Libris Demonica
Chapter 8
by Weirdbard
Serena with a sudden silent scream sat bolt upright from the mat she was lying on. Whiping her head around in fear she examined the room she was in.
"This is not my bedroom! It looks more like..... Raye's bedroom at the temple." Serena in desperation tried to convince herself that all of her memories were just bad dreams and that she had probably had a sleep over at Raye's place with the other scouts. One glance at the small pink scar in the center of her right hand however demolished that thought. Reaching up with her left hand she pushed the pajamas she was dressed in away from her right shoulder and felt the new healing skin that covered the burns there.
"It was real! All of it. Darien and Raye tried to kill me!" Serene thought with tears springing to her eyes. "But why didn't they finish it? Why not kill me at my house? Why bring me to the temple?" Suddenly in Serena's mind eye sprang the image of the Sacred Fire Burning.
"Oh right. Their plan to make my death look like an
accident. Clumsy Serena stumbled into the fire and was
burned to death. But wait! Didn't Tuxedo Mask say
something about them holding a lottery to see who would
get to kill me? Maybe they are just planning on using the
fire to dispose of my body or cover up how I was really
killed?" Serena thought as her eyes searched around the
room for some way out or clothing to wear.
There was an external door to Raye's room that lead out to
the temple's grounds but Serena only gave it a brief glance.
Surely they would have that way out guarded.
Still any chance was better than none. Serena tried to raise
her body and prepare to make a run for it but slumped
back to the mat exhausted.
"Of course. That is why I am not being guarded. They know I am too weak to escape. All I can do is lie here and wait to see who comes into the room to be my executioner."
Raye watched in annoyance as Darien paced back in
forth in the meeting room of the temple. While she
understood his fear and aggravation she wasn't sure how
she could explain a worn track in the temple's floor to her
grandfather when he got back. Speaking of, Raye was
starting to get more than a little worried herself. Serena
had been out for two days now. Not only was Chad and
her grandfather due back soon, Serena's own parents and
brother were suppose to be getting home within a few
days as well.
Raye glanced over to where Amara was casually leaning
on a wall. Raye knew that Amara was as nervous and
worried as any of them were but she managed to hide it
well with a casual and calm manner.
The one the wait was the most trying for Raye knew was Rini. The poor girl did nothing more than stare down at the ground and then cry herself to sleep. None of the scouts had gotten her to eat anything for the two days Serena had been out and Raye was worried that Rini might let her own health get too far gone before Serena pulled herself out of her deep sleep.
"I'm going to check on Serena again." Raye in an effort to have something to do said and then turned and headed off towards her bedroom.
The other scouts didn't even bother to nod. Raye for the whole two days would spend a few moments with them in the meeting room and then would suddenly decide that she should check up on Serena.
Sliding open the door to her own room Raye looked in and to her surprise saw a very awake and very scared Serena lying on the sleeping pad on the floor looking back at her. As Raye stepped into the room and slid the door shut behind her she watched as Serena with a whimper tried to pull herself up against the wall behind her.
"No Raye! Please not you! I know you won the lottery but let one of the other scouts do it!" Serena cried as she tried to get to her feet to face her executioner. The most she could manage however was to pull herself back enough that she could prop her back up on the wall behind her.
Raye in joy that Serena was awake had taken a few steps toward her but pulled to a sudden halt at Serena's words. "Let one of the other scouts do what Serena?" She asked in confusion.
"I have always thought of you as the sister I never had Raye." Serena sobbed. "Please let one of the other scouts kill me! I can't bare the thought of you being the one to do it!"
Raye couldn't answer her. She was frozen in complete shock. She had, perhaps naievely, thought that once the book was destroyed that Serena would automatically realize that her friends didn't really want her dead.
"I am not here to kill you Serena!" Raye finally managed to get out.
Serena relaxed only slightly. "Oh, Raye is just the guard sent to watch me to make sure I am not going to escape. She must have lost the lottery."
Before Raye could say another word, the door to her room slid open once again to reveal Rini standing there.
Serena her eyes growing wide in horror tried to crawl towards Raye. "Oh gods! Please Raye kill me! I would rather you did than have my own future daughter do it!!" She cried in near hysterics.
Rini her own eyes growing wide started to cry just as hard as Serena. "Mommy? I don't want to kill you!"
"None of us do Meatball Head. You were under the control of an evil book that made you think we did!" Raye shouted.
At Raye's shout Serena quickly reveresed direction and pulled up tight against the back wall again.
In Serena's mind, it kept pointing out all the things she
had heard and seen the last week that pointed out that
Raye was lying about them not wanting to kill her. It
reminded Serena of the wound in her hand and the burn
on her shoulder.
However her heart was telling her that her friends could
never deliberately hurt or try to kill her. Serena was in
turmoil. Who was she to believe?
Finally as it always did when her mind and heart didn't
agree on something, her heart won."
Opening her arms towards Rini, Serena cried. "My precious Little Lady."
Rini with her own cry of Mommy ran over and threw herself into Serena's arms.
Serena's mind tried to get her to flinch or at the very least tense up expecting Rini to pull a knife and stab her or somthing but Serena's heart overrode her mind once again and all Serena did was hug tightly her future daughter and cry.
Raye watched future mother and future daughter hug each other for a moment and then not being able to resist any longer she cried Serena and ran to them and hugged them both.
Back in the meeting room Amy finally gave up the pretense that she was reading one of her textbooks. For two days she had been staring at her book and still hadn't finished reading the first page. Every time she tried to read her mind would wander and she would find herself reading it over and over again. Finally putting the book down she looked over at Trista. "What was that book anyway? You called it Necronomicon?"
Trista who had been standing near Amara and Michelle glanced up. She was rather surprised that it took so long before anyone thought to ask but the last two days had been kind of hectic. What with Serena's near coma and Amara and Michelle and Lita working to rebuild Serena's house.
She told them all about the story of the attack of the negaverse lord known as Necronomicon and his war on the Moon Kingdom before Serena's mother Queen Serenity was even born. How he had been defeated by the Queen of that time Queen Selene by her bringing all the planets together to fight him. And how he had been condemened to spend eternity transformed as a book floating through the infinite portals of dimensions.
"How come we never heard of this Negaverse lord?" Amara asked.
"And how come the planets didn't stay united? If Queen Selene brought them together why did it take till Queen Serenity's rule before they joined to form the Silver Alliance?" Mina asked.
"Queen Selene was so sure Necronomicon was defeated completely and his allies scattered she ordered that all references to him and the war were to be stripped from the history books. By the time of Queen Serenity's rule everyone had forgotten about him and the war. And as for why the planets didn't stay united? Well Queen Selene was a capable Queen but was also a harsh one. She just didn't inspire the love and devotion from her people or the other planets like her daughter Serenity was going to." Trista explained.
"I am glad to see that Serena will take after her mother and not her grandmother. She too will be beloved by her people" Trista added with a smile.
"Yeah. If she ever comes out of this sleep she is in and can learn to trust anyone ever again." Darien said bitterly.
Amara opened her mouth to answer Darien's comments but was stopped when they heard a cough coming from the door to the meeting room. Glancing over at it they spotted a very weak Serena wearing pajamas being supported by Raye. Holding tightly to her hand was a happy but concerned looking Rini.
"Serena!" They all yelled but seeing the nervous look on Serena's face they made no motion in her direction for fear they might spook her.
"Hi guys." Serena managed to say back.
"Is there anything we can do for you?" Mina asked her.
Serena seemed to think for a moment and then answered. "Well yeah I can think of two things I would like for all of you to do for me."
"Anything." Darien said and the rest of the scouts nodded their heads.
"Well I would really like ...... a group hug." Serena said and then smiled.
All of them dashed over to her side and taking turns they hugged Serena.
"I must say you really had us all scared Moonface." Amara said as she hugged her.
After the hugging, with Raye's help Serena sat down on a cushion on the floor and quickly had Luna in her lap. Idily Serena petted the black cat's fur as Luna purred.
"You said there was two things we could do for you Serena. What's the second thing?" Amy asked her.
"I could really use a good meal." Serena said with a grin. Hearing her future daughter's stomach growl next to her. She added. "I think we could all do with a good meal."
After the food had been delivered and ate, Serena told them all of the dreams she could remember the book put her though (only stuttering and stumbling over the one with Darien and Raye in it) and what she had heard and seen while under it's control. The scouts for their part told her what had really hapened while she was under the book's control.
"No wonder you looked so terrified when I mentioned doing a Sacred Fire Reading." Raye muttered when she heard about the dream of them plotting to burn Serena alive. She glanced over to see tears in Serena's eyes again.
"I am so sorry my friends! Can you ever forgive me for thinking you wanted to kill me?" Serena said with a slight sob.
"Do not be concerned your majesty." Trista replied. "That book was the ultimate of evil. Anyone of us would have thought and believed what it wanted us to believe. If it had chosen to, and been at full power it could have taken us over and had us kill you. Fortunately it's stay in floating among the dimensions had weakened it and it was more eager to destroy the souls of the descendants of the royal family of the moon."
Serena glanced down to where Rini had her head in her lap and was sleeping peacefully. The knowledge that her future mother was now safe and with her stomach full of food she had fallen asleep. Serena was glad that Rini had been spared the tale of what the book had made Serena see and think. "Do you mean that after the book had destroyed me...."
"Yes. It would then have went after Rini." Trista confirmed.
Serena's eyes grew wide. "I just thought of something! I seem to remember dimly blowing the book away at my house with the Imperial Crystal!"
"Yes Moonface. It was an impressive display of your powers." Amara told her proudly.
"But my house! My parents are due back soon! How can I explain the house being almost destroyed?!" Serena nearly shouted but then quieted as she saw Rini almost wake.
"Don't worry Serena. Amara, Lita and myself fixed the damage. You can't even tell it happened now." Michelle told her.
Glancing in surprise at Amara, Serena was able to catch a glimpse of bandages on her fingers before Amara hid her hands behind her back with a blush. "Damn sight easier to drive a racecar than be a carpenter. I can tell you that." Amara muttered.
Once again the temple resounded to the laughter of friends and loved ones.
The End