Chapter Seventeen

Dreams

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer applies. (In other words I have no rights to SM or the SS in any way, shape, or form.) However this story line is mine.

Warning: Profane language, violence, sexual content and blood, gore, vampires, werewolves and all the good stuff. M-rated.

Double Warning: Bad writing involved

AN: I have been trying to figure out a way to work this in, but only hinted at it so far in this book, before Serena left New Tokyo, something happened and she cannot transform any more. I haven't decided what happened, but I think I am going to give the task to my readers. If anyone has an idea that could cause Serena's loss of powers and still keeps with the books put it in your review. Basically, if you come up with one that I feel is a really good idea, I will post it at the end of the the book with my other final choices, where other readers can vote on which one to use. Please feel free to participate, even if you think the idea is dumb. The Idea will show up in Book 4 (Dangerous Distractions). As always R&R, and flamers will be ignored.

Serena stood still. The cold night air swept around her, carrying with it the scent of roses. She was standing in front of a grave. The grave was old, the stone cracked and broken. She tried to read the inscription on the stone, but it had faded away from centuries of weather. Looking around she noticed that she was in a graveyard; it looked forgotten and ill tended. The grass reached her waist sweeping against her in the breeze.

Then she heard something. Something scrabbling toward her. A strange scratching sound, almost like something was crawling along the ground, pulling at the dirt and grass. She found herself wishing for some light, but she didn't even know where she was.

She looked around for the sound. But it was too dark to really see anything, except what was right in front of her. She glanced down thinking that maybe she would have something on her that might give a little light to the situation. She started to pat herself down and froze.

She was wearing a dress. It was beautiful, Victorian in style, white and flowing. The neckline of the gown was square, revealing the tops of her breasts, the waist of the gown sat below them. A golden design was embroidered beautifully over her chest. The skirt fell to the ground in silky waves. The sleeves were open and hung in gossamer folds over her arms and down to where her knees were supposed to be.

She realized then that her head felt lighter than it should have. Reaching up to feel for her usual pigtails, she found that her hair was styled into a curly topknot and hung in soft tresses to her shoulders. She looked around again, trying to figure out if this was some kind of joke. She had never had hair that short, and why would she be in a dress in a cemetery without a flashlight.

The sound was getting closer and Serena tried, once again, to find its source. But she still couldn't see anything.

"What is going on?" She muttered into the writhing air. Energy hung in a heavy cloud over her and the grave in front of her. She thought if she reached out, closing her eyes, she could actually touch it. It was stifling, like a very humid summer day. The coolness of the air was beginning to make her shiver. "Hello!" She called, her voice echoing into the night. "Is anyone here?"

The scrabbling sound stopped, a low moan sounded like it was about ten feet on the other side of the headstone in front of Serena. "Hello!"

"Ssserenaaaa." A voice hissed from the same area as the headstone.

"Who's there!" Serena called, starting to become frightened.

"Serena!" The voice shouted, almost angrily. Something was shaking her, or maybe she was just shivering uncontrollably from the cold.

"Who are you?"

"Serena! WAKE UP!"

Serena sat up and found herself surrounded by her friends in her room. She looked around, her heart lodged in her throat. She heard her own rattling breath. The air around her was freezing, and she realized she was sweating. The window to her room was open and a nice gusty breeze was pushing the curtains into the room.

"You alright?" Mina asked, as Amy put her wrist against Serena's forehead. Mina and Amy were both wearing robes and slippers.

"A dream?" Serena asked, still looking around, waiting for the thing that had the voice in her dream, to appear. "What happened?"

"You were screaming loud enough that we are sure the entire city knows you were having a nightmare." Lita said groggily. She was wearing a robe and nightcap, and looked grumpy.

"Are you alright?" Mina asked again. Serena fought to force her heart in its normal place and nodded. "What was your dream about?"

Serena told them everything she could remember about the dream, including the feeling she got from the air itself. She knew as she spoke, without really knowing how she knew, that she had created the energy, and it had been focused on the grave, not the headstone or the coffin, but what had been inside the coffin. She knew that the body in the coffin had been dead for several hundred years, and it was extremely evil. She told them her realizations as well, only pausing when Darien handed her a glass of water.

"Well, it was only a dream." Mina stated when Serena finished. Serena frowned at her. Somehow, Serena didn't think it was just a dream. The energy inside of her was awake and it wasn't happy. It was usually dormant, but at the moment it was writhing inside her stomach uncomfortably, as if demanding to be paid attention to.

Serena sighed and nodded. "You're right, Mina. Just a dream." Serena said, though she didn't think for a minute that that was true. "You guys go ahead and go back to sleep. I think I'm gonna find something to eat, then take a shower." Serena told them.

Darien looked like he didn't believe her, but as the girls filed out of her room, so did he. Serena, true to her word, found something to eat, then took a shower.

After she was done she sat at her vanity and began to work with her hair, trying to pull it into her usual pig-tails, but it didn't seem to want to go. Finally, she threw her brush at the top of the vanity, where it broke in half. Frustrated, she stood, her hem catching on the chair that she had just been sitting at, which fell onto her leg with a resounding crack.

"Having problems, Serena?" Luna asked from the doorway.

"I cant calm down." Serena said, grumpily.

"Understandable. Mina told me about your dream." Luna said. She came into the room, then glanced around before she leapt onto Serena's bed.

"What was that about?" Serena asked Luna, as she turned slightly so she could face the black cat.

"You're uh… Cammie. She has taken to trying to be dominant." Serena stared at Luna for a moment, her anger seeping away. Suddenly she was laughing.

"I'm glad you find it funny, Serena." Luna growled patronizingly.

"No." Serena hiccupped, "its not funny, Luna. But Cammie?"

"Yes, that little heathen hasn't left me alone since we met. I'm not even sure if she's a cat. Maybe a little chihuahua, but not a cat."

"A chi-chi-chihuahua?" Serena laughed.

"I came in here to let you know that Raye is back, but I see I shouldn't have come at all!" Luna huffed. Serena giggled.

"Alright, thank you, Luna. Can you let everyone else know?"

"Artemis is doing so now." Luna stated, leaping from the bed and walking proudly toward the door. The effect was wasted when Cammie, who had woken up from her place on Serena's pillows, saw Luna. She tore off the bed and tackled Luna in the doorway.

"I think that she thinks you are trying to take me from her!" Serena howled, falling into a fit of laughter on her bed.

"She can-have… you!" Luna panted, before she managed to get away and vanished from the room.

Serena caught Cammie before she could tear after Luna. "Come on, Cammie. Leave her alone. It isn't nice to attack like that." Serena patronized, wagging a finger at the kitten. Cammie looked cheekily up at her. Serena kissed its furry black head, tossed her lightly onto the bed and shut the door before Cammie could get outside. Serena walked down to the entrance hall to see Raye and Cat talking quietly.

"Hi, Raye. Are you ok now?" Serena called, before she strode down the stairway. Raye glanced at her, her gaze darkening for a moment.

"Yeah." She snapped, before she stormed past Serena, up the stairs, and out of sight. Serena frowned and looked at Cat, who was watching her reaction like it was enormously interesting.

"What was that about?" Serena asked Cat. Excited voices came from the darkened hall, and Serena knew that the others had ran into Raye.

"It's best if she told you when she's ready." Cat stated. "I must go. I have to check my message service." Cat stated before she turned. She closed the doors softly behind her, leaving Serena gaping after her.

I will be back soon, a thought invaded Serena's mind. Serena didn't know for sure, but it felt like Cat.

Serena decided, shortly after Cat left, to go to the park to clear her head. It was a beautiful day outside and she thought it would be good for them all to get out. But Darien had been the only one to agree. Darien knew that it could be chance to repair the damage between them, and leapt at her offer the moment it came from her mouth.

She started to change her mind when she realized it was only going to be her and Darien, but Darien wouldn't hear any of it. He dragged her from the palace to his car, and drove to the park instead of walking the distance.

"Want an ice cream?" Darien asked, eyeing the vendor carts of the park speculatively

"I guess." She muttered, looking around. They had been in the park for a half hour, and her silence was beginning to become annoying. Darien had tried on several occasions to get her to talk, but she deflected most of the comments, or just didn't answer at all.

"What flavor?"

"Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, if they have it." She said, glancing at him. Darien grinned.

"Finally, she speaks. And more than one word, I might add." He said dramatically, grabbing at his heart and stumbling backwards. Serena shook her head, but he thought he saw a tiny smile.

"I can speak, Darien. I just don't know what to say."

Darien sighed, as he wandered away from her to the ice cream vendor and bought two cones.

"Aren't you the Prince of New Tokyo?" Asked the ice cream vendor interestedly. Darien nodded, licking at his cone, and turned back toward Serena. Something smashed into the side of his head, his knees buckled, and he hit the ground. The sound of a gun exploding sent people around him screaming.

Darien's last thought, before the darkness swept him into oblivion, was that he had left Serena as an open target.


Thanks to my regular readers for keeping me writing. (Rosebudjamie, ffgirlmoonie, Roisin Midnight, and Moonqueen.)

Ok peops, we have three really good ideas that I am looking at from every angle, to cause Serena's loss of power (transformation into SM). Keep the good ideas coming. So far we have a thought to Serena being belatedly transformed into a werecat, and while the creator of that idea and I are still talking about it, it is feasible. #2 idea; we have another idea where emotional instability is causing Serena's lack of transformation. Another really good idea. And the last idea so far is that neither the manga, or the series, explains much about her father in the silver mellenium, so the thought is to link the loss of Sere's transformation to her father in some way or another. Tell me what you think of each of these ideas, and send in some more. Welcome to all thoughts and ideas as far as Serena's loss of SM.