Chapter Two: The Ritual

Serena arrived in a large room that looked like one of those fancy hotel ball rooms. Although this one was much too different. The colors were mostly black, white, and a light blue. The material was all marble and chains with pillars covered in rose vines. In the middle of the room their was a design that held a circle with an ancient language and images inside. Each image was seperated in pieces that were in shapes of pie slices. All of them surrounding another smaller circle that held the image of a magnificent butterfly in it. Serena then noticed that laid before he was a velvet red carpet covered a large amount of stairs that extended to the top where she was standing. She gawked at the detail of this place she come to know as the Farfalla Temple.

FLASHBACK

"So where am I exactly?" Serena asked as she looked at the room that she was led to. A man with silver hair walked from out of the shadows of the doorway. He had his hands behind his back as he walked to the center of the room.

"This is the Farfalla Temple. My home ever since I can remember"
"Farfalla"
"It is an ancient Earthian language translated into Latin. It meens 'Butterfly'. A long time ago a group of Guardians were formed to protect a specific type of warriors. This was their home and training grounds."

"Oh?"

Serena walked around and then spotted the huge king size bed. Her eyes nearly buldged out of their sockets. With a squel, she ran and then leaped into the air. She landed on the bed and bounced for a few seconds. After settling, she stood and started to jump on it. The man looked at her with a stunned expression. By that time one of the servents had came in. A woman that was real round and aged. She dropped the folded clothing in her arms and growled.

"I JUST MADE THAT BED!"

END OF FLASH

Serena grinned at the first memories of being here. They sure have been through a lot. Suddenly she noticed that figures walked out from the doors hidden behind the pillars. The formed single lines of ten, each with their own colored robes. Their entire bodies were covered in the thick fabric. With hands clasped and head bowed, they surrounded the outline of the room inches from the center design. Two servant girls walked out behind her and stood on each side. Their heads were also bowed and hands clasped. Serena waited for the sign of her silver headed friend. As soon as he appeared she straightened herself, held her head up high and hid all of her emotions. The Ritual was beginning.

Serena was now at the bottom of the stairs. The man looked up from where he was standing and motioned her forward. Serena waltzed gracefully to the middle of the room where the butterfly symbol was. There, she thought about her friends and family, the past, the present, and the future she was going to have to protect. By now, each person had a candle lit and chanted in latin. Flashing lights began to form out of the symbols in the circle. The animal spirits rose up and flew within the air. A burst of light came out in front of her, then her right to left, and finally surrouning her from behind. She was incased in a cylinder of warm colors. The animal spirits flew around and through the cylinder chanting their own incantations. The ritual would almost be over soon. Her memories raced in her mind and the pain caught off the life in her body:

...Momma...Papa...Sammy...Molly...Ami...Melvin...Lita...Mina..Rei...Andrew...Darien...my love...my Endymion...my life...

Her eyes became glossy with fresh tears. The night before she made herself to cry until there were no more tears. She must be strong and brave. To weaken because of her love for them would destroy everything. Serena knew that she had to be more powerful than her emotions right now. Tears streamed down her cheek now and dripped into the bottom of the light. Oh, Please..Please forgive me...I must.

A new kind of light formed from her tears and a pink sparkle rose. She understood what it was and nodded as it took a figure. The sparkle grew from her tears and soon formed. An exact copy of her, only it was warm, happy, and full of love. The opposite of the form she took now. The pink, sparkling version of herself placed her hands on Serena's face. She wiped away her tears and then disappeared. Last, but not least, the final spirit came forth: The Butterfly. It swirled around Serena and then flew into her mouth, making her gasp. Serena's eyes grew dark and cold, her hair turned into a white color. The animal Spirits traced along her hair placing a rainbow tint to it, only to be seen in the light of the moon. One by one, they undressed her and gave her new gifts. Serena lifted her head up and screamed as the darkness faded and became one with her.

When it was done, there were no lights, no spirits, nobody but the fragil figure that now laid in the center of the room. It took only minutes before new life breathed into her and she gasped for air in her lungs. She stuggled to her knees and flipped her hair out of her face. Looking around, she was alone, nothing but an oval mirror left where she once stood. The woman stood and walked over to the mirror and glanced at the reflection. In it was another figure that she didn't recognize. Her hair was elbow length, straight down and held two small braids on both sides of her face. She was pale as a dead corpse. Her eyes held a dark violet color that would waver into different other dark colors as she moved her head. Her plain black dress that she wore only minutes ago was now shreds barely covering her.

"You did well." Came a voice from her right. A man's voice that she knew of. Again out of the shadows, the silver haired man walked out and stood staring. The woman looked around and narrowed her eyes. The man smiled and waited for her to grasp a hold of her reality.

"Do you know who you are""It will take a while before you can take a hold of what is going on. I will guide you."

The man motioned for them to walk up the flight of stairs. As they reached the top, the woman stopped in her tracks. The man stopped noticing her absence and turned.

"...m-..my name is...Ku...Kumori Mika."

This time the woman stood straight up and held a superior presence. The man smiled and nodded.

"Welcome home."