Special thanks to MikoGalatea, the beta reader of my story and who really help me and my basics English.

Chapter 8

Ever since the incident, Kanae had shut herself in her apartment. The fact that what she thought was a wonderful prince had turned out to be a jerk was too much for her.

She thought about her life, and how she was alway dependant on someone else. She wanted a prince, but nothing worked; each time she was happy, something happened to make her miserable again.

Then she had an idea. Maybe she didn't need a prince after all? Maybe she should try to be independant?

The thought scared her. She was terrified what could happen if she lived without a prince to take care of her. She pondered the matter for hours until she made a decision.

''I don't need a prince!'' thought the woman. ''I can be independant! I don't want to see Ruka again! If he could leave Ohtori, I'd be glad! He could do anything he wanted outside of my academy, and that wouldn't bother me...''

xx

Ruka had just finished putting his clothes back on when he got an idea.

''Why should I go after a witch? Instead, I should see the rest of the world! Yes! I will visit every place I want! I will eat what I want! I will do what I want!''

xx

The two girls had been walking through the academy since a moment ago. Obviously, there was something different about the atmophere that was now present.

''I wonder where the students are,'' said Kozue. ''I haven't seen one since I met that woman.''

''But there are students here!'' Shiori insisted.

''Where?''

Shiori then realized what had happened.

''Kozue! For some reason, there's only ghost students!''

''Ah? I hope they won't do anything to me.''

The girls headed down the stairs, and when they arrived at the floor, Kozue finally saw another student. Kaido was walking despite the fact that his back was causing him pain. Shiori saw that there were no ghosts around him. Indeed, Keiko and the girls had left to do something else a few minutes before.

''Hey, I know him!'' Shiori said. ''I talked with him a bit, and he seems nice.''

''Maybe he knows what happened.''

The two girls went to see him.

''Oh, Shiori!'' Kaido said. ''You didn't leave!''

''Why would I leave? I punished the asshole who humiliated me!''

''Ah, good for you,'' the boy said. ''You weren't present at the cafeteria when the woman appeared, then? And who's this girl? Why does she have a sword?''

''Kozue! The girl I told you about!''

''You finally found her?''

Normally, Kozue would had asked what Shiori had said about her to a boy she'd never seen, but she felt there were bigger priorities than that.

''What happened at the cafeteria?'' asked the blue haired girl.

''Like I said, a woman appeared and she announced Ohtori was now haunted by ghosts, and many of them appeared in front of us!''

''Weird, I thought only you could see ghosts!'' Kozue said to Shiori.

''That woman is probably the witch!'' Shiori answered.

''Huh... what are you talking about?'' Kaido asked.

''A witch is present in the academy and we are going to defeat her!'' Kozue declared.

''You can come with us if you want,'' Shiori said.

Kaido didn't understand the whole story, but nothing surprised him anymore. And if there was a witch, maybe she knew where Utena was.

''I'll go with you, but don't run because I have a problem with my back.''

''Okay,'' Kozue said. ''She's in the basement of the academy, so I hope you aren't afraid of the dark!''

xx

Ruka was happy. He hadn't realized it before, but finally, he had his own freedom. He was now at the start of the road to outside. He took a good breath and started walking along the road. The further he went from Ohtori, the happier he became. He would finally know the real world.

Except he wouldn't. Ruka was born because of the magic environment of Ohtori; he couldn't live outside of it. He didn't notice that as he approached the real world, he turned transparent. And when he arrived in the real world, he completely disappeared. It was like he never existed. But at least in his last moments, he was pleased.

xx

Kanae wondered where everyone was. She had left her apartment and was surprise to find nobody. She suspected something horrible had happened. She believed she needed help, and that she would only found it outside.

She moved to the garage and took her car. She drove along the road without any problems, but then when she arrived in the real world, something happened to her memory.

''Wait... what I am doing here?'' Kanae thought. ''What did I do recently?''

She vaguely remembered an academy, but it was fuzzy. All she wanted now was to return home, and she drove in that direction.

xx

''Nanami! Nanami!''

Tsuwabuki shouted his girlfriend's name everywhere, and now he was in the gardens. Since it was nighttime, he had some difficulty seeing what was happening around him. He then suddenly saw someone in front of him: Mari.

''Tsuwabuki... Nanami told me why she burned down the building.'' Mari's voice was neutral.

''Now you see she isn't evil, don't you?''

''I don't know... I'm not sure if I trust her story, but she seems sincere... it's not easy for me to suddenly stop disliking someone, but I'll try. I'm sorry for being jealous... can we still be friends?''

''Sure.''Tsuwabuki smiled.

''This is nice,'' Nanami said, appearing behind them. ''But what do we do? I don't think the others who died because of me would forgive me, and I'd understand that.''

''Maybe we can go somewhere,'' suggested Tsuwabuki.

''Yes,'' Mari said. ''I'm a bit tired of Ohtori.''

The three wanted so much to move on from their problems that, suddenly, they vanished.

xx

Kaido, Kozue and Shiori were now walking in a tunnel lit by torches. They soon arrived in front of a door; Kozue opened it, and she recognized the room where she had woken up a few hours ago.

''We've arrived, but she isn't here,'' Kozue said angrily.

''We can wait for her,'' Kaido suggested. ''What do you think, Shiori?''

Shiori didn't answer. Her attention was on the door where blue light was coming out. Something in the room attracted her. She tried opening the door, but it was locked.

''Kozue, give me the sword,'' Shiori said.

''What do you want to do?'' asked Kozue.

''Someone in this room is sad. She needs help!''

''She?'' Kozue questioned.

Shiori took the sword without answering. She used it on the lock, and soon, the door opened. On the inside, there was nothing but a strange machine that created the blue light. Then they saw, in front the machine, a glass coffin. A girl was in the coffin, but she didn't seem to be dead; it was as if she was just sleeping. She had long purple hair and seemed to be the same age as the trio.

''This reminds me of Snow White,'' thought Kaido.

Shiori went to the coffin and put her arms on it, as if she wanted to hug the girl.

''I can feel how lonely she is,'' Shiori said, a tear in her eye. ''She's as lonely as I was.''

''I... Is her ghost in the room?'' Kozue asked.

''No,'' Shiori answered. ''But I can hear her voice. She doesn't want to be a ghost, but I don't know why.''

xx

In the ballroom, Chigusa had organised a party that celebrated the new 'life' of Ohtori. The ghosts had fun, and they weren't doing anything different to what living humans would do.

Keiko and her friends were at the buffet, talking about boys.

''There's so many handsome boys,'' Yuuko said.

''I hope some of them will choose us!'' Aiko said.

Out of nowhere, three identical-looking boys with glasses appeared behind them.

''Do you want go dance with me?'' each of the three boys asked each of the girls.

''No way!'' the three girls shouted.

The boys started crying and retreated. Then a brown haired boy with blue eyes came over. He was handsome.

''Sorry girls, I would like to dance with one of you, but I can't choose which one.''

''Oh, you can dance with all of us!'' Keiko said.

''I have no problem!'' Yuuko said.

''Me too!'' Aiko said.

The three girls surrounded the boy, making the three guys feel even more pathetic.

Chigusa was glad the ghosts were having a good party, but she wasn't completely happy.

''Why you don't come? Ohtori is for the dead now,'' she thought.

She then felt something strange. Her instinct told her she should immediately go back to see her. She left the party, then when she was in the corridor, she teleported.

xx

'I wonder why it's here,'' Kozue said, referring to the coffin.

Shiori said nothing for a few seconds before answering Kozue's question. ''She doesn't want to tell me,'' she said. ''The memories are too painful for her.''

''How can you communicate with her?'' asked Kaido.

''Get out of here immediately!' yelled a sudden voice behind them.

The three teenagers turned their heads to see a furious Chigusa.