Kim Nanoha: Thanks! Hahaha, hopefully, this chapter will leave an impression too… ;)

Kias: Hahaha, true, she should catch a break… But one should keep in mind that the 'satellite' thing was only a cherry on top of everything happening so far. Everything finally crashed in on her, seeing the only dangerous thing Serena had experienced before her second year was Viper's anger (and detentions) … Plus, knowing she's a target just made her even more nervous, and was building up to this… Now, what happens when she's in complete panic is explored in this chapter… ;)

Well, guys… The idea for this chapter has been in my head for quite a while now, and I decided to add it in the story… Hope you'll like it! :)

I only own my OC's!

"What were you thinking?!" A male voice demanded angrily. "I... I didn't mean to run across the street! I dropped my ball, and I just wanted to get it…" A girl's voice replied, trembling. "That's exactly how people get killed." The male voice responded, not hesitating to show anger. "Yes, but…" "Then why did you do that?! What was I supposed to say to your aunt if something happened to you?!"

"I'm… I'm… I'm sorry! Please, just stop!" The girl finally started sobbing in fear. "You're so mean!" She then shouted. "What?" The male voice demanded in surprise. "Since you came, all you do is just scold me, or not play with me! I wish Auntie or Sarina were here instead!" By now, she was sobbing even more loudly.

If it weren't for the girl's loud sobs, it would have been deadly quiet on the street.

"Do I really look like that?" The voice asked slowly. "You do!" The girl's one exclaimed. No one said anything for a few moments.

"Forgive me for coming across in such way." The voice finally spoke up. "You really mean it?" She asked surprised. By now, she stopped sobbing. "I do." He then let out a sigh. "Let's just get you back home."

The first thing I felt was something wet, and cold on my face… Then, I felt my head hurting. Immediately after that, I could hear voices.

"You really think that's going to work?" The first one asked. "Well, it's surely better than your idea, Sarge." The second voice pointed out. "I don't see what was so bad about it." "You can't just slap her, Jaden…" The third one sighed. "But Alexis slapped you?"

All of the voices then stopped talking for a few moments.

"She was angry… And guys can't do that to girls!" The third one then said in a bit of annoyance. "He has a point, Sarge." "Then why not go for an easier route?" The first one suggested.

Suddenly, I could feel someone shaking me by my shoulders rather vigorously. It just made me feel even more disoriented… "Jaden, stop it!" Suddenly, shaking stopped. "Chazz was right, you don't have any delicacy…" The third voice sighed again. "What's the deal?" The first one was confused. "Slapping a girl is not what we're supposed to do!" "But only to wake her up…" "No delicacy." The voice repeated with a sigh.

After a few more moments, the feeling of disorientation started slowly disappearing. By now, I could recognize the voices around me.

I opened my eyes and looked up. Jaden, Bastion, Syrus and Hassleberry were gathered around me and talking between themselves. "What in the world happened?" I spoke up hoarsely, putting a hand on my forehead.

"You're awake." Jaden breathed in relief. "Told you cold water would work." Bastion shot him an annoyed look. An empty glass was in his hands. "But I did start shaking her…" He reminded sheepishly. "A rather tactful approach…" the British guy replied sarcastically.

"You fell unconscious." Hassleberry explained. "You were lucky he had good reflexes and caught you." Bastion frowned. "I do have Dino DNA…" The guy reminded him with a smirk. "Moving on… We brought you here and finally managed to wake you up." The British guy finished his explanation.

Looking around, I noticed we were in the renovated part of the Slifer Red dorm. I was lying on one of sofas (with a blanket covering me), while the guys were standing near it.

"What happened before that?" I asked in confusion. "You could tell us that, actually." Hassleberry spoke up. "As soon as we told you what the satellite could do, you started acting quite weird… And then you just started falling!" Jaden rubbed the back of his head.

My eyes widened once I heard those words coming out of his mouth. Memories of that event immediately started rushing back to my mind.

"Wait… What you're telling me is that the prince gambled controls to his life-destroying satellite in a duel? So now Sartorius can do whatever the hell he wants with it while under the control of that force?" I asked with a nervous smile. I started shaking even more.

"Well, yes, more or less." Bastion let out a sigh. After a few moments, everything started turning black…

"You mean, the destroying satellite Sartorius acquired?" I spoke up, the feelings of nervousness washing over me. "Yeah, the one Prince Ojin gave him." Hassleberry nodded. A frown appeared on my face.

Onestamente… HOW MUCH of an idiot could you be to walk around, offering and gambling life-destroying satellites?! Playing on bets was something usual here (from what I noticed so far), my duel with Bonaparte had been a bet too… But WHY bet on something like this?! Was that prince stupid?! He must have been…

"The Prince has no neurons." I let out a groan, tugging at my hair. "What did you say?" Syrus raised an eyebrow. "He has no brain," I elaborated with a frown, tugging at my right hair strand even more harshly (in an apparently failed attempt to calm down my nervousness). "Because a smart person wouldn't offer random people a freaking satellite!" By now, I started pulling my left hair strand even more harshly.

Jaden must have seen what I was doing, since he sat down next to me and grabbed both of my hands. In doing so, he prevented me from most probably pulling out my own hair. "Stop that. You'll be bald by the end of day." He pointed out with a frown.

"Well, how do you expect that, after how that stupid man had just offered…" "Actually," I was cut off. "Sartorius suggested to Prince Ojin to give him the satellite if he won. The Prince just agreed, since he wanted those Destiny Heroes." Bastion spoke up matter-of factly.

Now that I thought of that, the information didn't make much of a difference… He still agreed to the bet! He didn't have to do that!

"Just proves how Prince Ojan has no neurons." "Prince Ojin." Hassleberry corrected. "The point still stands." I was about to try to tug at my hair again. Unfortunately, that didn't work since Jaden refused to let go of my hands. "Please, Jaden, just let go." I frowned at him. "You'll be thanking me for this later." He responded casually.

I kept looking at him with a frown for a few more moments… Then I let out a sigh and looked away.

"So… What now?" I asked, looking up at the other three guys. "What do you mean?" Syrus spoke up. "What are we going to do, considering Sartorius has a satellite which could kill us all?" I reminded. Frankly, I was a bit surprised they were taking this so calmly…

Which part of 'Sartorius has a destroying satellite' didn't they understand?!

"There's nothing we can do." Hassleberry folded his arms. "It can't be true." I narrowed my eyes. "But it is," Bastion let out a sigh. His grey eyes then looked directly into my light blue ones. "That satellite officially belongs to Sartorius now. He and the Prince had that deal, and he won." "But can't we at least try to get it somehow?" I suggested in a bit of panic.

By now, all four of the guys were looking at me as if I were a patient from mental asylum.

"Are you crazy?" Syrus demanded with a frown. "You actually thought of stealing the creep's satellite?!" Hassleberry was gaping at me. "Serena, I think you're still a bit disoriented." Bastion's voice made me look up. He was staring at me as if I were crazy. "Maybe she'd better get some rest." Hassleberry suggested. "I agree." The British guy nodded.

Si… They thought I was a lunatic for suggesting something like this.

"I think they're right. You should rest, not to pull out your hair, at least." Jaden let out a laugh. I simply nodded, not really knowing what to tell them. He then let go of my hands and stood up. "I think more professional duelists are coming." Syrus suddenly grabbed him by his arm. Jaden simply nodded to him before looking at me again. "I'll come to see how you're feeling later." He smiled.

Syrus then pulled him out of the room, with Hassleberry close behind. Bastion turned around to look at me yet again. "Better get that rest." He repeated. I looked away with a sigh and my arms folded. A moment later, I could hear the door closing. That meant all of them were out.

So it was down to this. I was the target of the force-controlled Sartorius, who also had a satellite… A satellite which could destroy life! My own one was on the line, one way, or another…

As soon as that thought sank in, uncontrollable panic washed over me yet again. At that moment, only one thing was on my mind. I had to get my hands on that satellite! I wanted to live! That was the only thing that mattered!

I jumped off the sofa and raced towards the exit.

I ran down the path towards the White Dorm. Finally, I stopped right in front of the building.

It looked as white as the last time I had been here… And it looked like no one was guarding the entrance. I only had to be stealthy, so no one from the Society would notice me… The only problem was, I had no idea where the controls to the satellite were supposed to be. My guess was Sartorius brought them directly to his room, but that was only a wild guess… The only option I had, actually. I had to figure out where his room was…

I raced towards the door. My trembling hand reached out and opened them… A bit too quickly for my liking.

I quickly ran inside. I then closed the door. My feet raced as fast as they could towards one pillar. I hid behind it with my heart racing like crazy. If luck served me well, then that meant I hadn't been spotted…

"Won any medals yet?" "Only five for today. Some pathetic Slifer Red was crying his eyes out, until he saw the Light." I could hear voices near where I was. Turning around, I got on my knees curiously.

Two Society Of Light members were walking towards the exit. One of them was a guy with teal hair and glasses. The other one was another guy, who seemed to be slightly taller than the first one. He had spiky, dark brown hair.

"Have you heard about the rumors?" The second guy then asked. "What rumors?" The first one raised an eyebrow at him. "They say Master Sartorius won something from Prince Ojin. No one knows what, though…" The second one frowned. "Maybe that's why he was less interested in hearing what we had to say about the tournament." The blue-haired guy mused, with a finger on his chin.

"Seems possible… No one knows, except his most loyal followers." The spiky-haired one sighed. "What I'd do to get that powerful card…" "What?" The first guy gave him a confused look. "Most loyal followers received a card from Master. I think it's some sort of a veil, based on what I heard Chazz and Benjamin talking about." He explained. "They have it?" The blue-haired one's eyes widened in surprise, receiving a nod.

The two of them walked outside, closing the door behind them in process. I was staring at the exit in both confusion and curiosity.

I wasn't exactly sure what that 'veil card' talk was all about… Nor did I have time to think about it! I had to go and find that room before anyone discovered me!

After making sure no one else was going to come through the hallway, I raced upstairs.

I was walking through the hallway on the floor, and praying no one would see me here. I knew I had to find that room, yet I was also terrified of trying to walk in… What if someone was inside? Then they'd see me, and I'd be done for! I was lucky the dorm was empty today! But walking around wouldn't help me either… I had to try to knock somewhere.

I stopped in front of one door, lifting up my trembling hand. I knocked on the door. "Who is it?!" A girl's voice could be heard from the inside. "Hello?" I spoke up nervously. "Lorenzo, is that you?" The voice demanded in annoyance.

Honestly, that statement caught me by surprise. I didn't even know who that Lorenzo was… But the name sounded Italian, which was why I decided to go with it.

"Si." I nodded. "Why is your voice higher?" "Sorry," I started coughing, trying to make my voice sound deeper. "I inhaled some helium." "What do you want?" The voice demanded. "Sar…" I quickly stopped, realizing I nearly made a crucial mistake. If I didn't refer to him as 'Master Sartorius', then she'd figure out I wasn't from the cult… The last thing I needed right now!

"Master Sartorius wanted to see me," I tried to sound deeper than usual. "But I forgot where his room is." "Just great…" The girl from the inside groaned in annoyance. "Look, his room is the one in the middle of the first floor, the door on the left." "Grazie." I nodded. "Whatever, just go!"

I started running towards the stairs, since I was on the second floor at the moment.

I ran down the stairs, right to the first floor. Walking through the hallway, I looked at doors on the left side. There were seven of them… That meant the fourth one was the door to the room.

Hopefully, no one would be inside… I had to make sure that wasn't the case.

That's why I knocked on the door. There seemed to be no response. Frowning, I decided to knock once again. However, nothing happened. I knocked for the third time, only to receive no response like before.

That meant no one was inside… Thank goodness!

I opened the door and walked inside the room.

To my surprise, it wasn't just one; but like a small apartment! And thankfully, it seemed to be empty… There was no one in the bedroom, nor bathroom… The front room seemed to be empty as well. The curtain in front of the room (the one right in front of me) was pulled to the side.

I walked to the front room. A huge, round, and glass table was in the center. A chair was by it. The room itself was huge.

Looking around, I couldn't help noticing the similarities between this room, and the one where Sartorius used to have customers back then. Both of them had a table, at least one chair, and some kind of curtain door… It was a similar, and quite familiar atmosphere…

Finally, my eyes landed on the table. Something was on it. Walking closer, I realized it was the case from before, except that it was wide open. But it was definitely the case the Prince had offered to Sartorius earlier. I could see it, because chains were still tied to it.

The thing itself looked rather complex… I could even see four holes around its edges.

My eyes then darted over to four boxes by the case. All of the objects were open, while the two were empty. The remaining two had some weird, grey things inside them.

Just as I was about to walk closer, I accidentally stepped on something. I jumped back with a yelp and quickly looked down. The remaining two, grey things were lying on the floor. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I took both of them in my hands.

I had no idea what those things were… But they must have been a big deal. Those four men didn't carry them in their hands for nothing… Why were they lying on the floor like this? Sartorius was obviously intending to do something with this thing, so where was he? Not that I wanted him to come while I was here (the last thing I wanted), but still, this was quite weird… Why open the thing, leave the other ones lying around, and then just go out?

Taking a deep breath, I reached for one of those empty boxes on the table. I took it, and put one of the things inside. I then did the same with the other one. After closing all boxes and the case, I opened the backpack I had brought with me. I put one of the boxes inside. I was about to put another one of them inside…

When the door opened.

I looked up with a gasp. A pang of shock washed over me. I could have sworn I stopped breathing for a few seconds.

Sartorius was standing at the room's entrance. He had a hand on his face, and was looking right at me.

I was staring back. I felt completely frozen, and didn't know what to do.

He kept looking at me for a few seconds… Then he lunged at me.

I let out a scream and jumped back. "HOW DARE YOU?!" He screeched.

The worst thing was, that screech sounded almost inhuman… It definitely didn't sound like something a human could do.

His face then contorted into the identical one from my nightmare. I let out a scream and backed behind the table. He lunged at me from my right. I jumped over to the left side, barely avoiding getting caught. I then quickly stood up, behind the other side of the table.

He tried to lunge at me again, and I jumped away. I then quickly grabbed the boxes and the case in my hands. However, the man pulled out something from a drawer… He pulled out a knife.

"FOOLISH HUMAN!" The inhuman voice screeched, just as he started running after me. I was running too, but it was more to just try to get out of his reach, rather than get out of there… Which was why he lunged at me from the other side.

The man pushed me harshly. I fell on the ground with a yelp, dropping the case and boxes in process. They fell a few meters away from me. Metal banging against the floor could be heard.

He grabbed me by my arm harshly. Those insane-looking eyes were looking straight into mine… "You'll pay for this… No one can help you now!" He lunged the knife in my direction. I tried to push him away. However, the grip on my arm was too strong… It was like he wanted to break it. It hurt that much… I let out a scream and looked away.

Then, I heard a shout of pain. I looked up, my eyes wide.

Sartorius let go of my arm. Instead, he was holding his own hand. The left hand had a knife in it… And it was bleeding.

"GET OUT!" He shouted at me. While his face wasn't as contorted as it had been before, it was still filled with anger.

I quickly got on my feet, only to be grabbed harshly once again. "You'll pay for this…" The inhuman voice threatened. I looked up at him, feeling nothing but panic and fear. Then I did it. I stomped on both of his feet harshly. It made him let go of me, since my stomping always hurt… I then raced towards the bedroom.

Slamming the door shut, I looked around the room. I then quickly locked the door and put a nearby floorboard against the door. Breathing heavily, I looked around once again. I could feel even more panic.

How… How was I going to get out of here?! I couldn't have gone through the room door, since Sartorius would have caught me again…

Loud and violent door banging made me look up in panic. He was trying to break down the door… If he did it, then I'd really be done for!

I looked around the room, the feeling of panic increasing. There was no proper exit out of here…

Except for the window. I raced towards it and opened it. I then looked outside. A huge, tree branch was near the window…

Climbing up and down the trees from windows was not a problem for me. I did it loads of times, whenever my parents locked the door of the house. What worried me was the distance between this window and that branch… I would have to jump to grab it.

Hearing Sartorius trying to break down the door made me realize I really had no choice here. It was either the window, or him…

I climbed through the window. That was when I heard loud slamming. Turning around, I could see Sartorius walking inside the room. The broken door was lying on the floor.

It all happened so quickly. He lunged at me. I turned around. I jumped, and grabbed that tree branch. It seemed everything was going well…

Until I heard a cracking sound. The next thing I knew was that I was falling. Once my body hit the ground, I could feel piercing pain from where my left ribs were… I let out a scream. The pain was awful, and I just wanted it to stop…

Opening my eyes, I looked up at the sky while taking deep breaths. I hoped it would help me get rid of pain… But it didn't. It hurt so much…

Suddenly, I felt someone grabbing me by my arm. "Don't touch me!" I tried to slap it back to no avail. My left side was obviously injured…

"It's fine, it's just me!" The familiar voice exclaimed, pulling me up. The next thing I knew was that he started leading us away from the building as fast as he could…

Well… Yeah… That happened.

Normally, Serena wouldn't do foolish things like this one. But, once panic overwhelms her (everything building up so far, with the satellite being a cherry on top), she literally loses her mind… And it results in situations like this. She was acting like an idiot here, and it was fully intentional.

Personally, I think a chapter like this was needed, to teach her a lesson that panic never helps. Now, how the others react is something I'm looking forward to writing… Whatever they're about to say, she totally deserved it lmao.

Words in Italian:

Onestamente-Honestly.

I hope you liked it and until next time! :)