barely slept and she barely ate. To Darien's eyes she had grown thinner and the bags beneath her eyes were not comforting. But when he had checked to see if she was ill, her brow was cool to the touch and her temperature fine.
Darien had no idea what was wrong, until he came home one evening.
When he entered, Serena was sitting on the floor in the center of the room. Her eyes gazed sightlessly out the balcony glass door, her hair was a mess and she wore no make-up, but the most terrifying thing of all… She was wearing black.
Darien rushed to her side and called her name, but there was no response. Serena's eyes were vacant. There was no one to respond to him. It was almost as if she had left her body and only the empty shell of Serena remained.
Darien went into a panic. He called all the Sailor Starlights and told them to get to his place as quickly as possible. Luna was not in the apartment, so he figured she was with Artemis and was on her way along with the others. By the time, everyone arrived at the apartment, he had Serena lying on a bed, but her eyes still vacantly stared at nothing.
"What's wrong with her?" Mina asked desperately when they all saw Serena.
Ami took Serena's pulse and cast big worried blue eyes at the group. "There's a pulse but it's growing weaker. I don't know what's wrong."
"Well, what can we do?" Lita asked frantically. "Ami, is there anything we can do?"
Ami stared at the friend in the bed and fear crawled evermore deeply into her heart. "There's nothing we can do. But if we don't do something, she'll die."
Darien stared at the blue-haired girl with determination. "I won't let her die."
The scouts nodded in agreement and Ami stared down at Serena, hopelessly searching for a way to heal her or bring her back. But nothing came. It was almost like the way Reeny was all those years ago when the Grim Man had entered her dreams. Only different… Ami's head snapped up.
Everyone turned to Ami when they saw her movement. "What is it, Ami?" Rei asked.
"I don't know, really. I just thought of when we went into Reeny's dream and saved her from the Grim Man. Maybe we have to do that with Serena too. Only we won't be entering a dream, but we'll be entering her mind. I don't know if it's going to work though. We only did it before with Sailor Pluto's power. I don't know if we'll be able to do it now. But it's the only chance we've got to save her."
Everyone nodded. They gathered around Serena and clasped hands. Darien lay beside Serena and held her close to his body as the Sailor Starlights began.
The signs of their planets glowed on their foreheads as they called forth their power.
"MERCURY POWER!"
"MARS POWER!"
"JUPITER POWER!"
"VENUS POWER!"
Rays of color glowed about them and washed toward the woman cradled in Darien's arms. Power emanated from them as they all concentrated on entering the dying mind of the woman they call friend. Darien held Serena close and let his own power aid the scouts.
"The power of the Earth and of my love."
A blast of light blinded them all and when it finally faded they lay sprawled on snow and ice. Slowly they got up, Darien amidst them and looked around. Snow and ice; black sky. But it wasn't the black sky of night. More like the black sky of nothing.
Trying to find humor in the desolate surrounding they were in, Rei said, "And I always thought if we ever went into Serena's mind we'd land in a bowl of spaghetti."
The looks she received from her friends told her the joke was unappreciated. Lita shivered in horror. What was happening to Serena's mind if this is what was going on? The scouts began to walk about, searching for any sign of life. All they found was more nothing.
Mina wrapped her arms around herself and trembled. "How did this happen to her?"
She was answered with silence.
Ami stared desperately into the nothing, but only found more barren land. How were they going to help Serena if they couldn't find her? Ami's shoulders sagged in defeat. Where could she be?
Darien refused to give up. He pressed them on, making them keep on going even though they were freezing. He would find Serena and bring her back to him, and nothing was going to stop him.
Suddenly, Darien saw a flicker of gold against the whiteness. It flickered again. Darien narrowed his eyes and began to walk in that direction, confusing the women behind him. They stared at him curiously as he headed off to the side. Darien saw another flicker and then another. Knowing deep in his heart, he broke into a run across the barren wasteland. The group of women stared at him curiously and passed around themselves a look of sympathy. Until Lita saw the flash of gold herself.
"He's spotted her!"
They broke into a run after Darien. But by the time they had reached him he was sitting on the ground, tears in his eyes. Before him sat Serena; her hair was loose and billowing wildly about her with the biting wind, her eyes still vacant, and she wore black. Her hands and feet were bare and she shuddered uncontrollably with the cold. She stared at all of them unseeingly.
Mina tried to approach her, but she scooted away, her arms raising as if trying to protect herself from being touched. The women had no idea what to do. Darien's head drooped and tears rolled unashamed down his cheeks. But despite that, his voice was steady when he spoke.
"She won't even let me come close. I don't know what to do."
Neither did the friends.
Abruptly, Serena stood up and broke into a run. The group did not hesitate. They ran after her until they saw the huge hole in the ice and the black tree of nothing growing from beneath it. Its trunk shot into the sky and its branches were the dark, unreal nothing that was the heavens. Everyone stood still as the saw the evil life growing from it. What on earth had been placed in Serena's mind?
They finally began to move again, toward the evil tree that had created the desolation around them and was killing the life in their friend. Serena had already reached the black tree and had collapsed before it. By the time they reached her and were right before the monstrosity of a tree, Serena was as white as the ice and their hearts were full of fear at what the thing before them was.
Rei, swallowing the lump in her throat, whispered, "What is this thing?"
Echoing laughter sounded through the empty land and dying mind. It had come from the thing before them. I am the Tree of the Lost.
The group started as they heard the voice in their own minds and in the echo of Serena's mind. Darien shook his head and lifted the unconscious woman into his arms and held her close. The five of them then approached the evil tree, questions and demands speeding through them.
"What is a Tree of the Lost?" Ami asked, her voice trembling without her notice.
The laughter echoed again. The
bringer of hopelessness, inadequacy, doubt and pain. I am the Tree of the Lost. And she is mine.
No one had any doubt whom the 'she' it mentioned was. But why would Serena suffer through any of that? It made no sense.
Lita was beginning to grow upset. This thing was killing Serena and they were just standing around talking to it! "Let her go! She's not yours any more. We've come to take her back! So release her now so we don't have to destroy you!"
The laughter sounded again through the hollow air. You can not destroy me.
"Want to make a bet?" Mina cried as she and the other women clasped hands around the tree. "We'll blow you away!"
As they were about to call on their power, Darien cried out. "No!"
The four turned to him in surprise. Rei scowled at him. "Darien let us destroy it! It's the only way we can save Serena."
Darien shook his head. "It won't work that way. It's the bringer of inadequacy, doubt, pain and hopelessness and probably so many more negative feelings. It can't be destroyed the way you guys plan to do it. Look at her!" Darien showed them Serena's collapsed body. "I think this was the trap that specter had in mind for her."
Unimaginable fear crept into the women's heart. "Then how are we going to stop it?" Mina asked. It was the question growing inside them all.
Darien looked down at Serena and smiled slightly. "Let her hear why you all love her so. She's always felt inadequate as Sailor Moon. She always beat up on herself whenever she let all of you down. I think that when the specter said the trap she was already feeling as if she had let you down by not protecting you all better."
"But she couldn't have protected all of us!" Lita cried.
Darien shrugged. "But she believes she could have. You're her friends. The most important people in the world to her. When she feels as if she let you down, it's deep and painful. I think that's how this thing was born. And the only way to stop it is by removing any doubts about how you guys feel about her."
The women turned back to the evil tree feeding off Serena's life and fought it. Not as the Sailor Starlights, but as Ami, Rei, Lita and Mina.
"When I was knew no one, you made yourself known." Tears flowed from Ami's eyes.
"When we argued, you always ended with a smile." Rei smiled back.
"When everyone was afraid of me, you smiled and were my friend." Lita's eyes filled.
"When I was new and scared, you made me feel at home." Mina closed her eyes.
Darien held Serena close to him and walked into the middle of the circle and faced the evil tree and its power. "When I needed love, your smile healed me. When I was alone, you gave me yourself and your love."
"When everyone doubted me, you believed me!" Ami cried out to the evil overwhelming Serena. She let the power of her feelings emerge and it charged at the evil. Its laughter began.
"When I needed help, you never hesitated to help me!" Rei cried as well, letting the power of her emotions burst toward the laughing evil tree.
"When I was depressed, you came and made me smile and comforted me!" Lita cried, tears flowing down her cheeks as images of Serena's love for them passed through her and into the monster that was trying to take her from them.
"When everyone was fed up with me, you accepted me with a smile and never said a word or kicked me out!" Mina sobbed, tears flowing as the memories sped through her of Serena's kindness and her smile.
Together they bellowed their power as human beings.
"When you didn't need us, you called for our help!"
"When we needed you, you were always there!"
"Whenever we needed strength, you gave it to us!"
"Whenever you were weak or tired, you still fought for us!"
"When everything seemed to fall around us, you held it up and helped us through!"
"When we were down, you made us laugh!"
The power from them burst forth, surrounding Darien and the Serena in his arms, and diving into the tree of evil spreading through it. Its laughter began to fade.
Ami finally opened her eyes, the glow of Mercury on her forehead. "You are my Faith."
Rei opened her eyes and the image of Mars glistened. "You are my Courage."
Lita opened her green-eyes and Jupiter's emblem forged with power. "You are my Peace."
Mina's eyes shot open and the sign of Venus burned. "You are my Will."
The power from each emblem of the planets shot forth and burned through the blackness of nothing. The women's eyes blazed with determination. The memories of Serena poured into the power as tears streamed down their cheeks. Serena would not die!
Darien, the glow of his own power and the power of the women surrounding him, stepped into the center of the evil misty tree. He set Serena down and held her against him, her head thrown back. He stared at her lovingly.
"You are my Life, my Love, my Heart, and my Soul. I love you, Serena."
And he kissed her. Power burst from him and the woman in his arms, her hair billowing upward as their power and the power of the women's love flew upwards into the heavens of Serena's mind. The Tree of the Lost began to scream in defeat for it knew that it was the one that had lost the battle against friendship and love.
Darien stared down in beautiful blue eyes filled with life and love.
"Without you, we are lost."
And with that the tree shattered, capturing everyone in a blinding light that shattered through their minds.
When they came to, they were all sprawled around Serena and Darien who lay between the scouts. Everyone was dead tired and a wreck. But Serena's eyes still hadn't opened. Everyone hovered over her as they waited for the eyes to open, each one praying she was all right.
When Serena's big blue eyes fluttered open everyone heaved a sigh of relief. Serena blinked at the faces hovering above her and smiled. "I never knew you guys cared so much."
While everyone else grinned, Rei rolled her eyes. "Of course, we do, Meatball-head! If we didn't do you think we'd put up with you all the time and let you be leader?"
Serena threw a pillow at Rei. Everyone burst into laughter.
But Darien held Serena close, savoring in the feel of her. He lowered his head and whispered into her ear, "Don't ever scare me like that again." Serena grinned at him and nodded her head vigorously as four pillow-fighting banshees attacked them. Everyone drowned in the sounds of their own laughter. Luna and Artemis unfortunately arrived at this moment and became subjected to hysterical laughter and feathers bursting from pillows.
Darien's voice could barely be heard beneath the mess of feathers and cloth.
"You all owe me new pillows!"