A trill screamed bounced through the Tsukino home as Serena flew up
in bed. Tears again. How many times had she'd awoken like this in the two
years since the Queen's death? Nightmares were all she ever saw.
"Serena, honey, another nightmare?" her mother said walking wearily into the room. Her eyes snapped open. "What are you doing?"
Serena finished tying the drawstring in her dress and pulled her cloak around her shoulders. She then lit a lantern beside her bed.
"It's starting tonight. My nightmares are becoming true."
"What?!"
Serena pushed past her mother and hurried for the door.
"I've got to get to the village! They're in trouble."
"What?!"
Serena once again didn't answer and was long gone into the night before her mother could even reach the door. She ran as fast as she could towards the village, an orange blur in her vision. Oh no, she thought. This is worse than I thought!
The temple was on fire, a flaming emblem of her faith and the discrimination against her religion that she'd received since the Moon Kingdom had been taken over by a Duke. Gods, she thought. This is horrible!
The entire village was burning bright. No! Only the houses of those who belonged to the temple were flaming. She saw her friends in the middle of it all. She reached them quickly.
"We've got to do something!"
"There's no rain for another two days," Lita said. She looked almost terrified.
"That's okay!" Serena said reassuringly, though she couldn't be sure. "Amy can call water. We can put the the houses out. We can save something!"
"I can try and hold the fire back," Raye said. She put her hands out and drew the fire closer to herself. "I can do it! I can keep it away from everything else!"
Serena nodded.
Amy in the meanwhile had her hands out and water was forming there, in a huge droplet growing bigger and bigger until it was the size of a small pond. She pushed it forward over a house and let it go. It dropped onto the house and the fire sizzled. But it wasn't all out.
"Raye pull it away from the house! We can save that one!"
Serena watched this and a feeling overwhelmed her. A picture snapped into her mind, and a voice whispered to her of danger. Her eyes flashed silver.
"A little girl!" she breathed panicking.
She ran towards the ends of a street and burst into a flaming house. Terror filled her heart, but she had to ignore it. It was the only thing she could do. The flames licked at her skin, but she pushed past them. And every time they met her a small silver explosion followed and she proved to be unharmed.
She found a little girl sprawled across the floor and crying. Serena scooped her up and ran back through the house. Brushing right past the flames that were daring to consume her completely. She escaped the house and fell to the ground. A couple hurried to pick the girl up and almost thanked Serena, had she not been running to the other end of the street.
It was an overwhelming feeling. So many flames, so many houses, she was only one person! She needed rain, please rain come! Two houses had been put out, but there were tens upon tens to go. No more lives are in danger, she thought. For the village center was overrunning with the people she would greet at the temple at times of prayer. No lives were distressed.
Amy collapsed.
"I can't do it! It's too draining!"
Raye fell to her knees beside Amy.
"The flames are too strong. They're being fed by too much!"
Lita looked at the sky. "Something's happening."
"What?!" Mina asked.
"The rain is coming and quick. It'll be here in a day now."
Serena closed her eyes. Please, yes! Let it rain! Give us a storm without thunder and rain for all.
"Twelve hours!" Amy said agreeing with Lita. "The water's being called."
"By who?!"
Their eyes caught on a silver glow and they turned to see Serena. Her hair flying upwards, her aura flaring.
"Three hours!"
"She's calling it," Amy whispered. "She's calling the rain to put these flames out."
"But how?"
Raye sighed. "She's different. Her power is of all elements. Do you forget so easily when we called these powers, tricks? She could do everything we did, not as well, but just the same."
They looked at her and a haunting echoing sound filled their ears.
"Rain!" Came the exclaims. It poured and gray smoke filled the air as fires simmered down to nothing. Serena opened her eyes and yelled in happiness, her voice joining the hundred or so others. But it couldn't last forever.
Finally the smoked cleared, the dirt turned to mud, and the people were too tired to rejoice in the rain anymore. They were forced to take in their surroundings. The many number of homes gone, the people hurt, the hopes damaged. The were forced to see the enemy they opposed. The number of unburnt houses were the ones containing the families of the Moonrisen faith, and there were more of those than the others.
The were outnumbered.
But not outspirited.
====================================
Serena walked in exhausted at dawn, her face charred, her hair tangled, her arms sore from lifting and carrying different things to save what they could. Then the time she'd spent healing those with blackened lungs had drained her of so much energy she could barely drag herself back home. She collapsed into the kitchen chair and laid her head in her hands.
"Serena what happened?!"
"They burnt the homes of everyone who attends the Temple, and the temple is no more. They're calling it Flaming Moonlight because they say everyone on Earth saw the flames from there. It wasn't only here in Crescent. It was everywhere else too."
Serena's mother gasped. It was lucky they'd not had they're house burned. Luckily they were so far out in the country rather in Crescent.
"It was horrible," Serena choked out. "Everywhere there were flames. And the children!"
Ilene hugged her daughter tightly.
"Honey, it's time I told you something."
"What?"
"You're adopted."
Serena looked up at her mother and laughed. She was going hysterical it appeared and her mother pinched her slightly.
"Ow! Mother, I never thought I was really your daughter. Never. I'm too different from you and Sammy and Dad."
Serena's adopted mother looked hurt that her secret had been figured out so long ago. She thought it would be a shock, but then again Serena showed signs of magic that their family had never possessed.
"But my birth mother? Who is she?"
"I... I don't know. They don't have her name on file anywhere. It's as if she disappeared."
Serena got a feeling in the pit of her stomach. No, she thought. She died. But who was it then? If she died, when? How? Why?
The emotional and physical tiredness took over and Serena's eyelids started to feel like boulders were pushing them down.
"I'm going back to sleep," she said yawning. She shuffled her feet into her room and fell upon her bed, almost instantly slipping into the quietest sleep she'd gotten in years. Literally.
============================
Since the temple had been burned all of those of the Temple faith began praying in the grassy field behind Serena's home. Raye and her grandfather even stayed in Serena's guesthouse, making Serena and Raye even more inseperable. They were almost always on top of the hill behind the field, sitting cross-legged, meditating, or as Serena told her mother, "listening."
At the time of the Earthrise Serena could not be bothered, for she couldn't hear anything from the outside world because the Moon's voices were so thick and loud. Raye sat there with her, listening for anything she could. But without a fire she couldn't hear or see much.
The wind tossed their hair backwards and sent it flowing through the air, also clearing thoughts to bring new ones. Serena listened intently, not wanting to miss a word of what she needed to know.
"Serena! Serena!" Raye yelled into Serena's ear, shaking her shoulders. "Would you stop listening to the wind and listen to me?!"
Serena opened her eyes slowly and glared at Raye. She opened her mouth to yell at Raye about stirring her during the Earthrise, but she was surprised to see the stars glowing and the Earth already in the sky.
"What?" she said groggily. When did she get so tired?
"I've been trying to wake you for twenty minutes. The Duke has issued a new proclamation."
Serena snapped awake and ripped the paper out of Raye's hand. She read it quickly and trembled in frustration.
"He can't do this!" she said standing up. "This is wrong! He can't take away our rights like that!"
She reread the proclamation and shook her head. No Temple goers were allowed to have horses anymore, could not use the post system, and no househeld pets.
Raye sighed.
"But what can we do?"
Serena's eyes got a faraway glint in them as she dipped deep in thought, but they returned to normal quickly.
"Nothing!" she yelled. "Absolutely nothing!"
Flame erupted from her fingertips and burnt the paper to a crisp. Raye stepped back shocked and Serena fell to her knees and started crying.
And the night turned darker and darker as she wept. The voices even quieted to let her alone with her own thoughts. She was beginning to realize what was coming to be. And the sadness weighing on her heart was indescribable.
Author's Note: Well, I bet you're beginning to see where this is going. But I urge you to keep reading (and reviewing!) Because this is going to be a very emotional fic, very long too! ^_^
Until the next chapter,
Ai No Senshi
"Serena, honey, another nightmare?" her mother said walking wearily into the room. Her eyes snapped open. "What are you doing?"
Serena finished tying the drawstring in her dress and pulled her cloak around her shoulders. She then lit a lantern beside her bed.
"It's starting tonight. My nightmares are becoming true."
"What?!"
Serena pushed past her mother and hurried for the door.
"I've got to get to the village! They're in trouble."
"What?!"
Serena once again didn't answer and was long gone into the night before her mother could even reach the door. She ran as fast as she could towards the village, an orange blur in her vision. Oh no, she thought. This is worse than I thought!
The temple was on fire, a flaming emblem of her faith and the discrimination against her religion that she'd received since the Moon Kingdom had been taken over by a Duke. Gods, she thought. This is horrible!
The entire village was burning bright. No! Only the houses of those who belonged to the temple were flaming. She saw her friends in the middle of it all. She reached them quickly.
"We've got to do something!"
"There's no rain for another two days," Lita said. She looked almost terrified.
"That's okay!" Serena said reassuringly, though she couldn't be sure. "Amy can call water. We can put the the houses out. We can save something!"
"I can try and hold the fire back," Raye said. She put her hands out and drew the fire closer to herself. "I can do it! I can keep it away from everything else!"
Serena nodded.
Amy in the meanwhile had her hands out and water was forming there, in a huge droplet growing bigger and bigger until it was the size of a small pond. She pushed it forward over a house and let it go. It dropped onto the house and the fire sizzled. But it wasn't all out.
"Raye pull it away from the house! We can save that one!"
Serena watched this and a feeling overwhelmed her. A picture snapped into her mind, and a voice whispered to her of danger. Her eyes flashed silver.
"A little girl!" she breathed panicking.
She ran towards the ends of a street and burst into a flaming house. Terror filled her heart, but she had to ignore it. It was the only thing she could do. The flames licked at her skin, but she pushed past them. And every time they met her a small silver explosion followed and she proved to be unharmed.
She found a little girl sprawled across the floor and crying. Serena scooped her up and ran back through the house. Brushing right past the flames that were daring to consume her completely. She escaped the house and fell to the ground. A couple hurried to pick the girl up and almost thanked Serena, had she not been running to the other end of the street.
It was an overwhelming feeling. So many flames, so many houses, she was only one person! She needed rain, please rain come! Two houses had been put out, but there were tens upon tens to go. No more lives are in danger, she thought. For the village center was overrunning with the people she would greet at the temple at times of prayer. No lives were distressed.
Amy collapsed.
"I can't do it! It's too draining!"
Raye fell to her knees beside Amy.
"The flames are too strong. They're being fed by too much!"
Lita looked at the sky. "Something's happening."
"What?!" Mina asked.
"The rain is coming and quick. It'll be here in a day now."
Serena closed her eyes. Please, yes! Let it rain! Give us a storm without thunder and rain for all.
"Twelve hours!" Amy said agreeing with Lita. "The water's being called."
"By who?!"
Their eyes caught on a silver glow and they turned to see Serena. Her hair flying upwards, her aura flaring.
"Three hours!"
"She's calling it," Amy whispered. "She's calling the rain to put these flames out."
"But how?"
Raye sighed. "She's different. Her power is of all elements. Do you forget so easily when we called these powers, tricks? She could do everything we did, not as well, but just the same."
They looked at her and a haunting echoing sound filled their ears.
"Rain!" Came the exclaims. It poured and gray smoke filled the air as fires simmered down to nothing. Serena opened her eyes and yelled in happiness, her voice joining the hundred or so others. But it couldn't last forever.
Finally the smoked cleared, the dirt turned to mud, and the people were too tired to rejoice in the rain anymore. They were forced to take in their surroundings. The many number of homes gone, the people hurt, the hopes damaged. The were forced to see the enemy they opposed. The number of unburnt houses were the ones containing the families of the Moonrisen faith, and there were more of those than the others.
The were outnumbered.
But not outspirited.
====================================
Serena walked in exhausted at dawn, her face charred, her hair tangled, her arms sore from lifting and carrying different things to save what they could. Then the time she'd spent healing those with blackened lungs had drained her of so much energy she could barely drag herself back home. She collapsed into the kitchen chair and laid her head in her hands.
"Serena what happened?!"
"They burnt the homes of everyone who attends the Temple, and the temple is no more. They're calling it Flaming Moonlight because they say everyone on Earth saw the flames from there. It wasn't only here in Crescent. It was everywhere else too."
Serena's mother gasped. It was lucky they'd not had they're house burned. Luckily they were so far out in the country rather in Crescent.
"It was horrible," Serena choked out. "Everywhere there were flames. And the children!"
Ilene hugged her daughter tightly.
"Honey, it's time I told you something."
"What?"
"You're adopted."
Serena looked up at her mother and laughed. She was going hysterical it appeared and her mother pinched her slightly.
"Ow! Mother, I never thought I was really your daughter. Never. I'm too different from you and Sammy and Dad."
Serena's adopted mother looked hurt that her secret had been figured out so long ago. She thought it would be a shock, but then again Serena showed signs of magic that their family had never possessed.
"But my birth mother? Who is she?"
"I... I don't know. They don't have her name on file anywhere. It's as if she disappeared."
Serena got a feeling in the pit of her stomach. No, she thought. She died. But who was it then? If she died, when? How? Why?
The emotional and physical tiredness took over and Serena's eyelids started to feel like boulders were pushing them down.
"I'm going back to sleep," she said yawning. She shuffled her feet into her room and fell upon her bed, almost instantly slipping into the quietest sleep she'd gotten in years. Literally.
============================
Since the temple had been burned all of those of the Temple faith began praying in the grassy field behind Serena's home. Raye and her grandfather even stayed in Serena's guesthouse, making Serena and Raye even more inseperable. They were almost always on top of the hill behind the field, sitting cross-legged, meditating, or as Serena told her mother, "listening."
At the time of the Earthrise Serena could not be bothered, for she couldn't hear anything from the outside world because the Moon's voices were so thick and loud. Raye sat there with her, listening for anything she could. But without a fire she couldn't hear or see much.
The wind tossed their hair backwards and sent it flowing through the air, also clearing thoughts to bring new ones. Serena listened intently, not wanting to miss a word of what she needed to know.
"Serena! Serena!" Raye yelled into Serena's ear, shaking her shoulders. "Would you stop listening to the wind and listen to me?!"
Serena opened her eyes slowly and glared at Raye. She opened her mouth to yell at Raye about stirring her during the Earthrise, but she was surprised to see the stars glowing and the Earth already in the sky.
"What?" she said groggily. When did she get so tired?
"I've been trying to wake you for twenty minutes. The Duke has issued a new proclamation."
Serena snapped awake and ripped the paper out of Raye's hand. She read it quickly and trembled in frustration.
"He can't do this!" she said standing up. "This is wrong! He can't take away our rights like that!"
She reread the proclamation and shook her head. No Temple goers were allowed to have horses anymore, could not use the post system, and no househeld pets.
Raye sighed.
"But what can we do?"
Serena's eyes got a faraway glint in them as she dipped deep in thought, but they returned to normal quickly.
"Nothing!" she yelled. "Absolutely nothing!"
Flame erupted from her fingertips and burnt the paper to a crisp. Raye stepped back shocked and Serena fell to her knees and started crying.
And the night turned darker and darker as she wept. The voices even quieted to let her alone with her own thoughts. She was beginning to realize what was coming to be. And the sadness weighing on her heart was indescribable.
Author's Note: Well, I bet you're beginning to see where this is going. But I urge you to keep reading (and reviewing!) Because this is going to be a very emotional fic, very long too! ^_^
Until the next chapter,
Ai No Senshi
