The Darkness Inside of Her
By: dragonfly-rising
Darien watched his love practicing with the other Senshi with a mixture of frustration and love. She had come so very far since the last of the threats to earth had disappeared. He had thought it would be a time of becoming closer to her, a time of relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Yet strangely it had become a time of him learning even she had her boundaries and would not allow even him to cross them. It had seemed as if over night she had become reclusive, had withdrawn from him into her own world of things she would not discuss with him. From time to time, when a shadow would cross her face he had the distinct impression that she was protecting him from something. No matter how hard he tried she would not let him into this new world of her's and he found himself longing for the time when she had been nothing but open, even if at those times she had been painfully open about how she felt. To his chagrin more and more she reminded him of himself and how he dealt with the world. He could not bring himself to tell her to stop being so serious all the time. It seemed like the irony of all ironies for HIM of all people to tell HER of all people that.
Beside him Luna and Artemis watched silently. He often wondered what they thought of Serena but did not have the nerve to ask. He was most apprehensive of Luna telling him that something very wrong was going on with Serena and that he needed to fix it. He already knew something wrong was happening, what exactly he couldn't say nor could he say how to fix it in the first place. It was worse then when he had been having those nightmares about her. At least then he had decided a course of action, at least then he could decide. With how she was now he felt helpless to do anything more then to sit and wait for a sign, something saying, " Here...this is what you need to do".
It was during this state of confusion that he caught sight of something that made the hair of his neck stand up and sent a shiver of fear down his spine.
Serena stepped out of the way of an attack from Raye, then swept her hands up. A ball of gray and gold energy collected into the palms of her upturned hands and with a spinning flourish she sent the energies at Raye.
"SHADOWED CAGE ENTRAP" Serena yelled with a hard edge to her voice.
Raye, stunned, did not move to escape the oncoming ball. It enveloped the fire Senshi who yelped in surprise as she was surrounded by a balled cage that lifted her from the ground.
Darien jumped to his feet, noting with deep relief that Raye didn't seem to be hurt by the glowing trap. He ran over to Serena who was staring, dumbfounded down at her hands. As he reached her she looked up at him, her confusion obvious.
"What was that Serena?!" Luna asked as she too reached the woman.
"I...I don't know...it just happened." Serena stated in a small voice.
Her head snapped up and she looked at Raye, who was still suspended in the air. With a strangled cry Serena ran over to Raye. Darien followed quickly. As he neared the new energies he gazed at it with a calculating eye. The Senshi didn't seem hurt at all by the attack, it appeared to only be useful to catch things with, which could turn out to be a useful thing if they needed information from something or needed a way to keep something for a length of time that was dangerous.
"I'm so sorry Raye. I'm so so so so so sorry" Serena was apologizing over and over again.
"Its ok Serena really it is, could you just get me out of here?" Raye asked her voice a little tight.
Serena nodded her head and put a hand to a bar of the glowing cage. It disappeared immediately leaving Raye in the air with nothing to support her. With a squeak she fell to the ground, landing on her backside. Lita helped Raye stand up and all of the Senshi stared at Serena who was blushing.
"What happened?" Raye asked finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"I don't know...I was just thinking how great it would be if I could contain you somehow so that I could get a break for a second and it just came out." Serena explained.
"So you have a new attack, that's great!" Mina exclaimed excitedly.
Darien looked down at Luna who had a decidedly troubled expression on her feline face. Luna looked at Artemis who simply shook his head. A sliver of worry entered Darien's mind.
"I shouldn't have any new powers should I Luna?" Serena asked her voice low with an understanding that Darien couldn't grasp.
"Technically no but that doesn't mean..." Luna began.
"Yes it does Luna, it does, and you know it." Serena interrupted.
"It does mean what?" Mina asked confused.
"It means something bad doesn't it Luna." Amy ventured.
"No it could mean a lot of things and we just don't have enough information at the moment to make any judgments so let us hold off on any assumptions until we know more." Luna ordered.
Serena nodded unconvincingly. Darien could read in her eyes that something dire had happened when she had created that new attack. Something was wheeling inside her mind that she was not able to deal with yet, but he was certain that they would all be dealing with the outcome.
By: dragonfly-rising
Darien watched his love practicing with the other Senshi with a mixture of frustration and love. She had come so very far since the last of the threats to earth had disappeared. He had thought it would be a time of becoming closer to her, a time of relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Yet strangely it had become a time of him learning even she had her boundaries and would not allow even him to cross them. It had seemed as if over night she had become reclusive, had withdrawn from him into her own world of things she would not discuss with him. From time to time, when a shadow would cross her face he had the distinct impression that she was protecting him from something. No matter how hard he tried she would not let him into this new world of her's and he found himself longing for the time when she had been nothing but open, even if at those times she had been painfully open about how she felt. To his chagrin more and more she reminded him of himself and how he dealt with the world. He could not bring himself to tell her to stop being so serious all the time. It seemed like the irony of all ironies for HIM of all people to tell HER of all people that.
Beside him Luna and Artemis watched silently. He often wondered what they thought of Serena but did not have the nerve to ask. He was most apprehensive of Luna telling him that something very wrong was going on with Serena and that he needed to fix it. He already knew something wrong was happening, what exactly he couldn't say nor could he say how to fix it in the first place. It was worse then when he had been having those nightmares about her. At least then he had decided a course of action, at least then he could decide. With how she was now he felt helpless to do anything more then to sit and wait for a sign, something saying, " Here...this is what you need to do".
It was during this state of confusion that he caught sight of something that made the hair of his neck stand up and sent a shiver of fear down his spine.
Serena stepped out of the way of an attack from Raye, then swept her hands up. A ball of gray and gold energy collected into the palms of her upturned hands and with a spinning flourish she sent the energies at Raye.
"SHADOWED CAGE ENTRAP" Serena yelled with a hard edge to her voice.
Raye, stunned, did not move to escape the oncoming ball. It enveloped the fire Senshi who yelped in surprise as she was surrounded by a balled cage that lifted her from the ground.
Darien jumped to his feet, noting with deep relief that Raye didn't seem to be hurt by the glowing trap. He ran over to Serena who was staring, dumbfounded down at her hands. As he reached her she looked up at him, her confusion obvious.
"What was that Serena?!" Luna asked as she too reached the woman.
"I...I don't know...it just happened." Serena stated in a small voice.
Her head snapped up and she looked at Raye, who was still suspended in the air. With a strangled cry Serena ran over to Raye. Darien followed quickly. As he neared the new energies he gazed at it with a calculating eye. The Senshi didn't seem hurt at all by the attack, it appeared to only be useful to catch things with, which could turn out to be a useful thing if they needed information from something or needed a way to keep something for a length of time that was dangerous.
"I'm so sorry Raye. I'm so so so so so sorry" Serena was apologizing over and over again.
"Its ok Serena really it is, could you just get me out of here?" Raye asked her voice a little tight.
Serena nodded her head and put a hand to a bar of the glowing cage. It disappeared immediately leaving Raye in the air with nothing to support her. With a squeak she fell to the ground, landing on her backside. Lita helped Raye stand up and all of the Senshi stared at Serena who was blushing.
"What happened?" Raye asked finally breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"I don't know...I was just thinking how great it would be if I could contain you somehow so that I could get a break for a second and it just came out." Serena explained.
"So you have a new attack, that's great!" Mina exclaimed excitedly.
Darien looked down at Luna who had a decidedly troubled expression on her feline face. Luna looked at Artemis who simply shook his head. A sliver of worry entered Darien's mind.
"I shouldn't have any new powers should I Luna?" Serena asked her voice low with an understanding that Darien couldn't grasp.
"Technically no but that doesn't mean..." Luna began.
"Yes it does Luna, it does, and you know it." Serena interrupted.
"It does mean what?" Mina asked confused.
"It means something bad doesn't it Luna." Amy ventured.
"No it could mean a lot of things and we just don't have enough information at the moment to make any judgments so let us hold off on any assumptions until we know more." Luna ordered.
Serena nodded unconvincingly. Darien could read in her eyes that something dire had happened when she had created that new attack. Something was wheeling inside her mind that she was not able to deal with yet, but he was certain that they would all be dealing with the outcome.