Minna-chan, I really do hope you like this. Took me long enough, ne? ^^; Thanks so much to everyone who emailed me with praise (and threats)! More feedback would probably speed up the chapters... Oh, I am so transparent. -_-; This chapter is dedicated to Aris and Suzume. They know why. ^_~ Legal Disclaimer: (to the tune of 'Bingo') Takeuchi-sama had a show, Sailor Moon was it's name-O, This show I never owned, All I have is a Demando-clone, This show I do not own, And Sailor Moon is it's name-O ^^; Personal Disclaimer: You read the above, right? Only addled minds come up with that sort of thing. ^_~ ------------------------------------------------ Cadre Sister Book One: Mind Walking Chapter 6B of 6B by Meredith Bronwen Mallory mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com ------------------------------------------------ Darien stood on the threshold of Serena's mind, and there wasn't any time to think it through. He could feel Serena loosing consciousness, the beat of her heart becoming slower and slower as the Negacop's grip pressed into the artery in her neck, the blood laying almost stagnant in her veins. Panic gripped him, what if she... if she... if she DIED!? And with that thought firmly in mind, Darien crossed the threshold. In everyone's life there is a moment they will forever remember as the turning point. With exquisite detail, it is etched in our minds. We feel the earth shift beneath our feet, the stars come into focus and the world suddenly (for however brief the moment) makes sense. For Darien Chiba, it was completion. Suddenly, he had become Whole. Serena's sweet, silver psyche enveloped his as swiftly as his own golden conciousness reached to embrace her, and suddenly the lines began to blur. He was no longer sure what was Serena's and what was his own. In no way was it a loss of individuality, oh no. It was as if he, for the first time, was aware of another part of himself. The word for 'Serena' was suddenly the same as the word 'darling', and the word 'loved one'... Perhaps more importantly, it carried with it the same caring he took for himself. In this bright, new language, 'Serena' and 'Darien' were one word. The same word. Whole. ~~~ Luna Temple felt a shudder pass through her body; as if some deep, ancient part of her was acknowledging the creation of something great. The feeling passed, and she was once more standing on the beach, semi-automatic in hand, staring down a group of Negacops. Her eyes narrowed as she focused in on their bastard of a ring leader; the man who was in the process of killing the single greatest telepath of all time. "Come any closer and the girl dies," the Negacop spat out, raising his eyes to mock the rag-tag army of telepaths. His hand closed more tightly around Serena's wind-pipe, and Luna noted with worry that the young girl was no longer co-herent. "There's no way you can win," another added, "Surrender and you'll be given another chance." "Yeah," Phobos shot back with bravodo. Only Luna and Demos could tell it was false, "and die in one of your camps? Go to hell." Phobos sent. The thought was swift, like quicksilver, and although the Negacops knew something had been said, the exchange had been too fast for them to understand it. Luna frowned and remained silent, internally cursing the fact she didn't have re-enforcements. There was no way she could reach Serena before the Negacop killed her, and there was no way she could shoot and not hit the child. In the next few moments, Luna would stop worrying and start wondering. For Serena saved herself. ~~~ In it's mind's eye, the Whole saw a hall of mirrors, each one relfecting another 'Serena' and another 'Darien'. They were different and the same. The Whole was a part of them, and they were a part of the Whole. From within their mirror worlds, the other Serenas and Dariens stopped what they were doing and looked up. Their head's jerked towards one thing only they could see. The Whole, who was staring out of a mirror of it's own. Then the Whole became aware of Serena's body... of the fact it was trapped inside something that was shutting down. The young telepath's blood lay nearly stagnent in her veins, and her brain was suffering heavily from lack of oxygen. Desperately, the Whole tried to force Serena's body to kick, to scream, but it was no longer co-operating. Through Serena's senses, the Whole felt it's captor throw the body onto the sand and press a gun to the head. Furiously, Serena's heart pumped the blood that had previously been blocked by the strangle hold, it's efforts aided by a grateful set of lungs now breathing air. With a little more control, the Whole saw it's opening and acted quickly. To the mere mortals standing outside the Whole, it seemed as though Serena was struggling to catch her breath, and Luna watched with horror as the Negacop pressed his gun to the young girl's head. Somepart of her was hoping Serena might pass out, for if she failed to rescue her, at least the child would not be aware of it when she died. Forcefully, Luna kicked that thought into the back of her mind. Her jaw set with determination. She hadn't lost a fight to the Negacorps yet, and she wasn't about to start now. Quickly calculating, Luna began sending plans for a last ditch effort to Demos. She never got a chance to finish them, though. Suddenly, with all the intensity of a freak thunderstorm, Serena stopped gasping and turned her head towards her captor. Then, with a speed incomprehensible to man, the Whole acted with the awe inspiring power of it's mind. It merely reached inside the mind of each Negacop and said 'stop'. 'Stop' to the hearts of the Negacops. 'Stop' to their lungs, pumping air. 'Stop' to the rotted, worthless souls shriveling inside their shells. And the Negacops stopped. All but Serena's captor, who held on to his life just long enough to pull the trigger on his gun. Slung from it's casing, the bullet sped to life and burried itself in the nearest thing. It missed Serena's head, instead embedding itself in her lower chest. Within, the Whole began to scream. The force of the blow and the red hot pain were forcing it apart. The Whole was breaking; Serena and Darien were no longer the same thing. ~~~ Waking from her strange dream, Serena found herself staring upwards at the tiny shaft of light that managed to penatrate the depths in which she struggled. The water around her was dark and ominous, weighing down on her heavily and forcing the air from her lungs. Panicked, Serena fought desperately against both the water and the scores of strange talons that seemed to strike out at her from every direction. Propelling her self upward with swift, exhausting kicks, she clutched almost painfully at Darien's hand. Though she could not see him in the murky depths, the warmth and affection that flowed from him was so individual that it left no doubt in her mind as to his identity. He was fighting against the water too, and more than once it was his effort alone that saved Serena from the talons wrapping around her ankle. Their touch was pain, it sucked the energy from her more quickly than anything in the world. A horrible sense of urgency filled Serena, more powerful than ever before, as she glimpsed something in the darkness. A human skull. Serena sent hurriedly as she kicked free of yet another leach-like talon. To her horror, she found that not only did the water block her thoughts, but it hurled them back at her with twice the intensity. She fought against the urge to cover her ears, for that would mean letting go of Darien's hand. Of course, the ten-year-old didn't know it at the time, but she and her friend were experiencing death, as only they could see and feel it. All they knew was the over-whelming instinct for survival. Darien spiraled helplessly in the water, heading desperately for what he hoped was the surface. Some traitorous part of him whispered that perhaps the shaft of light was not the sun at all, but some trick meant to lure them deeper into the darkness. It certainly didn't look like the sun, so violet and... strange. He held onto Serena's hand like a life line, pulling at her when her strength could carry her no further, and letting her pull him when his exhaustion was too much. A sense of triumph filled him as the light became more distinct, so bright her imagined it warmed the water they swam in. Now he could see Serena's outline, swimming just a bit ahead of him. For the rest of his life, whenever he closed his eyes, he would see that image. Not Serena's eyes, or her hair, for those were physical and there for unimportant. No, it was her form, dark and indistinct, that would lend him comfort. How their lungs had managed to hold out so long, Darien would never know, but his mind was dizzy for want of oxygen as the light grew brighter, and his chest burned. Almost there... almost there... From the depths of the murky, hopeless water a single talon shot forth, and ensnared it's prey. Serena suddenly felt a jerk, then nothing but heart-stopping panic as Darien was ripped from her grasp. Her body went could, and the burning need for air suddenly became upimportant. As she prepared to propell herself to his aid, she felt a shove in the opposite direction. His hands briefly met with her back, pushing her upward even as the talons dragged him down.... Darien watched Serena's retreating form, and if he had been able to cry, he would have. Somehow, with a communication deeper than telepathy, he had known she was trying to save him. He could not let that happen, for if one of them could live then... These thoughts were cut short as the water around Darien became thick with shapes. Sudden, tiny explosions were the only thing that lit the darkness, but Darien would have preferred the darkness to what he saw. On all sides floated human skulls, caught in a chaotic, destructive swirl of death, their gaping sockets laughing with a demonic mirth. Now unable to stop her present motion, Serena gave one last half-hearted kick, burth forth into the surface world and filled her lungs with Life. ----------------------------------- Greenville, Japan 20 miles outside of Tokyo 5 am. ----------------------------------- Seiya Omega would never know just what woke up from his silent, dreamless slumber. He did not feel panic when he first awoke, the time for that would come later. Instead, he rolled over and glanced at the red, angry letters of the alarm clock, wondering what had possessed him to wake three hours before school started. His body was tired, and protested even this small movement, demanding he return to the depths of slumber from which he'd risen. Yawning, Seiya lay with his face half buried in the pillow and listened quietly, as if to reasure himself that the monsters and demons were born only of his imagination. Darkness still poured through the window; outside the moonless night was broken only by the high town walls that boldly proclaimed they kept the world out, though they really kept the telepaths in. Seiya didn't think of those walls as he lay in the darkness. Instead, he thought sleepily of new pranks to play on his much hated room-mate... Now Seiya started, and now he panicked, for the silent night was just that... silent. Darien's breathing was not there to punctuate the movement of the digital clock. Turning sharply, the young boy thought at first that his room-mate had vanished to some forbidden zone. Quick, malicious thoughts of playing tattle-tale were cut short as Seiya realized Darien was indeed in the other bed, but he wasn't BREATHING... Sliding quickly out of his stiff single bed, Seiya crept towards the place where Darien lay. About half-way across, the silence was broken by a deep, rasping cough. Relief- false relief- poured through Seiya as he observed Darien's heaving chest, and he almost turned back. But the coughing went on and on and on and did not stop. Frightened, the young boy hurried to his enemy's side, his fingers effortlessly reaching for his small, forbidden flashlight as he did so. Focusing the light on the other boy, Seiya leaned over to inspect. A strange smell greeted his nostrils as observed the fluid Darien was trying to rid from his lungs. Briefly, war raged inside the slight boy as he considered the honey that had caked his hair, the detentions served in retribution for hastling Darien, the comfort denied when he himself had tried to take the blanket-feeling from the other boy. Then Seiya looked down at Darien's red face and hid the flash-light. He had made his decision. {<"MS. AUGUSTINE!!!!!">} Darien was coughing up salt water. -------------------------------------------- Astrakhan, Russia 5:30 am -------------------------------------------- Serena's waking was greeted by a mind-voice, and instantly, alarms sounded in the young girl's mind. No one EVER mind spoke to her unless it was absolutley safe, and as the night's past events filtered into her mind, Serena knew this time was anything but safe. More over, the voice was unfamiliar. It smelled like olives. Opening her eyes, Serena came face to face with a smiling red head. Deep brown eyes gazed at her in sympathy, but Serena interpreted it as dry, mocking pity, and backed quickly away. Her thoughts assaulted the other woman in a powerful, endless jumble, and Kakyuu fell out of her chair with its force. her response was quick and defensive. It failed to move Serena, who was wrapped up in the swirling emotions of hate and fear. Serena cried, holding her hand out to ward the strange woman away. Kakyuu imagined she could fairly see the telepathic energy crackling in the young girl's mind, and had no doubt it could fry her own brains to bits. she called, Almost instantly, two more unfamiliar forms materialized in the doorway, and it wasn't until Luna stepped into the light that Serena realized she DID know the other woman. The thought surfaced in her mind unbidden: Luna standing on a sand dune, semi-automatic in hand, looking like an avenging angel. It was Serena's own gratitude that lent the image it's saintly glow. Mentally, the young girl heard Luna's deep, kind laughter. said Luna, taking a seat on Serena's bed and gazing pointedly at the young girl's out-streched, deadly palm. Sheepishly, Serena did what she was told and glanced at the other form standing in the doorway. A young man with long white hair leaned against the door-frame carelessly, eyeing Kakyuu's now bandaged gun-shot wound with insane envy. he commented dryly. Luna shook her head. she pushed Serena's hair aside and examined the large red handprints encircling the young girl's neck. quickly following that: Luna responded, ignoring the second question, As an after thought, she added, A brief, secretive image danced before Serena's eyes, but Luna snatched it up and hid it away. Instictively, Serena reached out to Darien for comfort. This woman was kind, but she was also hard, and smelled uncomfortably like gunpowder. It was hard to fight down the burning fear that swelled in her heart when the other end of the whisper line hung unresponsive. Lethe and panic had stolen from Serena the memory of their brief, oceanic episode, but now it came back with frightening intensity. With all her might, she reached out to breathe life back into Darien, and reeled in shock when Luna gave her the equivalent of a telepathic shake. the scent of gun-powder was overwhelming now, Serena considered, tears stinging her eyes. Luna said, in a-matter-of-fact tone. "I have to save him! He's PART of me!" Serena cried aloud, shoving at Luna. The rebel's eyes flashed with strange fire. Serena felt Luna recoil at her own words when she realized how much like a Negacop she sounded. "She means to say," Kakyuu spoke soothingly, and Serena realized with morbid fascination that it was veryt painful for Kakyuu to mind-speak, "That you'll only hurt yourself and him by diving right in." Serena couldn't really see the logic in that, but she realized that she was out-numbered, and it would but better to help Darien in a small-convert way than to have these adults block all her attempts. As Luna sat back, Serena carefully took the whisper-line and began to feed Darien tiny particles of strength. The other woman didn't notice, but instead picked Serena up. she said quietly, carrying her charge down the hall and into the bathroom. Serena sat on the counter and watched Luna prepare the bath. She remembered countless slums in which she had lived, and their bathrooms. Empty, echoing things- often shared by everyone in the apartment- that reproduced even the tiniest sound. She had the girls used to sit in them for hours, when no one was using them, and chant "Hello!". The responding "hello, hello, hello!" had made it sound like there were fifty girls in the cramped room. Now Serena tried the trick. "Hello!" she listened carefully, but all the sound was swallowed up by bath-mat, the towels, and the endless personal items stacked here and there. Luna looked up from the tub, a smile in her eyes. "Hello, hello, hello!" she sang. It was the first time Serena had ever really heard the revolutionary's voice. It was deep, a few notes lower than her mother's, and sounded kind but perpetually tired. Serena was glad that, when Luna picked her up, the older woman did not feel the strength she was pouring into Darien. The particles she gave were increasing in size, but Serena could feel the results. She gave of herself lovingly, waiting after each feeding for a response from Darien. Luna said, placing a now nude Serena in the bath water, Serena almost giggled at the telepathic wink. The last wisp of Luna's dark hair vanished from sight, and Serena let out a sigh of relief. She laid back in the warm water, but her body felt frozen, like something carved from a block of ice. With calculated certainty, she reached for Darien, imagine him laying somewhere, still and pale. Normally, touching the whisper line was a euphoric experience, but Serena found it had dulled in comparison to the half-remembered dream of being Whole. The whisper line hummed with energy at her gentle prodding, and Serena carefully carried strength along its path. The dead, murky weight of the 'sea' made Darien's end unreceptive, and Serena found it took a great deal of concentration to push the strength through. She heard Luna in the hallway, hunting for towels. Downstairs, Rei was giving Mina a tongue lashing; "That's MY cookie!" .... Serena waited breathlessly, feeding strength to Darien as one spoon-feeds a baby. .... The clock in the hallway chimed. Luna swore softly as she rifled through yet another pile of laundry. .... Imagining Darien's hand, limp but warm in her own, Serena took a deep breath and prepared to make the final push. , it was a telepathic, choking sob, I, what? She thought of a couple she'd seen on the streets of Paris, pressing against one another as if they wished their forms would blur and merge. Somewhere, someone flipped a switch. Darien's heart fluttered, his lungs moved, the blood in his veins rushed forward once more. His brain attempted to gather consciousness, and color rose to his skin. Then, it came. It felt like a squeezing of her hand, but it was really Darien's heart-beat. Sighing contentedly, Serena squeezed back and closed her eyes in exhaustion. When she opened them once more, Luna was standing over her, a frown marring her dangerous good looks. At first the woman looked angry, then relief crossed her features, and finally sadness. She reached down to lift the almost-sleeping ten year old girl from the bath tub. "You're more human than I," said Luna as she wrapped a towel around the girl's slight form. Serena smiled that special, all-forgiving smile you normally see on the face of grandmothers, and promptly fell asleep. --------------------------------- Greenville, Japan 5:45 am -------------------------------- "Hey! What's going on over there!?" Four shadows and their physical counterparts halted on the sidewalk and turned towards the commotion. Demando, Esmerude, Rubeus and Saffir were on their way to early morning detention- for after Demando's crushing loss to a boy from a lower class, they'd all done poorly- but the chaos and excitement over at Cadre House Omega was much more interesting. Hurriedly, the four ran to the edge of the crowd, which had gathered around an ambulance parked on the grass. "Did someone DIE?" Saffir asked, shivering as they attempted to maneuver themselves to a better spot. "Can't see a damned thing," Demando muttered irritably, then softened his tone for his brother, "I don't think so, Saffir. We would have felt it." "Here, Es, climb up on my shoulders!" Rubues bent down, allowing the green-haired woman-child to perch atop him. She covered her eyes from the now-rising sun and looked towards the ambulance. A group of doctors were huddled around a stretcher, working ernestly. Whatever had happened, they hadn't had time to get the victim to the hospital. "Can you see anything?" Demando asked. "Not yet..." Esmerude craned her head again, "Someone's on the stetcher, but I can't see who it is." "We have a heart-beat!" one of the doctors cried, and a sigh of relief passed through the crowd. As one of the paramedics moved out of the way, Esmerude's sharp brown eyes caught a glimpse of the pale boy on the bed. "Can you see anything NOW?" Rubeus prompted. "We're going to be late..." Saffir moaned. No one paid him any mind. "Yes!" the green girl said, almost giggling, "Demando, it's that boy you lost to yesterday! I think he had a heart-attack!" Demando got a good, long laugh out of that one. ------------------------------------------------------ Greenville Hospital Children's Ward Greenville, Japan Three days later ------------------------------------------------------ In the silent waiting room, Nephrite shifted and looked up with relief as Jadeite entered. "How is he doing?" Molly asked, pressing her fingers into the fabric of Nephrite's sleeve. The others- Rita, Andrew, Zoicite and Kunzite- all gazed on the blond expectantly. "He didn't know me at all today," Jadeite sighed heavily, taking a seat, "Sometimes I don't know which is worse: having him not know me, or thinking I'm someone else." The other children nodded their sympathy, each reliving the past three days from their own individual perspective. Nephrite and Molly had been there when the paramedics came to take Darien away. They, along with the other children in the Cadre had pressed nervously at the front of the crowd, wondering silently what could have befallen their comrade. It hurt, to see one of your own Cadre fall ill. True, it wasn't the warmest or healthiest type of family, but it was a family none the less. Even Ms. Augustine showed some reaction on her normally smooth alabaster face, though Molly thought it seemed born more of suspicion than genuine concern. The red-head remembered the wave of panic that had passed over her cadre when the doctors shouted that Darien's heart had stopped. The few whispers that had been present before hand died down, and the children waited earnestly for the beep of the machine, or some show of emotion on the doctors' faces. After what seemed like eons, someone shouted that the boy was breathing again, and in a flurry of activity Darien was taken to Greenville Hospital, where he began slipping in and out of a coma. With a shiver, Zoicite recalled seeing Darien's empty seat in class that first day, and all the terrible possibilities that had come to mind. No one *really* got sick in Greenville; if a child was gone it was because they had escaped, been kidnapped or... Much to the relief of all, Molly and Nephrite had called their friends aside during bathroom break and related the incident. Although no visitors had been allowed in the first day, Ms. Augustine had allotted the children guest I.Ds in return for extra chores. After that, it quickly became ritual to visit Darien twice a day, before school and after. But sometimes, Darien didn't know them at all. Sometimes he yelled at them, pain in his unseeing eyes, for betraying him and killing 'the princess'. Other times, he gazed at them without comprehension, listlessly answering their questions but never really seeming to recognize them. Once, he had known them, and this brought the other children hope. They considered Darien something of a unofficial leader, and without him the group suffered greatly. "He knew us this morning," Rita said supportively, glancing nervously at the head nurse, "Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow." "Maybe," Jadeite said softly. The others forced smiles and carefully left the waiting room, ignoring the watchful eye of the head nurse. "I really don't like hospitals," Kunzite said, trying to suppress a shudder as they made their way towards the steps that would lead them outside. Children weren't allowed to use the elevator. A gentleman to the end, Andrew held open the door and let the others pass through. Just as he was about to follow, however, the elevator doors opened to admit the tall, imposing form of Ms. Augustine. She strode past purposefully, and if she noticed Andrew or his wide-eyed stare, she gave no indication. "What's SHE doing here?" Andrew asked in the open, echoing stair-well. ---- Darien lived in a world of swirling, hypnotic colors. Gone were the laughing skulls and murky waters of death, and in their place rose images and memories belonging to someone else. They jumbled together inordinately, serving only to hinder Darien's mind as it attempted to drag itself from the abyss of death. Sometimes, the children he saw standing worriedly over him were his dearest friends, and other times, they were not children at all. During these periods, they were tall, frightening men who held in their hands bloody swords, and held in their eyes a hatred Darien hoped he would never understand. At times, he was Darien, and at others, he was someone else for whom the dreary hospital and Negacorps badge had no meaning. Always, Serena was by his side, lending strength and support, though the jumbled meanings and images barred her from making direct contact. He could feel her warmth, though, and that was enough, for his mind's eye reconstructed that image of her profile backed by the Light and obscured by the water. The whisper line held him to Life and sanity, but in his illness, Darien could not cover it as well as he once had. ---- Andrew had every right to be surprised at Ms. Augustine's presence in the Children's Ward. No Cadre Mother ever visited injured children, though the injured were so rare it was sometimes a wonder why there was a Children's Ward at all. In their collective ten years of life in Greenville, none of the children could remember seeing a Cadre Mother visiting anyone or showing any kind of support. That is, save Ms. Serpentine, and she had been shot, eventually. Ms. Augustine, however, was not out to do a good deed, nor was she on an errand of mercy. She was on Business; she walked purposefully and kept her mind very, very clear. She was a Talent Twelve, as all Cadre Mothers were, and her mental capabilities were more than adequate to execute this next task. She would not kill Darien, though with a smirk she thought perhaps in later years he might wish she would have. No, he was Talented, very Talented, especially for a Talent Eleven that had pushed himself to level twelve. People with strength such as Darien's were never killed, the Negacorps needed them to much. No, the Corps aimed to breed loyalty into each of its children, but when that failed there were other ways of dealing with those who, though rebellious, could not be killed out-right. Wordlessly, the Head Nurse admitted Ms. Augustine into Darien's room, and with footsteps as quiet and deadly as a cobra, the Cadre Mother approached the child's bed. "I know," she hissed, her tongue brushing against the tips of her teeth, "What you have been doing... That someone has been giving you strength." Carefully, she stripped off the long, elbow length gloves that were her trade mark. Her voice took on a chanting rhythm as she placed her hands on Darien's temples. The boy moaned in his restless, color-filled sleep. "We can not find this person," Ms. Augustine continued resentfully, "But we do not need to." Here, she laughed: "You, shall find her for us." Without warning, Ms. Augustine entered Darien's wounded psyche and wielded her own like a pair of scissors against the whisper line. Somewhere, Serena began to cry out in hopeless agony, and Ms. Augustine's horrific smile was really something to see.