*Chapter Three*
"NO! I DON'T WANT TO ACCEPT IT!" Screaming filtered through the paper walls of the Hino temple. Usagi groaned and gripped her head as if she had a headache. Joey growled low in her throat and stared at the five girls. Rei had let her borrow one of her robes, and pinned her hair back. Joey's emerald eyes smoldered with hatred, pain and confusion. She didn't know what was happening and no one was telling her.
"He was in my arms, and then he pushed me away! All I saw was him dying! I saw nothing else!!! Get off my back!" she growled at Usagi, who backed away and hid behind Ami. The young blue haired girl looked down at Joey with wonder in her blue eyes. She was the only one that didn't ask Joey anything. The other girls stared at her with sadness and pity in their eyes. She hated them for it. After excusing herself, she slipped into the bathroom and covered her mouth, screaming into her skin. That didn't draw any attention from the other girls.
Who are they? Why are they here and why are they questioning me!? Her thoughts raced as she panted, holding her head. She didn't understand why Seiya was taken from her. She tried to remember running her fingers through his hair, staring into his eyes, but the memories were already fading. She mentally screamed at herself for beginning to forget. Holding out her hand, she conjured up a red rose. She smiled gently then walked back into the room, rose in hand, and sat down in front of the girls. She knew she freaked them out with the flower but she didn't care anymore. Let them wonder. She laughed mentally and stared at them with cold gazes.
"Whatever happened to Seiya is my fault. I should've protected him. I should have saved him." She lowered her gaze.
"He died to protect you. He couldn't have you die and him live on." Usagi piped up.
"AND LET ME LIVE MY LIFE WITHOUT HIM!?" She screamed, slamming her hands onto the table, startling Luna and Artemis, the two sleeping cats. Usagi's eyes filled with tears but she quickly brushed them away. She didn't want to be weak anymore but neither did Joey. The green-eyed girl stared the group down until someone knocked on the door. Rei stood up, and went to the door, only to be pushed aside by two men. They stared down at Joey with hard eyes.
"What did you do to him?!" the white haired one, which Minako had said was Yaten, nearly yelled at Joey. She shrank against Makoto's chest and whimpered. Taiki placed a hand on the man's shoulder and shook his head. Yaten took a deep breath and looked back at Joey, who had begun to cry again. She was scared, but the others didn't see it. They only saw that one of their friends was dead and there was a new Soldier in their midst. Mako stroked Joey's hair lovingly as she watched the other two.
"Did Michiru and Haruka come with you two?" Usagi asked, only to be met with a shake of their heads. Ami explained that something needed to be done with Joey, and that her power was unstable, being more unstablized with the passing hour. The girl just shook her head and buried it further against Makoto. She whispered Seiya's name over and over again, as if that would make him come back. But she already knew that her life had changed that night. And there was nothing that they could do. There was a death and a new Enemy on the loose. And there might be more lives claimed if they didn't stop it….