Dark Chocolate, White Diamonds
By Dixxy
Chapter Eleven: Musings
(Rona)
The night of our final day in school before Christmas break was a bit bleak for all of us. Even though Sara was having a movie marathon with her sister and Sue Lee, I could see the normally perky Senshi of Water looked a bit depressed. Ria, who would have normally said some sort of a wisecrack about temporary freedom or the likes was oddly quiet. Sam just looked sad and lost. Sage, who was normally very happy and bubbly, seemed a bit under the weather as well. Cye was the only one who was smiling- he kept reassuring the rest of us that it was only a matter of time before Keisha's grandma (or, as Ria had started calling her, "The Only Bitch In The World Whose Bitchiness Tops Trulpa") let them go.
Kento, of course, was in the worst condition out of all of us. But you knew that.
Sara eventually invited the rest of us girls to her sleep over. Sue Lee was estatic to see us, and frowned when she saw Keisha wasn't with us. Naturally, the boys couldn't come because Mrs. Lewis would freak (though that would be interesting to see). Even so, it was a rather melancholy evening. One of us wasn't there.
Keisha and Sara were the first Senshi I found after I learned off my armor, you know. Sometimes I almost feel like the three of us have some sort of an unspoken bond. There was a short time when it was just the three of us, trying to find the last two who were involved in this great bit thing none of us understood.
Before all that, I hadn't seen very much in Keisha. She'd been a sort of outcast if she wasn't on the track field. She just had a sort of mystical air about her, especially when she started to talk like she knew EXACTLY what was on your mind. It gave a lot of kids the creeps, and she was something of a loner.
I can't say I knew her very well, because I didn't. I was borderline between being one of the popular kids and one of the average kids. Keisha was more closely associated with the Gothics, freaks, and nerds, despite the fact she really didn't hang out with any of them. Sometimes we worked on projects together when partners were assigned, but we didn't talk about much outside of the project, whatever it might have been.
We actually started to know each other thanks to Sara. When we introduced ourselves to her, we learned a little about each other. We also learned about Sara, but that was enough for us to see that maybe this other person was someone who would be cool to hang out with.
The five of us bonded once we met up with Ria and Sam. It was so strange, really. Under any other circumstances, I didn't think the five of us could ever be friends. We were all just so different from each other in some many ways. I was part of the so-called popular crowd. Keisha was a freak. Ria had a big mouth. Sam was always in and out of trouble. And Sara was a sweet and sour kid in a new place. Yet, in a way, it seemed to all work in some sort of an unspoken harmony.
After our first battle with the Dynasty, Keisha and I had an unspoken bond of sorts. We had both been possessed by Nether Spirits and turned against our friends. To be used like puppets. That was something the others could never understand. The mental anguish was something that we talked about infrequently, sometimes crying on each other's shoulders over it.
So strange.
Two girls who wouldn't have even said a thing to each other a year before were searching for solace in each other. Two girls who, seemingly, had little if nothing in common, were quite good friends. Two girls who came from very different backgrounds were facing down the exact same horror.
Now that her parents had been killed and her grandmother had separated her from the rest of us, we could all feel a void of her absence. The feeling of something missing from our group just made everything feel so, wrong. Well, no, just incomplete. Even so, it was a depressing point.
"That storm is pretty nasty, isn't it?" said Ria, looking out the window. It was around eleven o'clock and the storm was still going strong. Sue Lee had already gone to bed, leaving just the four of us Senshi and Emily awake. Trevor was up in his room doing something and Mr. Lewis had gone to bed. However, Mrs. Lewis was still up and about doing things.
"Yeah, the weatherman was right- THIS SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!" Sam exclaimed, whimpering. "I had THREE tests today! I would've had a few extra weeks to study for them!" The blonde half-breed pouted, sinking down into her chair.
"You wouldn't have studied with your extra two weeks and you know it, Sam," I said.
Sam laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right."
At that moment, Mrs. Lewis walked in with a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, six mugs, and a pitcher of milk. She looked out the window and clicked her tongue. "I don't like that weather out there for one minute," she said. "There's going to be several inches of snow, maybe even a whole foot!" She bit her bottom lip and turned to Sara. "I'm worried about the boys, myself."
Ria crossed her legs as she took a thoughtful position. "Yeah, especially Cye. He's alone in that apartment tonight with Anubis gone," she said. She shrugged. "I'm not too worried about Kento and Sage because at the very least the two of them are together, but it's the Child I'm worried about."
"Aw, Cye can take care of himself," said Sam.
"Yes, that may be true, but what if he looses power? That poor boy will be alone and in the dark," said Mrs. Lewis. She pouted, then smiled. "I have an idea! Sara, why don't you go check on him with your teleportation powers and if things look bad or he's just a little lonesome, bring him back here! He can sleep on the couch or in Trevor's room!"
Sara shrugged. "All right, Ma," she said. With a resounding POP, she was gone.
"How long 'til she gets back?" asked Mrs. Lewis, staring at the spot with worry.
"Not long- she's there already," said Ria.
"Oh, so she'll be back soon, then?" said Mrs. Lewis.
I nodded. "Yup."
POP!
We all stared at the spot in curiosity. Yes, Sara was back and yes, Cye was with her. But why was Sage with them? The last Flitteree looked at us, waved, and winked. "Hi girls!" he said. "What's new?" He then sat down and gave Mrs. Lewis a bright smile. "And hello to you, Mrs. Lewis."
"Sage, what are you doing here?" asked Sam, giving him a suspicious look.
Cye shrugged. "Sage came over before the storm hit and got stranded. Then we lost power."
"And Kento?"
"Didn't want to come- we were watching Mars Attacks! and we all know his feelings on that movie," said Sage. "But don't worry about him- I talk to him over the phone about two hours or so ago- he's fine and gave me all this sarcastic talk about how he can take care of himself, and blah, blah, blah, followed by blah."
Mrs. Lewis' eyes widened. "So now HE'S all by himself?"
"Well, yes," said Sage.
The mother of the Senshi of Water glared at her daughter. "You go check on that poor boy, too, now, you hear me? That house is a bit more out of the way than the others and if he's alone he's in even more trouble than Cye would have been in." She turned to the boys. "Let me get a few more cups- you boys are welcome to as many cookies as you'd like."
Sara shook her head. "I could just drop Cye and Sage off there instead so the three of them can keep an eye on each other. They did just that when they were in the Dynasty, so one snowstorm should be a breeze for those two." She turned to the two males with us, looking for their approval.
"Yeah, that makes sense, I guess so," said Sage, scratching the back of his head. He waved brightly at us. "Bon voyage, my friends! To infinity, AND BEYOND!" He struck a pose, one hand straight in front of him as he walked towards Sara, who was giving him a rather strange look (just like the rest of us).
"That's nice, now be quiet! My husband is sleeping!" said Mrs. Lewis.
Sage blushed. "A thousand pardons, madam," he said.
"Let's go," said Sara, Taking their hands, they popped out of the room.
One minute later. . .
POP!
Sara returned, as did Cye and Sage. Sage was giving Sara a piggy back ride rather involuntarily as she held her hand over his mouth, his eyes widened in some sort of panic. Cye was encouraging Sage to shut up and calm down. "Sage! No! You CAN'T! You just CAN'T! It isn't right! Don't do it!"
"Sara!" said Mrs. Lewis. "What are you doing to that poor boy?"
"Preventing a personal crisis!" said Sara. "SAGE! STOP! CEASE!"
Sage, however, had other ideas, and began to flail around wildly to try and throw Sara off. But that's just the thing about people like Sara- they don't let go easily. So, despite Sage's very valiant efforts, Sara wouldn't budge. In fact, his situation only seemed to worsen- her whole arm was over his mouth, the other arm around his neck.
"SARA!"
"I can't, Mom!" she said.
"She really can't!" said Cye.
Mrs. Lewis tapped an impatient foot, sending her daughter The Look™. Seeing The Look™, Sara dropped to the ground, and Sage started to gasp for air, looking at the two Torrents with a Death Glare. "Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. You know, I WASN'T going to say anything- I was just going to scream in terror, that's all!"
"Scream in terror about what?" asked Ria, standing up. "Cye. . . Sage. . . Sara. . ."
"Our lips are sealed!" said Sara, doing that whole "zip lip" thing complete with throwing away of the key action. She shook her head vigorously and hid behind Cye, poking her head out from behind her Chosen with a slightly frightened look on her face. Cye looked down at her in confusion.
"Is Kento hurt?" asked Mrs. Lewis.
"No, not at all! It REALLY isn't that big a deal!" said Sage.
"Then why did you almost scream?" I asked. "What's going on, you three?"
"Nothing!"
Sam stood up. "If you three don't tell us what happened, I'll go to Mike's house and ask Kento myself. I'm an Amazon- with a little subarmor and my instincts I can get there very easily, snowstorm or no snowstorm. Now, what's it going to be? Are you going to tell us what happened or am I going to have to find out myself?"
"No! Don't do that! You'll humiliate them!" said Sara. Then, she slapped her hand over her mouth. The rest of us looked at her intently. Sage and Cye shot her more Death Glares than you can shake a Golden Walking Stick at. Sara's eyes widened in terror. "Oh no!"
"So it's a 'them'- who's 'them'?" asked Ria.
"Not gonna tell!"
"Did Mike come home early?" asked Emily, speaking up for the first time that evening.
"Er, no," said Sage.
"Then who is it?" I asked. I looked at Sam, who nodded at me. The two of us stood up, and, if one swift mood, had Sage on the ground. My knee on Sage's stomach, I looked at him in the eye. "Sage, you know what we have plans to do to you. Are you going to sing, or are you going to suffer?"
"You guys REALLY don't want to know," said Cye.
"Yes, we do!" said Sam. "What the hell is going on over there?"
"I'd like to know myself," said Mrs. Lewis.
Sage sighed. "All right. I give up." He took in a deep breath. "'Them' is Kento and, well, Keisha," he said. He whimpered, wincing as he closed his eyes. "Okay, there, I said it, now will you PLEASE let me up off the ground? I promise I'll be a good boy from now on, just let me go!"
"Keisha? Keisha's over there?" said Ria. "Well, what's so bad about that?"
"Yeah! This is great news!" said Sam, smiling brightly as her eyes lit up like two Las Vegas eye sores. She grinned widely from ear to ear. "Now, did she run away from her grandmother or did the old bitch lighten up and get with the rest of the twentieth century, huh?"
"I have no idea," said Sage.
I scratched my head in confusion as my brain started to work. "There must be more to it than that if those three aren't talking," I said. "The idea of Keisha being away from her grandmother is a pleasant one, so why are they. . . Sage, Cye, Sara, are they doing what I THINK they're doing?"
"That depends on what you THINK they're doing," said Sara.
Slowly, one by one, everyone began to figure it out. Ria seemed to tweak a bit as one eye suddenly got much bigger than the other. Sam took on a clueless expression. Emily started to giggle insanely. Mrs. Lewis placed her hand over her heart and started to rant and rave.
We all KNEW what they were doing in that house.
"Oh. My. God."
"They're. . . WHAT?"
"But they aren't married yet!"
"It isn't right!"
"They're still in high school!"
"What if she gets pregnant? THEN what!"
"Do a little dance. . . make a little love. . . get down tonight- uh huh uh huh- get-"
All eyes turned to Ria, who was dancing on the coffee table. She blinked at us. "What?"
