I have a returning reader! What joy!
transcendent: You're right; there aren't enough Mina fics out there. We should change that. I'm very glad you like this.
Chapter Six
I paused in front of Raye's temple, debating on whether or not Artemis could catch me if I ran.
"You can't get your side heard if you don't go," Artemis said quietly, as though he was reading my thoughts.
"They don't want to hear it," I muttered.
"Just go and see. If they're hostile, then we can go." I took a deep breath. "I'm with you, Mina. So is Luna. If they say or do anything that you don't like, we can go. Both of us." I nodded slightly and started up the stairs.
"Hi, Mina," I heard a soft voice say from behind me. I stopped and turned to find Amy walking up the stairs as well. She gave me, what I assumed was supposed to be, a smile, but it looked more like a grimace.
"Hi," I replied just as softly.
"See?" Artemis whispered into my ear. I wasn't sure if she wanted to walk with me or not, so I waited until she was on my step. When she passed me, I stood there for a moment then kept going.
"See?" I mimicked Artemis. He sighed.
"This is going to be harder than I thought," he said.
"Raye has them all against me, Artemis, and I can't do anything about it."
"That's your fault, Mina, you should have had yourself heard immediately after it happened. But you didn't. You avoided them and let Raye say whatever she wanted about you."
"Can you blame me for avoiding them? You weren't there, Artemis. She was hurling fire at me! She threatened to kill me!"
"Are you afraid of her?" I hesitated. It sounded as though I was afraid of her, and I couldn't let myself be like that. I was not one to give into a weakness like fear. That was not in me and it never would be. Damn, look how she has me acting, I thought bitterly. "Mina?"
"No, I'm not afraid of her," I answered briskly. "No. It's just—I don't know, Artemis. I can't explain it. I just don't want to deal with them right now, I guess." We reached the top of the steps. "But if your best friend died would you rather blame the person who stood by and watched, or would you blame your best friend for choosing to die?" Artemis fell silent. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.
"I really can't answer that, Mina," he said after a moment. "Please just go in. It happened. You can't keep dwelling on it."
"I know that Artemis."
"Then act like you do and go. I'll be right here with you, I'm not going to leave your side." I thought about this. It wasn't much support, but at least it was something. It was more than I would have otherwise.
"All right," I took a deep breath and continued on. "All right."
Amy walked into the room and sat down. She looked a little upset so I sat down across the table from her and offered her a cookie.
"Thank you," she muttered to the floor. She took one though she did not eat it.
"What's wrong, Amy?"
"I don't know what to do," she said this in a tone that indicated that this was probably one of the worst things ever. But that was Amy for you. She didn't like not knowing something.
"Do about what?" She looked up me with tears in her eyes. I was surprised. She must have meant something deeper than a math problem then. I leaned in, putting my elbows on the table. I didn't like seeing Amy cry; it was a rare occasion, though when she did, it made me want to join her.
"Have you talked to Mina?" She asked me suddenly. I abruptly leaned back. Amy choked back a sob and looked down again. "I don't know what to do." Mina walked in right when she said that, with Artemis on her shoulder. She looked nervous, which made me smirk. You're afraid, Aino. Good.
"Hi," she mumbled. Her eyes darted from Amy to me. She didn't move from the door.
"You can sit," I barked at her. She jumped a bit then sat down between Amy and I. Artemis hopped down from her shoulder and sat next to Luna. They began talking quietly. Amy wiped her eyes and attempted to look as though Mina wasn't there. Two minutes later Lita and Darien came in and sat down. Lita squeezed in between Amy and Darien. Darien sat across from Mina, placing him at my and Amy's other sides. He was close enough for me to catch occasional whiffs of his cologne. The scent brought back memories and made me breath in deeply from time to time. I loved that smell.
"I think we should start by hearing Mina's side of the story," Artemis said, breaking the unbearable silence. I turned and glared at him. Who was he to say what we should do?
"No one needs to hear that since we all saw it," I said.
"Raye," Luna whispered warningly.
"We can take a vote. Whoever wants to hear what Mina has to say, raise your hand," I demanded, looking around. Amy was staring at her lap, Darien was looking longingly out the window, and Lita raised her hand slowly, along with Luna and Artemis, well, they raised their paws.
"Well, it seems like you're overruled," I shrugged. Mina suddenly got to her feet. "What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving. This was a bad idea," she laughed sardonically. "How stupid of me to think that I could actually depend on you guys. I actually thought that you two had minds of your own," she looked at Amy and Darien. Amy hugged her knees to her chest. Darien glanced at Mina out of the corner of his eye. "I didn't realize Raye had that much control over you."
"I don't control anyone. Maybe they just don't feel like hearing your self-righteous babble." I stood up as well. "Face the facts, Mina. It's all your fault, stop trying to tell us otherwise."
"I suppose you're right, Raye. That's a first." I clenched my fists in anger.
"You know, I do have something to ask you, Mina," I said. Luna gave me another warning, but I ignored her. I was too angry to care about what she wanted right then. "When you scampered behind that tree, did you think about whose lives you were going to ruin, or where you simply thinking about not messing up your hair?" Mina opened her mouth then closed it again. She glared at me fiercely.
"This was a stupid idea," she repeated. With that, she turned and stalked out of the room. Artemis hesitated then started to leave, too. Luna shook her head.
"Stay, she needs to cool off." I heard her say.
"But—"
"That was mean, Raye," Lita said. She was clutching the table so hard her knuckles were white.
"I don't care. If you want to comfort her, you're welcomed to go too, Lita," I replied bitterly. I knew this wasn't what we had talked about. I did feel bad, and I did care, to some extent, I just couldn't stand to have Mina try to get sympathy from us, especially Darien, when she didn't deserve it.
"This is ridiculous. I hope you all realize that," Luna said suddenly. "Serena would be so disappointed in you right now. She would never dream of excluding any of you, for any reason. She would have sat here and heard what Mina had to say like a decent human being. Because that's the kind of person she was. She saw the good in people. She gave you all the benefit of the doubt, even when it was clear you were wrong. She loved each of you no matter how horribly you treated her. And this is how you act? None of you, not a one, is half the person Serena was. And I feel sorry for you." Luna got up and left, with Artemis right behind her. The rest of us sat in silence until, Darien slowly stood up. I looked at him and he looked down at me. His sapphire eyes were full of sorrow. I would have given anything to rid him of his pain.
"I'm sorry," he said and left, taking his scent with him, and leaving me feeling empty for some reason.
Lita attempted to say something a few times, then with an anguished sound she took my advice and went. Amy and I sat there without speaking until finally she said something.
"I think we've fallen apart." I sighed, glancing out the window Darien had been staring out of.
"I know."
"I think it's because of you." I avoided her eyes, for I knew she was crying. That was because of me, too. I didn't mean to hurt her, but I had, and I hated myself for doing it.
"I know."
******
A/N: Ah yes, another chapter completed. I really don't have much to say. Just continuing doing what you're doing and the next chapter will arrive on your doorstep shortly.
P. Thunder