A Moon Never Clasped

By: Danni Lynn

Chapter 5: Dreams of the Forsaken

"And out of the ashes, she came like a beacon of light.

But, like every spark, she went out in the wake of the night."

~+!Serena+!~

An orange blaze hung low in the sky as brilliant yellow spiraled over red in an pinkish haze as the fading blue of the pond slowly became a murky brown in the water below. The wind tussled ebony hair into parting to the left, hovering lightly over the left eye of a 6'5" tall man. Hunching over a blonde covered frame, their shadows interlocked as they stretched far behind them.

Gazing lovingly into each others eyes, no words needed to be said, to know how much their bond ran deep through their emotions. If one were to die, then surely, the other would as well. To be interlocked by the same strings.

"Oh, Darien, I love you." The tiny woman whispered to the overbearing man she called Darien. A slight smile quirked the edges of his lips as he put his hand to her face and gently caressed it. Opening his mouth to speak, his sapphire eyes bored lovingly into hers murmuring his untold secrets to her, but suddenly they widened in dismay as gruff hands lean forcefully on her chest, knocking her away.

Scrapping up her skin as she fell onto her butt, the blonde could only stare in horror as her lover's eyes glazed over with a look of surprise forever placed in the depths of his steely gaze. Face paling to an ashy white, he weakly lifted his arm reaching for her. Leaning forward, she tried to grasp his hand, but by mere inches his hand strained for a second then went limp, falling uselessly to his side, unmoving.

"No." His voice trailed off on the wind as his head bent down, as a strangled choke passed between his lips. Following his shocked stare, the blonde quickly pin pointed the reason of the turn of events as the gleam of crimson shone brightly in the fading light. Blood poured quickly onto the darkening concrete filling the cracks and crevices of the stone, as the blonde felt her heart squeeze in agony.

As the body began to grow cold, in the center of her lover's chest was a fist. That held Darien's still beating heart in its palm. Giving it a tight squeeze, the heart burst like a balloon as ember splattered her face and clothes. Drenching her in Darien's life essence.

"No." She whispered as she bent forward and softly touched Darien's shirt, giving it a hard tug. The body slumped towards the ground, as the penetrating hand slowly withdrew out of Darien's chest. A chilling laugh filled the quiet void of space as the woman's gaze traveled upward at the standing figure that rested one booted foot on top of Darien's bleeding back. "Galaxia."

Golden hues glared down crudely at the blonde like goddess, scrutinizing her in much of a judgmental manner. Enjoying her insulting thoughts, the brazen monster clad in silver armor quirked her lips in a Cheshire grin, bestowing the sun-haired woman to quiver in what may seem to some like anger, to others in fear. "Now my dear, poor Serena, is that anyway to treat your master? I own you. Don't you dare to think otherwise."

Eyes widening in dismay, Serena hung her head in defeat, unable to understand why her beloved laid dead at this woman's feet. "'I thought he was invincible'" She unknowingly murmured her thoughts aloud, while she tried to organize her incoherent mind. Flicking her eyes back up at Galaxia, she glared stunned at the woman that dared try to have a right to own her.

"He would be invincible, if only you didn't exist, he would still be alive." Galaxia bent down and whispered into her ear. Staring intently at the blood that soaked the ground glistening in the faint moonlight, Serena could only agree in utter defeat.

He did die because it was her fault, right?

Dazed, she watched the infinite darkness stretch before her in endless shadows, whispering and muttering all her secrets and lies. Telling her over again and again what she dread to bear;

reality.

Illuminated by its own shine, the crimson flow dribbled eerily from her left breast in an gory fashion as it dripped slowly from her white uniform, puddling around her.

A golden hilt, encrusted with diamonds and other luxurious things unknown to the human world, stood at the base of Serena's chest twisting her insides with sharp razors. Protruding from her back and embedded deep into the ground below her, pain was not the word to describe her emotions and raging fire that burned every molecule in her petite frame.

Half-lidded eyes ripped open as her pupils shrunk as a searing roar erupted from the princess of the moon, the slave of a superior master, the child forgotten from the world. Existent to non-other than herself, she lived alone, survived alone, made do by herself. This blonde, this girl went to hell screaming and kicking, and went she got out she turned around with a click of her heel and embraced it with arms wide-open, not for herself as of an escape but for the well-beings of her beloved.

How noble is this forgotten child?

Yet,

how foolish is she, as well?

Clutching the darkness, trying to grip something that wasn't there, Serena shrieked out in agony as her voice soon became raw from screaming. Eyes dilating and azure blue became nothing but a ring surrounding a black abyss, her yelling ceased and her arched back relaxed, only causing more blood to spill around the hilt of the blade.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Gazing out into oblivion, Serena laid pinned to the ground by a sword that was burning her insides with flames as her expression dulled from any sign of life.

Flowing from the corners of her eyes, a few tears trickled out and ran down the side of her face, giving her a reminder that even though she was forgotten, does not mean, she, herself, had forgotten.

How far had she gone for people that no longer knew that she existed?

How would they ever remember?

Long before humans ruled the Milky-way galaxy as a superior being far beyond any intellectual figure, there were many races that dueled to own the galaxy, via the universe. Yet, only one race stood among the many others as a high individual, they were known as the Lunairians. They were acknowledged to be kind and loving as well as beautiful and strong.

Cunningly, the King of the Lunairians, Jericho, battled each and every king of the solar system in an arena, all of them against him. The arena was placed on the home of the Earthlings, where King Elis resided. The Earthlings were greedy and dishonest, yet the King of them, was quite the opposite. Refusing to fight in the battle, Elis requested that whomever wins the tournament that their first-born princess marry the next male heir in the Earthling line.

King Elis slyly knew that if this were to happen, then Earth would be the main kingdom over the universe. Since King Apollo of the sun had been burned alive by his own naivete, his entire planet perished in a matter of a hundred years. Since then, the galaxy had been at war with each other, since all treaties had been bound to the King of the planet, Sun. A millennium later, King Jericho rose from the ashes and held this tournament that everyone scoffed and believed would be a waste of their so-called precious time.

With his own hand-made blade, Lite, Jericho quickly eliminated all his enemies with his sharpness and speed. In two years time he won the tournament after receiving a rather recent illness that took a turn for the worst after the birth of his first and only child, Princess Selene. During the time of his recent achievement and death, he was implicated as the King of the universe as his kingdom began to thrive. Though there were rather meager squabbles with King Ares and King Uranus over the complete domination of authority and power, Jericho wasted no time in putting them in their place.

As Jericho's illness dragged on for years, his daughter, Selene, brutally murdered her father with his own sword, Lite, as to have power over the Lunairian kingdom. It was either marry the Earthling prince or death of her father. King Elis' son became harshly cruel after his own father's passing and ran rampant with fury all over his kingdom, doing rather morbid childish deceits to his fellow Earthlings.

The surprise of the repugnant princess going so far as the murder of kin to gain liability and control of the empire not only set fear into all of the planets' heirs but some mutual respect as well for the distaste of favoring marriage to an Earthling. To say in the least, that King Elis and Jericho's promise went in vain is a lie, for it did become set in stone but not after many many years.

Queen Selene of the Milky-way galaxy was rather implicitly childish with fairness and kindness but was rather harsh to those that deceived or refused orders.

The planets' grew to highly respect the bloody beauty for she was all that was and was not a queen.

She was crude. She was clumsy. She was stubborn. She was fair. She was passionate. She was sinister. She was one track minded. She was:

Selene.

She ruled one hand with an iron the fist , while she stretched her arms wide open. Welcoming the hated and the loved. After some time as Queen, the Venusian King Virgil took the young Lunairian's heart and soon enough they had two children. Serenity and Vulcan. Losing interest in Virgil, Selene cut off all ties she had with the Venusian and returned back to her kingdom on the moon, leaving behind her only son, Vulcan, to be the next heir of Venus. Having no complaints in the sudden departure, Virgil was only left heartbroken to take care of his heir with his concubines.

To the Lunairians' disbelief and regret, Selene brought only her daughter, Serenity, from Venus and raised her alone. Wanting only females to rule the universe, Selene was set onto having all heirs of the moon to be girls and nothing more, for they were truly much more compassionate then the males.

At one point in time, Ares' son, Augustus, reprimanded Selene for confining the Marshian race to be limited and pulled from the High Arc round table as a rightful planet. Honoring the normally timid Augustus, Mars soon became the general of war if such a thing was ever needed. Given a Higher Arc seat in the round table of the solar system, Augustus became increasingly popular among the representatives of the Chairs. There were rumors of Mars over throwing the moon for ruler of the utopia empire, as to put to silence of such talk, Selene brought Augustus to a dual, winner becomes King or Queen.

Though the Marshians were highly praised on their fighting abilities they completely lacked the common need of brains and sense, alas, no matter how bright Augustus was, Selene was much more cunning and sly to win the match. She won with no fingers raised, metaphorically speaking anyway.

As the planet Earth was rounding a collapse of revolution onto the verge of destruction, Selene rushed right in and saved them, using her Lunairian healing powers to shed light on their darkening doorstep. That light quickly set the Earth from its era of sadism to an era of rebirth.

Such a feat, took a mighty toll on the Queen of the universe, Selene, dying on her death-bed, she brought her daughter into power and enforced a law that would forever change the way of the universe. She decreed hours before she passed that all female princesses be strictly trained as a warrior to protect the surviving heir of the empire, whether it was of Lunairian lineage or a different race all together and that all princes must marry off to a ruling heir to keep the sacracy of pure blood.

The death of Selene completely left an imprint on everyone's heart for that the Queen, as cruel as she could be, was much more passionately kinder than any king ruled by the planets. To honor her memory, they gave her the title as the goddess of the moon and obeyed her law. Though it was awkward and strange for the roles of prince and princess to be reversed, it certainty caused a much more stabilized environment of peace through the empire, even Earth had a time of such a tranquilized period.

Soon enough, four generations passed, and each heir of the moon became to be called 'Serenity' to keep the connection of the moon goddess. Scandalous as the law Selene reenforced seemed, it worked rather sufficiently. The Lunairian kingdom kept their title over their universe and all planets respected it. During the era of the second generation, all heirs of the planets came together and combined their powers into a sacred diamond of the moon called the Silver Imperuim Crystal to finalize the unity of the universe. The princesses of the planets came to protect not only the princess of the moon but the crystal as well.

During the fourth generation, Serenity the third, gave birth to twin females which in the entire Lunairian history had never happened. Twins on the Moon was rather rare for that each Lunairian held such a power that it was unique to their own style, none two was ever the same. So when the twins were born, the consorts of the Queen, Luna and Artemis transpired the fall of the Universe as the lull of human Earthlings became the ruler of the Utopia Empire.

Dispelling the invalid prophecy, Serenity the third held no superstitions that it might come true but she did have sneaking suspicions that such a thing could be so, uneventful as it appeared she placed a wish upon the crystal that if such a prophetic thing did ever happen in her life time that all her powers be confiscated by the crystal into reviving all and any deaths that would come so they would be placed into a different life time so they could have a chance at real happiness.

Using the law that Selene decreed, the first-born twin was to be trained to be a warrior with all the other planets' warriors, as for the second-born twin, she was to be made the next heir. Though many had declined on such a thing and conflict began saying it was unfair, Serenity the third silenced their inquisitive discomforts by challenging them to defy their authority. Though the Queen of Mars, Bellona, did take the challenge she was submissively placed back into her original title for she had not lasted no more than a minute in the ring with Serenity and the legendary sword, Lite, made by Selene's father, Jericho. Defeated, Bellona made no more jeering remarks to the Queen ever again but did train her daughter, Rei rather harshly to be just as strong as Serenity's daughter, and to be loving and caring of her, for she could be sent to death if she were to go against orders.

And so, the fourth generation is where Serena lived on the moon with all of her warriors and twin sister, Selena;

Golden hair streaked with silver, shone eerily in the clear dark sky as light flooded onto the ground, lighting up all that was shrouded in shadows. The sound of laughing broke the silence as a petite blonde ran through ankle deep grass, being rather viciously chased by a mob of female figures. Hair of all natural colors, twined together around the surrounding bodies as a fierce wind blew, hinting slightly at a faint smell of ash.

"Princess Serena! By mother of God, get back here child! This is no time to be frolicking in a plain, when there is tension between the Earth and Moon kingdom." Twisting her head, to glance submissively over her shoulder, the silver blonde gave the stern raven head a wicked grin as she arced high into the air and hit the ground with a soft thud! And rolled around in the grass enjoying the sensation of freedom.

The blonde, which the raven haired woman called Princess Serena, sat up in the grass and patted the ground next to her, inviting the older women to sit beside her. "Sweet goddess! Rei, ever since we were young, you always acted just like Sister! So stiff and nagging! Lighten up a little, your just a couple of years older than me, no need to be so formal." The Princess merrily jeered as she plopped down onto the grass, placing her hand high into the air and stretching it out, trying to cover the blue marble planet called Earth.

A tall brunette giggled as she slapped the raven, Rei, on the back, causing the black haired warrior to stumble abit at the strength the other girl emitted in an imitating aura. "Yeah, Rei, she's right, you are a stiff. Be a princess for once in your life. You were born one, you know?" The tall warrior remarked as she parked a seat next to her beloved princess and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder, giving Rei the puppy face, pouting lips and all.

Trying to hide the slight smile, Rei let the tips of her fingers catch fire as she blew a hot breeze the brunette's way, which caused her brown hair to immediately frizz on impact. "Take that, Lita! Your more a warrior than anyone her, you hulking Amazon!"

Staring startled at the raven, anger sparked eerily in the brunette's eyes, as Lita, the dark browned haired warrior, bounced to her feet and murmured to the sky, lightening to her hand. Eyes widening, Rei dodged a flash of white just in mere moments of being fried like her fire.

Suddenly, a surprised squeal erupted from behind the fiery warrior, as an azure haired imp fell to the ground limp, with only a bit of limbs twitching to give a hint of any movement. Lita shrieked in fear, as she ran to her fallen comrade, while glaring daggers at Rei, who hopelessly gawked at the worsening situation. "Fire of Ares! I'm so sorry, Ami! It wasn't my fault, Lita was the one who threw the lightening!" She whined as she tried to help her fellow partner to gain her center of balance again, who stood wobbly on her feet.

"I'm sorry, Rei, Lita, this is the end for me. Go on, live happy lives." The tiny woman called Ami, tripped and fell into the waiting arms of a rather beautiful, sun kissed blond, that had tears forming down the sides of her cheeks. "Oh, Ami." She sobbed as she bent her head, letting her bangs cover her face.

Rapidly, the atmosphere grew increasingly dark as the fear settled into the hearts of Rei and Lita, as they watched on with wary eyes. Then, with a morbid smirk, the blonde shoved the blue haired girl away from her as she giggled at the startled Ami, who failed falling onto her butt, as she glared angrily up at the laughing blonde. "Thanks a lot, Mina. Now, my butt hurts more than my nerves. Stupid Lita, and her amazon strength. Stupid Rei, and her short tempered reactions." The grumbling warrior complained as she made her way onto her feet, only to await the oncoming gang up of the brunette and raven head, as they prepared to jump the tiny woman.

The sound of clapping broke the tensing silence as all eyes turned to look at the Princess, who was rolling on the ground clutching her stomach in pure agony as she tried to swallow bouts of laughter. "Bravo, bravo, my little krieger!" The petite child called out to her stunned audience, as they stood together in a lined fashion and bowed with grins gracing each and everyone's lips.

The bright atmosphere soothingly hummed away all worries, as even Rei, forgot her earlier fears and basked in the warmth of her bonds with the women she had known since she was very small. The princesses of the galaxy bathed in the comfort of friendship, for even of all their power and strength, they stood very alone amongst their people, whom were unable to completely comprehend their internal pain.

Suddenly, the smell of ash becomes increasingly distinguishable as the sky to the East becomes shrouded in darkening billows of smoke, all heads turn to stare at the East, as a faint haze of red glows in a thin strip against the horizon, which by the second, becomes larger and larger.

Feeling her heart cringe in fear, Princess Serena grips her friend and fellow guard's, Lita's hand as the aurora of blazing vermillion consumes more and more of the Eastern sky in varies shades of crimson. "That's coming from-" Serena whispered, fearing to finish the sentence, as she drew closer to Lita's looming figure, slowly hiding behind her warrior's back. "-the Eastern quadrant palace. Where most of the soldiers are stationed." The other blonde, Mina, finished her princess's comment as she tightly clutched a heart shaped chain, that dug deep into her skin, making her knuckles go white from her vise-like grip.

Staring intently out off into the horizon, Serena made out the barest of figures, that appeared to be nothing more than specks of black that dotted the land. Then, the sound of roaring soon became evident and overtook all senses as more and more of those tiny specks grew larger and larger, in size and in numbers.

Eyes widen in dismay, the Princess and her guardians watched with fear and fascination, as the bellowing of thousands of men charged on foot in a sprint with the gleam of their swords and spears glinting in the light, causing them to appear as if they were a glowing herd of dark mass. With a red haze of flames licking the sky as black clouds of smoke blot out the sun, the moon is engulfed into a shadowy world of darkness.

Suddenly, Princess Serena was shoved backwards as Lita took her place in front of Serena, acting as a shield to provide safety for her beloved princess. "Lita." Serena murmured in a quiet baritone as she clutched her friend's skirt fearfully, much like a child would do to a mother. Lita glanced over her shoulder and stared at Serena with sullen eyes, when their gazes met, Lita's eyes filled with determination and love. 'Yes, this is where I will die. Next to my dear, dear, princess.' Lita mournfully decided as she turned around and placed a hand on Serena's face, giving the Princess an encouraging smile.

"I'll protect you, believe in yourself, Princess. You must survive." She whispered as their locked gaze broke when the other warriors gathered in a circular formation around Serena. Whipping around fast, Lita screamed into the heavens with her hand raised high and palm outstretched as her green laced dress, became her sailor fuku and thin bolts of electricity flashed all around her, serving as a menacing aura.

"Sailor Jupiter..." The Princess started as she got the implications the sailor had previously implied, eyes hardening with resolution, Serena nodded her head with a graceful bow before she stood ramrod straight. The glow of the Lunairian symbol of the crescent moon shone brightly onto Serena's forehead as she let the powers of her Lunairian abilities hum beneath her skin.

"Princess, what is your command?" Sailor Venus called from the right as she snapped her whip viciously into the air, waiting for the declaration of war to be signaled. Serena did not hesitate with her thoughts when she shouted out her command. "They have come to the moon with weapons and fire as their regal amendment for battle. Scouts! Show them the no mercy! They come to us asking for war. And war is what we shall bring!" The Princess roared as she lifted her hands out into the air, whispering prayers to the goddess of the moon, for protection and power.

"Hu-rah!" The warriors screamed as the tiny battle regiment of the scouts and princess charged the onslaught of thousands of men. As they bounded over yards and yards of grassy plains, the more the brigade of men became an outstanding force that stretched a mile wide and a mile round that sent fear into the hearts of the small party of sailors.

Suddenly, one distinguished scream ripped out into the air, as Mars that was set to the left of Jupiter, pulled one outstretched, gloved palm into the air facing the waves of men as fire erupted like a wall of molten lava as it flashed towards the withering hulks of bodies. Agonized shrieks quieted the roar of thundering feet and blood thirsty yelled, as the fire slowly went out and the smoke cleared, an entire grave of ash stood where men had once stood.

Serena flickered her gaze up at her protective friend, Rei, who as as Sailor Mars had sweat trickling down her brow and her face scrunched up in an pain twisted misery. Feeling concerned on her commissioner's well-being, the Princess took a step forward and helped the dazed sailor to regain her sense of adjustment as Sailor Mercury covered the entire battle zone in heavy mist, but it only did so well with the fire coming from the Eastern quadrant and its looming clouds of smoke. With it barely visible to see, the battalion of men charged onward, as they headed towards the scouts.

With Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus combining their powers to wipe out wave after wave that charged forward, it only caused a small fraction of a dent in the onslaught of men. "What kingdom do these men come from?" Mars shouted as she rushed one of the soldiers that got passed Jupiter and Venus' whip of lightening, as she ducked one of his jabs with a spear and snapped her fingers so close to his face, that not even ashes were left of his body to float on the wind.

"Earth...Kingdom..." The Princess murmured as she took a gasp for air trying to calm her racing heart, she had been channeling her energy from her prayers into the scouts for them to keep on fighting and was extremely exhausted, yet the men kept on coming. "What kingdom did you say, Princess?" Mercury screeched as she focused her energy on trying to cause rain to pour from the sky for the vanquish of the oncoming fire. "Earth Kingdom!" Serena replied as she helped Sailor Venus breathe as she had been impaled by a spear in the side. Making Venus lay down, Serena quickly dislodged the spear out of her side and placed a hand over the profusely bleeding wound and began to heal it.

Then out of nowhere, arrows rip into the sky, showering all that dared to be in the way. Mars went down on one knee as she was hit once threw the thigh, screaming she ripped it out and flashed the rest of the arrows into dust. Jupiter was a one-on-one fight with a soldier as Mercury struggled to keep the field hidden in mist while trying to burn out the fire. Then with a piercing yell, Mercury was stabbed through the stomach and lifted off the ground and thrown ten feet into the air and away from the scouts.

Within seconds, Serena clutched her heart in pain as the link between Mercury and the Princess broke. "Mercury is...dead." Serena announced as she gave Venus a slap on the shoulder, signaling that she was good to go, the Princess got up and picked up a sword that laid blood drenched alone onto the ground.

Even though Serena was nowhere as trained as her twin, Selena, she was most certainly trained in self-defense. "Mars can you hang in there? I'm almost out of energy!" Serena yelled as she brought her sword high and then low and slashed a tall wide set man's torso wide open. Blood spewed heavily onto her white dress as she dodged another swing from a soldier that was behind the one Serena had just brought down. "Yeah!" Came Mars' curt reply as a flash of fire sent waves of heat down Serena's spine.

Serena was pulling her crimson colored sword out of the abdomen of a dead soldier as the air behind her hissed and the sound of flesh being ripped met eerily into a quick cry. Glancing behind her, Serena saw Venus just in time for her to stumbled back onto the ground as she held one hand over her throat, gasping for air. Feeling anger surge through her, Serena leaped over the kneeling sailor and gouged his heart with her sword. Letting go, her blade and the man fell to the ground. "Venus!" The Princess shrieked as she knelt down and tried to heal her fallen friend but Venus laid her hand onto her princess's shoulder and gave her a caring look. With a strained smile, blood stained Venus' teeth and dribbled slowly out of her mouth.

Giving her heart another jerk, the link between Venus and the Princess broke as Serena's view went hazy as she tried to get a hold of this new profound pain that seared deep into her heart. "Serena!" A angered scream called to her, and with sullen tired eyes, Serena met the raged eyes of her sister, Selena, who stood before her in Earthling attire, sword in hand.

"Sister...?" Serena stuttered as a loud battle roar emerged from behind her, glancing back with wide eyes, Serena could only watch as her beloved friend and fiance fought. "Turn your attention here, Princess!" A flash of hot pain enveloped Serena as her cheek stung, feeling her burning cheek with shaking hands, Serena felt something warm and sticky flow between her fingers. Removing her hand away from her face, Serena stared at her fingers that were drenched in blood, her blood. "W-what?" She stammered as she flicked her gaze up towards her sister.

The one she had shared smiles and jokes with. Her fears and her love. The one that had sworn to be by her side till the day she died. Was all her memories of her beloved older twin a lie?

With a malicious grin that hinted at deviously torturous things, Selena raise her sword high above her head, "Time to die, sister!" She screamed and, for that one truly fearful moment, Serena's heart stopped. Time slowed and the world around her disappeared. All Serena knew up to that moment in time was the in-humane look in her twin's eye.

Then, time sped up and as Serena waited, prayed for death, not such thing was given as she opened her eyes to stared at her sister's rigid form. Both their eyes met as it went to the gleaming flash of metal soaked in blood that protruded disgustingly through the twin's stomach.

Then with a sickening wet squeal, Serena watched as her sister's throat became ripped open by a dagger that was held in a familiar hand. Blood sprayed onto Serena's face as her vision became blurred by her sister's life force as she watched the shadow appear into the light that had murdered her twin right in front of her eyes. With the dead body of her twin falling into her lap, Serena met the eyes of her twin's murderer and herself savior.

"M-m-master." She choked as her throat began to close up. Galaxia gave a feral grin as she tried to give a concerned look but only made it appear like a devil's blood craze hunger. "Princess, your sister only died because she was riddled with jealousy to have your life. She was trained to serve you, the younger sibling, when everybody had known that it should have been hers. You took your sister's life. You drove her to her death. She died because of you. It's your fault she died." Galaxia laughed as Serena stared down at her sister's pale eyes that would never fill with love for her ever again.

Petting her sister's soaked hair, Serena hung her head, her master's word echoing in her ears like a conundrum. "Oh, sister, why? Why?" Serena cried into her sister's blood drenched hair.

Why was death always her fault?

With one agonized screech, Serena's eyes widen in pain as she pulls her head to look up at the blade that was embedded deep into her heart. Blood was puddled around her as she felt dizzy and light headed from the lack of energy. Thoughts of her family and friends enraptured her mind as she willed herself not to grow weak. She couldn't die like this. She just couldn't!

Suddenly, with renewed strength and drudged up determination, Serena lifted her shaking arm and wrapped her nimble fingers around the hilt of the sword with one last yank, she pulled herself free of her entrapment. Then, staggering to her feet, she plunged the sword into the ground to get a center of balance.

Feeling her heart beat begin to slow, blood gushed vigorously out her open wound and sweat breaks out onto her brow.

Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Tears sting the corners of her eyes. Why couldn't she just be happy? All she wanted was to live a normal life. To worry about that people her age worried about. All she wanted was to live. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? Why couldn't this tired person finally have her rest and peace?

Ba-thump. … Ba-thump. … No! Her friends needed to be happy. Not her! Loved ones always come first. Herself should always be the last on her agenda. They had died in some many ways just for her. Just for her. Why couldn't she do the same for them? Why couldn't she sacrifice all that she had for them? Why couldn't she love them as much as they loved her?

… … Ba-thump... ...Yes, she could! She could love. She could die for them a thousand times over as long as... as long as...

Ba-... … … they were happy.

How how sweetly cruel dreams can be.

Okay! Here is the fifth chapter! Took me a while but I finally did it! I am so proud of myself, but honestly I think this chapter sucks. Sorry if it does. Review and tell me what you think!

-Danni