Hey everyone, sorry. I got lazy and forgot to update. I'll post again
soon to make up for it, I promise. -_- Anyway, things are a lot less
crazy for me now so I'll try and finish this up. This chapter is a little
long because I decided to combine two separate chapters. Stick with it.
Thanx!
~Kitty-chan~
Chapter 3
Nephrenia stood in the doorway for a long, awkward moment before she finally said, "Please excuse my unannounced visit, but I have something to discuss with you." All eyes were on her as she walked into the room. Lita and Mina quickly moved aside to make room for her at the table as she sat down. It was quiet as the grave, and everyone was more that a little shocked to see Nephrenia. Darien held Rini tight.
"Would you like s-some tea?" Raye asked uneasily.
"Please," she replied softly and smiled. All of Raye's will could not keep her hands from shaking just a little as she poured her a cup and handed it to her.
"Excuse me," Luna spoke tentatively, "but how did you find us?"
"It wasn't all that hard. Your nervous energy radiating from this place practically put a nametag on it for me. I've been searching for you all week," she explained, "but it was just today that I felt this disturbance."
Nephrenia hesitated for a moment and gathered her thoughts. After what seemed to be ages, she finally said, "I beg you, don't take this the wrong way. You see, I have some important information regarding Serena."
"What, have you done something with her?" Lita tried to make her words sound courageous and threatening, but they were more unsure and nervous.
"I wouldn't dream of it now," she told her. Nephrenia proceeded to choose her words carefully. "Has Serena been somewhat out of character lately?"
"Yes," Amy answered with surprise. "What - How did you know?"
"She's not Serena," Nephrenia said coolly as she took a sip of her tea.
"Pardon?" Mina asked, "Do you mean that she's not herself?"
"I mean exactly what I said. She's not Serena because the real Serena was kidnapped by the fake's companions." She had an unmistakable confidence in her voice, and everyone knew her to be speaking the truth, whether they wanted to believe it or not.
Darien look completely stunned. "What?" Rini gasped.
"What are you talking about?" Raye angrily demanded. "What do you know about it? Tell us!"
"I know that I might not merit your trust, but you must believe what I'm telling you!" she said desperately.
"Your absolutely right about one thing at least!" Lita said as emotion suddenly rushed back into her like water a bursting from a dam. Her words were accompanied by irate confirmation from the other Senshi.
"I trust you," Rini said quietly. Her words, soft as they were, silenced everyone. Nephrenia smiled warmly at her.
Everyone stared at Rini. "She's right," Darien said, breaking the silence. "This isn't the same Nephrenia we've dealt with in the past."
"Thank you," Nephrenia said to them.
"Could you please tell us what you know?" he requested.
"Well, I... I only witnessed what happened," she started.
"You...what?" Raye gasped with disbelief.
"It was just... Well, one night I was looking in my mirror and out of the blue it showed me Serena," she explained. "I wasn't spying on her, it just happened to show me the right place and time. At first, nothing was out of the ordinary. Then four girls appeared out of thin air. Three of them took the real Serena with them, and one of them transformed into her. I know this sounds insane, but I swear that's what I saw."
"Do you know who they were?" Luna asked.
"I did catch their names, but I couldn't figure out exactly what their motive was. It had something to do with the Imperium Silver Crystal, and they mentioned that they were working for someone too. I even did some research on their names at one of your libraries." She pulled a book out of her tote bag. It was very old, with a crimson leather cover and a faded gold embossed title that read, "A Book of Beasts."
"And what might this contain?" Amy asked, unable to contain her excitement as she examined the cover of the book.
"Calm down, would ya Amy?" Mina sighed. Everyone was trying to act as normal as possible, but Mina was still a little shaky.
Nephrenia smiled again and she opened the book to the page where she inserted a long ribbon to mark her place. A musty, old smell arose from the book when she flipped the pages. There were pictures and detailed descriptions of old fairy tale creatures on each page.
"The girls' names reminded me of mythical beasts; Griffelle, Pheonessa, Sphinette, and Drae, if I recall correctly," Nephrenia told them. "Their names seem to be derived from these beasts, in respective order; a griffin, a phoenix, a sphinx, and a dragon. That's not extremely helpful, I'm afraid. The one that I said took on the appearance of Serena was called Sphinette."
"It's a start at least," Lita sighed as she examined the pictures of the creatures with little interest. "I guess it'll be kind of hard to find information on people we don't know anything about. The only one of us who knows what the heck is going on is Sphinxy-what's-her-face..."
"You truly amaze me sometimes, Lita!" Artemis exclaimed suddenly. "Why didn't we think of it before? We should get the information we need straight from the source!"
"Are you talking about the imposter?" Luna wondered. "But how could we get her to tell us anything? We must not pose much of a threat to them seeing that it was so easy to kidnap Serena straight out from under our noses. They didn't attempt to do us in as well."
Everyone was silent for a long, still minute. "I know what we could do," Amy said after she let her thoughts turn around in her head for a while.
"Well, don't keep us waiting," Raye urged her. "Tell us!"
"Do you remember when you used your 'Evil Spirit Dispel' charm as an attack?" Raye nodded and showed a smile full of pride. "If we used your charm on her, maybe we could keep her still long enough to get some useful information from her."
"Yes!" Raye agreed. "It might be too weak to hold her long, but if we get her to tell us the information quickly it could work."
"Are we going to do it here? Are we going to surprise her?" Diana asked curiously in her sweet kitten voice. Everyone froze and stared at Diana. "What? Have I done something wrong?" Evidently, no one had thought of how to go about that.
"We should meet some place that nobody else will get hurt, just in case this becomes violent," Nephrenia suggested as she sipped her tea.
"Good idea," Luna said timidly. "Let's ask her to meet us at the park, maybe at night. Surely there won't be many people around then."
"Who's gonna invite what's-her-name?" Lita asked.
"I will," Amy volunteered.
Mina's watch beeped at her, and she took a look at the time. "Oh my gosh, it's nearly eight! I need to get home and do my homework!" she said frantically as she pulled on her jacket. "See ya tomorrow!"
Artemis sighed. "Mina..."
"Is it that late?" Darien asked. "I need to get Rini home. I promised that I wouldn't keep her out too late."
"We'll meet here tomorrow after school," Luna instructed them. "So get plenty of rest tonight. We might be in for a little adventure."
Everyone packed up and left, still trying to absorb the events that had just occurred. Darien and Rini were the last to leave. She clutched his arm, and as he led her out the door Nephrenia said, "I'm sorry."
Darien smiled weakly at her, and then he and Rini left.
~Kitty-chan~
Chapter 3
Nephrenia stood in the doorway for a long, awkward moment before she finally said, "Please excuse my unannounced visit, but I have something to discuss with you." All eyes were on her as she walked into the room. Lita and Mina quickly moved aside to make room for her at the table as she sat down. It was quiet as the grave, and everyone was more that a little shocked to see Nephrenia. Darien held Rini tight.
"Would you like s-some tea?" Raye asked uneasily.
"Please," she replied softly and smiled. All of Raye's will could not keep her hands from shaking just a little as she poured her a cup and handed it to her.
"Excuse me," Luna spoke tentatively, "but how did you find us?"
"It wasn't all that hard. Your nervous energy radiating from this place practically put a nametag on it for me. I've been searching for you all week," she explained, "but it was just today that I felt this disturbance."
Nephrenia hesitated for a moment and gathered her thoughts. After what seemed to be ages, she finally said, "I beg you, don't take this the wrong way. You see, I have some important information regarding Serena."
"What, have you done something with her?" Lita tried to make her words sound courageous and threatening, but they were more unsure and nervous.
"I wouldn't dream of it now," she told her. Nephrenia proceeded to choose her words carefully. "Has Serena been somewhat out of character lately?"
"Yes," Amy answered with surprise. "What - How did you know?"
"She's not Serena," Nephrenia said coolly as she took a sip of her tea.
"Pardon?" Mina asked, "Do you mean that she's not herself?"
"I mean exactly what I said. She's not Serena because the real Serena was kidnapped by the fake's companions." She had an unmistakable confidence in her voice, and everyone knew her to be speaking the truth, whether they wanted to believe it or not.
Darien look completely stunned. "What?" Rini gasped.
"What are you talking about?" Raye angrily demanded. "What do you know about it? Tell us!"
"I know that I might not merit your trust, but you must believe what I'm telling you!" she said desperately.
"Your absolutely right about one thing at least!" Lita said as emotion suddenly rushed back into her like water a bursting from a dam. Her words were accompanied by irate confirmation from the other Senshi.
"I trust you," Rini said quietly. Her words, soft as they were, silenced everyone. Nephrenia smiled warmly at her.
Everyone stared at Rini. "She's right," Darien said, breaking the silence. "This isn't the same Nephrenia we've dealt with in the past."
"Thank you," Nephrenia said to them.
"Could you please tell us what you know?" he requested.
"Well, I... I only witnessed what happened," she started.
"You...what?" Raye gasped with disbelief.
"It was just... Well, one night I was looking in my mirror and out of the blue it showed me Serena," she explained. "I wasn't spying on her, it just happened to show me the right place and time. At first, nothing was out of the ordinary. Then four girls appeared out of thin air. Three of them took the real Serena with them, and one of them transformed into her. I know this sounds insane, but I swear that's what I saw."
"Do you know who they were?" Luna asked.
"I did catch their names, but I couldn't figure out exactly what their motive was. It had something to do with the Imperium Silver Crystal, and they mentioned that they were working for someone too. I even did some research on their names at one of your libraries." She pulled a book out of her tote bag. It was very old, with a crimson leather cover and a faded gold embossed title that read, "A Book of Beasts."
"And what might this contain?" Amy asked, unable to contain her excitement as she examined the cover of the book.
"Calm down, would ya Amy?" Mina sighed. Everyone was trying to act as normal as possible, but Mina was still a little shaky.
Nephrenia smiled again and she opened the book to the page where she inserted a long ribbon to mark her place. A musty, old smell arose from the book when she flipped the pages. There were pictures and detailed descriptions of old fairy tale creatures on each page.
"The girls' names reminded me of mythical beasts; Griffelle, Pheonessa, Sphinette, and Drae, if I recall correctly," Nephrenia told them. "Their names seem to be derived from these beasts, in respective order; a griffin, a phoenix, a sphinx, and a dragon. That's not extremely helpful, I'm afraid. The one that I said took on the appearance of Serena was called Sphinette."
"It's a start at least," Lita sighed as she examined the pictures of the creatures with little interest. "I guess it'll be kind of hard to find information on people we don't know anything about. The only one of us who knows what the heck is going on is Sphinxy-what's-her-face..."
"You truly amaze me sometimes, Lita!" Artemis exclaimed suddenly. "Why didn't we think of it before? We should get the information we need straight from the source!"
"Are you talking about the imposter?" Luna wondered. "But how could we get her to tell us anything? We must not pose much of a threat to them seeing that it was so easy to kidnap Serena straight out from under our noses. They didn't attempt to do us in as well."
Everyone was silent for a long, still minute. "I know what we could do," Amy said after she let her thoughts turn around in her head for a while.
"Well, don't keep us waiting," Raye urged her. "Tell us!"
"Do you remember when you used your 'Evil Spirit Dispel' charm as an attack?" Raye nodded and showed a smile full of pride. "If we used your charm on her, maybe we could keep her still long enough to get some useful information from her."
"Yes!" Raye agreed. "It might be too weak to hold her long, but if we get her to tell us the information quickly it could work."
"Are we going to do it here? Are we going to surprise her?" Diana asked curiously in her sweet kitten voice. Everyone froze and stared at Diana. "What? Have I done something wrong?" Evidently, no one had thought of how to go about that.
"We should meet some place that nobody else will get hurt, just in case this becomes violent," Nephrenia suggested as she sipped her tea.
"Good idea," Luna said timidly. "Let's ask her to meet us at the park, maybe at night. Surely there won't be many people around then."
"Who's gonna invite what's-her-name?" Lita asked.
"I will," Amy volunteered.
Mina's watch beeped at her, and she took a look at the time. "Oh my gosh, it's nearly eight! I need to get home and do my homework!" she said frantically as she pulled on her jacket. "See ya tomorrow!"
Artemis sighed. "Mina..."
"Is it that late?" Darien asked. "I need to get Rini home. I promised that I wouldn't keep her out too late."
"We'll meet here tomorrow after school," Luna instructed them. "So get plenty of rest tonight. We might be in for a little adventure."
Everyone packed up and left, still trying to absorb the events that had just occurred. Darien and Rini were the last to leave. She clutched his arm, and as he led her out the door Nephrenia said, "I'm sorry."
Darien smiled weakly at her, and then he and Rini left.