Fieldtrip
The sun was shining brightly down on the city of Tokyo. It was a beautiful day; one that should be spent relaxing outdoors... not shut-up in a classroom taking tests all day.
"Man that was brutal. I really should have studied harder yesterday, but I was just too tired."
::yawn::
'Speaking of tired, I think I'm gonna go home and have a nice long nap. I don't have any homework tonight since tomorrow's the fieldtrip to the nature reserve, so I don't have to feel guilty about napping.' At that thought, a smile played across Serena's face. ::sigh:: 'I'm so relieved tha--'
BANGSerena was suddenly pulled back to her senses after hitting an object and getting knocked to the ground.
"OUCH!! Hey, that hurt!"
"Well, you should watch where you're walking Meatball Head," said an all-too-familiar voice. "Then again, it's probably my fault... the handicapped can't help themselves."
"I'M NOT HANDICAPPED!"
Darien bent over casually to pick up his belongings that had fallen to the sidewalk. "Well, at least not physically. But I'm late for an important meeting, so I've got to go."
And with that, Darien walked away, leaving the young blond speechless. She stood there, staring, with her mouth half-open, trying to decide whether to yell back an insult or scream.
"Ooh, he makes me so mad. He thinks he's so superior too. ... Arrogant jerk!"
The black cat with the golden crescent watched the girl pace around the room. "What are you going on about now? Did someone cut in front of you in the lunch-line again?" Luna asked mockingly.
"I resent that! You think that my whole life revolves around eating." Luna and Serena stared at each other for a moment "And besides," she continued pacing, "that only happened twice."
Darien checked his watch as he entered the restaurant. 'Good, right on time.'He looked around and spotted his friend sitting at a booth in the corner. A few moments later he joined him.
"Ah, Darien! It's nice to see you after such a long time."
"It's good to see you too Alex. So, what's this favor that you wanted to ask me?"
Alex set his cup of coffee on the table. "Well, you know that I work at that nature reserve that's just south of here..."
Darien signaled the waitress and ordered some tea. "Yea, I heard that it's really nice up there. It just opened up to the public, right?"
"Yes, but we've been having a few problems there lately. You see, we've been getting reports that some of the animals have been acting very strange, and I'm sure that if I could just get a couple people to investigate with me, I could figure this whole thing out."
Darien looked intently at his friend, who was beginning to fidget and look somewhat uncomfortable. "So, where do I come in?"
"Actually Darien, I was hoping that you would 'volunteer' to accompany me in my investigation. Now, normally I wouldn't have to ask, but you see, everyone else down there who's not a complete idiot claims to be busy, and you've always been pretty good with these types of things... you're very observant."
Darien paused mid-sip and placed his tea back on the table. "Of course I'll help you Alex. No question, we're friends. ... Just don't be surprised if I ask you to return the favor sometime"
Alex breathed a sigh of relief, then let out a small laugh at the mock-seriousness of Darien's last remark.
The next morning
"Serena! It's time to get up sweetie! You'll be late for your fieldtrip!"
Serena groaned at her mother's calls, and reluctantly sat up in bed, pausing for a few moments before beginning her routine of stretching and yawning.
"Serena! Are you up? It's time to go!"
"Yea Mom, I'm awake! I'll be down in just a second, I can't find my pink turtle-neck!"
"I washed it for you yesterday Dear, it's folded on your hamper."
Serena walked across her room and found her favorite pink shirt sitting on top of the pile of laundry her mom had done the day before. She was glad that the students didn't have to wear their uniforms today, because she had an outfit picked out just for their fieldtrip: her light pink turtle-neck, her pleated black skirt, and her cute new black shoes with small stars on the sides. It was going to be a nice day, and they would be following wide trails through the reserve, so she didn't have to worry about wearing old junky clothes incase she got dirty.
Two-and-a-half minutes later, Serena came bolting down the stairs, heading straight for the door. Along the way her mother was standing holding out a sack lunch and a permission slip.
"Thanks Mom, you're the best." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed her mother on the cheek.
Her mother smiled. "Have a good time Honey, but be careful."
"I will!" her daughter shouted as she ran out of the house.
Darien had thrown together a few things in his pack, and was now driving on his way to the nature reserve. He figured that Alex would have all the supplies he'd need later on.
Alex was there to greet him as he pulled up into the parking lot.
"Sorry I'm late, I didn't really know what to bring..."
"It's only been five minutes, you're not late at all. And you don't need much... pretty much just food, water, and anything else to make a long walk more comfortable. We're just going to be walking throughout the reserve and observing things."
"Sounds simple enough," Darien commented.
"It is.... Or at least it should be."
Serena jumped off the bus in one giant leap, unable to control her excitement. She loved fieldtrips... Anything without actually BEING in school was fine by her.
Lita and Ami calmly stepped off the bus steps behind her, but they each wore a big smile.
"Wow Serena, you're amazing. You haven't had any sugar today, and yet you act as though you've had a week's worth" Ami teased.
"Yea, whatever you're eating to make you so hyper, you really need to cut back. No offense, but if I had to hear you sing your 'We're going on a fieldtrip' song one more time, I'd have had to gag you."
"Oh Lita, you're telling me you don't get excited on fieldtrips?" Serena asked, already knowing the answer.
"Ok, I see your point. But still, if you continue to bounce around like that, you're going to be exhausted before we even start the nature walk."
Suddenly their teacher, Ms. Haruna, stood up in front of the group to make an announcement. "Attention students. We're going to begin our tour of the reserve in a few moments. I'm going to divide you into two groups by counting off. If you're a 1, you're to the left, and if you're a 2, you're to the right."
Ms. Haruna began counting off the students, and Serena stood looking nervous... she hated waiting to be chosen for something. As the teacher got nearer, Serena noticed the order in which they were standing, but before she could act--
"One... Two... One... Two... One..."
"NOOO!!" Serena shouted.
"What's wrong?" asked Ms. Haruna.
"I'm not with Ami and Lita." Serena pouted.
The young teacher looked slightly annoyed. "Well, you can't have everything in life... besides if I let you be with your friends, I'd have to let everyone else be with their friends... And anyway, this is a great opportunity for you to make new friends."
::sigh::
Serena had been so excited ever since she first learned of the fieldtrip, and now she's bummed before it's even begun. How could this day get any worse?
"Oh, and before I forget. We're not going to be near any buildings during our tour, so I suggest that you go to the bathrooms now."
Serena didn't need to use the restroom, but thought she'd better go anyway, just to be safe. So she headed off to the main buildings.
::evil laugh:: "This should be fun... I've been watching that girl all week. Her enthusiasm's been killing me. How I've wanted to make her miserable... and it seems like the perfect opportunity to do just that."
A woman with purple eyes watched as Serena entered the buildings alone. She didn't need to worry about being seen, since she was so good at disguising herself. She thought for a moment, and then had an idea.
The next moment a Serena with deep purple eyes slipped her way into the group of number 2's.
Ms. Haruna began checking off people's names. "Ok, everybody's here, let's get moving."
As they all marched off toward where the trail began, the woman spotted someone across the crowd. 'It's that man who she hates so much... this is going to be REALLY fun.'
Serena came out of the bathroom and headed back to where her group was gathered. Suddenly she stopped dead. 'Wasn't it here? ... my group was right by that tree when I left, wasn't it?'
After double-checking her surroundings, realization struck her. "THEY LEFT WITHOUT ME!!" Frantically Serena began looking around, and then noticed that a huge amount of footprints headed in the direction of trail #5... That HAD to be them. She decided to try her luck, and raced toward the trail with the footprints.
"Well, so far so good" Darien said as he and Alex continued on their walk.
"Yes, I'm very relieved... Judging by some of the people's accounts, I thought it would be terrible all over. But maybe we're just not in the right place."
Suddenly there were two loud noises; one from in front of them a ways, and one from the right. Neither one of them noticed the pair of purple eyes watching them from behind.
"Do you think we should split up?" Darien asked. "It would make it easier to check out both noises."
"You're right. You go on that way, and I'll continue ahead. If you find something, don't stick around, just come back and report it to me later. We shouldn't take any chances."
"Right. I'll see you later then." The two friends waved casually as they each headed in their own direction.
::evil laugh:: ..."This is going to get very interesting soon."
It didn't take long before Serena realized that she was lost. She had already gone in the same circle twice. "Well this is just great... some fun fieldtrip this turned out to be. First my group leaves without me, then I get lost." 'Maybe it would be better if I just follow this river... that way if I DO get lost, I'd at least be able to retrace my steps back to here.'
Without giving it a second thought, she began to follow the river.
Meanwhile, off in the distance, faint screams could be heard when the woman with the purple eyes had imprisoned both tour groups in an energy netting that slowly zapped the strength of whomever it touched.
Ms. Haruna looked around her, searching for anything that could help them.
"Serena, get us out of here! Please help us!" cried Ms. Haruna, noticing that Serena was the only one not trapped by the glowing green netting.
'Serena' looked up at her fellow students, then at her teacher, and laughed. Ms. Haruna looked horrified and slowly stumbled out, "You're... you're not Serena."
"No, I'm not. And I'm afraid she won't be joining you on your little 'outing' today." ... 'I've got other plans for her.'
Then in the blink of an eye, 'Serena' transformed into a woman with waist-length white hair that was held in a ponytail to one side, wearing a skin-tight black dress. Without a second glance at her prisoners, the woman faded away, off to continue with her plans.
Serena was still walking near the river, following its general direction.
She jumped as a noise suddenly came from off to her left, and yelled "Eep!!" while closing her eyes momentarily.
A few seconds later, she re-opened her eyes after hearing that same familiar voice again.
"SERENA?!" Darien looked at her confused, and she stared back at him at a loss for words. "What are you doing here Serena?... and all by yourself?"
"I got separated from my tour group. What about you?" Serena took a step closer, but continued to look at him as though she thought this had to be a weird dream or something.
"I'm helping out a friend of mine who works here... we're checking out the area, and we decided to split up."
"Well, I guess that makes sense.... At least I'm not still lost by myself... Who knows, you might actually turn out to be useful for once Darien."
Darien rolled his eyes, looking somewhat annoyed, then after a few moments returned his gaze to her. "I hope you don't expect me to be nice to you just because you're lost and helpless Meatball Head."
"Hey! I'm not HELPLESS I'm just LOST!! And besides..."
The shouting voices trailed off as they continued arguing. As the white-haired woman watched them walk off, she mumbled to herself, "It's almost time for the fun to begin."
Alex was slowly walking in the area where the noise had come from earlier, careful to not miss anything that might help him figure out what had been happening lately. All of the sudden, something caught his eye. On the ground about fifteen feet from where he stood was a huge branch that looked like it had been torn from a tree. He looked up and saw that the tree was 'bent' toward the top, and decided the branch must have come from up there. 'That would explain why it was such a loud noise...' Then he stepped nearer to the branch to inspect it. As he got closer he noticed something that looked like a piece of bright green rope wrapped around the branch. 'I wonder where that's from?'
Darien and Serena were walking several feet apart from each other, both with their heads turned at angles to the side. They had obviously gotten to the point where neither of them wanted to talk anymore.
The woman with the purple eyes was once again watching them, with a great grin on her face, and decided that it was finally time to have some fun.
As the woman stepped out from behind a tree, Serena and Darien stopped walking and stared at her.
"Um, you aren't lost too, are you?" Serena asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because let me tell ya, I don't think we can help you if you are."
The white-haired woman continued staring at Serena. "Shut up!"
Serena and Darien were taken aback from her sudden outburst.
"You think you're so perfect, don't you Serena?"
Serena was both scared and confused... How did this woman know her name? Finally, she was able to voice her thoughts. "Uh, do I know you?"
"No, but I've got a pretty good idea of who you are... You walk around completely oblivious to others; living in your own world of false happiness... it's SICKENING. You think you've got friends?- then why did they all leave without you? Why is the only person who you can turn to for help a man who hates you?"
"You're wrong. I do have friends. It was an accident that they left without me. And my best friends wouldn't know that I'm missing, because they weren't in my group. But I do have friends." Serena looked back at the woman with anger building up inside her. 'Who is she to tell me no ones cares about me?'
Darien was looking back and forth between the two women, trying to get a hint as to what was going on. "Look, I think we'd better go. Sorry we're not able to stick around, but we really need to find the rest of her group." Darien grabbed Serena by the arm and began walking away when the woman began to laugh.
"Well, you see that's the interesting part. You're not leaving."
Serena and Darien exchanged a worried look, then faced the woman again. "Why not?"
"Because I want to play first. I told you that you're false happiness was sickening... Well, you made me sick, and now I'm going to make you pay for being so repulsive."
Darien tugged on Serena's arm and whispered, "Let's just get out of here."
"I DON'T THINK SO!" Suddenly there was a flash of green light, and Darien was thrown against a tree, where he landed gasping for breath.
"Darien!!" Serena turned to run to him, but was stopped when a glowing green rope gripped her arm, connecting her to the woman.
"Do you see what I can do with this rope?" The woman nodded toward Darien, who Serena realized had a piece of the rope around him. Suddenly it flashed and Darien fell to the ground yelling.
"STOP!!" Tears began pouring down her face... she had to help Darien, but in her hurry that morning, she forgot to put on her brooch. How could she save him and defeat this monster if she couldn't transform into Sailormoon?
"Oh please. That's the least of your worries my dear. I was just using him as an example. I'm not going to kill him... at least not yet Your so-called 'friends' are also in danger here. I've got them all trapped by this same energy rope that I control."
"What? But how did you...?"
"It was easy, they never saw it coming. Now here's the fun part. Do you see these two crystals?" She pulled out two small glass crystals, one in each hand. Serena stared at them, then nodded. "Well, one of them controls the rope I have around Darien, and the other controls the netting I've got around all of your friends." The woman then set the two crystals on two separate nearby rocks. She then returned and continued staring at Serena. "The one on the left is Darien's, the one on the right is your friends'."
Tears continued to roll down Serena's cheeks... she thought she knew where this was heading.
"Now, if you pick one of these up and clench it in your fist until it draws blood, that person, or people, will be freed from the rope. The other however, will be killed by me after you choose."
Serena stood horror-stricken. "You want me to choose who dies?"
The woman flicked her hand to the side and rolled her eyes. "Of course not... where's the fun in that? I'm making you choose who lives. So you see, you're really savingpeople."
"I don't believe this. This can't be real." Serena said without realizing it.
"Oh? Then I guess I'll have to prove it to you." The woman threw one of her ropes around a tree, and one around a nearby stone. Then two more crystals similar to the others appeared in her hands. She then crushed one in her hand so that blood was drawn, and the tree was suddenly torn apart as if there was an explosion. The woman then held up her hand, which healed itself. "You see, if the crystals touch my blood, the rope destroys whatever it holds, but if it touches the blood of someone pure and good, like yourself, the rope will fade away. Do you want to practice with the rope around the stone?"
Darien, still on the ground struggling to breathe, was watching the woman explain her "game" to Serena.
"You're sick." Was all that Serena was able to say.
The woman laughed again. "Well, you deserve to be miserable after being so happy all the time. Now it's time for you to choose. And if you don't, they'll ALL die."
Serena stood for a moment, unable to move. What could she do? How could she possibly get out of this mess? She began running through her mind everything that the woman had said to her.
"CHOOSE!"
Serena remained standing still. Then the woman sent a blast at Darien and again he yelled in pain.
"ALL RIGHT!" Serena cried desperately. "Just please stop hurting him." The woman smiled and stopped the blast. Darien sat up and leaned against the tree. He watched Serena as she glared at the woman, and saw her tears fall. He knew that she was being forced to make the hardest decision of her life... but he knew what her final choice would be... and he was ready to die. If it meant that so many other people could live, then he would accept death.
Serena slowly stepped forward, glancing at the woman every few seconds. When she neared the two rocks, she began stepping toward the one on the right; the rock that was nearest the woman; the one that would save all of her friends. The woman grinned even more and looked at Darien. "Looks like you're out of luck." She said to him.
Serena knew that now was her only chance. She dove forward and grabbed the crystal. She quickly took a few more steps, and kneed the woman as hard as she could in the stomach. Without pausing, she spun to the left and grabbed Darien's crystal. Darien watched her helplessly... amazed at what she was doing.
Serena, with a crystal in each hand, clenched her fists as hard as she could until the crystals shattered and drew blood. Suddenly the rope around Darien vanished, and he was able to stand up and lean against the tree for support. The woman, who was only knocked down for a second, threw a rope around Serena, and pulled her closer.
"So," said the purple-eyed woman through clenched teeth, "You chose yourself to die..."
Serena looked back into those dark purple eyes. "No. I chose them to live."
The woman then jerked the rope so that Serena was flung hard to the ground. "Well, that was an unexpected ending to my game. But nonetheless, I've still had fun."
Then the woman held out her arm and shot two energy blasts at Serena, causing her to first scream in pain, then pass out.
Darien stared at Serena's limp body, praying to God that she was okay. The woman walked toward Serena and picked her up by the neck of her shirt. She began to carry her toward the cliff that led to the river. Her back facing him, he realized that this was an opportunity.
He looked around and saw something glittering in the grass from where the woman had fallen. Whatever he was going to do, he had to do it now.
He leapt up and snatched the rope that was around the nearby stone. Still running as fast as he could, he picked up the tiny glittering crystal that the woman had dropped in the grass. He threw the rope around the woman's neck, causing her to stop before she reached the very edge of the cliff. He then gripped the crystal between his fingers and used it to slash her hands, drawing her blood. In an instant she exploded, causing a huge energy blast in all directions. Darien closed his eyes and felt himself get thrown against the ground.
A few seconds later he opened his eyes, and to his horror, didn't see Serena.
"SERENA!!" 'Oh my god, she must have been thrown over the cliff by the blast.'
He raced to the edge and looked for the quickest way down. After he got down about half way, he decided to jump the remaining 25 feet.
He dove under the water, scanning in all directions trying to spot Serena. So far, nothing. He went up for a breath of air and dove back under. It was taking his eyes forever to adjust. Just as he was about to go up for another breath of air he saw her out of the corner of his eye. He went back up to the surface and swam in that direction. He took one last breath and began swimming as fast as he could to get to her. Though it was only a matter of seconds, it felt like forever before she was in his reach. Finally, he scooped her up into his arms and kicked off the river's bottom. He swam to the river's edge and climbed out, still holding her carefully in his arms.
He carried her to a shady spot under a tree, and laid her down slowly.
"Serena?" Concern, along with other mixed emotions, was etched upon his face.
Nothing.
Darien's eyes grew wider and he had a sudden sharp intake of breath.
"She's not breathing."
He leaned closer to her, and stared at her for a moment. 'Please let this work.' He then tilted her head back and opened her mouth. With a deep breath he lowered his lips to hers and began to give her his air.
He repeated this several times; every time pausing to look at her lifeless face, hoping against hope that there would be some life brought back into it.
After what seemed like ages, he felt her muscles tighten beneath him and he stared once again at her face. But this time it wasn't lifeless. She began to cough up the water that she had inhaled, and he gently picked her up and leaned her head against his chest. She was still unconscious, but she wasn't dead. All that he wanted to do at that point was hold her close to him, knowing that she was alive.
She had found a way to save him along with her friends, and he was able to save her back. He relived the recent events in his mind again, and let out a small laugh when he remembered how he was so positive that he would die. He then began to wonder what it was that made her decide to give up her own life so that he could live instead.
He returned his gaze to her face, and smiled at her in a loving way. "You're amazing Serena, did you know that?"
Suddenly she began to stir. Her eyes opened slowly, and for a moment she just stared at what was in front of her. Then she tilted her head to the side and looked at Darien. He looked at her and smiled. She saw the relief on his face, but she also saw something else. She was surprised to see that a tear was gliding down his cheek.
"Darien, is something wrong?" Serena asked with concern on her face.
"No.... Actually, nothing's wrong."
And with that he leaned his head down and kissed her tenderly. It felt so right.
After a few moments, they broke away from the kiss. They stared into each other's eyes, and then Darien smiled and laughed.
"What?" Serena asked curiously, wondering what would make him laugh at a moment like this.
"I was just thinking how ironic it is that when we started out, that woman mentioned how you were stuck with the man who hates you, and yet now I'm the man who loves you..."
About an hour later everyone seemed to have found their way back to the buildings. Several of the students looked as if they were going to be sick. Ms. Haruna looked the same, but when she saw Serena she screamed and ran over to her.
"Oh Serena, I'm so glad that you're okay. And I'm so sorry that we lost you. You must have been terrified out there all by yourself, especially with everything that was happening.... But you are all right, aren't you?"
Serena gave a quick look to Darien, then smiled at her teacher.
"Yes, I'm fine. Luckily for me, Darien was here to help me."
Ms. Haruna looked at Darien for a moment, then back at Serena.
"Well, it's probably for the best that you weren't with us... some very strange things happened. You're lucky you weren't caught up in them."
The teacher turned and headed back toward the bus.
Suddenly Alex walked out from one of the trails. He walked up to Darien and began telling him about the rope he had seen.
"It must have been some people pulling pranks and pulling down the tree branches to scare the animals."
"Yea, it was." Darien replied. "But don't worry, I think we scared them pretty good, so they won't be coming back." Serena tried to keep from laughing at the look of Darien's straight face.
"Great. I'm so glad that you came Darien. I told you that you were good with these kinds of things. But now I've got to go file a report on this. And I'll need to hear about what you saw..."
Alex began to head toward the building, and turned back.
"You coming?"
Darien looked at Serena, then back at Alex. "In a minute."
Alex turned back around and continued walking toward the main buildings.
"I'd better go, the bus is going to leave soon... I'll see you later." Serena jumped up and kissed Darien goodbye just as Lita and Ami walked past.
"WHAT?!?!" They stared at her in complete bewilderment.
"I'll explain later. It's a long story."
And with one last glance toward the man who she'd gone from hating to loving in one day, she stepped on the bus and thought to herself, 'This really wasn't a bad fieldtrip after all.'