AN: I think you know the drill by now. Me no own Sailor Moon.
Road to the Ultimate
Chapter 5: A Bloodstained Sign of
Life
~It had been nearly a year since the appearance
and death of Darien's younger sister, Angelin. They had held a ceremony,
thought there was no body in the casket. Afterwards, Darien went
into a sort of depression, spending his days sitting in the dark.
Serena had become worried, as did the others.
"He's getting worse," Ami had said once when
they found the man constantly starring into the Earthen Gem, permanently
stained with Sailor Death's blood. But how could they help him?
~Serena nudged the door open with her hip,
trying to keep a good grip on her groceries. "Darien," she called
into the shadowy apartment, "Darien, come help me."
He stirred on the couch, almost too tired
to stand. Mumbling to himself, Darien took the bags from the girl
and carried them into the kitchen. For a moment, Serena thought he
had finally put down the crystal only to notice the small object he held
with a death-grip. She sighed, slowly unpacking a jug of milk from
the paper bag.
"You've gotta let it go, Darien," she whispered.
The man, busy piling cans in a cupboard, stopped
, taking in deep breaths. "I can't just 'let it go.' Don't
you understand," he asked, struggling to keep his voice down. "You've never
lost as much as I have!"
The blonde dropped a carton of eggs on the
counter, stunned by his words.
"My sister, Serena," he continued. "My
younger sister! It was my job to keep her safe. And I failed.
Now she's dead. You could never understand what the hell I am going
through!"
The blonde gripped the counter to keep from cursing as Darien
walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.
"I do know what its like, Darien," she
choked on the words. "I lost you, my mother and my friends all in one day.
You haven't had someone die in your arms. And as you watch their
life slip away you know deep down that there is nothing you can do.
But people learn how to live with the pain. It's not easy, but you
gotta stop mourning, dammit! She's gone and there is nothing you
can do!"
Darien sat on the couch, fingering the dry blood
on the Gem. *I know you've gone through hell,* he thought turning
on the tv, *But...I could have saved her. There had to be some way.
I hated feeling so helpless.*
Warm hands rubbed his tense shoulders.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," whispered Darien. "It's ok," Serena
replied reassuringly. "I understand."
He sighed, watching the opening credits for
some new tv movie. The screen faded from its dull black to the face
of a young woman. Her shiny black hair was cut close to her scalp
on the sides and back, save the two long wisps that hung in front of her
ears. The hair atop her head was longer and lightly slicked back,
a very unique look for a woman.
"She's some new actress,"sighed Serena, "I
heard she's really cool." The theme music died down as the woman
smiled.
"My name is Jenni," she spoke, "I guess you
wanna know my story. Course. Why else would you watch this?"
Darien chuckled at the unique beginning, setting
the Gem down upon the old wood coffee table. It had been a while
since he'd last laughed, and it felt good.
"But seriously folks," Jenni continued, "My
story is something that I don't even believe. So the best way
for me to explain it is to relive it for you."
~Ammara took a sip of her coffee, listening
to Michelle talk about her latest concert. Susan was thrilled about
its success. After the fight, she was happy when anything went right.
Ammara couldn't blame her. They had watched the little girl they
had raised, die. And then their Prince's sister...
"Ammara," spoke Michelle. The blonde
jumped, not sure what was going on. "Ammara. Can you get the
phone? We're busy with Helen right now."
For the first time she noticed her friends
had left the table and the phone was ringing loudly. Practically
falling out of her chair, Ammara ran for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Oh, Ammara," Serena whispered, breathing
heavily.
Worry crossed the Scout's face at the strange
tone in her princess's voice. "Serena. What's wrong?"
There was a brief moment of silence before
Serena returned to the phone. "Turn to channel 25 on the tv.
Quick," she ordered.
Wedging the cordless phone between her ear
and shoulder, Ammara sprinted to the living room, trying desperately to
remember where the remote was. *This house is too damn big,* she
thought, tossing the cushions from the couch. Foot steps in the hall
told her the others' were well aware of her frantic actions.
"What in the name of Chronos are you doing,"
screamed Susan, Helen squirming in her arms.
Ammara growled into the phone when Serena
laughed. "I need the remote!"
The Guardian of Time sighed, walking over
to the big screen. "You see this button here," she asked turning
on the power. "It works just as well as the remote!"
"Can it smart a-," Ammara began to curse.
"Don't you dare," howlered Michele, hands
firmly placed on her hips.
The blonde rolled her eyes as she walked over
to the tv. "You said channel 25," she asked Serena, still on the
other end.
"Yeah."
A young woman walked across the screen, chatting
to a bunch of girls her age. "What's wrong," Ammara asked.
She starred at the woman, trying to understand why Serena wanted her to
turn to this.
"Angelin," cooed Helen, wiggling out of Susan's
grip. The little girl put her finger against the monitor. "Angelin!"
The three women fell to the floor simaltaniusly.
Their eyes darted from the screen to each other.
"Serena," Ammara gagged, too suprised to talk
right.
"We think its her," the princess sighed, "The
Earthen Gem is going nuts. We're heading to California." The
princess hung up, leaving Ammara to think over what was unfolding.
"Ammara. What's going on," questioned Michele,
"I know that was Serena. Does she know?"
"Yeah. Pack your bags. We're going
to California."