Hey, welcome to they sixth exciting chapter! Hey? Where are you going? It didn't take me THAT long!
Anyway, review and I'll write faster *evil grin*
Thanks to all of my readers, especially those who review! *hint hint*, and to Princess Venus (or Tensei) , Arielle and Charlotte who have all helped me a lot with this story!
Read on!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing!
Meanwhile, Back in Hotaru's room...
Hotaru:
Well... that was odd. First I embarrass myself, along with my host, then there's those weird energy pulses that came about five minutes later..... I glared down at the sushi on my plate, that's it! I'm never eating un-cooked meat again, damn hallucinations...Oh well, at least they seem to be fairly harmless, for all their freaky machine-things. My host and his friends, not the sushi. Actually, scratch that, one of Quatre's friends had already made an attempt on my life. At least the food's good, not that I eat a lot anyway. I took a sip out of the white pop can that had been left with my dinner. Oh gross! Milk! I spat it out, spraying my tray. I looked down, feeling rather sheepish, but the milk splattered all over my remaining meal made me lose my appetite fairly quickly. I pushed the rolling hospital table-tray away from my bed, deciding to go for a bit of a walk. After triumphing over some very stubborn raised safety sides on the bed (my ribs weren't exactly ready to let my leap over the safety sides into a tumbling roll again) I stumbled out into the hallway. I hobbled down the corridor wincing as I jarred my sore, cracked ribcage. My t-shirt, now not only midget-sized, but splattered with blood (sadly, my own) and milk. Priority number one, replacing 'find Minako', or 'escape', was 'find new clothes'.
*****
After a short while, she became winded, sitting with her back to the wall. She heard soft curses and the whistling of a sword through air. Breathing deeply, she relaxed, closing her eyes and stretching her other senses, trying to pinpoint source of the swordsman. She had always loved watching Haruka and Michiru fence, sometimes they were joined by Rei and Makoto, the other martial art-inclined senshi, but most of the time, they practiced alone. Haruka and Michiru whirling around each other with deadly grace and precision. Michiru had later confided in Hotaru that she had no interest in swordplay, but she had learned simply because it was the nearest thing to dancing that Haruka would participate in.
She said a small prayer for them. At least they had died in each other's arms, together forever. She located the swordsman, not very far from here at all. She weaved through the confusing hallways, and because she had locked onto her target with the Othersight, occasionally bumping into inanimate things, elicting muffled curses. She turned the corner into the practice room and de-activated her Othersight. There a lean chinese boy, maybe a year or two older than her moved gracefully from in his kata, flowing from movement to movement. She entered the room quietly, unnoticed by the boy, sitting just to the side of the door. He finished, a light sheen of sweat glistened on his skin and a look of intense concentration on his face. He held his finishing pose for a few moments, chest heaving, before relaxing. In his intense focus, he didn't notice her presence until she politely, if a little shyly cleared her throat.
He whipped around to face her, fury, and another emotion, perhaps embarrassment?, blazing across his features, Hotaru was taken aback by this, but anger soon turned to shock, with a small flicker of hope. "Meiran?" he asked, almost in awe.
******
"Minako! Minako! Are you alright?" Iria asked worriedly.
"Nng.. What happened? Oww..." Minako moaned as she rubbed her head were she had hit the edge of the examining table when she had her vision.
"You suddenly collapsed, are you okay?"
Minako glared at Iria, clutching her rapidly purpling cheek bone.
"Okay, stupid question," Iria replied, laughing, but stopped to watch in awe as the swelling abruptly stopped and reversed itself, healing her bruise in a matter of minutes. Her gaze became wary once again, "You never answered my question. What are you?"
Minako squirmed uncomfortably under the weight of Iria's glare, rubbing her face. "Would you believe, an innocent bystander with a gift for healing?"
"No."
"Damn." Minako cursed. She sighed, seeing as Iria had planted herself firmly between Mina and the door, there was no way out. Sure, Mina could just knock Iria out of the way, but then again, it's not considered good manners to assault your host's sister. "Okay," she continued resignedly, "But you're really not gonna believe this, and you're going to have to swear an oath of secrecy." She shook her head, "This is a bad idea, Hotaru is going to kill me, and Luna would be spinning in her grave right now." She shrugged and began her tale. "A long long time ago, there was a beautiful palace on the moon..."
*****
Interlude; Enter villan...
The room was completely dark, save for the dozens of video and computer feeds that flickered their light sporadically as they sifted through information. They were here. They had to be, I had felt them, I had Dreamed with the psychic of the pair, I will find them. They would destroy everything again, everything that I had rebuilt. I must find them, and when I do, I will kill them, then my weary soul can rest and enjoy the empire I have built. I will avenge my family.
"Mistress?" An orderly interrupted, breaking my concentration, losing precious seconds in my search.
"What?" I snapped, my eyes flashing red as I glared down at him from my perch in the throne-like communications center.
"Y-you have a meeting with Lady Une and Master Treize in half an hour." he stammered.
"Very well." I replied, dismissing him. "I shall be there."
He stood there, gaping, rooted to the spot.
I growled, "Get out!" I yelled, sending a chair to smash into the wall inches from his nose, just for emphasis. He got out.
I turned back to the many flickering screens, and patted the closest one lovingly. "Soon..." I grinned, "Soon I will have my revenge."
End interlude
*****
After four bouts of tears, Minako finally finished her story, "....So then we woke up here. I think you know the rest from here on..."
Iria stared at Minako. Minako bit her lip, staring nervously back at Iria.
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Iria asked.
"Um.. Yeah?" Minako replied tentatively.
Iria carefully sat down, glancing back at the lab printouts, then back at Minako. She pinched herself. Hard.
"Um..that won't help... I already tried that a few times when I first found out I wasn't on Earth... well my dimension... or is that my time? Err...." Minako trailed off awkwardly.
Iria sighed, rubbing her temples. "There has to be SOME scientific explanation." She insisted weakly.
"Yeah, that used to drive Ami-chan crazy. She was the scientist of our little family, she never found the answer." She offered a weak smile to Iria, fighting back tears.
"I guess I'm going to have to believe you then." Iria replied blankly, the entire tale was too fantastic, too tragic to be believed, but couldn't be denied, she held the evidence in her hands. "I suppose it doesn't mean anything, but I'm sorry." Minako nodded, her bottom lip trembling, Iria moved to wrap the younger girl in a comforting embrace. "Shh... let it out girl, you've seen more pain in your lifetimes than anyone could ever be expected to endure. It wasn't your fault, just let it out..." After a few minutes, Minako collected herself enough to walk back to her room, Iria called out to her just as she passed the doorway.
"It would probably be best if you didn't tell the others, I believe you, be they are much more skeptical, not to mention less trusting of science than I. Also, we are fighting a war, Quatre wouldn't hurt you, but some of the others might view you as a threat."
"Alright," Minako agreed, "I'll tell Hotaru, but why would they want to hurt me? We aren't soldiers in this war!"
Iria just shook her head, "You'll be told when and if they're ever ready to tell you. It's not my secret to tell."
*****
Hotaru:
Obviously this boy had mistaken me for someone else, and if I judged the look in his eyes correctly, I'd say it was someone he had loved, but not seen for a very long time. "I-I'm sorry, but my name is Hotaru..."
The hope on his face crumpled, and he turned away from me quickly. "Of course you couldn't be Meiran," he said softly, tensely, "You're just another stupid weak onna."
I sighed and said, "Whatever happened with her, I'm sorry." His voice had been too choked with hope that had been snatched away and true grief for me to actually be insulted by being called 'weak'. I had been called worse by Haruka-papa when I had accidentally sliced through the fuel line on her beloved motorcycle while I was practicing with my scythe in the garage. I won't repeat it, but I'm pretty sure it was anatomically impossible. Haruka... no, dammit, I refuse to let that damn youma ruin my life! I can't live like this, bursting into tears every other second... block it out, block it out....
The boy turned slightly back in my direction, looking at me coldly, "If she couldn't make it, no woman could. You are all weak, you disgust me."
I simply stood up carefully, going on like this would be useless, now to change the subject, "Fine, I'm weak, since you're so strong, why don't you teach me to defend myself? Those katas you were doing were amazing, I've never seen anything like them before, I'd like to learn them if I can."
He looked at me, startled at the sudden change of topics, then snorted. "This is the ancient art of the dragon clan. They are only taught to the most gifted pupils who can be trusted. They are forbidden to anyone who cannot perform with perfection."
He looked at me fiercely, I realized he was right, I'd never been graceful or athletic. I turned to leave, why do I even try sometimes?
"Hey," he called softly, just as I'd reached the open door. I looked back to find him looking slightly embarrassed, and when I looked with Othersight his aura looked lonely. There was also something wrong with his aura that I couldn't place at the time. "I never said I would," he continued, "But I never said I wouldn't either."
He held out a practice sword to me, "My name is Chang Wufei."
"I'm Tomoe Hotaru." I replied, smiling slightly as I grasped the sword.
****
"Okay, I think it's just around this corner..damn!" Mina cursed her lousy sense of direction, "Where am I now?" She looked up to see towering stacks of books in the huge room. She whistled, "I think I know now, damn Quatre has everything in here! Hospital, hanger...library... Hey! Maybe there's a map of this disgustingly huge house somewhere!" She brightened and began to scan the massive bookshelves, however an open book on one of the reading tables caught her eye. There was a full page picture of two robots in full combat, the weird thing is, this wasn't a drawing, it was a photo. Minako put her hand down to mark the page and turned the book to read it's title. It read, "A Brief History of the Mobile Suit" "This is a HISTORY book?" Minako gasped, "This is REAL?" She turned the page, and began to read.
" While great advancements were made in the field of mobile suits, it wasn't until the legendary 'Tallgeese' ( see fig 18-4) that this form of warfare was truly popularized."
Minako paused to turn the page,
" Here is the tallgeese pictured with it's creator, the mysterious Dr. M."
Minako frowned and squinted at the grainy old photo, and whispered in wonder, "Ami-chan?"
Alright, I promise next chapter won't end in a cliffie *evil grin*
so what do you guys think so far? Is it good? Bad? What do you like? What could be improved?
Till next time... same bat time, same bat channel!
