The Darkness Inside of Her
By: dragonfly-rising
Serena sat in a corner of the room at Raye's shrine, away from the others that talked excitedly to each other. From time to time a worried glance was cast her way but Serena chose to ignore it, finding something interesting to stare at along the walls. She was still recovering from the backlash of creating her new attack. She wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them tight against her chest as her insides churned.
She had not intended to lie to Darien or the others about what had occurred out on the practice field. It had become second nature to her to shield the others from what was changing inside her. The more she lied to them the more separated she felt from them and she hated that feeling more than anything. She swallowed convulsively against the lump that had formed in her throat. She knew they would ask her soon, ask her to show them the new attack so that Amy could study it. Luna seemed very intent on staring only at her from across the room. She could feel the walls closing in around her as she thought of how they would react to her telling them all of the things that had become different. It was the worst possible time for them to know, especially after that woman Sheana had shown up at the track the other day. Why had that woman intruded! She had been doing so well in controlling her tumultuous emotions.
"Well it can't have come from just nowhere Amy" Mina scoffed.
Serena brought her attention back to her friends who were huddled around Amy who was typing fast on her compact computer. They had been discussing the attack for two hours now, getting nowhere.
"I am not saying it did Mina, just that maybe Serena herself created it instead of it being an attack that Sailor Moon used in any form" Amy explained.
"Huh?" Lita asked, confused.
"Look, I can't say this is something wrong or right. Serena would have to create the attack again so that I could collect some data on it..." Amy continued.
"No" Serena said, standing up.
All of them looked at her wide-eyed, as if she had shouted instead of simply speaking. Serena met their looks with a shake of her head. She would not expose herself to the oily power that had produced that cage, not again, and not in front of them. They could not possibly understand how disgusted with herself she was in that moment. As if her using that power had somehow proven to her how weak she was. She would not put herself in the position to lie about why she produced the energy. She would not risk her illusion being shattered; it had almost slipped during the attack. As she looked at Raye she could feel the awful surge of impatience that had led to her releasing the cage. How she had been sure Raye was holding back. How she had wanted to teach Raye a lesson in reacting.
Serena looked away from them, "I won't do it again. It doesn't matter how I did it."
With that she walked out of the room, ignoring the others as they told her to wait. She could not allow herself to give in to them. There was too much at risk.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Darien we must talk" Luna said as she watched Serena leave the room.
Darien looked over at Luna with trepidation. He did not in any way, shape or form want to speak with Luna. He wanted to run after Serena. He wanted to shake her until she let him in. He wanted to hear what was locked up inside her. He wanted to wrap Serena in his arms and chase away the haunted look on her face that he had seen as she turned from them to walk away. Instead he sighed loudly.
"Go ahead Luna, we can talk here" Darien insisted.
Luna nodded slowly, taking her time as she thought through what she was going to say. Darien traded glances with Raye, seeing the same worry he felt reflected in her eyes did not help his reserves of courage.
"What Serena did today...it is an impossibility" Luna finally said.
"What do you mean?" Lita asked sitting down at the table.
"She should not have been able to produce such a power Lita. Her powers come from the Moon. Even without Amy's computer confirming it I know that attack was a mixture of Serena's normal powers and some other type that she should not have been able to produce." Luna explained.
"So?" Mina asked with a shrug "She is the Moon Princess after all. Is there something in the Senshi handbook that says she can't have more powers then we do?"
"Mina, even if that were the case that other power she produced was not planet power" Artemis added, concerns coloring his voice.
"And that means?" Raye prompted.
Luna and Artemis traded glances. Darien felt his stomach drop.
"You don't know do you." Darien stated.
"No we don't know" Luna admitted dejectedly.
Darien nodded slowly. He had spent so much time worrying over this type of information and now it only added more questions.
"Who would know Luna?" He finally asked.
"Perhaps Trista but we have no way of contacting her." Luna answered.
"No...I do not know" said a familiar voice from the doorway.
By: dragonfly-rising
Serena sat in a corner of the room at Raye's shrine, away from the others that talked excitedly to each other. From time to time a worried glance was cast her way but Serena chose to ignore it, finding something interesting to stare at along the walls. She was still recovering from the backlash of creating her new attack. She wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them tight against her chest as her insides churned.
She had not intended to lie to Darien or the others about what had occurred out on the practice field. It had become second nature to her to shield the others from what was changing inside her. The more she lied to them the more separated she felt from them and she hated that feeling more than anything. She swallowed convulsively against the lump that had formed in her throat. She knew they would ask her soon, ask her to show them the new attack so that Amy could study it. Luna seemed very intent on staring only at her from across the room. She could feel the walls closing in around her as she thought of how they would react to her telling them all of the things that had become different. It was the worst possible time for them to know, especially after that woman Sheana had shown up at the track the other day. Why had that woman intruded! She had been doing so well in controlling her tumultuous emotions.
"Well it can't have come from just nowhere Amy" Mina scoffed.
Serena brought her attention back to her friends who were huddled around Amy who was typing fast on her compact computer. They had been discussing the attack for two hours now, getting nowhere.
"I am not saying it did Mina, just that maybe Serena herself created it instead of it being an attack that Sailor Moon used in any form" Amy explained.
"Huh?" Lita asked, confused.
"Look, I can't say this is something wrong or right. Serena would have to create the attack again so that I could collect some data on it..." Amy continued.
"No" Serena said, standing up.
All of them looked at her wide-eyed, as if she had shouted instead of simply speaking. Serena met their looks with a shake of her head. She would not expose herself to the oily power that had produced that cage, not again, and not in front of them. They could not possibly understand how disgusted with herself she was in that moment. As if her using that power had somehow proven to her how weak she was. She would not put herself in the position to lie about why she produced the energy. She would not risk her illusion being shattered; it had almost slipped during the attack. As she looked at Raye she could feel the awful surge of impatience that had led to her releasing the cage. How she had been sure Raye was holding back. How she had wanted to teach Raye a lesson in reacting.
Serena looked away from them, "I won't do it again. It doesn't matter how I did it."
With that she walked out of the room, ignoring the others as they told her to wait. She could not allow herself to give in to them. There was too much at risk.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Darien we must talk" Luna said as she watched Serena leave the room.
Darien looked over at Luna with trepidation. He did not in any way, shape or form want to speak with Luna. He wanted to run after Serena. He wanted to shake her until she let him in. He wanted to hear what was locked up inside her. He wanted to wrap Serena in his arms and chase away the haunted look on her face that he had seen as she turned from them to walk away. Instead he sighed loudly.
"Go ahead Luna, we can talk here" Darien insisted.
Luna nodded slowly, taking her time as she thought through what she was going to say. Darien traded glances with Raye, seeing the same worry he felt reflected in her eyes did not help his reserves of courage.
"What Serena did today...it is an impossibility" Luna finally said.
"What do you mean?" Lita asked sitting down at the table.
"She should not have been able to produce such a power Lita. Her powers come from the Moon. Even without Amy's computer confirming it I know that attack was a mixture of Serena's normal powers and some other type that she should not have been able to produce." Luna explained.
"So?" Mina asked with a shrug "She is the Moon Princess after all. Is there something in the Senshi handbook that says she can't have more powers then we do?"
"Mina, even if that were the case that other power she produced was not planet power" Artemis added, concerns coloring his voice.
"And that means?" Raye prompted.
Luna and Artemis traded glances. Darien felt his stomach drop.
"You don't know do you." Darien stated.
"No we don't know" Luna admitted dejectedly.
Darien nodded slowly. He had spent so much time worrying over this type of information and now it only added more questions.
"Who would know Luna?" He finally asked.
"Perhaps Trista but we have no way of contacting her." Luna answered.
"No...I do not know" said a familiar voice from the doorway.