CHAPTER 31: The Revelation

Two days pasted quickly. Flora and Emylee barely spoke more than a word a day, if that. C.C. hadn't returned since the last encounter and that was okay with Flora. She needed time to think and no she was ready.

"Emylee?" Emylee jumped at the sound of Flora's voice and turned her head to meet her smile. "I've got to tell you something." Emylee turned her body and sat facing the gentle fairy. "I figure that you should hear my story since I heard yours. I am going to tell you all about me and the Winx and Alfea and Magix and anything else you want to know. Is that alright with you, Emylee?"

"I dunno, Flora, I think we should keep quiet and wait this all out. I doubt I will ever see any of that stuff anyway. And besides, I haven't finished my story yet. I kinda left a part out." Emylee shifted her weight and looked into her lap. She fidgeted and glanced around the room.

"Emylee, what is it? What's wrong?" Flora stood up slowly from her metallic bed. She took a step toward Emylee who immediately sprung up and backed against the wall. "Emylee? You're scaring me!" Flora crossed her arms and looked at the girl against the wall. Emylee started to cry as she looked up.

"I did it Flora! I did all of it! I swear I didn't mean to!" Emylee collapsed against the wall and burst into sobs. Flora stood unsure of what to do.

"Emylee, what did you do?" Emylee fell to the ground, grabbing it, clawing it, grinding her teeth.

"I….I…. I DID IT! I let her go! I knew about her and I let her go! She is out there because of me! It's all my fault! It's always been my fault… from the start…. I let her go…" Emylee drifted back it to sobs. Flora reached her hand out, and then pulled it back to cross her chest.

"Emylee, who did let go. You're scaring me. What happened?" Emylee wiped her face with her sleeve. She pulled her legs close to her chest and buried her head.

"You are going to hate me Flora. You are going to hate me." Flora bit her lip and crossed her arms tighter. "I haven't always been locked up here. C.C. and I made a deal, Flora. I…. I….. pretended to be somebody else to get out of this horrid place. But I shouldn't have. I tried to say something, but… she made me swear. She has her ways! She can be so scary when she wants to be. I feel so… so… horrible!" Flora caught her as she broke down again. She put her chin to rest on Emylee's head, deep in thought. She was trying to piece everything together. Why did C.C. want Emylee and Flora? Where did she play a part in all of this? And furthermore, what was all of this? None of it fit together. She felt Emylee's breathing steady, and her sobbing became quieter as it turned into light snoring. She rested Emylee on her bed and then sat back down in the middle of the room. There was no way she would sleep tonight.

Sitting in the cold damp room gives a girl things to think about. But nothing was more important than getting out of here, wherever here was. If only she knew where she was, and had some magic to use, she would free Emylee.

"Layla. Layla. LAYLA." Techna finally gave up trying to poke her sleeping friend, and instead tried the other approach, pushing her friend straight off the bed. Layla awoke with a thud and sat up to look at her attacker who was signaling her to remain quiet. She nodded her head to a sleeping Trista who rolled over in her bed, but remained silent.

Layla propped herself up on the bed next her friend and raised an eyebrow. Techna grabbed Layla's wrist and pulled her to the far corner of their prison room. Huddled, Techna began to spill.

"I think I have an idea of who our captor is." She widened her eyes and smirked proudly.

"Tech, I thought we already knew that? Trista told us all about Diamond and the Negaverse. Are you feeling okay?" Layla rached a hand out to feel Techna's forehead, which was promptly swatted away and given a scowl.

"Yeah, but HOW?" Techna nodded her head slowly and widened her eyes again. Layla squinted, trying to follow. "Let's go over all the facts we know." Techna pulled out a bunch of pieces of paper all of which had scribbles all over them. "Ami gave me these so I could think more clearly. It's no computer, but it'll do. First, our captor is Prince Diamond. His brother, Sapphire, and he are from the negaverse. They attacked Trista and her friends when they were younger to kidnap Rini, who had come from the future and whom I've met. Rini is the princess of Crystal Tokyo. Her parents were part of the original Sailor Scouts. But, how do we play a role?" Techna looked up to see Layla's slack face. She shook her head and continued. "I think that our part in this was no accident. It all played out way to perfectly for whoever is controlling all this. And I don't think it's Diamond or Captain Attitude. Just think, we were searching for Stella's mom. Somebody knew that. They knew we would come looking for your help at some point. They knew you were….at a low point in your life." Layla shifted, but didn't say anything. "I think they used that. Sapphire told you that you brought yourself here. I think he may be right. I think they probably promised you they could fix Nabu. I think you teleported yourself here, wherever here is. I don't think they have very much magic, if any at all. They can put dreams in our head while we are asleep, but what else have they done? They didn't take Trista, someone else did. And Ami was the one who turned me in. I think, that whatever is going on here, they aren't at full power. They have been using our weaknesses against us and fighting us from within."

"But what about our powers? Why can't we use them? And why is Ami a traitor? And who kidnapped Trista? Or Flora? And how the hell do we tie into ANY of this INSANITY?!" Layla leaned back, falling to the floor, spreading her arms and legs in exasperation. She missed Nabu.

"I was getting to most all of those before you cut me off. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Okay so let's say you brought yourself here? Why? That way, there would be a trail for someone to follow. Someone like us. Diamond left the crystal for us to use to find a way back to you. Here's the real kicker." Layla rolled her eyes. "How did he know that Roxy would recognize the crystal? And how did whoever gave that crystal to Mitzy know that she would know Roxy all these years later? Or that Roxy was really a fairy? And then there's Mitzi's story. I have a hunch that her producer or whatever was in on part of this and that she was forced by whoever that was into hiding for a reason. Like to protect the crystal?" Layla sat back up. Techna was on a roll now. Papers lay all over the floor. "I have a few theories as to how this all happened." She glanced at their sleeping cell mate, then back down at the papers strewn all which ways.

"Tech…." Layla shifted to prop herself onto her knees.

"Okay, so we know that Diamond can mess with people's minds. Like us with our dreams and in the past, Trista said that he tried to mind control Sailor Moon into a forced love. I think that those are his only powers he has left. I think somebody found a way to resurrect him, but only give him those specific powers. I've read about ways that people have tried to bring back the dead. Crazed theories of witchcraft or zombie like diseases or stones with special properties, a few even tried switching the brains of a live person with a dead one. Obviously none have ever worked. And even if one could bring these people back, how would one control what magic they have, and what they don't?" Layla rubbed her temples. "It would be much simpler to simply take away a living person's magic. People can do that, take magic away. I've read about something called an Avatar that can take a person's ability to bend the elements away. And another of an heir to a power who can give or block magic powers due to some age old curse. So here's my point. Ready?" Techna looked up to see a serious-faced Layla with wide eyes. Her head hurt from all the knowledge, but they, or at least Techna, was finally getting somewhere with this mess. She wished she knew how this person did it. If she knew, she could bring back her Nabu. Stop! He isn't dead! At least, not that she knew of, not yet. She nodded, ready for the big revelation.

"What if," She paused looking back to the mound of sheets rising and falling steadily in sleep. Layla looked over, too, wondering if any new dreams were being made that would help their yearning to understand or simply confuse them more. "somebody went back in time and simply prevented them from dying in the first place?"