Sailor Moon Remastered Episode 1 (10)

Sailor Moon Remastered 1

Hotaru woke up surrounded by green liquid.

Her eyes blurred as she found herself floating in water, tightly packed
into a narrow cylinder with one window looking out into a dimly lit
room. Her hands pounded the case in a panic, each blow impacting the solid glass over and over again until the act began to drain away at her strength level by level, until she could no longer punch the glass.

"Nooooooo---" she thought to herself, panic gripping her, "It can't be!!
It can't be!!"

Her eyesight cleared enough so she could see outside -- that is when realization set in, she was back in hell again.

The cylinder was a suspension pod, and she was being put in hypersleep
against her will. She pounded her fists against the canister, feeling
steadily sleepier and sleepier. "NO!! CHIBI-USA!! GODDESS!! SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF---"

What she saw before her stopped her heart cold.

The scene before her was too carnal and perverted to even bring to
words, but what she saw scared her.

Chibi-Usa laid in a pool of her own blood, bloodied and beaten, as she was being tortured and raped by her friends and family, the other Sailor Soldiers. They were naked, bruised and beaten, themselves, yet they looked downright demonic as they lashed out with wicked glee. She couldn't hear their words, but it scared her nevertheless.
But fear turned quickly to hate… and hate into anger… as her eyes narrowed and turned red, and her fists clenched before her now rage filled eyes. Before she could lash out at the unbreakable glass again, however, two arms wrapped around her, and something behind her whispered in her ear, "Why don't you love me anymore?"

Pink hair floated into her eyesight, and a hollow face with empty eye
sockets stared at her from the glass.

Hotaru screamed in rage, and shattered the glass with one strike sending shards of glass, gushes of green liquid, and driplets of blood flying.

* * * * * *

Hotaru woke up in a cold panic, her sheets gripping her nude form as she
held herself tightly. She wasn’t a young girl anymore, she was 17 years old now, she had to get that through her head and grip to that tightly. She wasn’t a child anymore, she was older now.

She had thought that was behind her. Year after year had passed since
that world, that pain she left behind when her and the other Soldiers
were rescued from their personal hell. Only ChibiUsa didn't make it,
because she was killed and dumped into a shallow grave, her soul ripped
from her body and cast to the four winds unable to be "reborn" ever
again. But yet there was a ChibiUsa waiting for her here, even if she was not the one she fell in love with that age long ago which seemed to have been another exstience ago.

"Why am I dreaming about that now -- why --?" Eve whispered to herself,
her eyes glancing over at ChibiUsa's side of the bed. The loud pink fireball of emotions and spunk slept quietly, her face at peace when she often would sport a mischevious look on her features when awake. She didn’t even seem to notice that Hotaru was wide awake, and that (in Hotaru’s estimation) was for the best. She carefully got out of bed, shaking off the “dust” of sleep as she went into the bathroom. Closing the door behind her, locking herself in, she started to wash her face absentmindedly. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she stared at her reflection in the mirror, with Former ChibiUsa’s eyeless hollow tortured face behind her, blood flowing down like tears across her cheeks. “Don’t you love me anymore? I miss you…“

With a yelp of panic Hotaru spun about, only to find nothing behind her. With a stifled groan she turned back towards the mirror, almost expecting to see ChibiUsa’s dead face again only to find herself staring at her own reflection alone once again. With a resentful sigh she shook her head, bending down to splash water onto her face a few times in a futile effort to convince herself that she was still sleeping.

"What the hell was that.“

There was a knock at the door. "Hotaru? You OK? What's wrong??"

Hotaru dimly turned her gaze back to the door, a small smile on her face, “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just…“ (sighs) “…tired.“

"Tired people stay in bed if they’re tired.“ ChibiUsa counters, knocking again as if by knocking X amount of times on the door it would open magically. “Come on, this isn't funny. Don't lock yourself in there, what's going…"

Hotaru opens the door and takes in ChibiUsa‘s nude beauty as she stares at her, "Just getting to see you like this makes waking you up all the more worth it, ChibiUsa.“ (kisses ChibiUsa on the cheek) “I’ll be along shortly, I have to go to the toilet first.“

"Oh." ChibiUsa responded, head lowered abit. “You’re right though, it is worth it just to see you naked like this.”
Hotaru huffs her breath, playfully pushing ChibiUsa out as she closes the door behind her, “If you’re so needy then wait in bed and I’ll take care of all your “needs” when I’m done!“

“Alright!“ she calls out as the door shuts, “Come to bed when your done, I‘ll be waiting!"

"OK!" Hotaru called out, sighing as she walks over to sit down at the toilet (“Might as well cover this while I think about what I’m doing.“ she quietly whispers to herself). Her hand picks up the cellphone from her clothes (she left in the bathroom before bedtime hours ago), her hand absentmindedly dialing a number by memory.

* * * * * *

The first thing Haruka thought when she heard the phone ring was whether
or not she could get away with killing the telemarketer on the other end
if she claimed it was self defense.

Then she thought it was probably Ami-chan with yet another awkwardly
embarrassing question about her sexual relationship with Mako-chan. It
seemed that even though they've been an item for a few years she still
called her, being that they was the only "real" lesbians Ami-chan knew
personally, and riddled either her or Michiru with embarrassingly
intimate questions since Mako-chan apparently had too much pride to
admit that she needed help in those situations. True, in recent years
two new couplings had sprung up yet somehow Ami-chan has yet to feel
comfortable asking for advice from either coupling.

The first, Minako and Artemis, have been a pair ever since he became
human, though since two years ago when he became a "she" Minako had
been flaunting their relationship as now being lesbian in nature
(mostly in a vain attempt to take Ami under her "wing" and become the
"wise role model figure" she felt Haruka/Michiru were to her... though
technically Artemis was more Amazonian than human female considering--
at this point Haruka clenches her teeth and shivers abit, the rest
Haruka usually blocks out since she's about as apprehensive about
thinking about Amazonian sexuality as Hotaru was.

Couple #2 was one that even Haruka thought would never happen. Usagi and
Rei, with Rei filling the void in Usagi's life since Mamoru disappeared.
Apparently while they seemed to be working out rather well, it seems Rei
felt just as irked as Minako since Ami didn't take her advice to heart
as she didn't take Minako's advice to heart. Just as well, considering
Rei often came to Haruka/Michiru for advice herself and had no real
advice of her own to give other than what she got from the two and
"claimed" as her own "advice".

The last time the phone rang it was Michiru who answered, and after a
few affirmative answers and a few nods of the head, she simply replied
"Tell Mako-chan the taste will eventually go away and she didn't damage
her taste buds for eternity by giving you a --" (Haruka's pissy
expression gave Michiru a clue to cut it short) "--bye." (smiles at
Haruka) "Wanna know what she did?"

Haruka rolled over and covered her head in response.

"Guess not."

Minako and Rei, it seems, were the least prepared for the way their
hearts turned, but moreso for Minako since she had the double twist of
falling in love with a very humanoid Artemis, then having him turn into
a "her". But this all happened in the span of five years.... Five years.
Of all the Soldiers, only Haruka, Michiru and Setsuna remember the
horrors of the world before the Realm of Dreams, and each year that they
lived there the horror became less and less until it faded into a
footnote in their past and nothing more. Eventually they moved on with
their lives, and for these two the chance eventually came to fulfill a
dream of theirs that they only had once they found peace in the Realm of
Dreams.

Haruka/Michiru had a Winterian style wedding two years ago, finally
becoming one in an official sense. They even kept a photo album of the
event, with pictures of everyone who attended.

Highlights of the ceremony included Usagi volunteering to eat the high
priced leftovers (and costing Rei 1000 Credits because she bet Usagi
could never eat all the leftovers), Minako stealing the spotlight at the
reception afterwards by dancing up a storm with every Priestess in the
room, and the pre wedding "last night" ritual (a Winterian ceremonial
ritual where it's believed that all temptations to wander from one's
appointed love can be swept away with a last "night" of sex with the
priestesses of the temple) which left a dozen priestesses exhausted and
wiped out physically from the ordeal of the ritual (substitute
priestesses had to be brought in just for the wedding ceremony). (As a
side note of the event now the two have standing invitations at several
Winterian temples in Japan in case they ever want to "renew" their last
night vows.)

Also, by the way, this is how Artemis became female. The story goes that
Minako wanted to sneak Artemis into the bachelorette party because she
heard it was going to be a blowout orgy and wanted her lover there. She
convinced him to take these pills that made him into a woman so he/she
could go, but during the party Artemis kept hitting the drink table,
which turned out to be a mistake. Bad planning had put blue Gatorade and
Winterian Blue Ice on the same table and Blue Ice was a strong drug used
to keep Winterian body temperatures lowered (as the wedding was held
during the hot summer the Winterian guests needed it to keep their body
temperatures at a comfortable lowered rate). In short Artemis hit the
Blue Ice more than the Gatorade, and the two chemicals (the sex altering
one and the temperature one) screwed his DNA up and made him permanently
"female", with a few minor--- well, you get the point.

As Haruka picked up the phone, ready to tell Ami, Rei, Minako or
whoever off, she heard a wheezing soft cry and a voice whisper in her
ear "---mama---"

Haruka froze for a second, her hand finally moving to nudge Michiru
awake as she spoke in a hushed whisper, "Hotaru? What's wrong?"

"I… I think I‘m going… c-crazy."

Haruka - “Hotaru? What are you talk…”

"I saw ChibiUsa, the dead ChibiUsa from before… she was calling out to me, asking me why I didn’t love her anymore… it was so real, as if she was really standing right behind me, broken…“

Haruka - "But she’s de…“

"I know! I know!“ Hotaru countered, “I know but -- if you saw what I saw you’d have doubts too -- dammit I know the difference between a dream and reality but this…“

“You’re beginning to sound like that Yamanaka woman.” Haruka whispered, but that was it as Michiru takes the phone from Haruka, overhearing the conversation, and begins to sing in a soft melodious tone. Slowly but surely Eve calms down on the opposite end, and begins to relax.
“She’s going bathroom now.“ Michiru announced.

Haruka - “I didn’t really need to know that.“

It takes a few minutes but as she calms she eventually settles down enough to confide in Michiru the rest, including her dream, before hanging up. Before the phone disconnects Michiru makes Hotaru promise to visit in the morning. As she hangs up she's greeted by Haruka's frowning visage. "Something’s wrong, isn’t there. Hotaru suddenly seeing dead ChibiUsa visiting her… something’s up.“

"She doesn't need speeches,” Michiru replies, turning to face Haruka as they laid back down in bed, “It still eats her up on the inside that she let ChibiUsa die like that. She’s still not over her guilt, no matter how much she tries to kid herself otherwise. She needs to find inner peace with herself before she can truly put it behind her.“

"I thought she was over it already. She seemed as if she was finally putting that part of her life behind her.“ Haruka sighs, rolling over in bed much to Michiru's dismay. "Obviously your not going to listen to a word I have to say on the subject, so I won't bother trying to defend myself Haruka."

"It's wrong." Haruka countered, eyes narrowing, "She was recovering just fine, and all of a sudden she has a bad dream? That doesn’t mean she hasn’t gotten over her feelings, it’s just a bad dream.“

A mischievous smile crosses the mistress of water's lips, "Hypocritical
since you're not entirely all of your hang-ups yourself."

"That's different, it’s not like I have some dead former lover hanging over our heads or anything," Haruka shot back, feeling Michiru's persistence wearing her down. "Is there a point to this?"

"When she's ready she'll learn to live with what happened, and forgive herself for what wasn’t her fault to begin with. When that happens she'll find the new ChibiUsa to be far more understanding and accepting of her past than she gives ChibiUsa credit for."

"We'll see, Michiru, we'll see."

As the lights shut off Haruka grumbles beneath her breath, "The phone
better not ring again or so help me..."

The phone rings.

"---argh---" (answers phone) "WHAT?!?" (silence) "It's way too early in
the morning to even think of such an absurd thing! Go to bed! Or let
nature take it's course! Just shut up and leave me alone!" (slams phone
down and rolls over in bed grumbling)

"Who was it?" Michiru asks, to which Haruka growls "Go to bed."

Michiru - "Mako-chan is having a hard time getting Ami to go along with
it, isn't she. And after you went through all the trouble to buy the
right one that fit Mako-chan like a glove and---"

Haruka - "---I don't care--- go to bed."

Michiru - "You were the one who recommended that to them but you know
how Mako-chan is so overtly energetic when she's---"

Haruka (rolls over and gives Michiru a dirty look) - "I don't care! Now
GO TO BED!"

Michiru lies down and closes her eyes. "You started it."

The frustrated yelp from Haruka side convinces her not to push her luck
any further.

* * * * * *

In the dimly lit room he paced about his associate, watching the sitting
man as he did. With every step his armored boots clanked against the
metal flooring, making an odd click-clack-click-clack noise as he
walked. Holocaust regarded his "associate" as he spoke.

"Everything is in flux, up in the air. The situation has changed since before but we seem to have the same “lot” in our lives as before.”

“The darkness beyond our reach teems with the restless dead, and a threat far beyond even the Clow itself lays just out of reach, teasing us with possibility and risk.“ he smiles as he continues to pace, eyes never leaving his still silent companion.

"But somethings never change. Bringing us Assassin Guilders' together and offering us just about anything imaginable just to retrieve your little Sailor Soldier girls so you and your remaining associates could once again enjoy their "company" was quite an proposal. We take them down, you have the fun of making babies with them and putting them in little tubes to freeze until you wanted to make more babies in them -- or was it just the sex and torture that was the fun? I could never tell. I know you would emphasis all the joys of whipping, beating, slicing and raping young women --" he said, walking forward to stand next to the man as he plucked his head from his limp shoulders, "If you weren't already dead. But that's what you get for being sick retarded bastards who thought more with their penises than their heads."

He held the head aloft, staring into the shocked _expression on the
face at the moment of death. "I wonder how it must have hurt you so to
realize that we only went along with your lovely schemes if only to
gather you all together. But, then again, you did believe that nothing
is more valuable than a den full of 12-14 year old girls stripped naked
and willing to please."

He spins on his heels, chucking the head back into it's body which
knocks the whole ensemble into the flooring with a loud thump. "Strictly
speaking I'm not a loliconer, even if Code 8 forbade rape. But just
between you and me? I think it was the 1 million credit's a crotch
reward by the Winterian forces that purged your world of your filth that
made all the difference to me." (smiles as he looks at the body) "Fun is
fun, but money makes the galaxy rotate."

With a slight salute he taps a button on the wall, and makes his exit.
As he does the floor slowly yawns open and drops the body into the
darkness below. "Well I have work to do. Our advance units have been on
the ground for a week now and have been receiving resistance from a very
interesting source (again). That I should check on, but you be a good boy and feed the sharks, will you?" (as the body falls away, plummeting towards the ocean below, Holocaust waves slightly as the lift doors closes behind him). "Now there's a good lad."

* * * * * *

Rei woke up to find herself sitting in the middle of a destroyed Tokyo,
with a familiar face staring at her.

"Lazarus."

He looks at her as if hurt, if only in jest, and taps her shoulder,
"Lazarus. Is that all you have to say? I bring you out to see the end
of Tokyo and all you can say is "Lazarus"?"

Rei smiles a little bit, if only to get Lazarus to get to the point,
which he does. "Things are all up in the air, juggled and mixed up. If I was not so certain about what I said to you the first time we talked (which I know you don’t remember but bear with me) then you most certainly won’t like what little I have to say now.“ (sighs) “Feel free to make insulting comments anytime now.“

"Is it that bad.” Rei mutters.

"It was all in threes once, now it’s jumbled and messed up. CLAMP School is suddenly gone, the powers of darkness and light are in flux, salvation cannot be guaranteed as we need to know what brings destruction before we can estimate what will bring salvation.“

Behind them loomed a building Rei had never seen before, with the words
"WISEMAN IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE ENDLESS CIRCLE!!" written in red scrawled across the face of the building. "I see."

"Not yet. But you will--- (me too I guess)"

With a gasp Rei wakes up, sweating abit as she caught her breath.

"That wasn't a dream." Rei muttered, eyes working hard to focus in the
dark room.

It wasn't hard to do a fire reading. From experience she knew that
Usagi could sleep through anything and everything, so her crawling out
of their bed and doing a fire reading was the easiest thing she could
do. In fact she could set half the house on fire to do her reading and
still not wake Usagi from her slumber.

Inside her private shrine room, one she had built just to meditate and
get away from Usagi's occasional "Get on Rei's nerves until she snaps"
days she read the fire. As she read the flames she felt a presence
nearby, and sighed. "Why don't you just come out with it and tell me
already?" she whispered, eyes turning to face Jack Lazarus, the Raven.
"If I could, I would." he admitted, the fire illuminating his black
uniform as he looked straight at her, "But I can't because what
information I have is now really and truly hearsay. If what I had before was bits and pieces of reliable info, now I have bits and pieces of next to nothing to go on… short of one thing, the so called “Endless Circle” mentioned in the blood written message on the wall.”

"Then what does it all mean? What is “The Endless Circle“?"

"You tell me." he countered. “But since you can’t let’s just leave it that I’ll have to get back to you on that at a future date.”

With that he vanished, leaving her behind to ponder his words.

* * * * * *

The one thing Rei hated the most was mornings. Especially when it came
to rousing Usagi from sleep.

"USAGI WAKE UP IT'S EIGHT O'CLOCK!!" she yelled one final time, hitting
Usagi in the head which finally jolted her from slumber. "We have to get
to classes!!"

Usagi, already up, rushed to get ready. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WAKE
ME?!?"

"Why did I have to feel sorry for you anyway---" Rei mumbled, walking
into the kitchen in a really bad mood. "We'll miss our first class at
this rate."

"That's because Usagi never changes. She's ALWAYS going to be a child."
ChibiUsa shot, chewing on her toast as Hotaru watched her from her place
next to her, "I HEARD THAT YOU PARASITE!!" Usagi screamed from the next
room. "WHY'D YOU LET HER IN?!?"

"She brought hot food for breakfast, which is more than I can you do
when it comes to meals!"

Usagi screams again as the shower comes on, leaving Rei to chew her
food as Hotaru turns the TV on (mostly to calm the air between the two.
ChibiUsa had grown, the Realm of Dreams being a positive thing to her
physical development. She was now a fully grown healthy young woman
physically, as was Hotaru who now resembled young woman of 17 (same as
ChibiUsa). The two had been lovers ever since they can remember, though
that was for five years -- what came before they did not know, and
somehow felt that they never really wanted to know.

The news was on, and filled the room with talking that didn't concern
Usagi/ChibiUsa insulting each other.

"Once again our top story--- yesterday unexplained graffiti was found scrawled onto King Penguin in New King Penguin Park, the words “WHO DRAWS THE ENDLESS CIRCLE?“ written in a red substance discovered to be cloned blood product etched for all to see.“ (silence as the reporter listens into her earpiece) "This just in. Reports of attacks on children near the King Penguin slide are coming in -- yes, it appears to be another Clow Card attack. Camera crews are now on the way as we continue to cover the late breaking events."

* * * * * *

Somehow Tina could only pray that the morning would be easy on the both of them. As she took cover, as per Nina’s orders, she could only watch as the card was confronted. She felt abit bad for Nina, because if she was hoping for a lax day then she was sorely disappointed.

Keiko jumped back, backpedaling as she slashed at the shots of sand
coming straight at her, taking as much sand in the hair and face as she
reflected away with gusts of wind.

The huge King Penguin slide shook as the sandy ground beneath it
liquefied and began to suck it in. Sakura barely had time to leap onto
the back of the huge slide and climb up to the two trapped kids on the
top. Eve, hands full protecting three young girls with a shield spell,
turned her attention towards Nina. "Nina we need some help here! Give Sakura some cover fire!" she yelled, continuously fortifying her NovaShields spell with her willpower as it came under continous attack.

Nina, lugging her pulse rifle upwards, carefully took shot after shot,
clipping each sand tentacle as it tried to latch onto Sakura to drag
her down, all the while slowly dragging the huge penguin slide downward
into the now liquid sand beneath it. "Nina! Behind you!" Tina suddenly
yells out from her vantage point, just as two sand tentacles attack Nina from behind. She barely manages to dodge them as the whoosh over her, her rifle firing blindly upwards as she tries to nail them.

Tomoyo, filming Sakura's heroic acts, cringes inwardly as she watches.
'All the trees are too far away.' she thinks to herself, 'I can't use
Gaia's ring to help Sakura-chan -- but maybe --’
Tomoyo's free hand raises upwards, Gaia's ring pulsating with energy,
"Trees! Use your roots to cut down Sand's tentacles!"

Almost instantly long strings of roots shoot out from the ground near
the trees, whipping through the air hacking into each sand tentacle that
rises from the ground. As the tree roots keep Sand occupied, Sakura
reaches the two children and grabs onto them, using Windy's ring to give
her a boost over Sand and onto the grass in one long jump from slide to
safety.

As she sends the children to Eve for protection, she turns and regards
Sand, her hand bearing the Water ring rising into the air. "Umi! Give me
your strength in the form of a waterfall to restrict Sand!"

From above a shimmering disc of blue begins to form, the air growing dry
as moisture is drawn into the circle and condensed. From that circle a
powerful blast of water shoots into the sandy ground, soaking it through
and through making the entire sandy pit into a dense clump of sand. From
the quagmire, Sand's true form appears, covered in the sandy gunk and
bogged down by it's weight. Quickly Sakura rushes up and slams her staff
down, "CLOW CARD RETURN TO YOUR POWER CONFINED! SAND CARD!!"

Tendrils of energy shoot out, encapsulating the card's physical form,
transforming it, and turning it back into a card. It shoots into the
air, and lands in Sakura's hand.

Nina, dazed and dirty, turns and claps from her resting position on the
ground, "You did it!"

As everyone gathers around Sakura, whose blushing, Tomoyo taps her on
the shoulder, "Now all we need to do is retrieve King Penguin, maybe clean off the graffiti while we‘re at it."

"What?" Sakura asks, confused, "What do you --" (stops and looks)
"-- hooooeeee!!!"

King Penguin rested half trapped in the sand, tilted at an awkward
angle. Nina, putting her rifle down, moves in a mock stumble towards the
slide and screams "Damn you!! You finally went and did it! Damn you!! Damn you all to hell!!"

"Yeah, yeah, Planet of the Apes. Figures." Keiko grumbles, annoyed by
Nina's antics. "Get a life."

“But I do have a life.” Nina retorted, “My life is to bother you.”

Keiko - “Up yours.“

It takes a little effort, and the tech shuttle of Nina's which she
summons to the park via remote, but eventually the penguin is dug out
and set upright again. By the time the news crews arrive everyone had
already left and the situation was resolved.

To Be Continued

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II Episode 4 (10)

Wednesday (January 17th)
Sakura Blossoms - CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II Episode 4 (10)

CardCaptor Sakura Remastered II 4 (10)
Meanwhile, what Nina was SUPPOSED to be watching (Sakura’s class)

Sakura blushed when she thought about Tomoyo’s delicate hands gently cutting her hair.
“Tomoyo cut my hair. And then we watched movies--- sigh.”

“Yeah, it was fun.” Keiko noted from her seat at the front of the class (she was just bored so she stopped in and let her fake teacher ID do the talking for her to get her access to Sakura’s class) “We watched movies together and--- hey, isn‘t today badminton in gym?”

Tomoyo nods her head, “We’re playing badminton in gym today! That‘s right!”

Keiko - “Hey loser!“ (towards Rebecca who was sitting in the back of the class as she always did during study period when she didn‘t have any classes to teach) “Why don’t you two settle this on the court? Woman to Crazed Psychobitch?”

Rebecca sneered at the thought, “Badmintion?!? Do I look hopelessly British to you?”

Yama - “Don’t you know?”

“Know what?” Rebecca asks, spinning about at the sound of his voice.

Yama - “Badmintion is a proper dueling sport that dates back to ancient Rome. The person who loses would have had to forfeit his life for losing!”

Rebecca looks around, gauging reactions as she watches. “Say what…”

Sakura - “Is that---”

As Sakura’s eyes spanned about she regarded her friends and loved one one by one.
Chiharu - “He’s lying!” (But secretly she’s thinking ‘what if---’)

Naoko - She couldn’t care less because it looks like there’s going to be a good show coming and she’s hyped about being there to watch it! (She still remembers the last time badminton was used to settle a grudge and that was years ago!)

Sakura - She couldn’t look at herself but there was about a 50/50 odds she might be a believer, even now.

Rika - She thinks he’s joking (again).

Rebecca - She can’t fathom it, but it seems plausible (she wasn’t around for the last incident so what did she know of it).

Tomoyo - She thinks it would be great if only it were true.

Keiko - “---not again.”

In a book she just opened on alternate universe history she’s now reading about the great Badmintion duel between Hamilton & Burr.
On the net she also finds an alternate universe theatrical poster for Russell Crowe’s Badmintoner. (Reviewed by Ebert to be “The Best Roman Badmintion Combat Movie to date!”) (“This book keeps getting heavier every time he opens his yap” Keiko remarks as she puts the book back where she finds it, entitled “Alternate Universes and their Quirks“ (a work in progress by Yama the Liar)).

Keiko - “Everytime he opens his mouth he creates an alternate universe with every idea of his and it continues to clutter up the space/time continuum archives.” (curses silently to herself) “It should be a crime against temporal nature for him to be alive.”

* * * * * *

“Analysis complete. Subject found.“

“Damn---” Nina groans as she leans back in her chair, “Show me.”

The footage plays out as what seems to be Mirra casually strolls up to the toys (in full view of the camera) and shoves them over, she then skates off leaving the girl from school (who talked to Mirra) confused in the incident’s wake.

Nina - “How many other people has accessed this file?”

“None. The file has been sealed by request. However, your clearance permits you access.“

Nina - “Sealed? Who locked this file?”

“Misho NamoCatCat.“

“That’s strange,” Eliza remarks as she looks at the video again, “why is Misho covering this up? Considering how much Sakura inconvienced her that last time you‘d think she‘d have a burr up her tail end about Sakura anything, let alone her child.”

“ALERT! Incoming realtime signal! Source - NamoCatCat Corp. HQ, TOKYO“

“Ask her yourself, we have company---” (switches to link) “---speak of the Neko. What can I do for you today, Neko.”

Misho went right to the point, “Skip the pleasantries, you know exactly why I’m calling you.”

Nina - “Then that’d be the topic of Mirra. Or, to be more precise, the thing that you don’t know about that’s impersonating Mirra.”

Eliza - “Mimic?”

“The one and the same.” Nina finishes for Eliza. “She’s baaaaaa-ck.”

* * * * * *

Gym class. Keiko’s running it today.

“Alrighty then! You all know the drill? Oh-kay, so who wants to---” (Rebecca snaps her arm to attention raised high over her head) “---figures. Your not even a student and you shouldn’t be in this class, but who am I to argue with a grown woman who wore her guns to gym class? (Shouldn‘t this Dream Tokyo have the same anti-gun laws as the real Tokyo?)“ (huffs breath) “Now (as if I didn’t already know) who---” (snaps her other arm at Sakura) “---oh bother.”

As the two face off, Rebecca scowls. “Just because your kissing Keiko’s fancy butt doesn’t mean your better than me. Fly should be mine already and you know it.“

“I don’t have a fancy butt!” Keiko remarks from the sidelines. “Mind your own arse, you arse!”

Sakura - “She’s a friend, that’s all. She has a right to visit.”

Somehow, from the look on Rebecca’s face that said “I’m going to kill you now and bury the corpse where you drop” look on her face, Rebecca wasn’t buying it for a second. Sakura swallowed hard, and braced herself.

“Sakura! Don‘t let the teacher intimidate you!!” Tomoyo yells out.
With that Rebecca moves and in a flash she sets and serves with a lightning quick accuracy that neatly causes Sakura’s shirt to flutter from the backwash of gust as it shoots past her mere inches from hitting her.
“That’s a pinpoint accurate shot! Can you boast that kind of control and accuracy?” Rebecca points out, “If I wanted to I could have crippled your good arm without even trying, but I didn‘t! Can you be that confident in your shooting abilities?”

“Sakura!” Tomoyo wants to move, but Keiko holds her back. “She’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“If she hurt Sakura---” Tomoyo gasps, watching now with abit of concern.
Everyone gasps at the power. Sakura, teeth clenched (but not visibly so) grips her racket tight. ‘She can’t do that in front of Tomoyo! I won’t lose to her!’

She watches Rebecca moving slowly, watching for her shot. As seconds pass Sakura watches Rebecca’s motions and remembers them as the same motions she uses when she’s wielding her guns to bring them to bear. With one quick motion she takes her hit and sends it across and right into the handle of Rebecca’s racket as she reacts, snapping the racket from her grip (catching Rebecca off guard as she lets her grip slip in shock) sending it skidding across the floor.
“What the---?!?” she gasps, her eyes turning to watch her racket come skidding to a halt a few feet behind her. “No way.”

“Yeah, Sakura!” Tomoyo cheers, as Keiko looks on. “You going to stand there looking like a deer caught in someone’s headlights or are you going to pick that up?”

“Lucky shot, Keiko, that‘s all that was.” Rebecca grouses, stalking over and quickly snagging the racket back into her hand, “Not happening again.”

Keiko - “We’ll see about that, this game has only just started.”

“Give me a break, Yamanaka.” Rebecca spits out as she returns to her position, “It’s over right now!”

Both combatants glare at each other, faces determined and their focus locked on the game.

As the game resumes Keiko nudges Tomoyo to catch her attention, “Looks like they’re going to be at it for awhile.”

Tomoyo - “Their rivalry really brings out their competitive spirit.”

Keiko - “Uh-huh---” (sighs) “---they’re not finishing anytime soon. Might as well get comfortable and do any studying you have to, looks like we got ANOTHER free period on our hands.”

Everyone sits down to watch the game, as Keiko takes her own PSP out and starts playing with it again. “Good thing I brought Valkryie Profile with me or I’d be bored to tears.”

“I HEARD THAT!!” Rebecca screams as she intercepts another volley from Sakura.

“Yeah, yeah, I know---” (sighs) “---no wonder nobody made Mario Badmintion yet even for the Wii...”

* * * * * *

After gym class Tomoyo helps carry Sakura’s stuff back to class (because Sakura stressed her arm out playing).
Later, after school, Tomoyo takes Sakura to a beautiful little dessert shop for ice cream.
As Sakura nips at her ice cream, she sighs as Tomoyo’s fingers work into her shoulders to ease the pain. “How does that feel, Sakura? Your arm feeling better yet?”

Sakura - “Abit, thanks.”

As Tomoyo sits back down, she smiles at Sakura, “That was wonderful! You played so well.”

Sakura - “But it never really ended. The bell had to ring before we finally gave up on the match.” (whines softly) “That was brutal!”

Tomoyo - “You just kept rallying, Sakura!”

Sakura frowned at the thought, “Rebecca was scary the whole game! I thought she was going to kill somebody when the bell rang.”

Suddenly Tomoyo leans closer, “Sakura, let me trim your hair next time.”

Sakura - “You already did, rem---”

Tomoyo - “I meant in an intimate way, Sakura.”

It takes two whole minutes for the idea to fully sink in, which is filled with Sakura laughing nervously and looking utterly confused. As realization sets in, along with a full body blush, something catches her eye. From one side of her vision she sees Mirra-chan, yet NOT
Mirra-chan, ghost past her. For a second it’s Mirra-chan. Then it’s herself.

As her “twin” passes, she raises a hand as if holding a gun and points it at Sakura, deftly motioning and whispering the word “Bang” as she passes them by. Tomoyo manages to look just as the other Sakura rolls off. “Wh-what was---?”

Two of Mirra-chan’s classmates run up to the two. “What’s wrong? You two seem panicked.”

“Mirra’s acting funny!” one girl yelps, “She kicked sand into some little kid’s faces!”

“She also pushed over a vase outside of a restaurant!”

“Mirra-chan didn’t do it!!” Sakura yells, “It’s a mistake!”

Tomoyo - “She couldn’t have done it.”

All turn towards the voice, which is a tall male dressed in a waiter’s uniform. “Your drinks.” (hands off the drinks) “I’m familiar with the girl in question and she’s been in here the past 15 minutes. Come, take a look.”

Inside, at one of the booths, is Mirra/Hikaru. Both sitting contently nuzzled close waiting for another large drink. As the new drink arrives they each take their straws and share the drink, occasionally stealing kisses when they think nobody’s looking.

Male - “They’ve been cuddled up like that for awhile now, so it couldn’t have been her.”

While that killed the argument that Mirra was guilty, it sparked worry in Sakura.

If it wasn’t Mirra, then it could only be one other card---

As the two girls go their way, and Sakura/Tomoyo start to talk, the waiter returns inside where he walks into the kitchen and into the owner’s office where Misho NamoCatCat is waiting.

Misho - “You did it?”

“Of course.” Jack remarks casually, shifting his clothes back to his Captain’s uniform, “Mirra’s off the hook for now, but that doesn’t change the fact that Mimic has an agenda to destroy Mirra’s rep in full swing and she’s not slowing for anything.”

Misho shakes her head distainfully at the thought, “There’s more to Mimic that meets the eye. From what I read of Nina’s report from the first incident it’s against Mimic’s ego ridden
personality to sudden shift gears like this--- unless Mirra’s someone she hates just as much as she hates the new Master of the cards (Sakura). But why?”

Jack - “Only Mimic knows that one.”

“Maybe for now--- but not for long.” Misho reaches into her desk and draws out a cell phone, “Not for long.”

* * * * * *

A short while later, the five meet in Sakura and Tomoyo’s bedroom.
“So we’re all in agreement from the evidence that Mimic is back, right?” Nina asks.

Kero motions to the Clow book, “Then let’s find out what she’s up to.” (as the book opens and the cards come out Nina notes something) “There’s more cards than I remember, Kero.”

“Your on the ball today, Nina. I had a few new cards crafted with the help of a friend.” Kero noted, “They’re replacements for the six that were lost when their original forms became human. Windy, Woods, Water, Mirror, Light & Dark. Add to that the cards Sakura caught and we have a nice tidy deck for a easy divination spell.”

“What friend?” Sakura asks.

“I’ll introduce you one day to my friend. But for now let’s go--- you remember, right?”

“I know. First I shuffle the cards---” (she stops without even touching the cards) “---wait, Kero.”

Kero - “What? Do you sense something amiss? What’s wrong, Sakura? Is it Mimic?”

Sakura - “Tomoyo has to get her camera.”
Kero faints.

A minute later Tomoyo has her camera rolling and Sakura begins.

Sakura goes through the motions slowly, as much for her own benefit as Tomoyo‘s so she didn‘t get it wrong after not doing this for the longest time. “Shuffle the cards--- split them into four piles with my left hand--- return them with my left hand--- and now chant---” (closes eyes) “Ancient Cards of Clow, give me vision now. Show me if you may, who is standing in our way.”

Energy gathers, swirls, and touches the cards as Sakura opens her eyes and reaches out.
Sakura grasps the card almost knowingly, “The first card should be Windy.”
It’s Dark.
Sakura - “What? What’s wrong? I thought---”

Kero - “That was before, Sakura. This is different--- but, Dark?”

“There’s a dark nemesis behind the scenes of all this.” Eliza notes. “Darkness in the SpellThrashing incantation “Foresight” often stands for a greater evil behind one being faced at the present.”

Tomoyo - “Then that means…”

Eliza - “There’s a greater force behind Mimic and the re-release of the cards.”
Silence reigns for a few seconds as the implications set in.
“That makes sense though.” Nina notes, “Remember Sword? Sword didn’t go after Sakura first, it took me out and cleared a path to Sakura. If it was just testing Sakura it would have found a way to get to her around us, not through us as it did by having Eliza attack me first. That makes this “dark nemesis” theory quite plausible in my opinion.”

Sakura - “What about Shadow? That wasn’t after me!”

“Shadow’s eccentric, remember? It probably wanted you to come after it.” Kero again notes, “It’s weird that way. Anyway, let’s find out what Sword & Shadow were up to. Flip that card next.”

It’s Sword.

“That---” Kero begins, “---means a Challenge or a Test.”

Eliza - “I’d say Challenge. If the first card indicates a darker nemesis, he might be challenging Sakura. This might be it’s way of telling Sakura it’s coming after her.”

Nina - “It might also be testing her skills and finding weak points to exploit later. Hence a test of her abilities.”

Kero - “Shadow is still eccentric. It probably let Fear talk it into attacking when it probably just wanted to stay out of Sakura’s way, or even return to Sakura. Shadow was always abit of an odd card.”

“Alright, Kero, we got all that---” Nina looks at the cards turned over with a slight scowl on her face, “---but what is this thing we’re going up against anyway?”

Kero - “Let’s find out. Flip over those three cards and see what they say about our enemy?”

Thunder, Illusion, Shadow.

Sakura - “What a strange combination. What could it mean? Could this nemesis use these three cards?”

“Or powers similar to it.” Eliza points out, looking at the cards. “It’s likely these three cards are a representation of the power behind Mimic.”

Sakura’s hand grip tensely, her body shivering as she tries to come to grip with what’s going on. Suddenly she feels Tomoyo’s strong warmth grip her as the dark haired young woman wraps her arms around Sakura to keep the chill of the moment at bay.

“Last card.” Kero points to the next card, “Let’s see what Mimic is gunning for now.”

Mirror, upside down.

Sakura - “Mimic’s after Mirra-chan?!”

“Wait, Sakura, look---” (Eliza points at the card) “---it’s in reverse. That means Mimic is after the opposite of Mirror. But---”

Kero - “Or maybe Mirror’s polar opposite, or her opposite. But what is Mirror‘s opposite?”

Silence. Everyone looks up, but the silence is quickly broken by a yell---

“HIKARU-CHAN!!!”

All eyes turn to the door, where Mirra was spying on them, as she dashes downstairs to the door in a blind panic.

“Oh no.” Tomoyo whispers, “Is she going to go after Hikaru?!?”

“She wants to hurt Mirra.” Eliza slowly whispers, “But she’s going to hurt her by using the person she treasures the most to inflict pain on her--- she’s going to hurt Hikaru to get at Mirra.”

Everyone quickly dashes out the door after Mirra-chan.

* * * * * *

She was barely down the street before something exploded in her head.

Mirra screams as she clutches her skull, reeling under the painful blast of pain. Seconds pass as she wobbles and spins disoriented under the assault before she is able to clear her head. But the point was clear. In her mind’s eye she saw a quiet grassy spot in a large set of trees. She was waiting for them at Hikaru’s favorite spot in the small wooded area called Vision Park. Mimic wasn’t even attempting to hide her location, she wanted Mirra there to see her hurt Hikaru! Mirra was quickly running again, headed to New King Penguin Park, head still
slightly reeling from the burst of pain. “I’m coming, Hikaru! I’m coming! Hold on!”

* * * * * *

A minute behind her was Sakura and the others.

As they left the house Sakura stumbles in pain, her blades sliding from beneath her and dropping her into Tomoyo’s arms. “Sakura what’s wrong?!? Are you alright? Sakura!!”

For a few seconds Sakura grips her head in pain, but finally the pain subsides leaving Sakura with a curious expression on her face. To everyone’s bewilderment she quickly gets back on her feet and starts madly running again, with everyone behind Sakura following her because
they didn’t know where she (let alone Mirra) was headed.

“SAKURA WAIT!” Nina yelled out as they ran, “How the hell do you know where she’s going?!”

“I feel her! She was in pain a minute ago! She’s going to Vision Park!”

Nina - “And you know this because---”

Sakura - “I JUST DO!! TRUST ME!!”

A few minutes later they arrive, climbing the stairs to the top, but Sakura stops. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t feel them any---” (Sakura grips Tomoyo tight, shivering in her arms) “I can’t feel her.”

“What?!?” Nina chokes, “You had it a minute ago!!”

Sakura looks about in a panic, “There’s--- oh god--- so many in here.”

“So many---” Eliza puts her hands together and begins chanting a spell.

Nina - “What do you feel?”

Eliza - “It feels like there’s a lot of people---” (Tomoyo holds Sakura tight as she shakes in her arms) “But I don’t see anyone. It feels like there’s something dark here too--- this place is supposed to be haunted.”

“It’s not.” (everyone looks at Eliza as she speaks) “This is Glass Space.”

Everyone - “What?”

Nina - “I heard that word before--- it’s a theory isn’t it?”

“It’s also a fact in the mystical world. Nina.” Eliza said softly.

“Wait, wait, what are you two talking about?” (Tomoyo)

Nina - “Glass Space. It’s where the dimensional barriers between two points in the same physical space are the weakest and anyone with a high degree of sensitivity can pick up what’s going on on the other side of the dimensional “glass”.” Eliza motions to their surroundings. “Sakura’s right, there IS a large gathering of people around us from
what my spell could gather--- at least, there is in Normal space.”

Sakura - “Normal space?”

Eliza - “The waking world, Sakura. We’re in fact surrounded by people in the physical counterpart of this park in the waking world. Probably some sort of event or maybe they’re filming something here. The sense of darkness though probably means the presence of a Darkling around here.”

“So the people in the waking world is covering Mimic’s presence.”

“Essentially that is correct, Kero.” Eliza finishes with a nod of the head.

“But what about the Darkling, Eliza? Isn‘t it dangerous?”

“That’s nothing, Tomoyo. Darklings tend to hang near glass space. They try to find “cracks” in the “glass” to slip into the waking world, but they never get very far with that idea.”

“But we have to find the girls!” Kero spits out, looking about for them in the mass of trees.

* * * * * *

Mimic smiles, holding Mirra down as Hikaru watches helplessly (bound as she was). Mimic reached one hand to Mirra’s neck, the other down to her rear. “Now, are you going to change back or should I snap your neck?”

For long seconds Mirra does not, but finally she changes back to her original form, a tear slides down her face as she reveals her true self.

“See? That wasn’t hard---” (holds Mirra’s head up to show Hikaru) “---isn’t that precious? Your little lover isn’t all she’s cracked up to be--- the liar she is.”

“I DIDN’T LIE!!” (Mirra gasps, another tear flowing down her cheek) “I love you--- please---”

Hikaru nods her head, “---I love you too--- I knew you were different--- it didn‘t matter---
I still fell in love with you---” Hikaru rasps before Mimic tightens her grip on Mirra‘s neck, slamming her hard into the ground.

Hikaru - “STOP THAT! LET HER GO!”

“I don’t want to!!” (Mimic throws Mirra face first in front of Hikaru) “It’s your fault I’m stuck like this!” Mimic screamed, walking over to the two. “What are you---”

“SHE DID THIS TO ME!!” Mimic screams, “CLOW REED MADE ME TO BE HIS
MISTRESS!! HE ONLY MADE YOU SO I COULD HAVE MORE TIME TO BE WITH HIM,
BUT YOU TRIED TO STEAL HIM FROM ME!! YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I CHANGED
FORM AGAIN AND AGAIN, EACH TIME LOSING A SHARD OF SELF TO ERASE THE
DAMAGE YOUR PROMISCUITY CAUSED? TO GET BACK WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY
MINE?? YOU DID THIS TO ME!!”

Mirra - “I didn’t--- he was like--- a father--- to me----”

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A FATHER IS!!” (kicks Mirra hard in the gut) “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE IS DO YOU???” (kneels before Hikaru, her hand reaching beneath her skirt as she pushes her towards Mirra)

“What are you---” (Mimic pulls her hand back with something in it) “---oh god---”

“I want to see you do her! TAKE HER!! LIKE THE EVIL THING YOU ARE!! THAT’S ALL YOU GIVE A DAMN ABOUT SO GO ON!!” (shoves Mirra’s head beneath Hikaru’s skirt) “DO IT!!!”

Mirra shut her eyes, but so close to Hikaru’s intimate private spot she couldn’t help but shiver in shame.

Deep inside she felt something yearning to do what Mimic wanted her to.

No matter what, Mirra resolved, she wouldn’t harm Hikaru in any way.

She made a promise to her. She wouldn’t do this to her now, even to save herself.

No matter what she had to protect Hikaru. No matter the cost.

To Be Continued

Azkaban 7

Azkaban Episode 7

(NOTE - Sorry, I am still working on the second Trial of Fire and Darkness preview. I’ll try to get it out next Sunday. But for now…)
(NOTE Number 2 - Check previous Azkaban chapters for disclaimer at start of fanfic)

Walking Target

The Galerian Assassin Guilder was dropping fast right at her, arms wide open to land a killing blow. Alicia was in no condition to counterattack, her body wracked with pain as she rolled over to see -- a robed female blocking her with arms outstretched… but who… the form was transparent so it was clearly a spell of some kind, but who… it felt so familiar, but she was trying to hard to…

A spell snipes the Galerian out of the air, bringing it crashing right into Hagrid’s waiting arms. He grabs it by the neck as it falls, and with one hard swing he delivers a killing blow that shatters the creatures spinal column killing it instantly.
As Hagrid tosses the corpse aside Alicia tries to pull herself up, bloodsoaking now half of her body from neck to torso, the world fading about her as she felt her senses abandon her due to her blood loss. She tried to scream, but nothing would come out… she had to warn…

Another spell hit the beast, knocking it further into the woods where it exploded, it’s internal core ruptured by it’s death going critical mass and blowing up. However Hagrid was more concerned with Alicia than himself as he scooped her up into his huge arms and carted her quickly towards the castle, muttering “Yer not dyin’ on me! Yer not dyin’ on me! Yer not dyin’…”

Optimistic to the end. That’s Hagrid for you. She was soaked halfway through with her own blood, and even her own healing factor seemed to have failed her, but he wasn’t going to give up on her yet. Those were the last thoughts she had before slipping into unconsciousness.

There was something painfully familiar about the female that saved her… something…

* * * * * *

She was surrounded by water.

She was lugging someone towards the surface, the light above that shimmered as she kicked furiously towards it… feeling as if she was almost out of time…

“…please don’t be angry…”

The light grew closer and closer as her breath trapped in her chest grew fainter.

It was so close now. She just had to power through and break into the sunlight.

“…I didn’t know it would be like this…”

Where he was waiting. She felt there was someone she had to get to.

Break free of the water, get to him fast, and kill --

“…he has feelings too… please don‘t hurt him…”

The darkness seemed comforting to her, even as she drew close to the light above.
She felt that she wasn’t going to die after all, but yet there was lots that needed answering.
How did it get so close that it could do this without…

“…but I made up my mind, and my heart… I chose…”

Then realization set in. The answer that was at the edge of her mind as the surface of the lake was at the edge of her reach.
The whole school, and for miles about, was covered in a sense of darkness.
This was a side effect of the Dementors, and there was nothing she could about it.
This veil, this darkness, was something that occurred naturally because of their “nature”.
It was like a shroud of night which obscured all mystical “sight“, and made singling out a specific source of darkness within this dark field impossible. In other words she would be operating “blind” this time out.

Sure, as she had been close to them before she had gotten used to the feel of the Dementors, and since she knew she had to “interact” with them she was prepared to shove aside their ill feeling to the point of ignoring it. She was so quickly used to blocking out the sense of darkness from them that she didn’t even think twice about the “energy” they gave off. Bad mistake.

They were there to protect the school, but instead they were creating an artificial “black out” which made it now entirely possible for anything to slip in without being detected.
In the end their help, as well meaning as it might have been, was only hurting the cause.
And, come to think of it, it was hurting right now… badly. But that was her injuries talking.

The second thing on her mind was her two “saviors”.
The female who shielded her, but who she couldn’t see clearly.
Whose voice she was certain was talking in her mind as she swam to the surface, but too faint for her to recognize to “speaker”.
Then there was the one who shot down the Galerian as it attacked, and gave Hagrid the chance to kill it. His or her identity was also shrouded in mystery.

Confusion. Riddles. It seemed that if there were answers to these two questions that they weren’t present as of yet. That’s when the darkness began to lift, and the splash of water added to the welcome taste of fresh air as she hit the surface, she woke.

“ALICIA!!”

The first sight she came to was Gryffindors around her, looking at heranxiously.
The second sight confused her, because there was a group of Slytherin also standing around her, also watching her as she came out of it.
“…I take it this isn’t the morbid curiosity of watching someone die…” she muttered.

“You going to be alright?” someone asked, and to her shock that someone was… Malfoy?
He was standing near her looking dead serious, but she couldn’t help but feel how… wrong it was. She dismissed everyone, after much hugging and gifts and words of encouragement, leaving her alone with Malfoy. She looked at him, glanced at him up and down and asked the obvious…

“He’s not here, isn’t he?”

Malfoy shrugged, shuffled his feet, and then said “A little bit of him is, but he’s in the backseat being silent after a threat of a lobotomy. Such a pain he is, but after the second time in one day he seems used to being the passenger, he even realizes he has you to thank for the fact he isn‘t dead right about now.”

A tired sigh escapes her lips as she pulls herself into a sitting position. “The last thing I need is you making things “better” by interfering, you know that.”

“C’mon,” Jack Lazarus pried, nudging Alicia from Malfoy’s body, “You can’t tell me that you weren’t the slightest bit shocked to see Malfoy over your bed being concerned!”

“Dammit I thought I was going to die and he came to gloat!” she grumbled, face scrunching up, “The least you can do is jump a cute girl’s body if you want to pay your “respects” to me.” (eyes narrow) “And speaking of that, why didn’t I feel that creature until it was practically on top of me trying to land a killing blow!”

Malfoy leans back, and looks around as if watching for prying eyes before speaking, “I felt into your mind, I know you know this answer already, but since you obviously want me to say it out loud… yes, Alicia, you’re right, there’s too many Dementors. As you have already guessed their essence is shrouding the school in a layer of darkness. Darkness so thick and so much that it’s impossible to detect any other dark entities in this “cloaking device” of shadow. That includes the would be assassin drone unit that tried to off you. One of many no doubt to come in the days left in the school year.”

“I felt that…” she noted, nodding her head, “I was hoping it was my nerves, but it seems that the Dementors are more of a menace than a help, their own presence blocking any sign of real darkness approaching until it’s too late. That’s not good. Then again it‘s not like endless hordes of evil are approaching the school so --” (blinks) “-- eh, just so I know, it WAS you who bailed me out, right? Knocked the creature into Hagrid?”

“…uh… no.” Jack/Malfoy answered truthfully. “I also noted a protective spell was cast near you, but that also wasn’t me. Somebody was doing it from the forest, or nearby somewhere… maybe from the school grounds where most of the students fled…”

“Hermione.” Alicia muttered, “Did she do that? But how…”

“Did you say something?” Jack asked with genuine curiosity.

Alicia shakes her head, blushing abit at the thought of Hermione… “Nothing, nothing. Forget it…” (silence comes between them for a minute) “…Hagrid’s in trouble, isn’t he.”

Jack/Malfoy smiled a rather awkward looking grin (since she was not at all prepared to see a genuine heartwarming grin on Malfoy‘s face) “Well, at least you can’t complain that your first day with magical creatures wasn’t interesting.” He remarked slyly, causing Alicia to pale at the remark. “Yeah. I always find near death experiences to be amongst the most interesting things I ever did on any given day. Joy. I can’t wait for it to happen again.”

“Well…” Jack motions towards the window, which was now dark, “…it’s night now and Hagrid is home. And since you already healed all the way we can do a little “swap” and you visit him while I play you for awhile. Deal?”

Alicia nods, feeling herself all healed up as she pulled the blankets away only to cover herself again. “DAMN!” she hissed, “Must they always dump me in bed naked!!”

“Maybe they get off on looking on that fine bod’ of you… and I can’t believe I just said that.” (Jack/Malfoy coughs in aggrivation before continuing) “They did have to do a lot to get you back on your feet again, so you can kinda understand about them having to disrobe you in order to save you… don’t worry, nothing of yours is missing or in the wrong hands.” (silence) “There. I shoved Malfoy into a sleep mode so I can tell you this. There’s a small amount of good in him, I can feel it, buried deep. Something, or someone, has been fostering this good in him yet I can’t seem to find out who. His or her identity he’s locked away tight…” (smirks) “…guess even a guy like Malfoy can have a little good in him.”

“Guess so.” Alicia mutters, thoughts racing. “Now are you going to get the hell out of here or are you hoping for another peek.”

Jack didn’t wait to be asked twice.

* * * * * *

As she reached the hut, she found that she was not alone.
Harry, Hermione and Ron looked as if they saw a ghost. She pointed at her wound and shrugged, “It’s nothing, forget it.” (her eyes falls onto the front door of the hut) “I’m going to take it that you’re here for the exact same reason I am, right?”

“Cheer Hagrid up?”

Alicia nods, “Then we’re on the same page, Ron. Shall we?”
When they reached the door, Ron knocked and a weary “C’min.” greeted them.
As both Hermione and Alicia reached for the door their hands met, touched briefly, and was quickly pulled away. Hermione, red faced and blushing abit, opened the door.
Hagrid, drunk out of his mind with his boarhound Fang nearby, regarded the group with a dazed stupefied look. Obviously he had found his limits in the drinking dept. that night.

“’Spect it’s a record,” he lamented, finally coming to his senses and recognizing them.
“Don’ reckon they’ve ever had a teacher who lasted on’y a day before.”

“You haven’t been fired yet, Hagrid!” Hermione gasped in indignation, the redness fading from her cheeks as she focused on Hagrid, “They can’t fire you! It wasn’t your fault!”

“Not yet, but they’re considerin’ it.” he remarked glumly, taking a slam of the strong substance in his tankard before him. “It’s only a matter o’ time, I s’pp’se, after what happened to yah’…”

“The Galerian Guilder caused more damage than Buckbeak!” Alicia complained, “And I don’t plan on causing a ruckus over this, either! Consider me silent on this point.”
Hagrid’s eyes focused dimly on her, the obvious question forming on his lips.
“I’m fine.” she assured him. “Madam Pomfrey patched me up just fine, and I’m young yet so I have quite abit of get-up and go in the healing dept. so I’m doing swell.” (‘just as long as nobody asks me to go into a gymnastics routine because I still feel rather sore in places.’ she added in her own thoughts) “Don’t worry about it. Shake it off, ‘kay?”

But it was as if Hagrid just wasn’t listening as he spoke, “School gov’nors have bin told, o’ course. They reckon I started too big. Shoulda left hippogriffs fer later… done flobberworms or summat… Jus’ thought it’d make a good firs’ lesson…. ‘S all my fault…”

“It’s all Malfoy’s fault, Hagrid!” Hermione said earnestly, “And his playacting earlier at Alicia’s bedside is an insult! What a jerk!”

‘Too bad that wasn’t Malfoy at my bedside.’ Alicia thought to herself, ‘At least not in the sense of his spirit…’ (sighs) “She’s right. You warned him they get awfully cranky when people disrespect them and he went off and disrespected them. I…” (stops) “…waitaminute…”

* * * * * *

Flashback…

Malfoy shrugged, shuffled his feet, and then said “A little bit of him is, but he’s in the backseat being silent after a threat of a lobotomy. Such a pain he is, but after the second time in one day he seems used to being the passenger, he even realizes he has you to thank for the fact he isn‘t dead right about now.”

* * * * * *

“…he wasn’t in control at that moment…” Alicia muttered, drawing curious gazes from everyone. “Nothing, nothing, don’t mind me…” she quickly replied, drifting back abit as everyone started talking again.

Alicia‘s mind buzzed furiously on the topic, ‘So he was under control of… something. Might explain his retarded arrogant act that almost got him bloodied up. But why…’

“I think you had enough to drink, Hagrid,” Hermione said sternly, pulling at Alicia’s sleeve to get her assistance in emptying the tankard. Outside she looked at Alicia with a firm expression as she asked “Are you really alright?”

“I’m a little sore here, and there, but I’ll live.” she answered truthfully. “I didn’t know you cared so much about my wellbeing.”

Hermione’s face blushes bright red once again as she nearly drops the tankard, her mouth ajar. “I care! I mean of course I care! I…” (stops) “…never mind.”

As she walks quickly back into the hut Alicia grins abit, “Guess maybe I have a chance after all with you.”

Hagrid immediately came outside as Hermione went in, and waddled over to a barrel of water where he dunked his head in to sober up. Alicia, watching him gurgle and splash his head in the water, walked up and stood nearby. As he surfaced she asked him “Think she likes me?”
Hagrid, now a little more clear headed but not by much, looked at her as if she proclaimed herself to be the re-incarnation of Cleopatra. “…never mind…” she muttered, pushing him back into the hut with a heavy sigh.

Inside he wiped his face of the excess water, muttering “Tha’s better,” shaking his head drenching them all.
“Listen, it was good of yeh ter come an’ see me, I really --”
Silence. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Hagrid stopped dead in mid-sentence.
Alicia’s eyes glanced nervously around the room, waiting for someone to break the tension.
The wait wasn’t long.

“WHAT D’YEH THINK YOU’RE DOIN’, EH?” he roared, so suddenly he made everyone jump, “YEH’RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN’ AROUND AFTER DARK, HARRY! AN’ YOU THREE! LETTIN’ HIM!”

Hagrid quickly strode to Harry, pulling him right away to the door. “C’mon! I’m takin’ yer all back up ter school, an’ don’ let me catch yeh walkin’ down ter see me after dark again. I’m not worth that!”
The walk up was going to be rather quiet, Alicia gathered from the mood rather quickly.
Turned out to be anything but.
As they exited the hut Alicia’s senses suddenly jump to attention.

“RUN!!” she cried out, spinning about to shield as a bio-bolt came down upon them, knocking her off her feet as it impacted. The sound of leaping, and claws scraping wood, echoed as she realized she was under attack once again… another Drone unit was on the offensive.
The last one had to be a Drone unit, since she was now obviously under attack by another drone unit right now. This time, however, she was ready.

As Hagrid hustled Harry, Hermione and Ron to safety she pulled her wand out of her robes and tested it in her hand. The Galerian was fast, moving from tree to tree vying for a new shooting position. She hefts the wand into the air, and cries out the spell for light. As the wand bursts into life, lighting the area, the Galerian turned and fired another shot… it’s
mistake. As the shot fired Alicia got it’s “location” and acted quickly, throwing herself to one side as she raised one arm up (hand out as if aiming a gun), shooting off one hard energy shot into the trees.

For the longest time she thought she missed. But seconds later she heard the solid thump, and the explosion of a detonating bio-core. She had blown it’s head off in one shot as it landed in another tree, the few seconds it needed to orient itself being enough time for the shot to carve it’s head apart as it tried to find the next tree to leap to.

However the Galerian wasn’t the only one who made a bad mistake. She had thrown herself without even thinking of how she’d land as she fell, because as she hit the ground a hard surge of pain ripped into her. She had dislocated her shoulder jumping aside, falling on the same side that was ripped into earlier that day by Buckbeak, and it was hurting like all
hell as she landed on it awkwardly. She rolled on the ground, clutching her dislocated limb, deciding to wait for Hagrid to come back for her which wouldn’t be long in coming.

While she waited it gave her enough time to reconsider her “lifestyle”, and if it was worth having all this unwanted “attention” aimed at her. She didn’t have long to wait, though, as Hagrid came back quickly enough to set her right… after much yelling and cursing on her part to get him “motivated” into yanking her arm back into it’s socket. As Hagrid put her
arm back into it’s socket (at her loud and nearly threatening request) she figured it was this or she’d die of boredom.

She opted for her “status quo” life over death by boredom.

* * * * * *

Going back to class was a simple enough task once she convinced Madam Pomfrey that she wasn‘t going to break into tiny pieces if she left her care (or commit physical suicide upon herself by breakage through being alive).
The arm was set nicely back into place, and as long as she didn’t stress it out she could expect it to mend in a short matter of time. Of course convincing Madam Pomfrey of her wellness was one thing, getting people to not treat her like an invalid was another thing altogether.

True, it seemingly took forever to get Madam Pomfrey to release her from the hospital ward, especially after her “escapades” the night before, but she got out eventually… with a sling for her now mending arm. That only made it all the worse for her as she’d soon find out.
Indignant as all hell she walked into class looking rather bitter as she took her seat and started working on a potion she had “studied” in bed just for this class.

Still, the way everyone looked at her you would have thought she was a plague victim. It seemed that even her raven Chii gave her a dirty look as she worked. “I’m not going to turn you into a mole or anything, so stop glaring at me!” she grumbled, working hard on her ingredients with her good arm. Overall, at this point she was glad she was good with both
hands since working one armed would have been a pain if she blew out her good arm.

The potion was simple enough, even for Alicia who hated potions. The potion in question was a simple Shrinking Solution. ‘If worse comes to worse I can always cheat by using my power to shrink Chii.’ Alicia thought to herself, her good hand working on the potion even as ripples
of irritation from her injured arm continued to dance across her inflamed pain senses.

“Weasley, don’t just sit there looking like an inept excuse for a statue, cut up Spinnet’s roots for her before she mangles them into the magical equivelant of salad toppings.”

“I’m fine.” she spat out, “Mind your own roots.”

Ron went pale, “I can help if you…” (stops as he catches her near murderous look) “…or not.”
Snape, glancing over at her work, sighed, “You’re mutilating your roots.”

“No I am not.” she hissed back. “Get off my back.”

“That won’t do. Change roots with Mr. Weas--”
Alicia’s knife slams blade down right into the table bringing the class to a halt for a second.
Snape, now moving away, decided to harass someone else.
Retrieving her knife she went back to work, even more deadset on doing it herself.
Somehow it seemed as if he was being more helpful and nice to her that usual.
Most likely his way of getting on her bad side she thought to herself.

Malfoy, who seemed to have something to say, suddenly kept quiet… but his thoughts betrayed him. They were, after all, too loud. Even Alicia could hear them in this room full of noisy “thoughts”.

“No I am not going to get Hagrid fired.” Alicia grumbled, glancing back at Malfoy with murderous intent, “And if you try that I will make your life miserable.”

“It’s not his fault!”

Suddenly the all too familiar complaining voice of her elfin “keeper” snapped Alicia out of her stupor, and towards Snape‘s latest victim. May had once again found something to complain about, as she tried to shield Longbottom from Snape’s wrath. “It can be fixed.”

“It’s orange, miss, ORANGE!” said Snape in a testy voice, ladling some up to show everyone within eyesight of the concoction. “Orange. Tell me then, boy, does anything I try to teach you penetrate that thick skull of yours?”

His eyes narrowed, and nostrils flared, as he paced the two. “Didn’t you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn’t I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand my lessons, Longbottom?”

Alicia, from her spot, shook her head. He was arrogant, and rude, but he was also right.
She got the gist of the spell just from her book, and wasn’t even here for half of the verbal instructions, yet he had both to go with and still screwed it up. Clearly if May and the rest of Gryffindor wasn’t so hot on babying Neville they would realize that they were not helping him by always bailing him out of troubles he caused himself.

Neville was pink, trembling behind May as she growled at Snape. He was two seconds short of having a full on crying fit and that only irked May all the more.
“Please, sir,” Hermione said quickly, “please, I could help Neville put it…”

“NO YOU DON’T!”

The class fell silent again, but this time because of the source of the protest -- Alicia.

“Alicia!” Harry rasped, only to be glared at by her, “She’s NOT HELPING HIM if she has to constantly coddle him everytime he makes a screw up! He’s not going to learn if he’s bailed everytime he makes a mistake!”
The Slytherins started to snicker, but a harsh glance at them brought that to an end.
“Neville can be a great wizard if only he believes in himself, and his own abilities! Mark my words, there’s greatness in him if he’d only gets off his rear, stop whining and screwing up, and believes in his own ability to be great!”

The class did not protest, or mock anymore, and silence reigned in class.

It was a pity that Snape, finally, had to break the silence. He straightened himself up and said in a low tone drawling close to sarcasm “At the end of the lesson we’ll test Mr. Longbottom’s potion on his toad, and see what happens.”
And, with that, he leaves to walk the class, saying no more.
Unfortunately it seemed as if Alicia’s words went right over Neville’s head like a Concorde because he was already begging for help. With clenched teeth Alicia went back to work, trying her best to not yell at Longbottom anymore. Snape, passing nearby, whispered to her.

“It’s a shame that wisdom is wasted on the hopeless.”

“Shut up, Yoda, or I’ll cram Neville’s potion down your throat.” she snarled in response.

“Time out.”

Alicia looked up, now less angry and more confused at Snape‘s last words. “Say--”

“Time out.” he repeated without sparing a glance.

“Hey, Harry,” Seamus Finnigan started from nearby, “have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning - they reckon Sirius Black has been sight--”
Time stops for everyone except Alicia and Snape.
“You got my attention.” she grumbled, now realizing where he was heading with his request.

* * * * * *

The paper was not moving, as it should in “time out”, but the words were enough.

“Someone spotted Black less than 50 miles from here, but by the time it was called in he was gone… no doubt blazing a trail right to Hogsmeade.” Alicia noted. “To hold out until he can infiltrate the school.” Snape concluded, “Which shouldn’t be a problem for him since he never had a problem sneaking out of school.”
Alicia raised an eyebrow, “A revelation?”
“Of sorts.” Snape said off hand. “Infiltrating Hogwarts won’t be hard for a former student.”

Alicia - “And how would you know of…”

“There’s a good reason why everyone is concerned about Potter.” he remarked coldly, his dark eyes narrowing. “A very good reason.”

“And I suppose you’re not going to tell me.” Alicia countered.

For a long time the two stared at each other, until finally Snape walked back to where he was before Time Out and motioned for Alicia to go back. “Figures.”
It was time anyway. She couldn’t hold time back forever, only small intervals, and he knew she was nearing her limit and had to stop now.
Still, all in all, she wished Snape wasn’t so vague all the time. Must be from his “hatred” for her, she surmised. Still, it would have helped if she had more answers than questions.
“Why bother having a time out if you’re just going to riddle me with more questions.” she complained silently, returning time to normal.

* * * * * *

The class finally came to it’s conclusion. Even Double Potions must end eventually.
Snape quickly walked over to Neville, who was cowering behind May as he did.
“Everyone gather ‘round,” said Snape with energy in his voice, his black eyes almost glittering in his enthusiasm. “and watch what happens to Longbottom’s toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don’t doubt, he has done it…”

“Gimme!” Alicia grumbled, grabbing the potion and downing it in one gulp in front of a now very shellshocked class. Nothing. Then she nodded her head and gave a thumbs up. “You have about 10 seconds to give me the antidote before my clothes falls off and I give everyone a little flash…” (Snape couldn’t pour the antidote fast enough) “…ok… so no little nudity for the boys today… pun intended.”

The Gryffindors burst into applause, but Alicia wasn’t smiling. She simply glared at Snape who finally relented to letting them have their moment. As they left class he quickly grabbed Alicia and moved her to the back of the class, “You must have a deathwish doing that! It could have…”

“…been poison.” she remarked, shaking free of his grasp, “I thought you would have been tickled pink to have the one with your dirtiest secret dead.”

“Don’t tempt me.” he shot back, eyes narrowing as he watched her leave. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you wanted to be dead.”

“Don’t tempt me.” she remarked as she left the room.

* * * * * *

Considering she was beginning to make progress with Hermione you would have thought that she had no desire to die now… and yet there was still that urge… and remembrances of…
As she stepped out of the class she ran headlong into Hermione who was panting heavily.
“Wh-what?” she gasped, looking at the distressed Hermione. “What’s with you? I thought…”

“What?” she said with some confusion, looking about, “Oh, sorry, I forgot something.” she rasped, hurrying up the stairs. Alicia, looking up to watch her run into Ron/Harry, only to lose all the books from her bag as it ripped, was confused. “But I didn’t see her come back to class…”
As she reached the top of the stairs she grabbed Hermione by the robes, “Riddle me this, Miss Granger, why are you carrying enough books to knock a troll into a deep coma?”

“You know how many subject I’m taking,” Hermione rasped, breath nearly gone, “Couldn’t hold these for me, cou--”

Alicia pulls one of her tesseract gems, tapping it against the books to seal the whole bundle into it, passing it off to Hermione as she did. “Done. Now what--”
Hermione, however, couldn’t wait as she pushed forward heading towards the Great Hall.
“Wait!” Alicia cried out, “10 books and all we have today is Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts?!? What--”

“Lunch! Can’t wait! Starving!” she cried, hurrying her pace.
Ron shrugged in sympathy. “Nice try, but I already went that route with her-- same results.”
Alicia stood there, dumbstruck, as she watched Hermione’s retreating head bob out of sight amidst the lunchhour crowd. “…guess lunch must be good today…”

* * * * * *

If the illogic of Hermione’s schedule baffled her, let alone how she was flustered at Alicia one moment and then ignoring her the next, the case of the missing Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher further befuddled Alicia’s already troubled mind.

Professor Lupin, it seems, was a no show. They were there, first class of the year, but their teacher was clearly not there. Not a good thing for a first class.
They all sat down, took out books and quills and parchments, and waited.
“First time I ever been to a class where the teacher decided to ditch on the students.” Alicia grumbled, her wand waving mindlessly in her good hand as she waited for something to happen. “If I knew he was going to ditch I would have done the same.“ she remarked glumly.

So, left with little choice, she sat there and waited… and waited… and talked to whoever was nearby… and waited… for sometime it seems she sat and waited until finally the doors swung open and in strode Professor Lupin.
He smiled vaguely, placing his old tatty briefcase on his desk as he regarded the class.
He didn’t seem too bad, despite the fact he was still as scruffy as ever, just abit more nourished from being fed three square meals.
“Good afternoon,” he said, glancing about the class, “Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today’s will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands.”

Curious glances were exchanged as books went bye-bye, and wands here held tightly by now anxious students.

“Right then,” Lupin proudly exclaimed, once everyone was ready, “If you’d follow me.”
Curious and puzzled by all this, the class got to it’s feet and followed Lupin out of the class.
He lead them along the now deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was a most curious sight. Peeves the Poltergeist was up to his old tricks.

But that didn’t concern Alicia. She saw something else that was far more interesting.
As the class became entranced by the exchange between Lupin and Peeves, Alicia moved back to a dark corner where she saw a familiar “face”.
There, hiding in the shadows, was a very uptight Moaning Myrtle.
That in itself was odd since she never left the bathroom she haunted.
Alicia tried to grab Myrtle as she shrunk back into the darkness, “What’s wrong?”
Myrtle first vanished without stopping, only to reappear after a few seconds and say in a direct manner “It’s too dark. Everything is too dark. The mood. The “light”. Everything.” she glared at Alicia, “And it’s your fault bringing them here. The hooded things that reek of living death. The loud clammoring lizard monsters that walk like ape people. The disorderly one. I liked it better when it was quiet, and brighter.”
And, with that, she vanished.

Thankfully Lupin got the class moving again before anyone noticed she was missing.
Whatever she missed seemed to have changed the mood with the class.
They now looked on at Lupin with a greater sense of respect, yet she didn’t know why.
Maybe the first lesson will shed light on that, Alicia thought, as they entered a new room.

This was the staffroom, where teachers hung out between classes. It was a long paneled room full of old, rather mismatched chairs. The room was empty except for one teacher, which was the one Alicia actually wanted to see : Snape. He was sitting in a low armchair, and looked around as the class filled in. Before he could speak Alicia “mind-jammed” him and
simply said “Stay.” But as Lupin came in, Snape stood up and said “Leave it open, Lupin. I’d rather not witness this.”

He got to his feet and strode past the class, his eyes locked on Alicia as he did.
‘You saw Myrtle, haven’t you.’ he thought in his mind. ‘You already know what she means without having to ask me about it.’
‘I know who the hooded one bearing living death is, and I know about the lizard monsters, but who is the “disorderly one”.’ Alicia demanded in her thoughts.

At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, “Possibly no one’s warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear, being disorderly in the process.”
Alicia’s jaw nearly dropped open at the implication, but Snape ignored her as he left.

Professor Lupin, however, raised his eyebrows at the remark.
“I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation, and I am sure he will perform it most admirably.”
Neville paled, but not as much as Alicia who did everything she could to keep from screaming.
Snape shrugged, “As you wish, Lupin, after all it’s your TIME.” he said with a flourish in the last word as he left.

Time? What does time have to do with anything? Is he just pulling her chain to see if she’d jump? No, no, Snape was really being on the level about the “disorderly one” so… what the hell does that mean about Hermione?

“Now, then,” Professor Lupin beckoned, at the same time a pulling in her mind told her that the Dementors were also beckoning. Great, just great, another curtain call.
They had a report so she allowed them to drift her mentally to their “location” for them to speak to her, as she stood in “class” watching and “listening”.
The Dementors, rounded in a circle about her, reported.

Their suspicions were dead on right, on more than one count.
Black was indeed very close now, the Dementors could feel it.
However that is all they could do. They couldn’t localize the “feeling”, nor could they find the “source” of the feeling. Black was near, just they didn’t know how near.

And the Dementors had at last realized that they had let something else slip in. That thing, of course, being the Assassin Guilder and his drone units… fat lot of good that revelation did however. As far as the Dementors were concerned only Black meant anything to them. It seemed that Black was the one and only fixation on their “mind”, so to speak.

No amount of “derailment” tactics from Alicia could get them to focus resources to hunt her “assassin”, since they were only interested in Black. Just as well, she surmised, since it was her fight in the first place. Best to be left to her.

As she focused back on class she realized everyone had moved to near the end of the room, near an old wardrobe filled with spare robes. However, as the class neared, something inside the wardrobe hissed and shook the huge piece of furniture as if to frighten them.

“Nothing to worry about,” Professor Lupin announced quite casually, as he motioned for those who jumped back to step forward again, “There’s a boggart in there.”

Alicia, eyebrow raised in her usual skeptical manner, could only stare at the now fidgety cabinet as it clacked and rattled in disbelief. A “boggart”, eh? What’s that?
Neville seemed to cling onto May just that much tighter as he stared, while Finnigan gave the whole scene a rather apprehensive look. Lupin continued. “Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks -- I’ve even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock.”

“Try the living the next time you look for new friends.” Alicia quipped, staring at the rattling piece of cabinetry with abit of disdain. “At least dead things that are friendlier.”

Lupin shrugged, “And it just arrived yesterday to be our “friend” too.”

The class chuckled at his counter-quip, bringing a bit of a frown to Alicia’s lips as he went on about the Boggart. “It moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. So, first question we must ask ourselves is this - What is a boggart?”

Hermione, like clockwork, had her hand up quickly.

“It’s a shape-shifter,” she said in a matter of fact tone, “It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most.”

Lupin, smiling from ear to ear, slaps a hand down on his thigh and quickly points right at Hermione in a triumphant manner, “EXCELLENT! Couldn’t have put it better myself!” Lupin praised, bringing a bright glow to Hermione’s cheeks.
This clearly didn’t impress Alicia at all, who sulked in her spot and thought nasty things about the new teacher. ‘Bet he likes ‘em young.’ she thought spitefully, ‘Kiss up.’

“So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. It does not yet know what will frighten the person on the opposite side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when it is alone, but when I let it out…’

* * * * * *

The sky was eternal night, even in the middle of the day.
The city was destroyed. Hulking wrecks of buildings reached into the dead sky above as she walked along the huge open courtyard towards her destination.
She was one of a dozen Ravens performing recovery duties for the living in this ruined city, but finding the living wasn’t easy since the living was “frozen” in cryotubes for “later useage”. As she walked towards the door, her hand already motioning to pull the door open via the use of her power, she heard a faint shriek from within. Before she could stop herself she had begun to pull the door open only to release a half crazed Dark Lunaris creature, the half frost bitten monster falling to it’s side on the cold dead earth shrieking madly as it flailed about in madness.

The corridor beyond was cold, as cold as the world about her and the sight before her.
Cold… and dead.

* * * * * *

“Er -- because there are so many of us, it won’t know what shape it should be?”
As she snapped out of it she realized Harry, not Hermione, was talking.
“Precisely.” Lupin said in praise, as Hermione dropped her hand looking a tad disappointed.
“It’s always best to have company when you’re dealing with a boggart. It becomes confused when confronted by two different fears. Which should it become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug. I once saw--”

‘Oh for goddess’ sake, not another “I once saw” story.’ Alicia sighed, eyes straying about as she waited for the real lesson to begin. ‘Cut to the chase and tell me how to beat it.’
As if reading her mind, Lupin did exactly that.
“The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is a simple emotion -- laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find most amusing.”

“And that’s it?”

“That’s it, Miss Spinnet.” Lupin answered, “We will practice the charm without wands first, to get the wrist motions down. Now, repeat after me please -- riddikulus!”

“Riddikulus!” the class pronounced together, wrists in motion to mimic the spell motions.

‘That’s what this class is -- “riddikulus”.’ Alicia thought to herself.

“Good, very very good.” Lupin praised. “But that was the easy part, I’m afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And that, Neville, is where you come into the lesson.”

Neville looked as if he was about to have a seizure as Lupin led him forward towards the closet, the shaking increasing as he drew closer and closer.
May wasn’t far off from having her own seizure at Lupin’s boldness with Neville, fidgeting as she watched as if she was worried Neville was seconds away from losing a limb or three.

With a dissatisfied sigh she pulled a few candy bars from a hidden tesseract pouch, and began eating mindlessly as she watched with little interest.
“Not going anywhere for awhile? Hell yeah…” she muttered.
To Be Continued