Hi all. I'm back again, and surprisingly, since my mood is in the dangerous state of being pissed off, the chapter is decent. Well, it isn't my best one, but, it is still pretty good....I already went thru the pain of say....that...I ...don't....oh, go see my rant or the previous chapter for my disclaimer. I need something to go decently tonight. Doesn't it seem to you that Friday the 13ths are always weird? This one seems to be full of emotion. Enjoy this connecting chapter because a dark chapter of faults of our own will come out for all those fellow beings of darkness.
Inquiring questions and movements away
"Darien, I don't need a body guard from myself." It wasn't my fault if others get in my way. Darien began to reconsider his idea, but didn't. "No, it is from the others that you need protection." I turned her head slightly as he barely said it audibly. "What others are those?" It was an innocent question. Darien didn't answer it. What was the ulterior motive? "Do you always wear make up?" "Do you always have blood encrusted in your hair and underneath your nails?" That actually resulted in a non crabby response. "Lita was the tomboy, not me." Was? The strange look received deserved an explanation. "Now she isn't one." "Ah, I see." Silence followed. "Why are you doing this Darien? I have taken very good care of myself." Darien looked guilty. They were approaching the post that started the driveway of the Tsukinos. They stopped and she glared. "Well, Sere, I'm worried about you. You aren't acting normal, and you usually don't ...oh, I have to go. I have to be back at the hospital soon. I am still in for a good yelling at for letting that senshi leader get out of the hospital under security." He turned and made a brisk walk for it. I watched him, wondering what he was going to finish his statement, but still not stopping him from leaving. When he looked out of ear shot, I had to put in my own comment. "It wasn't that hard. You need security cameras in all the rooms." That at least brought me pleasure for the rest of the day, or would have, had I not seen the car in mid packing stage.
"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" Now what is happening? Her mother was gracious enough to give the package to her father, which was heading out of the door to the car. "Honey, there has been a family emergency. We are going up there this afternoon." Serena blinked and sighed. "Mom, I have finals." Her mother smiled. "I know, and that is why you are staying back."
A flurry of activity happened then, and in a brisk two hours later, every one including Sammy was ready to stay home alive or drive away, with one staying and three going. Right before they left, her mother met her in the kitchen, finally slowed down. "Hon, you can use the emergency credit card, and for the places that won't take it, I have left money for you. I'm sorry, Serena, do you mind staying home alone for awhile? You still have your keys?" It isn't like I have a choice. Serena smiled on the outside. "Sure mom, I don't mind, and yes I do." Quickly, her mother ran to the car and her father started to pull out of the driveway. Time began to feel like it was stretching, taking Serena with it...slowly...with the pull very drawn out....No, don't go. You will get killed, please, stay, it's all a trap! I wasn't sure where that feeling of doom came from, but I was feeling it. As I watched them go down the street, I also knew that they wouldn't come back alive. Time caught up again just as the car was gone from my sight. "I Love you."
I swallowed, and tried to come up with something good to come out of it. At least I can call the girls...reality came back again, and the whole crappy day came back again. Going to start my homework, I silently hoped that I wouldn't be marked down for water marks on my homework.
The next morning, my alarm didn't go off at all, and around second hour, I finally came to school, getting the by far the evilest glare from Ms. Harkuna. I just sighed and took my detention slip with out comment, and proceeded to try to function throughout the rest of the day. Teachers were shocked that they got homework from me, but in the end, most of them came to the conclusion that I was sick. It was so bad that Ms. Harkuna sent me home before the last hour of the day. Leaving school, I noted that this was the first time without an emergency, or worse. That was kind of funny. I tried laughing, but couldn't though.
Once off school ground, I found a bench and thought. My family will be presumed dead in about a week, I can't become Sailor Moon and expect to survive everything fighting by herself, and Darien was acting particularly weird. Things could have been so much simpler with me actually dying. But no, the fates had to be cruel. The numbness and lack of emotion scared me, for I never went without emotions until of late. Still why couldn't I have died with the others? I wanted to cry but I knew couldn't. It was that damn numbness again. Evil was still about and things still needed to killed off. A super heroine still had duties if she had no team. Sighing, I decided to go figure out why I couldn't change the previous day, and the best place for that was on the old training ground, on Rei's grandfather's temple ground. He wouldn't ask questions, for he partly knew about the night life of his granddaughter. He would keep secrets. Hopefully, no one else would be there. I laughed at that. Since when did hope actually do any thing useful? Still the one innocent corner of my soul still stuck out among the darkness of what I was slowly becoming.
No one else was their, thankfully, or people weaker than me were the only ones around at least. The stronger people would have had a distinct aura that can't be hidden, which was good, and none of those were there, thank Selene. Grandfather had been as friendly as usual, but I knew that he knew, that she was gone. We stared for a few moments, me fishing around for an appropriate response. It never really came. "She went down fighting." Grandfather looked grateful at those four words, and he quietly thanked me. Borrowing one of the priestess robes that Rei had worn, I went to the little grove of trees that we had christened as our training corner, and tried something different: meditation.
I sat down on the ground lotus style, and closed my eyes. Beginning to breathe, I had thoughts coming back to me from the day before, accepting all that happened for as it is and how it can't be changed. The first thing that came to mind was that creepy old man. Forcing the thoughts through, I 'heard' every single one of the horrid words. "I got the others already. Now you are all alone little princess and I will eventually get you to..." Why did every villain seem to know I was the moon princess? It was getting annoying.
The dagger that I had found before I had talked to the old man came to mind. The blade was a mixture of obsidian and steel, with an onyx in the pommel, and moon runes running up and down the sides. I didn't know what it meant. Energy radiated off of it, and I felt that it would only answer to my call and no one else's, much to my happiness. I really didn't know where that thought came from. That shadow figure was just odd in itself as well. My anger had made its aura feel evil, but upon later examination, I had felt nothing, neither good nor bad and my reaction was pure emotion. The most feeling she felt had been it being proud, however, even if it had shields stronger than anyone else's I had ever tested before. Now that old man had felt like pure evil, and sounded evil, but then again, evil didn't have one setting only. Maybe in this twisted world, someone was trying to help me...Nah. Evil just had different degrees of strength, and I wasn't as perceptive as I usually was for it.
Darien then came to mind, and how he had been trying to get some sort of info out of me. He could be making the connection between me and sailor moon....but that couldn't happen. Well, in my last fragment of hope that I still contained, I wanted it not to happen. I thought I had kept up glamour all night; then again, I also had been out for most of it, to. Oh, damn it. This was getting complicated. The things he said either meant that he cared for her some how, or was getting to close to the truth, that she had been to open with him. Neither one was good. A chill went through my body, and that reminded me of when he had handed her her pendant....and how he had felt no pain, also, unlike everyone else, who had complained of shock the many times she had to use her klutz attack tactic. Or, he may have a high resistance to electrocution. That will have to be tested.
I opened her eyes, and decided to try something that I hadn't done yet again. My, I was being adventurous today. Through these meditations, each senshi had found a talent in something or another. Mine had been telekinesis slightly, and a newer one had become minor flame control. It really didn't make sense in any sense I looked at lit, but then again, from my 13th birthday, nothing had made much sense. Well, I had always let myself hit the ground before I had tried anything more. Today I was going to do both.
I stared at my pendant, willing it to come up to her. Picturing it in my mind, I closed my eyes and willed it to come to my floating form, which was just recently rising. Remembering that I hadn't put up glamour, I subconsciously did that to, before I did anything more different.
Feeling pleased, I saw my compact come up to my mildly blood encrusted hands. Gently, I took the compact in my hands and kept willing myself in the air. Opening the lid of my pendant, I didn't see my normal pure clear crystal, but a darker, more a grey white crystal. The energy radiating off of it was no longer pure, but tainted. I smiled cynically. I tested my own aura for safe measure, and saw that similar change also. I kept smiling. "That's why it didn't work..." She concentrated her thoughts on her compact, and sought for her answer. Slowly, it came to her. "I said the wrong incant." A peace came over her, like a calm before a storm, as her watch blinked three o'clock.
My legs straightened out, so when I hovered down, I would be standing. Correction, if my energy hadn't been mostly in healing and I hadn't strained myself with the advanced telekinesis, I would have stood. Instead, I ended up in an undignified heap on the hard ground. Getting up, I actually felt better, and afterwards, I changed into my annoying school uniform again, and I headed to the arcade, where I felt I still had to uphold that stupid, ditz act every day. Today, I decided with some form of confidence, that I would act more myself, and hopefully, never act that way again willingly. Damn, there goes that elusive hope again.
My mood didn't last. Even though I had accepted the fact, every one of my female friends and family in Tokyo were or already dead, I still wasn't happy about it. A milkshake didn't even call out to her. It's really getting bad.... "Hi Andrew." She wouldn't speak much more, except to the sailor V game in the corner, and again beat her own score. This was repeated many times over.
Darien
Darien came in a little later, hoping that Serena wouldn't be asking any more questions. He was lucky. "Andrew, does she look more normal?" Andrew set down the coffee in front of Darien and sighed. "I guess, but she is really quiet. The only thing she said to day was 'hi' and 'no shake today'." Darien looked at her speculatively again and back at Andrew. "You're right about that. It isn't as odd as she could be at least." Darien stood up. "Drew, I think I am going to go see how she is doing on the Sailor V game. It will be the final test of odd-ness." Andrew slowly and discreetly smiled and said "Alright."
Darien ignored all of the possible looks and wandered over to the Sailor V game. As usual, she was on the upper levels, playing as the Sailor Venus character. The newest addition to the game had been a choice of players. "She need's her sword again. That would make this stupid thing die!" The slight crowd cleared for Darien, the infamous teaser. "So, Meatball head, how did you know she had a sword?" Still concentrating, she answered him. "Duh, in training, fighting, or anywhere else before she realized it was out, she always had her sword." The rest of the crowd didn't question that and kept watching with there jaws skimming the ground. Darien wondered how she knew that. Then again, she would wonder why he knew that. "How do you know Darien?" Apparently, she still heard him, but how?
The lights flashed a new high score, but then Sailor Venus died. That resulted in a slight laugh. She stood up and stretched, showing a layer of something white along her back, side, and stomach. Serena pulled down her shirt and bent down to get her school bag. "If you can't answer me, then why did you ask me? Or are you a secret fan?" She gave him a scary I-know-something-I-shouldn't look before saying her good byes. "Bye Andrew! Bye Darien." Serena waved over her shoulder as the glass doors slid open then shut.
Andrew was looking like he had been hit by a train. "Drew, what's wrong?" Darien sat down and stirred his cold coffee. Now Andrew was thoughtful. "I think she was flirting with you." Darien laughed out loud. "Andrew I think you are working to hard. Why would she hit on me?" That reaction could have been picked apart, but Andrew was a good friend and would use it as blackmail later. Andrew put down the always dirty glass that he always dried and looked at Darien. "That was how she acted around me for the first time, until she changed. I think it was with Ann and Alan, those weird twins from a couple years earlier."
Darien could remember part of that, and he had a point. "Andrew, she was actually happy, that was all." To bad it wasn't completely real...it never has been... For some reason, he remembered that odd slide collection that Professor Selene had given him. "Andrew, I just remembered that I had some chemistry studying to do. I'll see you tomorrow." Darien went to go do that, and threw in a little thinking, to.
At his apartment, he opened that odd box for the first time. Inside, Darien found nine slides out of the box. Inside the little box contained, more slides were found, with markings of Mu, Ma, V, Mo, J, U, N, P, and L. In another ink, A, R, S, M, L, H, M, and S were found. When put under a microscope, certain slides matched up with other slides. However, some looked older than others, and Darien made note of this. The slide "S" could be dated as far back as several thousand years old. With two slides each of the second set, there was a new one and an older one. Since their were few papers in the case, and those only explaining the different forms the subjects blood was in and during what time period each slide was in. Hours later, Darien would have no clue about what he just did or why, and go to bed wondering those statements.
General
The rest of the week passed normally. Serena was lucky enough to get a bad cold and used that excuse to stay home. She ended up using her Luna pen to call herself in, and spent the remaining three days of the week locking herself in now her house, eating little and sleeping a lot. With no one to talk to or to call, she managed to get lonely, though. Most mourning was done then just to get it over with. Darien began to pick up interest in the Sailor V game which made Andrew wonder who was sick and who wasn't. Darien started to become fascinated with that odd set of slides and spent several hours just looking at them.
Serena
On Saturday, Tokyo was rocked again with another battle. I had been feeling restless and decided to go for a walk, with most of my injuries healed from the previous fight. I was still angry about being the only one living, but all of my anger was taken out with invisible creatures inside the house and the dust bunnies also got a taste of moon cleaning power. One random street I was walking on, I felt myself being followed. Not being able to loose it in the confusing avenues, I instead led it to where the warehouse once stood. Flipping up onto the apartment balconies, I made sure to let it see me jump down into the alleyway behind the building. With the warehouse walls now making a maze of its ruins, the stalker was now lost-until it expanded.
From behind the corner of the building, I saw this, and was considering letting the police handle it, but then it started shouting about her. "Sailor Moon! You will fight me or Tokyo will burn!"
There were a few corny parts in there...I apologize. I also apologize for not having the review shout outs this chapter....I need to become more motivated I guess, but I am off to my 2 am dinner now, so R&R if you want me to continue...I was just being nice today...now, if you didn't read the above line or you missed it....R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R, R&R!!!