UsAgI iS dEaD uSaGi Is DeAd HiP hIp HiP hOoRaY
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME

Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so
these characters really belong to them, except ones I made up, in
which case, if I see anyone using them, I'll murder ya!  ^_^  (In
the nicest possible way, of course).

This chapter also includes some coarse language near the end.  I'm
warning you now, just so you know.

Part Ten
School of Hard Knocks


	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	and again
	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST



	Usagi stared out of the side of the building at the vast
expanse of sand, a veritable desert, the wind blowing in her hair.  
It wasn't a natural desert, of course, and much of it was beginning 
to green over once more, the struggling tendrils of life pushing its 
way back from the brink.  It felt so peaceful, she could have sat
there for an eternity, hoping things would never change for her.

	Then her right arm began to quiver, and that was the end of 
that moment's introspection.  It was a cruel thing, being at war 
with yourself.  At least, thats what the Professor had told her.  A
combination of opposing powers.  She had to hand it to Jadeite, he
sure had sucked her well and truly in with her need for a new body.

	She'd managed to get control of the arm and turned back to the 
valley of sand.  There was something in the sky....  She ignored it 
at first, but it soon clicked as to what it may be.  She fixed her
vision onto the tiny dot and squinted, jumping from the window sill
and turning away.

	"Professor!  Professor!  Hotaru's back!"  Usagi ran excitedly
into the darker confines of the old building, down stairs and 
corridors until she reached the lab of Professor Tomoe, who was 
gazing intently through a telescope at his approaching daughter, 
looking out of the sole window.

	"Professor...  Its her...  She's returned, thank Kami-sama."
	"I know, I can see her.  She's carrying someone in her arms."
	"Eh?"  Usagi blinked as she padded across the lab, avoiding
the Professor's many experimental setups that protruded from 
benchtops in every direction.  The Professor turned to Usagi and 
gestured at the telescope.
	"You won't believe this."  He said.  "It looks like she's 
picked up yet another Usagi."
	"Ehh?"  Usagi put her eye up to the telescope.  Without doubt,
Hotaru was carrying.... another her.  Where were all these Usagis
coming from, she wondered.  Surely there is only one REAL version of 
me, and I KNOW that's me.  She turned back to Professor Tomoe.
	"Where are all these versions of me coming from?"
	"You mean versions of ME."  Usagi turned to see a third Usagi
standing in the doorway.  As soon as she stepped in, a fourth, 
fifth, sixth and seventh followed her.
	"No, what you both meant to say was, different versions of 
ME." The fourth replied haughtily.  Tomoe, who was getting used to 
this circular argument, put his hands up placatingly.
	"Now now now, lets not be immature about this.  There will be
seven of you here, now."  All the Usagis rolled their eyes, except 
the Youma-Usagi, who had turned back to the telescope.  She could 
see the new arrival better now.  An Usagi, with her hair worn down, 
dressed in a pink skirt, blouse and jacket.  At least her clothes 
looked neat and tidy.  Better than the torn and bloodied sailorfuku 
she had been wearing when she had been brought to Tomoe's new abode.

	It had taken her some time to find someone she knew.  This 
was, most definitely, not her time.  According to the Professor, all 
of the senshi were missing, except for his daughter.  And she was 
aloof, never around half the time.  It all had something to do with 
a cataclysm that occurred not long before....  The Professor was 
sketchy on the details.  What he did know was that Usagis were NOT 
popular with any survivors (something she'd discovered upon her 
arrival), so he'd spent much of his time getting Hotaru to search 
for and rescue them.  And that had included her, even though he knew 
her for what she was.

	Not that Hotaru had actually found her.  More like she had
found Hotaru.  And that was all for the better, considering the 
state the sole remaining senshi was in when she had happened on her.  
A story she had never gotten round to telling her father.  Another 
thing that was all for the better for Hotaru.

	"Anyways."  Said the fifth Usagi.  "We better prepare 
something for her to eat.  You know how hungry we Usagis get."
	"Indeed, a most excellent idea.  Hop to it, straight away."  
Tomoe pointed to the doorway as the Usagis excitedly made their way 
out of the lab and down the corridor to the kitchen.

	The Youma Usagi turned and looked back at Tomoe, who was 
standing by the doorway, watching them go.

	"They're so cheerful, its hard to believe they've had to 
endure some of the worst this world has to offer."  She said.  Tomoe 
said nothing and she frowned.  "Is there something wrong?"
	"No...  Nothing.  Really."  He sighed, and she shook her head.
	"There is no point hiding your feelings from me, sensei."  She
stepped away from the window.  He turned to her, then looked down at 
the floor.

	"You've been here for almost a year now."  He said, softly.  
The tone was gentle.  She swallowed for a moment.
	"Yes..."
	"And you've long ago calculated the point at which you should 
return."
	"Yes."
	"And you know the spell that will get you there like the back 
of your hand."
	"Your point being?"
	"Why haven't you?"

	Usagi chewed this over for a while.  "Why haven't I gone back 
to finish the job I'd started?  To kill the Senshi?"
	"Yes, thats what I'm asking you."

	Usagi gestured to the window.  "You see that wasteland out 
there?  That's why.  I couldn't give a damn about the Senshi.  If 
going back to kill them was such a simple task, then I would have 
done it long ago.  But going back means creating this world, this 
future.  It may also mean my dying."

	"There is no guarentee that you are dead.  Certainly, nobody 
has heard from you in this time, but that doesn't mean you AREN'T 
here."  He shrugged.  "Perhaps you're waiting for you to leave to
before you make an appearance."

	Usagi blinked at him a couple of times and smiled.  "I just
love the terminology people use during a time paradox, don't you?"

	Tomoe sniffed.  "You're avoiding giving me a proper answer to
my question."
	"What kind of answer would you want me to give?"  Usagi felt
frustrated.  There were things she just couldn't tell him.

	Tomoe looked away.  After a few moment's silence, he turned
back to her.  "If its me that is holding you back...."
	Usagi smiled and shook her head.  "Are you afraid of my 
leaving, sensei?  Or do you think I'm afraid to leave you?
	"I'm not sure what I think."

	Usagi nodded.  "Well, you're right.  I am afraid to leave you
and this place.  You've provided... more than enough comfort... for
me in my stay here.  And I don't wish to leave that."

	There was a gentle knock on the doorframe, and one of the 
Usagis peered in.  Both turned to her.  "Anooo...  Tomoe-sensei,
Hotaru has just landed on the roof.  She wishes to see you.  Alone."

	"Tell her I'll be a couple of minutes."
	"And the new arrival....  She's requesting a bath."
	"Very well....  See if we have enough water in the holding
tank.  If not, she'll have to wait until we send out the truck."

	She nodded and disappeared back from the doorway.  Tomoe
looked aside at the Youma.  "All these girls around me.  I think
they know.... what has been going on.  Between us, I mean.  If
Hotaru were to find out...."
	"Her father's private life is none of her business."  Usagi
huffed.  "Just as she'd say hers is none of yours.  There are a few
tales I can give away about what she has been up to when she isn't
here."
	"Many of which I would never begin to ask about.  I'll let her 
tell me.  The difference is Hotaru KNOWS what you are, and what you 
were supposed to have done to the other senshi.  The thought that 
her own father may contemplate....  Well, you know what I mean."

	Usagi shrugged and turned back to the window.  "I promised
her I would do nothing as long as I was here to hurt either you or
her.  I intend to keep that promise.  If she wants to pick a fight
with me, then the only one who is going to get hurt shall be her."

	"Then I shall have to see that she doesn't, won't I?"  Tomoe
left the room.  Usagi clenched her fists and shut her eyes.
	"Baka!  Damn you to hell, Hotaru."


	Naru felt herself land softly on the ground.  She felt a 
little disoriented and stared around at her surroundings.  She was
on a concrete garden path, surrounded by plant life of extraordianry
foliage and colour.  The sky was a rich azure blue and the sun was
shining, albeit weakly.  Whatever time of the year this was, it
appeared to be close to winter.  That may come to explain the 
colours of the foliage, she thought.

	She then looked down at what she was wearing, and found 
herself in a black sailorfuku, with white bow and silver trimmings.  
The dress itself ran down almost to her ankles, and she wore very 
simple slip-on white shoes.  Under her arm, tied with secure string, 
were schoolbooks and a pencil.

	"Something wrong, Tranqs?"  The voice sounded familiar, but
younger.  Naru turned to see Naiad, similarly dressed, also carrying
schoolbooks.  And she was right, Naiad WAS younger, a good ten years
in terms of physical appearance from the 25 year old she had become
used to.  Of course, she knew better than to think of Naiad as a
simple 25 year old, like she knew better than to think Setsuna was
going to get any older than she appeared.  It was just a shock to
think of Naiad as having ever been any younger, considering her
great age, spiritually, anyway.  Of course, Naru thought, if this
IS my past life, then I am just as old as she is.

	"Ah, no, I'm sorry.  Just having to get used to my 
surroundings.  I've never been good at working new places out 
quickly"  She blurted out without thinking.  Fortunately, Naiad 
seemed to find this amusing.
	"Yes, the Academy can be a difficult place to get used to.
Especially to those of us who wonder what we're doing here."
	"Why?  I thought you were looking forward to studying under
Poseidon for the position of the Neptune Senshi, or her guard?"
Naru didn't know why she blurted that question out.  It just seemed
the right thing to say.  Naiad's smile disappeared and she looked
away.
	"Oh, I dunno.  Maybe its just a phase I'm going through.  I
better pull my socks up.  It'd be embarrassing for my mother if I
were to fail.  Nobody has ever failed this Academy."
	"Hmm?"  Naru frowned.  "Surely someone would have failed.
That's the purpose of the Academy, to sort out those who are worthy
to fill the positions...."
	"Not this place.  Even if you do relatively poorly, you shall,
ultimately, end up in some position of authority, somewhere."  Naiad
seemed to cheer up.  "Some of the most successful graduates of this
place were the worst performers.  Says something about the system, I
suppose."
	"You seem almost pleased about that proposition."  Naru smiled
sweetly.  Naiad smiled back.
	"Yes, well, maybe its that individualistic side of me coming
out.  There were times in my life when I went out of my way to
disappoint my mother, just to smash the hopes in me she had and
give her a more bitter sense of reality."  Naru found it hard to
believe that Naiad smiled through saying that.  "Parents have such
unnaturally high expectations of you, don't they?  If I was to ever
achieve anything in my life, I'd rather it be done without the kind
of fanfare most like to soak in."
	Naru nodded dumbly.  "Whatever you feel is best for you."  
Naru thought for several moments, thoughts entering her head that
hadn't been there previously.  "But then, that is the danger of the
Water elemental powers....  They can build your creativity and power
of mind at the expense of your drive and ambition."
	"Oh, I dunno.  I have ambition.  To be what, I don't know, but
there's this constant feeling within me that I'm missing my 
calling."
	"What?  To be a Miko?"

	Naiad stopped and stared at Naru, who took a few more steps,
then stopped and turned back to look at her.
	"A Miko?"
	"Uh...  It was just a thought."
	"What, in the name of the Kingdom, made you think I'd want to
be a Miko?"  Naiad seemed to find the idea distasteful.
	"Well, its just that, when you said you felt that you were
missing your calling...."
	"To become a Miko?  Oh COME on.  Do you know what kind of
embarrassment that would cause the Academy, not to mention my 
mother."  Naiad shook her head.  "The systems that produce the
senshi and the miko are two different and competing ones.  If I
were to leave the Academy to join the Seminary, there would be those
who would, quite willingly, have me killed.  Its the kind of
embarrassment they would NEVER allow me to live down."
	"And yet, you've considered it, haven't you?"  Naru kicked
herself within the several moments of silence that passed between
them for not controlling these memories better.

	Naiad seemed to chuckle to herself as the school bell rang.
Slinging her books under one arm, she stepped up to Naru and grabbed
he with her free hand.

	"Come on, you.  Enough of the mindless philosophising.  We're
going to be late for class."  And with that, Naru found herself
being physically dragged towards the main Academy building.


	VesVes had managed to pursue Rei's energy-signal through the
streets until she reached a small shopping strip on a reasonably
busy intersection.  The level of activity there had made the signal
blurry, and she could but follow its general direction.  As she
passed the shops by, she noticed the owner's names printed above
the doorways....  Owner Meiou...  Proprietor Meiou...  Owner Meiou.
Just how many pies had Setsuna stuck her wriggly little fingers in?

	Seconds later, she felt Rei's signal strongly once more, and
hurried away, not giving the shops a second thought.


	There was a police cordon around the shrine grounds.  
Apparently, the chief priest of the shrine had been found, with a
friend who had been travelling with him.  Both seemed exceptionally 
worried about a girl who had been staying there.

	Jadeite watched from the crowd that surrounded the devastated 
shrine and shook his head again.  Not here, either.  He was quite 
sure the witch would not allow herself to be killed quite so easily.  
And as for Rei....  Well, the witch would probably still be trying 
to make use of her powers.  It was likely that she had escaped the 
conflagration that swallowed the shrine.

	Jadeite took one last look at Rei's grandfather, finding it
difficult to believe the old man was related to the same Mars he
knew back in the days of the Kingdom.  That this man had spent a
good many years raising her....

	He made his way from the crowd, wondering how many of the
senshi's houses he would have to investigate before he found her.
He soon wondered who it was he was truly looking for....  The witch
or his beloved Mars.  He shook his head.  Only the witch would truly
be able to tell him what was going on.  Maybe even explain to him who 
was following him.  He cast a glance over his shoulder.  Indeed,
a Tsukino Usagi, dressed in a pink blouse and skirt, with her hair
worn down.  Not the Youma-Usagi, nor the original.  The memories of
this one were far far shorter than the either of them, yet the
emotional development was complete....  More complete than would
have been expected from that Tsukino brat.  This one bore a closer
resemblance to the original Serenity of his memory.

	He ignored her and continued on his way.


	Rei had followed the image of the Usagi through the streets
for quite some time.  It always seemed to be just one step ahead.
Strange, since Usagi was never that good at running around.  It had
to have been a spirit of some kind.  Rei had always been good on
picking up spirits.  Hell, even her name meant spirit.  Whatever
the case, she was being lead somewhere, and she didn't like the
thought of that.

	She had reached the empty grounds of a school by the time she
stopped and paused, watching the figure watching her from the corner
of one of the school buildings.  Well, she thought, its your move
now.


	Jadeite felt a tingling run down his spine as he stepped
across the main street.  His hand slapped onto the back of his neck
and he spun, and if hearing a voice behind him.  Back on the 
footpath stood Usagi...  The Usagi who ahd been following him.  His
expression was threatening, but she was unmoved, merely standing
there in a calm serenity.

	Serenity, he thought, what a laugh.  And then an image entered
his mind.  An image of Rei in danger.  He spun and looked out over
buildings, to see her in a schoolyard.

	"No!"  He shouted.  And in an instant, he disappeared from the
street, much to the surprise of people around him.

	The Usagi simply stood there and shook her head, looking up
into the sky, as if expecting something.  Her reverie was broken
when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
	"Hoi, you!  You're that Tsukino girl, aren't ya?"  She turned
slowly and without concern at the uniformed policewoman who stood
beside her.
	"And if I am?  Aren't I supposed to be dangerous?"  The woman
stared at her for a moment.
	"I think you better come with me."
	"I honestly have more pressing engagements."
	"I'm not giving you a choice.  I'm arresting you, Tsukino 
Usagi, under suspicion of conspiring with others over the terrorist
bombing of the Buruto Police Sub-Branch."
	"My name is NOT Tsukino Usagi, it is Tsukino Usako.  And if
you must arrest me, then very well, I shall go with you.  But I warn
you now, I won't be held responsible for the consequences."
	For a few moments, the pair stared at each other.  A small
crowd of gossiping people had, by this stage, surrounded them.  The
woman, noticing the group, took Usako by the arm and started to drag
her away....


	Naru had found the Academy's Food Hall fairly easily.  Despite
the fact that she had never, conciously, been to this place before,
she seemed to remember a hell of a lot about it.  Of course, that
depended on whether one believed the place had ever truly existed in
the first place, or was nothing more than a figment of her
imagination, allowed to run rampant within the avatar of the liquid
that Ami had created from mere water.  She wondered to herself the
implications of three minds melded together within a liquid body....
For some reason she found the concept attractive.  To live forever
in a world of your own creating.

	It was all a fantasy, though.  The thought that, in truth,
everyone you relate to here was nothing more than an aspect of your
own personality....  It was too much for a social creature like her
to contemplate.


	The curriculum she had been presented with, for all intents 
and purposes, should have been mindless gobbledigook.  Yet it all 
made sense to her.  Indeed, she was progressing rather well, it 
would have seemed, judging by some of the results she had got back 
from a test today.  Naiad, however, was not.  

	From what Naru had been able to remember, and what she had 
dredged up from her investigations, Naiad had presented her teacher, 
Poseidon, with something of a conundrum.  Her results showed no 
regular pattern of understanding.  Her literary and artistic skills 
were beyond those one would have normally expected with those 
blessed by the element of water.  Yet her application and study of 
the powers given to her by the element were spasmodic and without 
structure.  She experimented with the powers in an extremely 
dangerous manner, using the mind and sensual disorientation and 
manipulation on both herself and others to see its effects.

	She'd even managed to convince Poseidon that he was a Teborian
Mungfish for about twenty minutes, which amused everyone (even the
headmaster) except Poseidon himself.  This convinced Poseidon that
he was dealing with a prodigy, of a kind, and an extremely dangerous
one if she were to use the full capacity of her powers.  For one of
his students to get past his defensive wall so easily....

	Since that time, Naiad had received VERY special attention
from Poseidon and the staff of the Water Faculty.  Something that
was getting her down.  If there was anything she hated, it was
having others impose themselves upon her and her time.  Naru, as
Tranquility, had discovered this in their short time together
before they'd enetered the Academy.  Give Naiad her personal space
and she was the best friend you could ever hope to have.  Impose
yourself upon her, and you suddenly found a quiet, reserved 
shrinking violet who refused to relate to you at all.  No, that was
not quite right...  She had the ability to spook you into leaving
her alone....  And she would choose the time and place to allow you
back into her life.

	This is what had happened with Poseidon's "special treatment".
The more he pushed and pried into Naiad's life and spare time, the
less he got out of her.  It had left him looking extremely tired
and exasperated, snarling at the very mention of the name Naiad Keth
Drutein.  Even the staff and prefects of the water faculty were
getting heartily sick of her.

	But it was nothing compared to the effect it was having on
Naiad herself.  The girl had been reduced to a shell, more than 
often escaping into fantasy worlds within her mind whenever she had 
the opportunity, mostly to do with various nightmare scenarios 
involving the sadly premature demise of her teacher and his lackeys.


	Lo and behold, Naru found her doing this in the Food Hall,
sitting alone at a table, lunch getting rapidly cold in front of 
her, gazing off into space.  And she looked a mess.  The normally 
fastidious appearance she had obsessively created for herself... the 
hair tied up in a topknot, hanging back in a flowing ponytail, the 
manicured face and hands, the neatly pressed uniform...  Were 
replaced by straight hair, worn down, perhaps even unwashed since
yesterday, or the day before.  Her uniform was messy...  Perhaps it
too had been unwashed for the same period of time.  It was a good
thing she didn't sweat too much....

	Naru shook her head and walked over to the buffet, collecting
a drink (something or other juice, she didn't know what) and a plate 
of food (as unidentifiable as the drink) with utensils, and stepped 
over to her troubled friend, avoiding the stares of other students.

	"Head in the clouds again.  We really must do something with
you."  Naru smiled sweetly as she placed her lunch on the table.  It
smelled nice, whatever it was.  Naiad jumped to and smiled at her,
a little strained, but apparently happy for the diversion.  Naru sat
down.  "And what would be the problem this time?  Or is it the usual
gripe?"
	"Oh, its nothing."  Nicely evasive, vague answer, Naru 
thought.  She's not in the mood to be cross-examined.  Time to draw
it from her.
	"Hmm....  Well anyways, I've got exams coming up.  You know,
the Candidacy examinations.  I'm not feeling too good about them."
	"Well, I'm sure you'll do fine.  You've always been pretty
settled when it comes to those kinds of things."
	"Yeah, but, you know....  This is pretty important.
	"Importance is all relative.  If you fail, you fail.  You 
might end up somewhere where your abilities can be exercised
better.  After all, you are attempting to become the Alternative
Candidate for the position of Queen.  If you pass the exam, and 
merely become one of the successful candidate's entourage, then all
your abilities will go to waste.  The same applies if you become
the Alternate Candidate and the First Candidate is successful in
fulfilling her duties."
	Hmm...  Thought Naru.  An existentialist dilemma.  So the
incipient elements of Naiad's current personality found their
origin during this time.

	"You know, I've been thinking, about what you were saying
this morning.  I'm having doubts, myself, about the path my life is
taking."
	"You?  You having doubts?"  Naiad was genuinely surprised.
	"I've begun to wonder whether it really is worth pursuing the
position of Alternative Candidate.  That I'm, somehow, missing my
true calling.  The conversation we had before class gelled these
thoughts within my mind."
	"And this has lead to the uncertainty you feel about the
examinations?"
	"In a way, yes.  But it's deeper than that.  I don't really
FEEL like doing them.  It all seems so simple...  So planned.  My
life has been mapped out for me by my family since I was born.  It
was deemed the 'right' way to bring me up that I be groomed for
the AltCan position.  I just feel like I've been denied the right
to choose."
	"So do I."
	"Eh?"  This was more like it, Naru thought.
	"My mother was widowed when she was still young....  No more
than three-hundred years old....  Ever since then, she's been
holding a lot of hopes for both Hecate and myself.  Perhaps more in
me than Hecate, because I'm older....  I'm expected to spearhead
the 'great attack' by her daughters on the system.  You know what
she is like."
	Some memories of the dark aquamarine-haired woman entered
Naru's mind.  An extremely dignified and strong woman, demanding of 
her two daughters....  Prone to moments of extreme nervous tension,
and mild psychiatric conditions, for which she had spent some time
in hospital, especially after the death of her husband.  In a
strange kind of way, Naiad seemed to emulate much of her mother's
emotional tension, without quite the same understanding of social
graces.  Naru then thought of her sister, Hecate, and a vision of
someone she recognised came to her mind....
	Setsuna.
	Naru rubbed her chin, thoughtfully, nodding.  Yes, that would
make sense....  If Setsuna, or Hecate, as she was in this world, was
the sister of Naiad, then the conundrum-like personalities of both
could be easily explainable.  A mixture of genetics and spiritual
descendency creating beasts of very similar nature.  Only in 
Setsuna's case, she had since experienced the dubious pleasures of 
rebirth.

	Perhaps endured was a better term.  If Captain Kikotsuka was
truly Naiad's new life, then it could be said that Naiad, too, was
enduring that pleasure.  However, for some reason, Naru felt that it
wasn't the same.  All of the senshi had been reborn in bodies that
were identical to their past or previous lives.  Kikotsuka Aoi 
looked nothing like Naiad.  Perhaps an element of cross-life 
cautiousness on the part of the Miko.  Whatever the case, this 'new'
life of hers seemed more like body borrowing than straight 
reincarnation.

	"You seem a tad out of it today, Tranqs..."
	"Oh, sorry.  Do go on..."
	Naiad sighed.  "Well, here I am, in the great and wonderful
Academy, being taught by the best to achieve the maximum that the
powers to which I have been blessed can give me.  She's impressed,
if not with my performance, then with my being here.  She can write
to all her friends and tell them how wonderful it is to have two
children achieving great things."  Naiad pointed across the hall.
"Look, there's the other side of the coin of the Drutein sisters."
	Naru turned and spotted four young women sitting together
by a window.  One of them was, most obviously, a younger Setsuna.
She wondered why she missed the girl so obviously, although it was
likely that both Tranquility and Hecate had very little to do with
each other outside the few moments they would have met in the
presence of Naiad.  She didn't recognise two of the other girls,
but was surprised to see Hotaru sitting across from Setsuna.  Not
the small, childlike Hotaru she had become used to seeing, but a
tall, attractive young woman, perhaps slightly taller than Setsuna.

	"She pretends not to notice I'm here.  Its a learned response,
I'm sorry to say."  Naiad's voice oozed resigned bitterness.  Naru
smiled at her.
	"Who is the girl sitting opposite her."  Naru pointed.  Naiad
frowned and looked at the girl, then turned back, raising an 
eyebrow.
	"Her?  What would you be interested in her for?"
	"Dunno, was just wondering."
	"That's Erebus Todhunter.  She's in the same faculty as 
Hecate.  I suppose its natural that that pair should be together.
Spooky girl, that's all I can say.  I like her."  Naiad smiled
crookedly.  Naru pressed a finger on Naiad's nose.
	"Don't get any funny ideas.  Having Poseidon after your blood
is bad enough."
	"Aww, there goes all my fun."  Naiad shook her head.  "I 
dunno, maybe I should apply to be a psychoanalyst.  With the powers
of mind that I have, it might be a worthy profession for me to join.
And lets face it, there's gotta be a hell of a lot of people there
that are loopier than I am."
	"Ah, you just put yourself down.  You're not loopy, just 
different.  You're one of those people for whom the path of life
will take some very strange turns."
	"Like dumping the Academy to become a Miko...."
	Naru stared at Naiad, who had turned aside, gazing off into
space.  "I thought you said this morning that you couldn't bear the
embarassment that would bring to your family?"
	"Perhaps I've been thinking, too."
	Naru leaned forward, speaking in conspiratorial tones.  "Then
I wouldn't talk about it casually like this."
	"I don't know if I really care if people overhear what we're
saying.  There are only two ways to drop out of the Academy.  Run 
away, or be killed by the hierachy for besmirching its name.  Both
tend to amount to the same thing.  You run away, and you'll never
achieve anything within the structure and system of the Kingdom,
unless you happen to find your way to another of the Kingdoms and
try your luck there.  And then, only if they accept you."  Naiad
turned back to Naru.  "I dunno...  I have a mother and a sister to 
think about.  Whatever I do will, ultimately, affect them."

	"You've never sounded like you've worried about that before."
Naru took a sip of the juice.  Whatever it was, it tasted nice.
	"You're right there.  Maybe there is still an element of
social niceness within me."  Naiad gave a cynical smile.
	"So, would you do it?  I mean this seriously.  Would you take
off from this place and go somewhere...  Like the Seminary, for
example?"
	Naiad leaned back in her chair and thought long and hard.  She
then sat forward.  "I don't think I can give you that answer now.  
Perhaps ask me later, after the first round of exams."
	"But what would you do now?  Seriously, what would you do
if you were given an opening to just take off and follow your 
destiny elsewhere?"
	"If that happened now?  I'd leap from this place and never 
return."

	Naru smiled.  That sounded more like the Naiad she knew.  Then 
she spotted him....  Coming through the doorway behind Naiad.  Tall,
good looking, with long white hair, wearing the dark black uniform
embellished with silver trimmings.  Naru's eyes must have glazed 
over because Naiad turned to have a look.  In fact, most of the 
girls in the food hall were looking.  Naiad sighed and looked across
to see her sister doing much the same.  She then turned back to 
Naru, shaking her head sadly.

	"Oh Tranqs, will you never learn.  Its just another MAN."
	"But he's GORGEOUS."  Naru watched, drooling, as the young man
stepped past their table and on to the buffet, barely recognising
the expressions on the faces of girls as he went by.  Or perhaps he
was deliberately ignoring them.
	"The best you'll get from him are the thoughts running through
your head right now.  Astute's the dream of every girl in the 
Academy.  And he's already spoken for."
	Naru felt a little disappointed.  "Aww.  Shame."  She turned
back to Naiad.  "Still, hoooo."  She held up her arm, smiling, and
Naiad grinned.
	"Oh well, no accounting for taste, I must say."  Naiad looked
at her watch and stood.  "I better go....  I've got a tutorial with
Miss Pattaya in about ten minutes.  Psychological Manipulation in
moments of Crisis, I think the subject was."
	Naru facefaulted.  "You're joking?"
	"Yep, I am."  Naiad smiled.  "I gotta go to the library.  Some
stuff I have to look up for the examination pretests.  See you after
class."
	"Ah....  Yeah, seeya."

	Naru watched as Naiad picked up her books, which had been 
sitting next to her on the table, and wandered off through the hall
entrance.

	She sat there, munching on her lunch for a few moments, 
thinking to herself, when she felt the sensation of being watched.
She looked up and around, making a scan of the room.  It wasn't
Setsuna or Hotaru...  The both of them seemed to be getting into a
philosophical discussion with their friends over the nature of life,
death, time and darkness.  Well, what else was new?  She moved on to
see Astute, sitting alone, drinking a steaming cup of something, 
quietly reading a book.  Further around the room she saw various
people she thought she recognised, but none seemed to be watching
her the way she felt she was being watched.

	It was the briefest glimpse that she had caught of the figure.
It seemed, at first, to be a refelction in one of the windows, yet
there was nobody causing the reflection.  A girl, standing, staring
at her through the window, for all intents and purposes transparent.
She recognised the figure immediately.

	"Ami..."  She stood, forgetting her food, and stepped quickly
towards the window.  "Ami..."  She reached out for the window, but
the figure disappeared.  She stood there, hand on the window, gazing
out at where the girl had been.

	After all that had happened, she had forgotten the purpose for
their being here....  To retrieve Ami from the water she had melded
with, and quickly before not just she, but all three of them, were
permanently ensnared in their watery grave.

	She felt a hand on her shoulder, and it was only then that she
realised how quiet things had become.  She slowly turned to see 
Astute standing next to her, looking somewhat concerned.  Naturally,
most of the girls in the Hall were supremely jealous of the 
attention he was giving her.  Some of the other students had 
followed him in similar concern about Naru's behaviour.

	"Are you alright, Miss Tranquility?"  Astute questioned.
	"I'm...  Uhh...  yes, I think.  For a moment there, I thought
I saw someone I knew....  It was kind of...."  She didn't know what
else to say.
	"Do you hear the echo of a past life calling?  It happens 
often here."  Astute nodded, thinking.  "The Academy is a closed
society, populated by people from all walks of life.  There have
been times when I have experienced the Ghosts of the Past."
	"Indeed."  An older, dark-haired female student piped in from
beside him.  "The Ghosts can be cruel creatures.  Once you have
joined the Academy, you can never return to your past life."

	Naru stared at them, wondering whether to take them seriously.


	THAWAMMMM.......

	Rei didn't know what it was that hit her, but it was awfully
violent.  She felt singed all over her front as she flew through the
windows of the school building and through several classrooms.

	She lay dazed for several moments, surrounded by the wreackage 
of desks, walls and windows, as something inhuman leapt through the 
hole, cackling and gibbering in a most unpleasant manner.  She 
managed to sit up before whatever it was jumped onto her legs.  
She let out a cry of pain as it lifted her up by the scruff of her 
neck, dragging her legs roughly out from under its feet.

	"Hino Rei....  Kill Usagi.  Kill and laugh and party.  
Heeheehee."  The thing breathed rankly into her face.  She recoiled 
from the stench and felt blood run across her brow.  The thing then 
pitched her through several more classrooms.

	Somehow, she managed to spin herself around and land on her 
feet.  It hurt like heck, though.  Standing in the middle of a small 
quadrangle, she assumed a fighting stance.  It was time to fight 
fire with fire.  She transformed herself into Mars before the 
lurching figure leapt from the hole she had recently made.

	She thrust her fist forward and planted it into the thing's 
middle.  It let out a short, strangulated cry and made a large hole 
in the wall itself.  Rei then let off a couple of explosive flame 
sniper shots where she had last seen it.

	The school exploded, big time, blowing Rei approximately two-
hundred feet into the air.  Oh bugger, she thought, I forgot about 
the gas burners in the labs.


	Jadeite watched the explosion with shock.  He had been sure 
he'd felt the pulse of energy that came from a senshi transformation 
only seconds before....  Now that pulse, and its residual hum, had 
died down to a whimper.

	The heat and shockwave from the blast rushed past him as he 
stood on the school oval, but he stood stock still as if it were 
nothing.  Mars was in danger.  HIS Mars.  The senshi that belonged 
to HIM.

	He mouthed an incantation and disappeared from the spot.  
Moments later, VesVes arrived on the scene, leaping over the back 
fence, and stared in stunned disbelief.

	"Shit, didn't know the girl had that kind of oomph in her."  
She shook her head and smiled, wandering forward slowly.


	Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru stood on the roof of the apartment
complex in which Jadeite lived.  To the north-east, there was an
explosion of vast proportions, which grabbed their attention rather
well.

	"What the HELL was THAT?"  Haruka said, eyes wide.
	"If I'm not mistaken, that's our comrade, dear Mars, getting a
little eager to use some of her more explosive spells."  Setsuna said 
with a hint of amusement.
	"Why?  Whats she doing it for?"
	"Because she is being attacked by a Resonator."

	Haruka and Michiru stared at each other, then back at Setsuna.

	"Alright, we give up.  What's a Resonator?"
	"A very simple lifeform.  Like a mental leech, Resonators have 
the intellectual capacity of a single neuron, so they are driven, by 
impulse, to attach themselves to hosts that have extremely high mental 
energy.  They then manipulate the host so that both have similar 
objectives.  In short, the host uses the Resonators as their tools for 
whatever they want to achieve, and the Resonators breed by being sent 
to places where there are beings with great intellects."
	"So whats a Resonator look like when they're at home?"
	"Anything, really.  They're mimics.  That's how they get around 
so easily."
	"So what would one want with Rei?"
	"I'd say it was pissed off with what happened to it at the shrine.  
After all, it has spent several months trying to emulate Mamoru, and 
has its cover blown in a matter of seconds through the powers of my 
lovely, brilliant, highly intellectual sister."  Setsuna snorted to 
herself.

	Haruka and Michiru stared at each other, then back at Setsuna.

	"So what do we do with Usagi's body?"  Michiru thumbed the comatose 
lump that sat against the roof's railing.
	"Take it back to my place.  Then prepare yourselves for something 
really big."
	"Hmm?  What is it?"
	"A real brown-panty special, I can tell you."


	Rei found herself landing in some arms.  It was a nice, soft 
catch, whoever it was.  She looked up, and saw Jadeite smiling down at 
her.

	"Sorry I'm so late."
	"BURNING MANDALA!"

	Jadeite wasn't expecting that after he'd just saved her from 
breaking her neck.  Fortunately, about the best that ran off her hands 
was just enough to light a match.

	"Sorry, Jadeite.  Don't think I can fight you right nooowwwww..."  
She passed out, flopping in Jadeite's arms.  He shook his head.
	"Silly little fool."  He should have known better than to think 
that she would take him any differently than as the villain she had 
last experienced him as.

	He heard a chittering sound, and something began to emerge from 
the smoke and debris of the blast.  Slowly, he placed Rei on the 
ground and looked up at the figure....  A Bizarre mixture of Mamoru, 
Usagi and something else....  Was that Saturn, or Pluto?  Whatever 
the case, it was pretty damned ugly, and was staring intently at both 
Rei and himself.

	"Jadeite...  General of Queen Beryl.  Wanna kill lots of Sailor 
Senshi...  Collect energy, kill and have fun."  It garbled, its 
tortured face twisting into a bizarre and perverse smile.

	"Hey freak...  Gotta light?"  Jadeite smiled and mumbled an
incantation.  His hands waved, almost dancing with precision.  The
Resonator drooled and let out a whispered countenance.  Beams of 
energy flew from Jadeite's hands, striking the shield the Resonator 
put up to protect itself.  Not quite quickly enough, though.  It was 
blown back into the smoke.

	Jadeite spat.  The thing was still alive after getting THAT
from him.  He quickly picked up Rei and turned to run, only to come 
face to face with VesVes.

	"Hiya Jade-chan.  Where do you think you're going with Rei?"
	"This way, very fast."

	Jadeite bowled through her at great speed.  For a few moments,
VesVes stared after him in disbelief.  Then she heard the chittering 
of the Resonator behind her and decided to follow him, just as the 
ground where she had been standing exploded in a fireball of lightly 
large dimensions.

	VesVes was thrown through the air, landing on top of Jadeite 
just as he made the main gate of the school.  All three sprawled 
across the ground, Rei stirring as she felt the impact.

	"You bloody idiot."  Jadeite turned on VesVes, who was sitting 
on top of him.  She held up her hands in a gesture seeking forgiveness.
	"Gomen."  She giggled inanely.

	Jadeite threw her off and looked back into the school as Rei got 
to her feet.  "What the hell is happening here.  My head hurts real 
bad."  She mumbled.
	"Oh KAMI-SAMA!"  Jadeite croaked, pointing back in the school
grounds.  As Rei helped VesVes to her feet, the pair followed his
directions.

	From the smoke emerged something that was even less than the
humanoid figure it had been moments before.  The human body, making 
up the head and abdomen, was surrounded by nine monstrous legs, like 
a combination between that of a spider, an octopus and a crab.  The 
"head" lifted up, drooling oozing, viscous saliva from its mouth.

	"Need sustenance.  You will do."  It croaked

	Jadeite, VesVes and Rei stared at each other.
	"I don't like the sound of that."  Said VesVes.
	"What do we do?"  Rei blinked.
	"We run."  Jadeite turned the two girls in front of him.  
"Exit Stage Left Special.  Haruda Maruda Kishniath!"  Jadeite 
muttered as the Resonator leapt through the air, making an effort to
pounce of them.  Just as it landed on the ground, they flashed and
disappeared.  It stared around quickly, looking for them.

	"You cannot get away.  I mark you.  You be hunted forever 
until one of us dead."  There was a scream from the houses nearby.
Some of the local residents, brought from their homes by the blast,
stared and pointed at the Resonator in shock and fear.  It licked 
its lips.  "They do, for snack."

	It charged forward, after the hapless locals.  Within twenty
minutes, it had ripped, torn and eaten most of those who had lived 
within a block's radius of the school.


	The bed and Breakfast was comfortable enough for the small
amount of cash it took to stay there.  The only problem was they
only had just enough to stay there for a couple of nights, and that
was just the one room!

	Usagi sat at the table with Crow and Nyanko, staring miserably
at the four-poster double bed as Mouse bounced on it.

	"Good springs.  Nice and soft, this."  Mouse stopped and sat
on the bed's edge.  "I guess this means we're gonna hafta draw 
straws to see who's gonna get it?"  Mouse popped on her shades and
lay back.

	"Pretty much."  Crow sniffed.  "It probably means we'll have
to share the bed, two a night."
	"I'm not sleeping with Siren."  Nyanko screwed up her nose.
	"I'm not sleeping with Nyanko."  Came Siren's voice from the
bathroom, where she was busy staring at herself in the mirror.  "Oh
will you look at that.  All that travelling has made a mess of my
complexion.  I told you the sun was bad for my skin."

	Crow chuckled, shaking her head.  "I'm not that concerned.
You look fine to me."
	"Aww, you're just saying that.  Much more of this and I'll be
as shrivelled as a prune."
	"Barf."  Nyanko leaned on her arms over the table.  Usagi 
looked at her questioningly as Crow stepped over to the doorway to
the bathroom.
	"What's eating you?"
	"Hmm?  Don't you know?  About Crow and Siren?"
	"Do I want to?"
	"No."
	"Then don't tell me."  Usagi sniffed and picked up her 
backpack, which she had placed against her leg.  It was about this
point that she remembered she didn't have a backpack like the 
others, and wondered what the hell she was doing with one now.  She
pulled a rattling pouch from the backpack, watched by a frowning
Nyanko.

	"Whats that?"  Nyanko sat up.
	"Dunno.  I found this backpack sitting by my leg.  Just sorta
appeared there, and this was in it."
	"Way weird, man, this being dead business."
	Usagi opened the pouch and gagged.

	"What?  What's in there?"  Nyanko stood up and looked into the
pouch, and gagged herself.

	"GOLD!!!  IT'S GOLD!!!"  Nyanko croaked.  Mouse, Crow and 
Siren all stared at her.
	"What is?"  Mouse hopped off the bed and Nyanko grabbed the
bag from Usagi.
	"This is."  Nyanko showed Mouse the contents.
	"What?  These grey-silver things?"  Mouse put her hand in and
pulled out a simple grey coin.  Nyanko blinked.
	"Waitaminute....  That was gold a moment ago...."
	"Looks like plain old tin to me."  Mouse studied the coin.  
"Yep, this is tin alright."  Mouse took the bag from the devastated
Nyanko.
	"I could have sworn...  It WAS gold, wasn't it, Usagi?"
	"It was...  When we looked in the bag...."

	Mouse made a huffing sound and Nyanko turned to her.
	"What is it?"
	"Can't be just tin, feels like its gotten heavier all of a 
sudden."  Mouse looked in the bag and dragged another coin out as
Crow and Siren joined them.  "This ain't tin, this is an IRON coin.
Well I'll be, must be some cheap-ass country that makes its money
outta this stuff."

	Siren huffed.  "What the hell would one want with a bag full
of iron coins?"  Siren grabbed the bag and weighed it.  "Hey, this
ain't so heavy.  You must be getting weak, Mousie."
	"Hmph, just cos I'm the smallest."
	"And don't you look it?"

	Mouse stared at the two coins she was holding and gasped.  
"Ehh?  These....  These aren't tin and iron anymore...."  Indeed,
the two coins had changed colour, now appearing a dull grey.

	"Well, what the hell are they?"  Crow mumbled.
	"They're....  Wait a minute here..."  Mouse looked at Siren a
moment, then at Nyanko.  "Siren, can you give that bag to me a
moment?"

	Siren shrugged and obliged.  Mouse dropped the two coins into
the bag and smiled at Crow.  "Now, Crow, my dear, will you kindly
take this bag from me?"
	"Hmm?  Alright then, but I hardly see what this will proAAGH!"

	Crow had taken the bag from Mouse, and almost pitched forward
onto the floor.  "What the hell is this?  Its so bloody HEAVY." 
Crow managed to keep her balance, but struggled to hold up the bag.

	"Have a look inside, will you?"  Mouse turned her head on an
angle and Crow frowned.  She opened up the bag and looked inside.
	"Jeez, they're all kinda dark now.  Sorta like...  Sorta 
like..."
	"Sorta like lead?"
	"Yeah, that's it."
	"As in LEAD Crow?"

	Crow, Siren, Nyanko and Usagi all looked at Mouse, then 
realisation dawned on them.  "Then they were aluminium when I was
holding them?"  Siren blinked.
	"Indeed."  Said Mouse.  "Lead for Crow, Aluminium for Siren,
Iron for me and Tin for Nyanko.  On top of that, however..."  She
turned to Usagi, and they all followed her gaze.  "...We have a
newfound friend we have dubbed GOLD Usagi."

	The implications of this sank in.  Crow quickly handed Usagi
the bag, and opened it up to reveal...  Gold coins!  Mouse took out
on of the coins and bit into it.  There were deep toothmarks left
in the side.
	"Shit a brick, this is 24 carat!  Pure gold, no impurities."
	"Hey, hey...  What if I rename myself Platinum Siren?"  Siren
grabbed the bag and looked inside as the others stared at her.
	"Platinum Siren?"  Nyanko snorted.  "Surely, it isn't that
simple."  Siren smirked and held the bag open to her.
	"Oh yeah, well cop these little beauties.  One hundred percent
platinum, girl.  Try outdoing that!"

	Indeed, they were platinum.  Usagi stood to look inside with
the others.  "You mean this is some kind of magic bag that gives us
coins in whatever metal we've named ourselves?"
	"That would seem to be the case."  Siren grinned like a 
cheshire cat.  Well, considering she was half fish, like a shark on
steroids.  Nyanko, not one to avoid a piece of the action, had a go.
	"Well then, I'm Diamond Nyanko."  She grabbed the bad from
Siren and looked in.  She reached in and pulled out huge diamonds
the likes of which could never be found in this number in one place
in reality.  "Hoo...  I like this bag."  Nyanko smiled, then thought
of something.  "Just where the hell did it come from, anyway?"

	"Who cares?"  Siren rubbed her hands with glee.  "Our 
financial woes are over."
	"Maybe."  Mouse took the bag from Nyanko, forgetting she was
still Iron Mouse.  "Uhh....  Silver Mouse?"  She looked in at the
gleaming silver coins.  "Oh well, there's something I wanna try."
She emptied the bag on the table, silver coins falling into a loose
pile.  She then handed the empty bag to Usagi.  For a moment, Usagi
thought the bag would remain empty, and was surprised to feel the
bulk and weight of a full bag again.  She, Mouse and Nyanko looked
inside.  it was full of gold coins again.  They then turned back
to the table, which was still covered in silver coins.

	"Well, that settles that problem."  Mouse said.
	"What problem?"  Crow raised an eyebrow.
	"Of whether we run out of money as soon as the bag is empty.
I dare suggest that it will fill up again every time it is emptied,
as long as it is held by a new person."

	There was a knock at the door to their room.  They stared at
each other.
	"Quick, hide those coins."  Crow pointed to the silver coins
on the table.  Nyanko and Usagi began to scrape the coins into 
Usagi's backpack.  Siren ran up to the door as Crow gave the pair
a wind-up signal to tell them to hurry.  Once the coins were in, 
Usagi bundled the backpack and the pouch bag under the bed.

	She and Nyanko then sat at the table, attempting to look cool
and calm as Mouse lay back on the bed.  Crow stood by the open fire
that crackled softly off to one side.  Siren nodded and opened the
door slightly, keeping the chain on.

	"Hello?"
	"Hello.  May I come in?"
	"Umm..."  Siren turned to the others, looking confused.
	"Who is it?"  Usagi whispered.
	"A man, young, kinda good looking.  Dressed smart."

	The girls all raised their eyebrows.
	"Should I let him in?"  Siren shrugged.
	"Go ahead."  Crow gestured.  Siren turned back and shut the
door slightly, undoing the chain.  She then opened it widely and
revealed a man, dressed in a 19th century business suit, with long
brown hair tied back in a tail and piercing gray eyes.

	"Hello."  he said.  "My name is Mistral LeFevre.  I am here on
the business of my mistress, the Lady Scorpia...."


	It had taken Tomoe some time to reach the roof of the 
building.  It was at least twelve storeys high, and that was 
murderous for one ascending them by stairs.  At least, for someone
his age.  It was a different story entirely for the hyperactive
Usagis, who seemed to go up and down in less than a couple of
minutes.

	He felt slightly annoyed with himself, bringing up the topic
of her return to her own time with the Youma.  After everything that
had happened in the year that she had arrived....  What with 
Hotaru's unusual behaviour, and what had gone on between the two of
them....  What kind of response did he expect from her?

	He ascended the final few steps and found the new arrival 
being greeted by two of her counterparts.  They turned to look at
him as he appeared.

	"Ah, sensei....  This is the girl..."
	"Konnichiwa."  The Usagi bowed to him politely.  That was the
first difference he noticed with this Usagi.  She had her hands
crossed over in front of her and she exuded a kind of serene poise.
	"Konnichiwa.  It is very nice to meet you...  Uh... Usagi."
	"Iya.  My name is not Usagi.  It is Usako."
	"Ah, gomen na sai."  The Professor bowed slightly.  Yes 
indeed, this one WAS different from the others.  Conciously 
different.  He'd noted in the Usagis that Hotaru had brought an
incipient gleam of individuality.  Each presenting mildly different
reactions to the same situation, except for the Youma, of course.
She was different because she THOUGHT she was the real Usagi.

	This one, however, had developed far more than the others.  He
had no idea what could have caused this particular subject to have
become so radically unlike the original Usagi, but he dared suggest
to himself that her range of experience may have been greater than
the others.

	"Don't worry, sensei, we'll take care of her."  Said one of
the two Usagis.  He nodded to them and to Usako, who nodded back,
and they left through the roof entrance.

	he then turned aside and looked at the far end of the roof,
where the roof was most in shadow.  There sat Hotaru, puffing on
a half-smoked black cigarette.  The smell of the smoke was intensely
fragrant, and he wondered where the girl got her hands on the 
things.

	She was dressed, as usual, in a black minidress, long black 
socks and ripple-sole shoes, and had a black scarf tied around her
head with a large flourish off to one side.  Her expression seemed
kind of distant.  Not that that surprised him.  It was pretty par
for the course for Hotaru of late.

	"Ahem...  Hotaru-chan..."  He stepped forward and she turned
to him.  She seemed mildly disinterested with his presence, or was
wasted.  One of the two.  "You wished to see me?"
	"Ah...  Otosan..."  Hotaru snapped her fingers, as if 
recognising him for the first time.  "I'm sorry, I was elsewhere.
I wanted to speak with you about this new, umm, this new girl."
	"Yes?"

	Hotaru drew on the cigarette and blew the smoke downwards.
For a few moments she seemed to lose the thread of the conversation,
then looked up at him again and nodded.  "I take it you heard that
she prefers to be called Usako?"
	"Yes."
	"Well, I would prefer it if you didn't try to dissuade her 
from this grasp for individuality."  Hotaru sniffed, wiping her nose
as if it were running.  It wasn't.

	"Why this particular one?  I mean, she shows obvious 
development over the others in terms of individual character, but
they'll all go that way, eventually.  So why this one?"
	"Don't ask questions.  Just do it."

	He was taken aback by his daughter's brusqueness.  She jumped
from the side wall and stepped over to him, her efforts seemingly a
little unsteady.  She stopped before him, standing almost eye to eye
with him.

	"That girl...  She's the only one I've found who understands
what I'm going through.  The only one.  She's my friend, do you
understand?  All the others can get fucked as far as I'm concerned."
Hotaru spat the words out, and he could smell alcohol on her breath.
Personally, he was amazed she'd managed to have command of her 
powers enough to fly both herself and the girl here.

	Hotaru was far from finished, though.  "Yeah, they can get
fucked, especially that bitch you keep as a plaything."  She spat
to one side, took one more draw from the cigarette and stamped it
under her foot.

	"How can you talk like that, Hotaru...?  Look at the state
you're in."  He felt himself getting angry, despite himself.
	"Hoo, shit yeah, I'm in a shit of a state at the moment.  But
I suppose its better than being dead, just."  For a moment, just
for a moment, he thought he saw tears in the corners of her eyes.
Then she wiped them, and that was the end of that.

	"I think you better take a bath and go to bed.  You're in no
fit state to do anything for the rest of the day."
	"Do you think I feel like doing anything for the rest of the
day?  Shit, no."  She smiled at him bitterly.  "Just keep the gun
cabinet locked.  There's a brain in my head that's inviting bullets
to come and visit at the moment."  She staggered away, stepping
through the roof entrance.

	He watched her go, then rubbed his head.  Everything was 
getting so damned complicated.  he couldn't even begin to imagine
what had made Hotaru like this.

	He was sure he didn't want to know.


	In another time, another place, Hotaru awoke and found herself
strapped to a large chair.

	"It would appear that she is awake."  Said a soft voice.  She
couldn't see where the voice was coming from because of a light that
shone brightly in her eyes.  Like a dentist's chair, she thought.
Then she realised, to her horror, that that was exactly what it was.

	"Ah, then, young girl.  It would appear you are this infamous
Saturn that we've all been hearing about."  There were murmurs of
disquiet around her.  Still, she could see nothing.  "Well, I think
its time to see just how tough this 'Saturn' person really is, don't
you?"

	This time, there were murmurs of agreement.  From the 
darkness, an Usagi, dressed as a surgeon, stepped forward, holding 
an electric drill and a set of pliers.  Hotaru stared at her in
fear.

	"Yes, my dear child.  It would seem you have developed your
wisdom teeth at last.  I don't like that.  Why a brat like you
should have your growth accelarated around me..."

	Hotaru tried to reply, but found herself devoid of the 
strength, or voice, to do so.  The Usagi surgeon grabbed her by the
hair and wrenched her head back.

	"Are you listening to me, you ugly little freak of nature?  
Eh?  We've been tormented every day of our existences with stories
of your coming.  And now you are here and you present to us this
weak, pathetic facade.  Well, I think its time to pay you back for
all that torment, don't you?"

	Hotaru felt tears enter her eyes as the surgeon forced her
mouth open with the pliers.  No matter how she struggled to keep it
jammed shut...  Those pliers were stronger.  Soon, her mouth was
clamped open.  Then the surgeon switched on the drill and looked
inside her mouth, shaking her head.

	"Ooohh dear, we are so PERFECT in there, aren't we?  We can't
have that."  Hotaru winced as she felt the drill being pushed into
her mouth.  Then the drill made contact with her lower left wisdom
tooth.....

	Blood and saliva sprayed everywhere.

	And her cries of pain didn't get any further than the rrom.



	Hotaru lay on her bed, reaching into her mouth.  The wisdom
teeth were still there...  She had to touch them to remind herself.
Her body was untouched...  Unsullied...

	No, that wasn't true.  Not anymore.  She KNEW what had 
happened to her there was the truth.  They DID torment her that way.
And she had spent the rest of the time since tormenting herself.

	"Get over it..."  Said the voice in her head.
	"I don't want to."  She said to herself.
	"Its all in the past."
	"It hurts now."
	"Stop blaming yourself for things you couldn't control."
	"I want to blame myself.  It feels good to HURT myself this 
way.  There isn't anyone else who CAN be blamed."
	"You're a fool."
	"I am a damned fool."

	Hotaru sat up in her bed as two Usagis walked past her bedroom 
door.  She rubbed her head....  It was stupid to have behaved that
way in front of her father....  But she couldn't help it.  The pain
she felt inside could only be truly satiated by hurting those who
cared for her the most.

	"Go to sleep."  Said the voice in her head.  "You'll feel 
better in the morning."
	"I'll have a hangover in the morning."  She said, as she fell
back onto her pillow.  She stared out at her hand for a few moments.
Her eyes became heavy and she smiled.  "Come, sweet package of 
death, take me away from this life if only for a short while."

	She closed her eyes, and fell into a shallow, restless sleep.



	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	and again
	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST


END OF PART 10


Notes

And another chapter rolls off the production line, and oh what a
happy, joyous one this was to behold.  ^_^

Well, maybe not for Hotaru fans, anyway.  The question is...  Will
she be able to pull herself out of this malaise?

And so, what is happening back at Ami's house?  What is happening
with Minako and Usako?  What is happening with Mamoru and the 4P
Chibiusa?  Well, you didn't expect me to fit all that into this
chapter, did you?

And anyway, this chapter coughed up enough nastiness.  After doing
a minor character assassination on Ami a few chapters back, I'll
now have all the Hotaru fans ready to rip me to shreds.  ^_^

Oh, and I WAS thinking of Shojo Kakumei Utena when I came up with
the idea for the Academy.  I'm almost tempted to write a Marmalade
Bot-esque love triangle into there, but I'm reminded that that isn't
the point of this fic.  Oh well, most of the plot threads from this
one shall be tied up over the next few chapters.

Next - Chapter 11 - Letters to the Predator.  Coming soon.

All comments, criticism and flames from Hotaru fans should be sent
to ayanami@merlin.net.au

DDFA