The sky now cloudy and menacing rolled over the horizon of
new Tokyo. Contrasting to the sunny day which it engulfed. As it came
so did a premonition of the coming storm.
Serena walked aimlessly around town for hours. Not knowing what
to do or what to say. Right now she wasn't in the mood to talk to any
one.
The cool air blew strongly grabbing her hair and letting it
fly wildly in the wind. She didn't really care. She was angry.
She was angry at the scouts. Angry at the world. Angry at her self.
She made a mistake. She knew that. But it wasn't like they didn't make
mistakes from time to time. And hadn't they betrayed her, not thinking,
not caring`. They who were her friends. Those who said they would always
be there.
Serena thought back to the moon kingdom. She had some memories.
But most of them were mixed with faces which she couldn't remember. Had
she seen these people on the moon or were they memories from her
previous lives on earth. So many memories she tried to keep buried.
Trying desperately to hold on what little was left of her life before
all this turmoil with the Dark kingdom had occurred.
She knew some memories were from the moon for the only reason
that the earth hung brightly in the dark void above. She could remember the
first time she had met the scouts and prince Darien.
She was only ten years old. It had been the first time she had
attended court. Queen Serenity had been taught at an early age the weight
the crown and the responsibility that came with it. She wanted to pass on
this responsibility to her daughter Serena.
It was the first time Serena had seen the great hall.
Before it had been the only room in the palace she wasn't allowed to enter.
Serena had been very nervous as she waited with her mother.
"Now Serena have you understood every thing I told you. Today
you are going to meet the future court of this solar system. Each of the
planets has sent their royal family. The young people you meet today
will be your confidants for the rest of your life. Plus you will meet
your future intended."
"Yes Mother." acknowledged Serena. She had been nervous all day
her mother had been making a big deal about this and she didn't know what to
expect. Plus she was to meet her future husband and heir to the throne.
Her mother and the king of earth had agreed to fortify the new treaty
by the marriage between the princess Serena and the Prince Darien.
She closed her eyes for a second to collect her thoughts and then
turned to the great door way which was before her.
Her mother nodded to the guards and they opened the large doors.
>From in side she could hear the voices of dozens of people. She walked
forward with her mother. Her eyes blinked in amazement as she took in her
surroundings. Before her was a long lavender carpet. Which stretched
forward in-between a slim crevice that separated the hall into two halves.
It stretched forward until reaching some steps where it then scaled upward
and then leveled off again. The carpet continued on a small
plateau which was encircled by 8 chairs, four on the right and four on
the left, and at the back were two elegant thrones and on each side were
stood many servants with trumpets and such. As she walked along
the path that led before her she became aware of the multitudes of
people. They all looked downwards with devotion to their Queen and her
daughter. They walked forward to the steps where at which Serena lifted the
front of her flowing dress slightly and proceeded to the top.
She walked forward keeping her body and eyes straight. Seated on
the throne to the left sat a young man with dark hair. To his right
stood a middle aged man with his hand on his son's shoulder. Serena couldn't
quite explain it but she felt an instant rapport with him as if she had know
him all her life. She had felt that he was the one who stood in the
shadows when she was alone. He was the one who was always their with her.
As the young Prince looked upon the princess he too felt an instant
feeling of serendipity. She had been the beautiful young woman calling him
from his dreams. He knew she would be their on today of all days.
As Serena and her mother made it up to the two thrones
the prince stood to greet them. Then Queen Serenity moved to the right
of the thrones and took up the same position the king of earth had did.
Serena then walked over to the prince and curtseyed as her attendants
had showed her in the weeks prior to the event. He then took her hand and
kissed it gently. They both turned to their seats and sat.
As Serena looked upward the view almost took her breath away.
Literally millions of people sat divided into two sets of seats. She knew
before that their was a lot of people their but from her vantage point
she didn't know exactly how many. And even more amazing above them
lay a giant window which opened up to the night sky. The earth floated
in the infinite void along with the other plants. Mercury, Venus, mars,
Jupiter, all hung brightly in the sky. The hint of magic lingered in the
window making the planets visible yet they were so far away. She could
even see the most outer planets yet they were smaller then the others.
The power of the window was strong but yet the distance was so great that
not even it could make much of a difference.
Bringing her gaze downward to her level she familiarized her self
with the people who sat to her right and the left. Each seated
in their own throne which what seemed like their respective guardians and
rulers behind them.
Then a voice sounded out aloud from a page boy who stood
to the right of the princess.
"It is my esteemed honor to pronounce, the guardians of the Princess
Serena and the realms for which she stands for. All stand for Princess Raye
of Mars, Princess Mina of Venus, Princess Amy of mercury, Princess Lita of
Jupiter, Princess Hotaru of Saturn, Princess Haruka of Uranus, Princess
Michiru of Neptune, and last but not least the Princess Setsuna of Pluto!"
The eight Guardians stood and curtsied to the Princess and Prince
Darien, in return she did the same as the prince bowed in respect.
Queen Serenity then moved away from the throne and moved to the
center of the plateau.
"And with this we fortify the future on today of all days, when all
the planets enter the gateway to the universe."
All of the future leaders stood and moved to the center of the
plateau with Serenity. Each raised their scepters into the air letting
forth a blast of energy along with Prince Darien raising a great sword.
Each of the beams of power converged to one point and sent forth a
dazzling array of fire works.
In the years to follow the inner scouts trained to once become rulers
of their respective planets, trained as defenders of the universe
and become the amazing Sailor scouts. The rulers of the outer planets
were older then the inner planets and so they left to take on their
responsibilities. The Princess and prince grew deeper in love and hope for
the future flourished but those dreams of peace were shattered by the evil
negaverse.
"They said they would always be there for me, always protect me."
whispered Serena as she slowly awoke from her day dream.
"Always Love me." she said remembering how Darien had left her
yet on the last night of their Kingdom he said he would always be there.
Serena hadn't noticed it but she was crying. But they weren't the
tears she usually shed from time to time. These were real tears, tears of
Loneliness. Through her tears she looked around and noticed that she had
walked to the park. She was sat down on one of the benches letting all her
feelings out.
"Ah Serena are you O.k.?" said a voice from behind her.
Serena turned around and to her surprise their stood Darien.
"Yes, I'm, I'm fine." she managed to get out between sobs.
"No you're not, you've been crying." he said with compassion. Darien
knew that he shouldn't have been even talking with her. He knew for her sake
he should have stayed away. But when he noticed that she was crying he
couldn't help but feel a deep pain.
"Nothing, nothing's wrong." she turned her face away from him. She
couldn't bear to look at him.
"Darien, I need you to do something for me, tell me what I did wrong?"
She now was looking up in his eyes. He could see her pain but was helpless
to do anything about it.
"Oh Serena, don't you understand? You didn't do anything wrong.
It's me, Serena I just," he felt a sudden feeling of dread as he spoke the
words, "don't love you anymore."
At that moment Serena's world just fell apart. She had always hoped
that they were going to be reunited but now her denial just slipped away
and she knew she was wrong. She looked down in her hand. Clutched in it
was her locket.
Serena quickly got up and started to vacantly walk away. All the
color had ran from her face. The truth hurt too much. She didn't say any
thing to Darien. She just need to get out of here.
"Serena come back." shouted Darien as she walked away. Hearing his
voice made her move faster until she had sprinted out of sight.
Darien felt horrible as he looked down seeing the locket. He picked
it up and held it tightly in his hand.
"Maybe this is for the best, " he thought ", maybe now she'll be
safe."
Yes now Serena was safe but how could he go on. He loved her with
his entire heart and soul. But he vowed to live with the pain. He loved
her too much to endanger her.
"Serena, I love you." he whispered. He took the locket and put it
inside his jacket next to his heart and slowly walked away as the lightning
sounded out far above.
******************************
Serena had ran with all her might. She could feel the tears running
down her cheeks, like the soft summer rain which had started to come down
slowly around her. She ran until her legs hurt but the pain in her heart
was much worst. She felt like she running from something. Not the fight
she had with the scouts, not the truth she heard form Darien, but some thing
inside her was chasing her and then she realized that what she was truly
running from was herself.
She stopped and looked around. Night was descending on Tokyo and
the rain streamed down like a curtain washing away all the color and life
that it had once embodied.
Serena began to shiver as the rain started to come down stronger.
She quickly ran to a near by gazebo for shelter from the storm.
She put her hand to her head fully covering a quarter of her face.
She felt horrible. She felt trapped.
"How did everything go so wrong?" she thought. She felt despair
sweeping over.
"The scouts hate me, my life as Sailor moon is over." she said as
the pillar of strength know as Sailor moon fell in battle and was defeated.
"Darien doesn't love me anymore." she said softly as if the words
were too painful to speak out loud. The symbol of love and peace know
as Princess Serena swooned as she was dethroned.
"My life as Serena is gone." she said and with this the tiny part
of her that was Serena despondently and hopelessly gave up her soul.
Her head moved Mechanically as it entered the flash of
lightning exposing her face. All her features were set in a cold
silence but for her eyes. Her eyes shone blue in the night and as the
lightning flashed again a dark light glimmered inside and enveloped the light
blue spheres with a explosion of darkness.
To the naked eye it looked like Serena but to those who knew her
would know better. For now it was only an empty shell. That which
was the soul of the Princess, the warrior Sailor Moon, and the young girl
Serena was buried deep inside in the darkest realms of the mind. Trapped
in her own mind. And the thing which linked her to this world, her body,
she no longer controlled. The darkness inside had full power, and with
that power it controlled the destiny of the world. It controlled the life
of the future. It knew the destiny of this young girl and it's mission,
to make sure that destiny was never fulfilled.
It slowly got up and walked into the rain. The rain was coming
down harder now but it did not react. It just calmly walked forward into
the night intent on fulfilling its mission.
********************
Raye sat alone in her room. The darkness surrounding her. Soft
music played in the background. She felt terrible.
She couldn't believe what they had done, what she had done.
She could hardly bare to think of it. Sometimes her mind would slip and she
would react what she did, watching her self saying those things, wanting to
say some thing to change it but the events were carved in time. Nothing
could ever clear the slate. She would never be able to forget that day.
Yes life would go on, Serena would forgive her and everything would
go back to the way it was but this was something she would always carry.
She listened to the rain pounding down out side, to the thunder
crash. But nothing unnerved her. She was in deep thought. She never knew
remorse could feel this bad.
She tossed in her bed just looking into the shadows. She felt like
she didn't want to see tomorrow. She didn't want to have to face Serena
with out feeling so bad about what she had done. All she wanted to do was
sleep. Sleep forever not having to face all the pain and tribulations of
the next day.
She tossed again. She felt like she was going to go crazy. Looking
over she saw Serena's Transformation broach. It lay there, a cold lump
in the shadow's of the night. When Serena had left no one knew what to do.
After discussing it they decided to let her be for a while.
Tackle it with a fresh mind in the morning when Serena and the scouts had
cooled down a little. Raye volunteered to hold on to the broach for her.
The phone rang softly from her night table. She reached over to
pick it up and then hesitated wondering who could it be.
She picked up the phone and softly said "Hello?"
"Hello Raye, have you seen Serena since, since this afternoon?" said
Amy in a quivering voice hoping she wouldn't say no.
"No Amy. " she paused, unnerved by her tone, "Why do you ask?"
"Maybe you should get over here, I'm at Serena's she never came
home this afternoon." said Amy, "I called everybody no one has seen her. Her
mom was worried about her and she called me about 30 minutes ago." she
waited for Raye's response.
"I'm heading over."
"Ok, bye."
"Bye." said Raye as she put down the phone. Raye quickly dressed and
grabbed Serena's broach. She slipped on her rain coat and ran out the door.
Her grandfather would be mad for her going out so late without saying
anything, but she didn't really care, she had more important things on her
mind.
***************************
The wind was howling now pushing at Serena's back as she stood
high upon the precipice. Her two long lengths of hair waving back and forth
like the sail of a ship at storm.
She took one step forward.
She gazed out over the sea. It churned and boiled with an unseen
rage. It beckoned to her. It was beautiful but deadly, life giving but
killing. The gray waves tossed and turned, pounding upon the rocks far
below.
She took another step forward.
Serena looked back one last time at Tokyo. She was on some high
cliffs of the shore line on the outer most reaches of the city. She could
see the lights, the life, the power inside the city but yet everything
seemed empty. Cold. Steel. Dead. Each word a sentence in their own. Each
embodying life times of memories. She turned her head away. Her body
shivered slightly reacting to the weather conditions. The eyes seemed to
fade a little but the power just grew returning them to the cold, steel,
death which they embodied. It was like the real Serena had almost broke free
only to be pushed down deeper into the darkness.
She took another step. Now she stood at the edge of the precipice.
With the waves opening up far below. She stood at the very edge just gazing
out over the forlorn water.
Her eyes shone black in the night. The emptiness slowly reaching
out to the rest of her body like a virus. The wind was howling, the waves
crashing, the thunder booming but to Serena everything was quite. The wind,
the waves, the thunder all pale comparisons to the tempest that raged in
her head.
She took another step forward.
****************************
Darien lay asleep on his couch. He had sat down to watch TV and
had fallen asleep. He tossed in his sleep. He was dreaming again. But
this time it wasn't the same. The dreams that bothered him all these weeks
had ceased and now was replaced with that of Serena standing on a high
cliff. She stepped forward and fell into the void before her.
He awoke with a start. His heart was pounding like mad. He knew
it was another one of the dreams he was having but this time it was
different. The dream slowly faded out of existence and left Darien wondering
what had he dreamt. It was different somehow, almost real.
He had felt funny ever since this afternoon shortly after dusk when
the storm had got worst. He felt like some part of him self was slipping
away.
He turned over looking at the TV but not really watching it. He
still remembered how he treated Serena and he couldn't help but feel horrible.
He put his hand to his pocket and pulled out the locket.
He looked at it in the flickering light of the TV. He opened it
listening to the music. He slowly closed his eyes tightly and whisper,
"I'm sorry."
****************************
Raye turned around the corner into Serena's drive way. Parked
there was a police car.
Raye walked quickly as she moved up the walk of Serena's house. The
rain had stopped and a starry night sky was beginning to unfold over head.
Raye's went up to the door and knocked.
Amy answered and let Raye inside. All the girls were their along
with Serena's parents sitting on the couch. Standing their talking to
Serena's parents was the police officer.
"So when was the last time you saw her?" looking to Serena's mother
for an answer.
Serena's mom answered vacantly, the stress was too great, "This
morning, I was taking our niece Renie to the zoo. She was asleep at the
time and I only got to mention that we were leaving, I'm not even sure if
she heard me."
"Are you sure she isn't at a friend's house and she forgot to tell you?"
Amy volunteered an answer, "I called all her friends and no one has
seen her since, " she paused slightly ", this afternoon. The only one I
couldn't reach was Darien. I don't know his number."
"And who is this Darien a boyfriend or something?" he asked looking
to the girls for an answer.
"Yes you could say that." said Lita as she sat down on a big chair
adjacent to the couch.
"What! A boy friend! I'll kill him! If he hurt her I'll." shouted
Serena's father as his fear turned to anger.
"Calm down sir. The last thing we need is someone going into
hysterics. Did she have any reason to run away?"
"Is that what you think happened to her?" asked Serena's mom.
"I can't think of any thing, she had a pretty stable life."
"She didn't have problems at school, overwhelming stress, a fight
with a friend or family member." The last words struck the scouts hard.
"Well we did have a fight this after noon, we meaning all of us."
offered Mina. All of the scouts hung their heads low each regretting what
they had done.
"Well we should contact this so called 'Boyfriend'. Does any one
know the number? If he doesn't know I'll call it in and organize a search.
We normally have to wait 24 hours to file a missing persons report but
under the circumstances I think one is called for."
"I know the phone number." said Raye walking over to the phone.
Raye remembered it from the short time she had dated Darien.
She picked up the phone and dialed the number. She listened to the
phone ring Several times and then answer.
"Hello Darien, have you seen Serena lately?"
Darien was still on the couch pondering what had happened between
Serena and him.
"I saw her this afternoon shortly before the storm started but I haven't
seen her since."
"I was afraid you were going to say that. Darien Serena's missing."
No response came. Darien just sat there in his apartment, not
believing what he was hearing.
"Darien are you O.k.?" came Raye's voice over the phone.
"Yes, I just, I just." he said not knowing how to describe what he
had felt when he heard Serena was missing.
"I understand, I felt the same way. Could you wait one second
please?" asked Raye.
"He hasn't seen her since this afternoon." she said to the officer.
The officer nodded and left the house to radio in the report.
"Darien I'll call you back if we hear anything." replied Raye. She
knew he would want to come over, "I don't think you should come over right
now. Her father is not in the best mood." she whispered hinting that him there
might do more trouble than good.
"Yeah call me if you hear anything."
"Ok, Bye." replied Raye.
"Bye." said Darien as he hung up the phone. He felt helpless. All
he could do is wait and pray to god they found her.
***********************
The officer reached into his car and pulled out the radio.
"Hello Dispatch, this is officer Dunne, Over."
"Officer Dunne this is dispatch, over"
"I'd like to make a missing persons report, possible runaway. The
individual was a young girl of the age of 14. She had blond long blond hair
put into two long pony tails and what the family described as hair done up
into two meat balls on her head. She was wearing a light blue dress, over.
"We just got a 911 call reporting someone trying to commit suicide
of that description. She was found on the beach just east of the city.
She was sent to south side hospital. Her condition is unknown, over."
"I'll get the family down to identify her, over and out"
The officer put down the phone and prepared to break the news to the
family. Remembering to say that the condition was unknown.
He walked up the steps and into the house. They were all sat down
waiting for word from the officer.
"We've found your daughter." he said they could tell what he was
going to say by the look in his eyes. "She was found on the beach just south
of the city."
Serena's mom started to cry and buried her head into her husbands
chest.
"Is she, is she?" his voice quivered. As he held his wife tighter.
"Her condition is unknown. She's down at the south side hospital.
They say it was a suicide attempt. They need you to come down and verify
if it's her."
The girls were shocked and started to feel tears fill their eyes.
Raye closed her eyes, her body started to shake from head to toe.
"No it can't be, No!" she exclaimed tears starting to spill forth
from her eyes.
"I'm sorry" said the officer trying to comfort them.
"You should go I'll stay here and watch Renie and Sammy. I'll call
Darien too, what's his number?" said Mina wiping the tear from her eyes.
She tried to compose her self. Raye gave her the number and tried to call
Darien as Serena's Parents and the Scouts quickly left for the hospital.
The phone rang once and then Darien answered.
"Hello!" he said into the phone as if he had been impatiently waiting
by the phone ever since Raye called.
"Darien." she took a deep breath, "They found Serena. She's, She's."
she said starting to feel her self starting to cry again.
"She's what Mina? Calm down and tell me!" he exclaimed frantically.
"She's down at the south side hospital. You should get their quick."
"Oh my god is she Ok?"
"They don't know. They think it was a suicide." said Mina in a hollow
voice.
Darien felt his stomach churn as she said the words. He thought
he was going to be sick.
"I got to get down their, Bye." he didn't wait for her reply. He
garbed his coat and shoes and ran down to his car.
"Please god don't let her be dead, oh please don't let her be dead."
he said as he started up the car. The car came to life and swerved out of
the parking lot.
He would never forgive him self if she was dead. If he had caused
it. If the last words he said to her was "I don't love you." The car roared
recklessly down the road and out of site.
