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 Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 2:41 am
Somehow, she was out. Alone.
Serenade had no idea how she had managed this. Hero seemed to be more fiercely protective of her than before, which was understandable. In her mind, it was entirely plausible that Hero had asked Aurelia to draw up a schedule and assign each Zodiac to a certain time to stalk her.
However, today, Serenade had made her way to the mall after piano practice, and the 'Zodiac Tracking Device' in her head told her that no Zodiacs were nearby. This was strange, and Serenade decided that she would not mention this to Hero. Ever. It would mean a session of Hero yelling at the Zodiacs, going "WHY ARE YOU NOT PROTECTING YOUR PRINCESS. THE PRINCESS IS YOUR LIFE."
She did appreciate the alone time, however rare it was, she was getting now. She didn't even know what she was looking for while shopping; new scores maybe? She just wandered, kind of aimlessly, looking into shop windows and sometimes stopping to stare at something pretty.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:04 am
Ironically, Serenade was not the only member of royalty experiencing relief at finally having some breathing room.
Ever since the meeting in the Negaverse, Ursula had felt trailed. Whether or not this was her imagination or a certain concerned future hubby's doing, she was running into far too many Negaverse agents. Negaverse agents that wanted to 'hang' around with the Queen. Get to know her better. Help her with her shopping. Stand there.
Ursula loved attention. Attention was her best friend, it was one of her most treasured prizes, one of her most coveted desires. But even best friends needed time apart, and the young woman was in desperate need of thinking time, as well as idea browsing for an upcoming wedding going to take place in (count it) two days. It would not be long before every waking minute would consist of planning, panicking, and arranging last minute details before the Best Wedding Ever, so she was savoring her time for as long as she could.
Sighing, she glanced at the terribly long line at the Frullati stand and weighed her options. Was standing around for ten minutes really worth that four dollar smoothie?
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:20 am
At least Serenade would know when she was being stalked. It was partly a good thing, and sometimes it was like "Oh my god, what are Aries and Sagittarius patrolling together at such an unearthly hour" and she chose to simply ignore that. She didn't want to know. Especially after the thing with Hero and Aurelia... oh my god, no, she wasn't thinking about that. Not now.
She was debating to enter a music store to stock up on piano scores, and at the same time, replace those that she had left in Barren Pines. It was then when her eyes caught a terribly familiar back of an orange-haired woman and froze.
Miss Johnson.
But Barren Pines had been a curse, a lie. Everything about it had been a lie, right down to the staff, for that was what she had assumed ever since the doctor and nurse had barged into Hero's room. Nea, Princess of Love, the play she and Hero had publicized, was a lie.
...Right?
If Hero had been here, she would have grabbed her hand and hauled Serenade out of the mall. But Serenade had liked Miss Johnson. Perhaps she had been part of the curse too, like the other students that were not Zodiacs who had managed to make it out alive? But she didn't know how to approach her ex-teacher; did Miss Johnson even remember her?
So she remained, standing there and staring at the older woman. Maybe she would turn around and it was not Miss Johnson after all. Maybe it was just a figment of her imagination.
Maybe.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:45 am
Maybe held the promise for a variety of things.
Maybe Ursula would continue to wait in line. Maybe she would move on and head towards the Orange Julius further down in the depths of the Food Court. Maybe she would give up and call Aree, getting the ball rolling on the inevitable hurricane of wedding details that still needed sorting out.
Instead of any of those options, however, she did indeed turn around. She turned around, and it only took a matter of moments for her eyes to meet the gaze of the younger Serenade. Meet it and stare back, her thirst vanishing as she recognized the girl staring back at her.
Serenade?
She'd known some of the students had escaped. Students and senshi alike had managed to free themselves of the dome, of the nightmare that was Barren Pines. But she never thought she'd actually encounter any of them again.
It was too late to back out now, now that they'd caught each other staring from across the walkway.
Fist clenching to the purse slung over her shoulder, she attempted a casual hair toss as shoes clicked their way in the girl's direction.
"It's not nice to stare, you know."
A half-laugh. More staring.
God, this was awkward.
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Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:58 am
Her cerise eyes had widened as the woman turned; oh god, it was Miss Ursula Johnson, who was definitely not one of Pisces' illusion attacks. Pisces was not around in any corner of the mall right now, she knew.
She had immediately dropped her gaze down to the floor, but the damage had been done. Miss Johnson was heading her way, and Serenade was frozen into position, and not running. In fact, it looked like she had no idea what to do in this situation. "I'm sorry!" She squeaked out, eyes now fixated on the heels that Miss Johnson wore. "You just... look like someone I know." She chanced a glance up to the taller woman's face. "You look a lot like someone I know, actually."
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 4:53 am
s**t.
More forced laughter, and then one hand rose to run her fingers absentmindedly through her hair. It was time to play dumb. (Audrey would argue that it wouldn't be too hard for the orangehead to do).
"Well, that makes one of us, at least. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me, after everything I've been told that happened these past few weeks."
Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she glanced to the side. Ursula was not one to break off eye contact, but she wanted to appear nervous. Anxious. While it wouldn't be hard to escort Miss Serenade off and do away with her, Ursula didn't feel like going through the trouble. Really, she'd tried to kill them off once, what was she expected to do? Hunt down every survivor and do away with them herself? Please.
One hand moved forward, and her gaze returned to meet Serenade's.
"Ursula Johnson," she introduced herself, giving the girl a weak smile, "I work at Hillworth Grammar. Would you have had any reason to visit there, maybe? I'm terribly sorry, but my memory has been terrible as of late."
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Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:05 pm
For a moment, Serenade tried to make sense of what the orange-haired woman was saying. What was it about everything that had happened these past few weeks? Could it be that she had gotten caught up in the whole organ donor thing that presumably happened at Barren Pines too? But that wasn't the truth, right? The truth was that they had survived only because they were the Zodiac, and they had brought some of their schoolmates with them.
She would have dwelled on it more, puzzled over it like how she usually did, but then the woman introduced herself. Ursula Johnson.
Miss Johnson.
It was probably lucky for her that she usually stayed calm even in the most ridiculous of situations. There was only a flash of shock in her cerise eyes which passed quickly. She felt herself smiling; it was a good thing that Miss Johnson was alive, right? And she did seem to think of her as vaguely familiar as well... "I'm Serenade Soriano." She said in return to the woman's introduction.
"Not... really." She confessed. None of the Zodiacs entered Hillworth, so she didn't have any reason to go near there. Hero would probably throw a fit if she did and tell her to stay away from those hooligans. "I'm in Crystal, and you probably know what the teachers tell us about Hillworth."
"I'm really sorry about staring." She blurted out. Then, as if it would give a reason for her actions, Serenade added, "Your hair's really pretty."
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:20 am
Serenade was a decent actress. A terrific actress, really, when it came to pretending to be nonchalant when being approached by someone who could potentially be one of the Negaverse agents that had tried to kill her and her team off in a nightmare school from Hell.
But Ursula Johnson was all-too observant. She had to be, to keep on her toes and stay in the front of the ranks of Negaverse agents. The brief flash was noticed, and alarms went off in her head. She'd been recognized... but did the student take her for one responsible for what happened at Barren Pines, or another victim?
"Hm." She murmured softly, eyebrows furrowing. Thinking quickly, she went with the first copout that came to mind. "Would you... god, this is going to sound so silly. Would you have happened to have been in Destiny City Memorial at any point in the past couple weeks?"
Her cheeks flushed (it wasn't hard to do - she was feeling rather awkward over being caught as a civilian) and she brushed her hand through her hair once more, disregarding the compliment entirely (a rare thing indeed, for the vain Ursula). "I... I suffered a head injury recently, and I - oh god, this is embarrassing - I haven't been able to recall a good number of things over the past few weeks. My fiance tells me it's normal for victims of head injuries to lose memories, but it's just...it's just so embarrassing."
Turning to the side, one hand lifted to press against her burning cheek. Ursula Johnson was not as spectacular of an actress as Serenade was, but she deserved at least an E for Effort. "I've been getting stares all this week from students. I really hope that's not how we've met before; I'm so sorry if it was. I don't even know where to begin."
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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:05 pm
"Destiny City Memorial?" She blurted out, cerise eyes wide open. Did Miss Johnson somehow know that she had been hospitalized there with the others? What, had the news somehow leaked out all the names of whom who survived the 'organ trafficking' to the public? Serenade was honestly quite puzzled. Also she was normally quite gullible, except when dealing with things quite out of the ordinary and this was exactly quite out of the ordinary. What would Hero say if she knew one of the staff members of Barren Pines was alive and well? "I, well... this is really hard for me to say, but I was one of those involved in that organ trafficking thing recently." It was what she had to say multiple times, actually, when they returned to school and everyone was being nosy and worried.
"Are you okay, Miss Johnson?" She said worryingly. "Were you in Destiny City Memorial too? Were...were you involved in the organ trafficking thing? Most of us can't really recall what happened either." What with given that some of them had actually died in there. "It seems strange to think that they disguised themselves as a school and targeted both the students and teachers... but at least we're both alive now, right?"
Serenade, firm believer that Miss Johnson was not involved in the lie that was Barren Pines whatsoever.
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:20 am
The hand pressed against her cheek moved to cover her mouth as she let out a feigned gasp. Her eyes widened and she stared at Serenade as though she'd grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead.
"O-organ trafficking? Oh God, that couldn't... but that wasn't real. He told me they'd just found me, that I had been wandering around that old deserted institution..."
It was the perfect time for tears. Ursula was not an amateur when it came to drawing out tears. Not after the years of managing her way out of detentions, out of speeding tickets, out of having to do work.
She closed her eyes and attempted to think of anything she could use to create a minor waterfall. Dead puppies. Expired coupons. People wearing navy blue plants with black tops. Charonite breaking up with her.
At the last thought, her eyes quickly began to well up with tears. He couldn't break up with her. She'd be distraught without him. She loved him. They were going to be together forever (forever, of course, meaning until her mortal body was consumed by the ancient evil lurking within her). He just couldn't.
Eyes opened, tears beginning to slowly slide their way down her cheek. Albeit, it was no waterfall, but they were still tears, damn it.
"I just... Gunn said it must have been a dream. That monsters and zombies weren't real. But if that's true then..."
Her head tilted slightly, attempting to look as if she'd just had an epiphany as she stared at the stand of sheet music next to them, and back at Serenade. "Oh Serenade! I do remember!"
Stepping forward, she reached over to embrace the shorter girl in a tight (though thankfully brief) hug. "Oh, darling, I'm so glad you're alright! I just... I can't believe all of that had been real. How on earth did you survive? Are you okay?"
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 7:31 pm
Serenade was pretty gullible, actually.
She had watched Miss Johnson in concern as the latter tried to recall what had happened to her in Barren Pines. Immediately, her heart went out to the other; it must have been hard for her to not have understood what happened, for it certainly must be confusing to someone involved in the whole nightmare that wasn't a Zodiac. Who could only believe in the lie that it was 'organ trafficking' when it had been the Negaverse and the Opal Crystal.
"You...remember?" Was all Serenade managed to get out before Miss Johnson hugged her, and the girl patted her ex-teacher's back in response. "I'm fine. We didn't really have to stay in Destiny Memorial for long, but it was strange to wake up in that place, y'know?" Then she pulled back and stared at Miss Johnson with bright eyes. "I'm glad you're okay too. You've been okay, right?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:20 pm
"I remember... teaching," Ursula said slowly, remaining cautious as her hand absentmindedly reached out to straighten up the other girl's hair. Some could mistake Ursula as a maternal figure; she was always fixing the Hillworth boys' hair and ties and whatnot, or straightening wrinkles out of a Lieutenant's uniform. Ursula failed to own a maternal bone in her body. She simply couldn't stand anything out of place, including hair on a practical stranger (former Nightmare School student). "And I remember monsters. But it was all very vague, and the next thing I recall is waking up in the hospital with the doctors and Gunn staring down at me!"
One hand flew up as she grew further into her story, thoroughly enjoying being able to tell a tale that the girl was practically eating out of her hand.
.... hand.
Smile beaming, she quickly moved her left hand out towards the girl, exposing the glittering diamond ring she wore proudly.
"He was so worried about me, apparently he'd had feelings all along - he just didn't have any way to show it! He said he never wanted to lose me again so look, look! We're engaged!"
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:59 am
At least Miss Johnson was alive and well, despite what went on during Barren Pines, Serenade told herself. Even if she didn't remember much, which was probably for the best. Those monsters and strange happenings in the school had scared her, even when she had been awakened as Princess Chronos by some voice in her head. The nightmare was over, and she didn't really want to think about it anymore.
"It's beautiful." Serenade said softly, admiring the engagement ring on Ursula's finger, though her gaze quickly snapped back to the woman's face, more delighted that Miss Johnson had no love troubles now than the fact that she wore the ring. "I'm so happy for you!" And she was, honestly. Miss Johnson was nice and pretty and patient, and she deserved someone whom she loved that loved her back. Serenade remembered that feeling; it was a very happy feeling that felt like bursting up into fireworks within you. "Congratulations, Miss Johnson!"
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:10 am
Boldface lies aside, Ursula was more than thrilled with the situation herself. Pulling up her purse, she began to rummage through it.
"Thank you darling - I do so hope you've found what you were looking for, after our last discussion?"
Eyes moved from the girl to the purse as she shoved makeup, pens, and miscellaneous whatnot around, obviously in search of something. Finally, at last, she found the small envelope within, the contents of said envelope practically bursting to escape. Slipping two fingers within the bulgy container, she drug out a single pristine card, to which she passed along to Serenade.
Grin still beaming, she forced it into the younger girl's hand. "Here, an invitation. You're welcome to bring a friend, if you'd like, but I'd rather love to see you there and introduce you to him."
Her mouth opened to begin yet another waterfall of lies of how she met her wonderful husband-to-be, but the clock on the store's wall caught her eye, and orange eyes widened, slightly panicked. "... I should probably get going. My friend's going to kill me, if I start any later on some of this wedding business. Such a fuss, but the things we do for love, huh?"
Without giving the student time to respond, she moved in for another friendly hug before a departing, "It was wonderful to see you again, Serenade. Hopefully we'll see each other again soon."
Smiling, she took off for the store's entrance, Ursula doing her best to shrug off the odd sensation that overcame her. Somehow, someway, she was almost certain that she would run into Serenade Soriano again.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:13 am
"W-what?" Serenade blinked, a little taken aback by Miss Johnson's question. Oh yes, the last time they had talked, they were discussing love... "Oh... that. I think I've found it." It was a rather lame answer, but Serenade didn't know how to explain to Miss Johnson that she had just remembered her boyfriend, only to also remember that he was now dead. Too complicated for anyone but the Zodiacs to understand.
"I'll go." She assured her ex-teacher. "I think you'll look very pretty in the wedding dress." She liked seeing happy endings, even though she might not experience hers... or have to wait forever to have her own.
"Take care!" She called after Miss Johnson with a smile before looking down at the card once again.
You are cordially invited...
To the Wedding of
Ursula Johnson & Gunn Killingworth
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