Only 16 Part 7 : Fighting Alone, Together By Azurite azurite_moon@yahoo.com PG-PG13 http://www.geocities.com/sailor_andromida Sailormoon is not mine. I started this story because of something I heard in Health ed class about teen pregnancies. While I am certainly no expert on the subject, and have most definitely breached the lines between fantasy and reality in this fic, I would like to remind all my esteemed readers that teen pregancy, no matter how it occured, is a hardship that too many have to face. For some, the end result is a bundle of joy that grows up quickly but beautifully, and for others, it is a world of pain and sacrifice. I hope to get my initial promise across as this story progresses. I sincerely apologize for the extreme waiting-- see, my little writing Muse packed her bags and ditched me, followed by my Internet Muse, who decided to side with both my parental units and not let me get on the net. So... with that said, I'm ecstatic that both my muses have returned and I am currently writing this. I'd like to thank all of my wonderful, superb fans... without you, I'd have no reason to get this far. Also, I'd like to recommend the following books "You Can Write A Romance" and "How to Write A Romance", as well as "Beginnings, Middles, and Ends". These helful books have given me the jumpstart to work on my stories faster, better, and all that other good stuff fans want. ^_^ Without further aideu, Part 7... ------------------------------------------------------------------ The woman clacked perfectly manicured maroon nails on the glistening marble tabletop. The black reflected back her smooth skin, shining, sharp nails, and grim expression as she stared into the table's surface. Slowly, but definitely, the clacking of her nails against the hard surface died away, as the swirling, wooshing sound from someplace unseen roared to life. At first soft, and then louder, the surface of the table warped, swirling like inky black liquid, and then reaching up to grasp the arm of she who dared to touch its surface. The woman made no attempt to fight back and allowed herself to be drawn into the darkness. Seconds later, she landed, black knee-high boots clicking softly on the surafce of the ebony marble floor. The pattern of the tiles matched that of the table that she had touched moments before. As the tall woman walked down the dimly lit halls, her dark hair swayed, the light from an unseen source filtering the darker black strands from those highlighted green. Pausing in front of an obsidian framed mirror and staring into its unreflective depths, the woman frowned. The murkiness of the mirror faded away, and a glowing garnet gem on a staff that the woman held beside her, her ever-present companion, absorbed it all, sending a pulse of ruby light into the mirror. It shined brightly once, and then images formed, glowing iridesecently on a red surface. The green-haired woman's maroon eyes narrowed into slits upon her viewing of the rapid images. Her frown sank deeper, and suddenly, as the images that had been speeding up with amazing progression slowed to a grinding halt, she gasped. Time froze as all rested in a state of limbo. "This is bad." The woman remarked to no one in particular. With a sad frown and slight shaking of her head, she turned and walked back down the hall. Her staff shined again, and the mirror once again dimmed into blackness. A fog-shrouded door appeared in front of the woman as she walked, and without pausing, she walked through it. As quickly as it had come, the door vanished, and the Hall of Mirrors was silent. ~*~ "I need your help." The green-haired woman said simply, her voice hinted with icy demand. Three young women looked up from what seemed like tiring, and yet fascinating work and acknowledged the traveler's presence. Two went back to work wordlessly while another paused in her tireless work to smile at the newcomer and then greet her formally. Her sisters scowled with frustration when their younger sibling arose from her spindle and happily greeted the tall woman clothed in black. "Clotho!" The middle one, holding a length of string out and measuring it with a long rod, berated her younger sibling. The eldest still frowned, but said nothing. The green one nodded politely to the others, and smiled at Clotho as the young one sat back down to work. Her fingers were not bruised or bleeding from her endless work, and her face not showed a single sign of tiring. "Why should the Priestess of Chronos need OUR help?" The eldest, who held a pair of silver shears, asked as she snipped a cord handed to her by the middle of the trio. "Atropos..." The green one began, frowing in distate at Atropos' tone. "Please excuse my sister, Eminence. She tires of this world of ours and wishes to more closely examine the lives of those she commands." "I do not!" Atropos snapped at Clotho. The dark-haired girl was unfazed, and continued spinning threads with a smile on her face. "All of you, please. Lachesis, you may understand the best." "My sister is right, Pluto-sama." Lachesis said softly, turning to the uniformed soldier with a regretful expression on her face. "Na-nani?" Pluto blinked in surprise, the confusion registering easily on her dark-skinned face. "Listen, Pluto," Clotho began rather casually, again pausing in her work. "You command all of time. What do we lost Fates do anymore but spin? It's probably not for anyone's entertainment but our own..." "That's not true!" Lachesis gasped, tears filming over her violet eyes. Atropos remained silent in the face of the brewing argument, cutting and measuring the cords for herself. "Lachesis is right, Clotho. Your presence in this universe is just as necessary as Saturn's, or mine, or... the Princess's." At this, Pluto looked away. "Something is wrong with the Princess?" Immediately, Atropos' attention was no longer divided; her voice was grave and all her attentions were focused on the upset Soldier of Time. "Something has gone wrong. Whether it began in the Tapestry or in the Hall, I'm not sure, or even if some outside force is disturbing the Rift..." Pluto looked back towards the Fates, now all facing Pluto worriedly. Clotho looked at the Tapestry of Fate, at the design only partially finished. A silver thread gleamed oddly in the tapestry of bright, solid colors. Hidden within the same area was a slowly shining gold cord, growing brighter with the slowing minutes. The Wheel of Fate and Fortune slowed to a grinding halt as Pluto's presence froze the very time around the foursome. Atropos caught where her youngest sister's gaze lay, and stared sadly at the thread. A vision flashed across her eyes, and zoomed in on the delicate thread that wove on its own into a magical tapestry. A strange bump, something horribly imperfect in the gentle cords of the Tapestry of Time, rested on one of the strings. It pulled at the thread, trying to weaken and break it... the knot twisted and ruined the delicacy of the cloth, making it unravel at a pace all to dangerously slow... "Dear Serenity..." Atropos cursed to herself. The other sisters fixed their gaze on the knot, on the shining strings intertwined so perfectly, and on the tapestry they were woven into. With their timeless vision, they saw the problem, and gasped in turn at the realization of things gone wrong. "It's...it's impossible!" Clothos uttered. "Obviously not..." Lachesis remarked, trying to fit in some of her trademark sarcasm, but not succeeding in the slightest. "I never *EVER* weave knots!" "I never caught a knot when I measured..." "And if I see a knot, I cut it off..." Atropos sighed heavily. "If it wasn't any of you, then how..." Pluto's maroon gaze fixed upon the knot. "I don't know..." Lachesis spoke for all of them. Her steely glance shifted from the knot back to the Guardian of Time. "But we've got to find out how before it's too late." One more glance revealed the ultimate strain on the string, and how soon time would start again until it snapped with the ease of shears on silk. ~*~ "Yummm!!" Serena smiled happily as she spooned rainbow sherbet into her mouth. *DING DONG* "I'll get it." Darien said simply, quirking an eyebrow at his pregnant girlfriend as she slurped rainbow sherbet into her pink mouth. Sighing, Darien opened the door... "Yes, can I help..." Darien opened his eyes and found himself face to face with the same pink haired munchkin who had caused so many questions and havoc before. Suddenly uncomfortable for some odd reason, Darien backed away, and managed an embarassed "Oh... hi Rini." Rini clutched her ever-present Luna-P ball tightly, as if it were her only solace from the real world. In a way, it was. Only Luna-P could console her from the harsh realities of this 20th century primitiveness... this scary, violent world. Though the future as Rini remembered it was also turbulent, it never *seemed* bad. Because she had the shred of hope that through this all, she would succeed at her mission; Luna-P would always be there for her, and she'd go back to the future, to Mommy, safe and sound. "Hi." Rini stepped forward somewhat shyly. She desperately wanted to find out what happened to Serena. It had been at least a month since she had seen her last, and Rini was curious to find out just what had happened. All she heard from Aunt Ilene was that Serena was... "expecting." But that only confused Rini more. What was Serena expecting? "Oh, who--" Serena stepped in the doorway and peered over Darien's shoulder to see who their visitor was. Suddenly, Serena was wracked with intense pain. "SERENA?" Darien was by her side in an instant. "I-- I don't know... what's wrong..." Serena bit out, clutching her swollen belly in frustration. If the pain was this bad now, she swore she'd need an ANESTHETIC when she had to give labor!! It felt wrong that she, who worked so hard for everything, should have the ultimate worry of wondering if she or her child would survive within a few months. How horrible it was for Serena to wake up each morning and wonder if when she woke up after labor, whether she was alive... or if her child was? All of Darien's attentions were on Serena, and Rini felt oddly out of place. She felt as if she were watching the past, a past where she wasn't meant to be. Suddenly, she felt lightheaded herself, and before she could utter a sound, she chanced a look at her hands. Luna-P's eyes were glowing with fierce intensity, and her own hands were fading into nothingness. Horrified, she looked at Serena, being helped up by Darien, and at that exact moment, everything started to waver uncontrollably. "...!!..." Unable to do anything by gape at the scene before her, Rini fell to the ground shaking. She didn't hear Serena call out worriedly, or feel Darien put his arm around her shoulder. But she heard a whisper of an echo of their screams as she was ripped from their time and space. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Part 7 Hey! I've already started working on part 8! Aren't you proud of me!? ^_^ *big smiles* sorry this took so long to come out, but I wanted it to be good... possibly even foreshadowing and kinda eerie. Hope it was! email me! Much luv, <3 Azurite