Alternate Reality: Part Two By Sakura Girl Author's Notes: *bonk* (Sakura just got hit on the head by Inspiration! Yay!) Hello to all my loyal fans out there! *Sakura squints eyes and sees, to her dismay, no one…* J/K. Well, after a wonderful little vacation from writing, I've mustered up enough courage (One needs courage to write? What planet do YOU live on, Sakura-chan?) to begin some writing again. I'm happy to be back, I just KNOW how much all you minna out there missed me! (Of course, we are ignoring the fact that Sakura's inbox has been quite lonely during the duration of my "vacation"… *twitch* But oh well, I'll live…) Anyway! Enough rambling from the crazy one (that's me), on with the story! *drumroll please…* "Hey there! You're finally awake… How-how do you feel?" a friendly feminine questioned, concern quite apparent in her voice. Serena lazily lifted one of her heavy eyelids, and she found herself staring into a pair of eyes that didn't differ too much from her own. She furrowed her brows as she attempted to recognize the pretty blonde mirror image of herself(AN: Hmm… I wonder who THIS could be?). "Do-do I know you?" she asked in a confused state. The girl grinned sympathetically, "Oh, my name's Mina! I found you lying in the Madame's quarters just a few hours ago… You were, unconscious. The Madame requested that I bring here you to rest, one can't be useful if one's not awake, eh?" "Eh?" Serena stared blankly. There was a blonde-moment-of-silence…then, it hit her. She remembered everything… She dropped her tired head back on the soft, silk pillow and groaned at the memory of being abducted by the strange men, then struggled to recall the rest. Flashback… "Hey! Let go of me, you weirdoes! I swear I'll scream! I'll- I'll yell and scream and kick and…and the police will co-" Serena's wailing had been put to an abrupt halt as her bulky captor slapped her mouth tight and hit her unconscious over the head with some unidentified object. The three bumbling outlaws carefully dragged (AN: How does one "carefully drag"?) their "sleeping" victim to their little horse-drawn carriage and clumsily sped off to the nearby town of Lancelot. After about half-an-hour of riding through the barren countryside, they stopped at a rather lavishly structured Victorian- styled townhouse. The gold-plated sign that hung above the two large oak doors read: Madame Beryl's House of Fine Tea. Of course, as all inhabitants of the small suburban town knew, one most certainly did not pay visit to the Teahouse for innocent little treats of tea and cakes… "How much do you think the old coot will offer for this little piece of work?" the mustached one gestured to Serena's limp body. "…I dunno. We could probably round up about…let's see, fifty or sixty bucks…she IS kinda small, ya know!" the large one mused sardonically. With the poor girl swung over their shoulders, the trio of evil approached the intricately carved doors, knocked and gingerly stepped into the grand entrance. Two good-looking girls, whom appeared no older than the young age of sixteen or seventeen, immediately accompanied their side. "What can we do for you today, gentlemen?" the redhead grinned sultrily as she strategically draped herself all over the hairy man. However, her "seductions" were interrupted as she was indistinctly nudged on the sides by the curvy brunette to inform her of the young blonde that was draped over the burlier man's shoulder. "Oh! What do we have here?" she arched a finely plucked auburn-colored brow. "Would you gentlemen care for some tea, or crackers…anything for your, er- little friend?" Taking on her cue, the mustached one replied a little too obviously and a bit too quickly, "We would like some TEA and CRACKERS, served by the one and only JEANETTE, please." "Ah…Jeanette? Very well, um…please follow Teri. She'll-she'll take you to Jeanette." The redhead's mischievous glint was immediately replaced by a cold, unfeeling one at the mere mentioning of the name "Jeanette". (AN: Do I sense a secret code of some sort here in this little innocent *cough* teahouse? Keyword: Jeanette? Hmm…). The four (AN: Don't forget Serena!) clumsy figures dragged behind the lithe little one of the brunette as she maneuvered her way through the maze of hallways and stairs within the giant "House of Tea". Finally, they reached a large white washed door with tiny carvings of roses and vines that had been artistically placed upon the oak furnishing. The brunette showed the slightest trace of nervousness as she hesitated for a second before reaching out to the heavy golden latch to open the door. Once they entered, she immediately shut the heavy door behind them with obvious signs of uneasiness. "And what have you brought me this time, gentlemen?" a sharp, deviously vicious voice drawled out from the darkness of the richly tailored room. Serena being Serena managed to miraculously, sleep through the whole horrid ordeal of the "negotiation process". (AN: *sweatdrop*) End Flashback… (AN: Dang! That was one LONG flashback, ne? *sweatdrops yet again*) Serena reopened her eyes and found herself staring, yet again, into the face of that twin-like blue-eyed blonde named Mary or Missy or something of the sort… Serena furrowed her golden brows, "If- if I may ask…where exactly AM I? The last things I remember are some men who whacked me over the head, and I fell unconscious…and then…then I woke up. Here." Mina smiled gently, "Well…I guess I'll be blunt. You are currently a lifetime member of Madame Beryl's Fine Teahouse Serving Girls… Those men you speak of sold you to the Madame just a few hours ago. You'll be working under my supervision for the next week or so. You know, until you get the hang of things around here…" Serena's innocent blue eyes widened immensely, "…Some-someone SOLD me?!" She screeched unbelievingly. "Th-that's imposs- it's ILLEGAL! This is kidnap! I mean, this is, er- vandalism? Um…this is child abuse! No, wait! This…child abducting! This…this is bad. Very, very bad…" She stuttered incoherently before trailing off unbelievingly. Shocked of everything that Mina girl had just recently told her. Though it all made no sense whatsoever, Serena couldn't help but feel an urge to trust in this Mina girl. There was a rather sisterly aura about her… But Serena's little musings were soon interrupted by a whole new set of worries as her brain a sudden turn for pessimistism. What would become of her? How could she get home? What exactly is Mina talking about by all that "under-my-supervision" mumbo jumbo? I didn't even know Juuban had places like this…this bed looks like an antique or something! Something out of a history book… "Don't worry, the job's actually not that tough…if you know how to handle them brutes! They're all really quite stupid, just sweet talk 'em into a few too many drinks and they'll be out cold in no time!" Mina mistakenly reassured her, for she thought Serena was fretting over how she would handle her new position as a "Serving Girl". "Hey! Wait a sec, I never said anything about wanting to be a serving girl! I'm only fifteen! I'm not even legal to drink myself, and what the heck are ya talking about? Why do I want to get 'them brutes' so drunk? Who's 'them brutes' anyway? And why should I care? I just want to go home!" she wailed childishly, still not accepting the fact of already being labeled as a "sold" item. There was a moment of silence. "I'm sorry… I know how you feel… I shouldn't have been so forward. I wasn't happy at all to be sent to the Teahouse, but…but it's really not that bad! You get free housing, free food, free clothes… The best of EVERYTHING! Of course…ya also hafta sacrifice a few…minor personal possessions… But all in all, it's-it's okay." Serena twitched. "…I don't think so. I am NOT staying at this little sleaze house! Don't think I don't know what you do for a living, I'm not THAT much a of ditz! And I refuse to take any part in this craziness! I want to use the phone, my Mom's probably in hysterics by now…" There was, yet, another fairly lengthy period of utter-blonde- moment-of-silence. Mina stared blankly at her, "What's a phone?"