I have a message from another time... Eyrie Productions, Unlimited presents UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES FUTURE IMPERFECT - SYMPHONY OF THE SWORD No. 2 - Coda: Welcome To Your Life Benjamin D. Hutchins "We Live as We Dream, Alone" by Gang of Four "So Far Away" by Dire Straits (c) 2002 Eyrie Productions, Unlimited MONDAY, MARCH 20, 2406 Anthy Tenjou stepped off the end of the One-Hit Wonder's ramp onto the tarmac of Revetment Number Four at Port Jeradar Spaceport, suitcase in hand, and looked up at the square of blue sky visible above the tall plasticrete walls of the revetment. Bajor was just past the third quarter, a deep blue-white crescent against the sky's paler blue - still greyish and just getting light at this time of the morning. It was Anthy's third alien sky in four days, and as they got Utena's red Cobra out of the starship's hold and drove out of the spaceport, she kept looking up at it. As they rounded Lake Jeradar and headed up the gentle slope to the twin hills of the Deedlit Satori Mandeville Memorial Institute, she barely noticed the town of Port Jeradar itself, population 10,000 and growing, or the wooded lake, or the campus itself. Utena, with an indulgent smile on her face, kept glancing over at her companion's rapt face as she guided the car along the highroad, taking it easy this time so as not to jostle Anthy out of her reverie. The darker girl only came out of it when they reached the gates of the Institute; Anthy smiled as she entered the campus of this new school for the first time. A new school! A new -world-! A whole new life... They pulled into the visitors' parking lot at the base of Castle Hill - the CX-68 didn't have a transponder for the Castle's basement parking garage yet - and climbed out. For the moment they left their luggage, such as it was, in the car; smiling, Anthy took Utena's arm in hers and went with her up the hill. It was early in the morning, not yet seven o'clock; they'd left Titan, where the local time was a bit different, at about noon local time. It would make for a bit of a long day, but Utena supposed it was better than, say, having left in Titan's early evening. They paused for a moment before the Castle; Anthy stepped back a little to take it in, the lovely red and gold stonework, the golden dome, the beautiful Rose Seal in stained glass above the main entrance. She turned to Utena, smiling. "Good choice of windows," she said, and Utena chuckled. Quietly, they let themselves in; no one would be up at this hour, not on the Monday before finals when everyone would be desperately trying to pack in as much sleep as possible before the ordeal began. Surprising herself, Utena wasn't worried about her finals, though she certainly hadn't gotten any studying done over the weekend. She'd been more or less ready for them since last Monday. Spending Spring Break holding a semi-vigil with Skuld Ravenhair had its advantages. Softly the Tenjous crept upstairs, climbing all the way to the little enclosed landing at the top of one of the castle's four towers. Utena carefully used her key and opened the door, whispering to Anthy as she did so, "Kate's probably asleep, so - " Then she paused, blinking in surprise, for her roommate was asleep, sure enough, but not alone. Aside from Sergei the tiger - who was curled up on Utena's unused bed, and who woke and raised his head inquisitively at the sound of the door - Kaitlyn Hutchins was accompanied by Juri Arisugawa. Of course, Utena had seen Kate and Juri in bed together before; there was that time the previous Christmas when she'd returned from a long talk with Corwin and the ghost of Dios to find her place in their guest bed taken up by the redhead. It had been very sweet - Kate and Juri, in pajamas and nightgown respectively, snuggled up on either side of Sergei with their hands touching on the tiger's back. Utena supposed this was sweet too, but from what she could make out with the covers mostly in place, there were no pajamas or nightgown involved today, and considerably more than the two girls' hands were touching. "Um... " said Utena, her face reddening. "Maybe we should wait somewhere else," she murmured to Anthy, gently closing the door again. Nodding, Anthy concurred, "Maybe we should." As he had the previous morning and no doubt would for some days to come, Corwin Ravenhair woke up, sat up, and briefly wondered where the hell he was. The room was fairly large by his standards - at least double the size of his bedroom in his mother's house on Tomodachi - and nicely appointed, with expensive-looking if simple furniture, plain plastered walls, and a tiled floor with a nice red rug in the middle of the room. There were two of most things - rolltop desks, chests of drawers, bunk beds; the only single article of furniture was one of those irritating sit-on-the-floor Cephirean tables, smack in the middle of the rug. Corwin yawned and stretched, thumping his fist lightly against the ceiling, then jumped down from the top bunk, padded over to one of the room's two windows, and looked outside. It was a bright day, eminently lovely, warm sunshine gleaming on the melting snow as the overlong winter finally surrendered and spring rushed in with a vengeance to replace it. The cherry blossoms will be in the air in another couple of days, Corwin mused, then went down the hall to the bathroom. He didn't have to worry about a wait for the shower; after all, he was the only person in the building. Once showered, he returned to his room, dressed, and stood regarding himself in the mirror. He felt a little weird in the new uniform. It was a very familiar garment, but he was accustomed to seeing it on somebody else, and somebody of a very different conformation, to boot. Still, the weird feeling was leavened with the sense of warm familiarity it gave him. He adjusted the tails of his jacket, brushed some imaginary lint from his sleeve, made certain his trouser creases were straight, and decided it would do. Then he picked up the briefcase leaning against the nearest desk, turned, and headed out. He was halfway across campus, feeling a peculiar combination of self-consciousness and amusement at the odd looks he received from the other students, when a chestnut-haired girl in a white blouse and black and gray checked skirt, wholly out of place amid the sailor- suited panoply of the Academy's girl students, fell smiling into step alongside him. "Good morning, Corwin," she said. Corwin nodded. "Morning, Wakaba," he replied. "Y'know," she said, giving him an appraising look, "if you really didn't want to stand out, you probably shouldn't've worn that outfit." "It's on the list," Corwin replied, a little stuffily. Wakaba laughed. "Yeah - that's what she always used to say, too." "Anyway," Corwin went on with mock grumpiness, "I'll be damned if I'm gonna wear -mint green-." Wakaba laughed again, clapped him on the shoulder, and said, "Well, that's all right. With that Rose Seal you're wearing they'd wonder about you anyway. The uniform gives you a little credibility. You can tell 'em Prince Tenjou's your personal hero," she added with a grin. "Wouldn't be a lie," Corwin replied, smiling. "Yeah, I suppose not," said Wakaba; then she became businesslike, reached into her skirt pocket, and pulled out a folded sheet of yellow paper. "OK," she said, unfolding it and handing it to Corwin. "Here's your schedule. Nothing too strenuous, as you can see, so you'll have plenty of spare time. Strickland didn't go for the equivalency, though, so you'll have to find time to do your Koopman High finals somewhere in there. I'm sure you can get Fuu to help you." Corwin nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem. The teachers?" "Don't know," Wakaba confirmed, nodding. "Nobody knows but the Student Council and Clef. You'll kind of have to let the Trustees in on it at your meeting with them Saturday, but for now... " She shrugged. "How'd you sleep?" "Fine," he replied, unfazed by the abrupt change of subject. "Nice place." Wakaba grinned. "The Trustees want to reopen it completely, but for now Kozue's convinced them that the Student Council needs it for special projects. That'd be you, at the moment." Again Corwin nodded. "Good enough. You headed back?" "Yeah, I want to be there for the unveiling. Got everything you need?" Corwin hesitated fractionally, then replied, "Yep. I'm good." By now, their slow walking pace had brought them to one of the school buildings. They paused at the bottom of the stairs; Wakaba checked her watch and nodded. "OK," she said. "If you need anything, the Council's schedules are all on the back of yours." "OK." "Well... good luck!" "Thanks." Smiling, the two shook hands; then Wakaba clapped him on the shoulder again before trotting away. Corwin looked up at the building, sighed, and, feeling a tremendous sense of irony, went up the stairs to start his first day as a transfer student at Tenjou Academy. Duelists filtered into the Castle's library one by one, and one by one they greeted Utena and Anthy like homecoming conquerors. Once they were all assembled, breakfast, usually Utena's province, was prepared by the unlikely but successful team of Kaitlyn and Juri (who knew Juri could operate a waffle iron?). After breakfast came the Grand Tour, in which Anthy was conducted around the Duelists' Castle and shown its various wonders, including the garage, the main dojo, the practice rooms, the conservatory, the Mysterious Staircase that Doesn't Go Anywhere, and the secret passage from the library to the fourth floor hallway under the North Tower. Utena wondered why Kate was leading the way up the stairs to the North Tower; there wasn't anything up there. The North and East Towers had been left unfinished when the Duelists had refurbished their Castle the previous year; only the West and South Towers had been made habitable, the West for herself and Kate, the South for their House Guide, the inimitable Urd Snowmane. They'd used the other two for materials storage and the like. At the door to the tower room, Kate paused, then turned to face Utena and Anthy. The three of them barely fit on the little landing, with everyone else still on the stairs and in the hallway below them. "It o-only occ-c-curred to me S-Saturday m-morning," said Kate with a rueful grin, "that, und-der the circ-c-cumstances, w-we wouldn't b-b-be able to r-room tog-g-gether anym-more." Utena blinked. Somehow, that realization had completely failed to come to her, but now that Kate said it, it was perfectly plain. What had she been expecting, that she and Anthy would just move into her old bed in 501 and poor Kate would just deal? Kate's eyes were a little sad, but they still sparkled and her smile was still genuine as she went on, "S-so w-w-we took the l-liberty," she said, opened the door behind her back, and stepped aside as it swung open. Draperies of heavy green velvet were drawn back from the great arc of the bay window, through which poured sunlight and a spectacular view of part of the campus, including the Amphitheatre, and the hazy purple crags of the Karkasus Mountains off on the horizon. The furniture was in the Shaker style, like that in Castle 501 - desks, bureaus, wardrobes, all in heavy, stolid, reassuring dark wood - and the floor was carpeted in a thick, rich emerald that matched the drapes. The walls had been plastered in a calm off-white, the ceiling a trifle darker, with wainscoting stained to match the furniture. The center of the circular room was left open, making it seem even larger than it was, with only a low Cephirean-style table to break it up. Off to one side, almost like its own little room with its full-curtain canopy, was an enormous fourposter bed, its posts carved into elegant traceries of rose vines. "... Oh -my-," said Anthy, her fingertips to her mouth; she didn't trust herself to say anything more. Utena turned to Kaitlyn, amazement on her face. "You did all of this... in -two days-... " Kate grinned. "W-we're an am-m-mazing b-bunch when we p-put our m-m-minds to s-something." The Tenjous walked slowly into their room - Utena noted as she passed it the sign on the door, which read simply "502 TENJOU" - and looked around in awe. The rest of the Duelists and their House Guide crowded onto the landing, spilling through the doorway but staying clustered back out of the way, letting the two explore their space without intrusion. Anthy completed her circuit first, stopped in front of Kate, and stood looking at the bespectacled girl, her lower lip quivering with emotion. "I... I don't know what to say," she whispered. Kate, still beaming, took her hands and kissed her on the cheek. "W-w-welcome to the f-family, Anthy," she said. "W-welc-come to J-J-Jeraddo." Corwin sat at a table in the corner of the Tenjou Academy dining commons, a notebook propped on his knee, pensively making a journal entry. Day 3. Missed call. Finally got a copy of the script today. Turns out I'm not playing Saint Thomas Aquinas. I'm supposed to be some kinda freakin' wizard. He was interrupted then by the arrival of a visitor to his table, but that was all right; he'd exhausted the old joke by then anyway, and he didn't have any idea what he'd actually have written in its place. He put the book down and regarded his visitor. It was Kozue Kaoru, the twin sister of his sister's friend Miki, in her black, white and gold student councilor's uniform, dress saber at her side. As she was one of the four students here at the Academy who knew that Corwin wasn't just the New Kid from Distant Parts, he supposed her visit was official. "'Lo, Kozue," he said. "Have a seat." "Thanks," said Kozue, and she took the place opposite him. "Aren't you eating?" "Huh? Oh... yeah... I guess I should, huh." He made to get to his feet, but Kozue stopped him with an outstretched hand, then got up herself. "No, don't worry, I'll take care of it," she said. "What do you want?" He told her, and she went and came back with the closest equivalent. "So," she asked once he'd started in. "What are you doing that's got you distracted enough that you forget to eat?" "Well," he said, "it's kind of complicated... might bore you." "I don't bore easily," Kozue assured him. Shrugging, Corwin flipped to a fresh page in his notebook and, using occasional diagrams, explained the basic principle behind the World-Engine. Essentially a mechanical computer, its function was basically to automate the task of the Pillar of the World: To define the rules and parameters of Cephiro, and ensure that world's stability; in effect, to pray for the existence and safety of the world. "Obviously," Corwin said around a mouthful of bread, "Cephiro's a much smaller world than the Nine Worlds the World-Engine in Asgard serves, so the local Engine shouldn't need to be anywhere near as big." He started sketching possible designs for an abbreviated Engine, then scribbling what looked to Kozue like some form of higher-level math. "So it shouldn't take me all that long to build it and then get back to my life," he went on. Kozue smiled slightly. "Is it so bad here?" she asked. "No," said Corwin, missing the irony in his state of busy working-lunch distraction. "But I wouldn't want to be stuck in -any- one place all the time. Here, Midgard, Asgard, doesn't matter. I like my freedom. And I've got a lot more friends back home. Hell, with Wakaba not coming back to the Academy until next semester, I don't know -anybody- here." "Well," Kozue mused, "that's easily remedied... " "Hm?" said Corwin. "Sorry - I'm a little distracted... lots of calculations go into a sorcery engine, especially one with such an all-encompassing task. Relating its structure to my own function as Pillar is interesting, but it takes up a lot of my attention span... " "I see that," said Kozue dryly. Then she got up, smiling, and smoothed her uniform jacket. "Seems to me you could use an assistant." Corwin blinked, stopped scribbling, and looked up at her. "Pardon?" "An assistant," she told him. "Someone to watch out for you, carry tools, whatever you need." She grinned and added, "And make sure you don't forget to eat." Corwin considered this. "Well... I -could- use the help," he remarked, "but it'd probably be pretty boring for a non-Engineer, and I don't really have the time to make you one... " Kozue chuckled. "Like I said - I don't bore easily." By Thursday morning, her first week in Midgard, Anthy Tenjou had decided that the oddest thing about her new life was the way people treated her, for the most part, as though she were -normal-. In Cephiro, she'd either been instinctively disliked (thanks to the karmic backlash from her one great childhood mistake), bullied (because of her shyness), or feared (once her true power as a witch had started to manifest). Here, though, people just treated her like... well, like a -girl-. The Duelists had warmed to her almost instantly, going out of their way to make true Kaitlyn's welcome to the family. They were all a little harried, though - this was, after all, C-term's snow-postponed finals week - and Anthy, for the most part, tried to stay out of their way. Today, without much else to do, she was out in the courtyard to the side of the Castle, a sunny, stone-paved plaza with a few bushes and a stone bench, making some measurements. B'Elanna Torres trotted up the hill, exhilarated at having survived her Pre-Calc final, and noticed Anthy out in the courtyard. Shrugging her bookpack more comfortably onto her shoulder, she jogged into hailing distance and called out. Anthy straightened and said, "Oh, hello, B'Elanna." The younger girl was a reminder to Anthy of one of the reasons -why- she was treated so normally in this world. Back in Cephiro, at least the region she'd lived in, her dark skin and dot-branded forehead - souvenirs from her svartelven mother - had made Anthy exotic, marked her as an outsider. Here, though - well, here there were people who weren't entirely -human-, and B'Elanna was one of them. Her forehead was quite prominently ridged; like Anthy's skin tone, this was a souvenir from her mother, who was a Klingon. The girl wasn't as clearly non-human as, for instance, T'skaia, the blue-skinned, pteranodon- headed Barsaivian t'skrang who lived one floor down from the Towers, but she was more obvious about her non-human heritage than, say, Beld Marmo, who aside from his bizarre hairstyle looked perfectly normal. "What're you doing?" B'Elanna asked. "Just checking something," Anthy replied, pocketing the laser measure. "How did your final go?" "Aced it," B'Elanna replied, grinning. "Nobody ever fails a math class with Miki Kaoru around." Anthy smiled. "That's so true," she said. Tonight, for a change of pace, Corwin had decided to use the bottom bunk. He was stretched out in it now, following a course of action his mother had once prescribed for times of intense concentration and calculation: taking a half-hour break every hour and a half to let his subconscious mind sift through what his conscious had been doing, then square everything away and clear the decks for more work. It was a strategy that worked pretty well, preventing headaches and tangled-up thoughts during heavy calculations. He was fifteen minutes into his latest visit with Hans von Luck's "Panzer Commander" when there was a knock at the door. Blinking, he dogeared a page, put the book aside, got up, and went to answer the door. No one was visible through the peephole. Puzzled, he opened the door and looked out. Nobody there - just an empty hallway. "Huh," he mused. "Maybe the place really -is- haunted." "Chu," said a small voice. Corwin blinked again, then looked down. Standing just outside the threshold was a small gray creature about the size of his doubled fists. It looked like it might be a mouse, or possibly a monkey, or maybe both. It had a tiny suitcase and was looking up at him with a faintly indignant expression. "Chu," it repeated. Corwin smiled. "Evening, Chu Chu. Decided to come back and wait for Anthy, huh?" "Chu. Chu chu, chu," replied Chu Chu. Corwin nodded. "Well, she'll be here Saturday," he said. "In the meantime, c'mon in." Chu Chu crossed the threshold, looked around, then stowed his suitcase in the bottom drawer of the desk that had been Anthy's. Corwin, still smiling, plunked back down on the bottom bunk, stretched out, and resumed his book. A moment later he had the someone's-staring-at-me feeling and lowered "Panzer Commander" to see the monkey-mouse standing on the rail at the foot of the bunk, giving him a baleful look. "What?" Corwin asked. "Chu!" replied Chu Chu. "She doesn't live here any more, you know. This isn't her bed. I'm not displacing her." "Chu!" Chu Chu insisted. Corwin gave him a look, but he remained unmoved, folding his little arms and looking determined. "... OK, OK, I'll move," said Corwin, and he climbed up into the top bunk. Leaning out over the edge, he inquired, "Better?" "Chu," said Chu Chu, nodding in satisfaction. "Sheesh," Corwin muttered with mock exasperation as he stretched out in Utena's old bunk and got back to his book. "Just no pleasin' some people... " Clarissa Broadbank didn't like feeling vaguely uneasy, and that was exactly how she'd felt ever since word had first reached her that Utena Tenjou had returned to the Institute - and not alone. She didn't like variables in her equations, especially variables turning up at delicate times like Spring Break. Who did this new girl think she was, barging into the place this close to the end of the year? It wasn't like she'd be able to start classes next Monday, after the smoke cleared from C-term's finals. Now, sitting at her desk in her room on the top floor of Hannibal Hamlin Hall, she waited for the results of her first intelligence-gathering mission to arrive. Tommy Palmer was one of Clarissa's minor success stories. She'd only recruited two fellow freshmen into her circle this year, having inherited most of it from her ex-sister Liza. One of those had been Vigdis Brightblade, who'd up and disappeared on her during Christmas break, much to the blonde's annoyance. Tom was the other. He was naive, earnest, helpful - an irritating little shit, really - but he had his uses, and one of those uses was intelligence-gathering. He was observant, and so pleasant that he was welcomed pretty much anywhere, even in the enemy camp where they -knew- he was one of Clarissa's followers. He returned at six-thirty, slightly breathless from having crossed campus at his usual flat-out run, and knocked on the edge of Clarissa's open door. "Well, Tommy? What do you have for me?" she asked. "I found her - I saw her," Palmer panted, shoving his dark brown bangs back out of his eyes with one hand. "She was in the Student Center buying graph paper and - " "Never mind what she was shopping for," said Clarissa, "who -is- she? What's she like? Where did she come from?" "Her name's - Anthy," said Palmer, leaning down with hands on knees and slowly getting his breath back. "Anthy what?" "Tenjou." "Whaaat?! She's -related- to -Utena Tenjou-? They don't look a -thing- alike!" Palmer shrugged. "Maybe she's adopted." "You didn't ask?" "We'd just met!" said Palmer indignantly. Clarissa sighed. Boys who were still in that phase where they thought they were gentlemen were always such a pain to work with. "All right, fine. You can find that out another time. What's she like?" "She's nice," Palmer said. "Very nice. And pretty," he added, his roundish face getting a little bit slack. "Really pretty." "Well, -that's- useful to know," Clarissa grumbled. "Is she taking -classes-? I would think not, so close to the end of the year." Tom shook his head. "No. She says she's just going to audit some things, get a feel for the place. She's going to take the placement tests this summer and try to get into the senior class." "Is she a Duelist?" "She's wearing the ring," Palmer replied, shrugging. Clarissa considered, tapping a long fingernail against her front teeth. "OK," she said finally. "Do you think she liked you?" Palmer's cheeks went a little red. "Well... she was really nice to me... I guess so." Clarissa nodded. "Good," she said briskly. "Then go and see her again. See if you can get away with hanging around the Castle - don't make a pest of yourself, but try to make opportunities to talk to her some more. Get to know her. Maybe you'll come up with something useful." Still red-cheeked, Palmer nodded. "O... OK," he said. "All right," said Clarissa. "It's not much, but it's a start. Good night, Tommy," she added, turning dismissively back to her last-minute studying. "Good... good night, Clarissa," said Tom Palmer, who wished she wouldn't call him Tommy but went in too much awe of her to say so. He paused in the doorway for one last look, then beat it downstairs to his own room, still turning over the events of the day in his mind. Talk to Anthy Tenjou again? Just try to stop me! After her last class on Friday afternoon, Kozue met Corwin at the base of the White Tower, then followed him in. She'd been here many times, of course - it was the headquarters of the Student Council, among other things - but she'd always gone up the elevator, not down the stairs. "So this is the place, huh?" she said. Her voice echoed hollowly in the empty basement, which was little more than a concrete box about a hundred feet square by twenty feet high. "This is it," Corwin replied. "Should be plenty big enough for the reactor, the steam plant, the Engine - everything we need." Kozue looked around and nodded. Corwin got a note pad out of his pocket and started jotting on it. "Listen... " said Kozue after a few moments. Corwin paused and turned to look at her. "Mm?" he asked. "Before we get started," she said, looking faintly uncomfortable, "you should know... I dunno how much Miki told you about me, but... I've got kind of a... reputation around here. A deserved one, admittedly, but I'm not like I used to be any more... " She sighed. "What I'm trying to say," she went on with a wry smile, "is that if I start spending a lot of time down here alone with you, a lot of people around here are just going to assume that you're screwing me." Corwin blinked, a little taken aback by this blunt declaration. "Uh... O... K," he said. "I don't really care," Kozue went on, shrugging. "It's the price I pay for being the world's easiest score back in the bad old days. I've learned to live with it - hell, I'm just lucky I didn't come away with worse. But you ought to know before... well, before -you- pick up a reputation too." She sighed again, shaking her head in resignation. "You'd think after more than a year of turning down everybody who comes along, they'd learn that I'm not -into- that kind of stuff anymore, but nooooo... " "You have a lot of problems with that kind of thing?" Corwin asked. "Eh, you know how it is. Or maybe you don't," she corrected herself with a little smile. "Once you've picked up that type of a reputation, guys assume that you're just there for the asking. Or the taking - some of 'em don't like to hear 'no'. Fortunately, I can take care of myself pretty well, but... it's a hassle." She shrugged. "I'm used to it. Anyway, I wanted to warn you. If you'd rather I got somebody else to help you - Keiko, maybe, or Tsuwabuki - I'd understand." Corwin considered this, then shrugged, grinning. "So if they think you're with me," he said, "they'll leave you alone, right?" Kozue frowned thoughtfully, not having considered this angle. "That might be," she finally mused. "Well, I can live with it if you can," Corwin said, and went back to work. She regarded him for a second, surprised and clearly pleased, then grinned and said, "OK... " The Friday night at the end of C-term finals was always a time for rest, reflection, and faint amazement at having survived. For some reason, possibly because of C-term's legendary position as The Worst Time of Year (although that certainly wasn't true this year, sparking rumors that DSM had broken the Curse), that term's finals were always perceived as the most brutal, and the students were always at their most exhausted after them. This time was worse than normal, possibly because, thanks to the impromptu three-week break created by the Blizzard of Ought-Six, they were all looking down the barrel of D-term's classes starting promptly on Monday morning. With only two days to rest, most everyone on campus was taking full advantage. Even the usual muted C-term survival celebrations were, for the most part, foregone. Going to bed early seemed to be the order of the day. Unfortunately for Kaitlyn Hutchins, she didn't really feel like doing that. She was slightly keyed up instead of tired, not actually wired but in no way sleepy. Her last final had been in her advanced music theory course, which meant it had been easy, and so she wasn't as wiped out as most of the others. She was possessed of a peculiar desire to -do- something - but she wasn't sure -what-, and even if she had been, there wasn't anyone around to do anything with. For instance, -Juri's- last final had been in Discrete Calculation Elements, the prerequisite for the number theory and cryptography course the redhead had planned for D-term, and that meant that she was absolutely knackered now. At the obscenely early hour of seven-thirty, all was already quiet in Castle 403, Juri and Dorothy both sacked out. Which, along with everybody else's similar states, left Kate with nothing to do and no one to do it with, knocking around her big round room with only Serge for company. Even Lesser Mazinger was out of commission, powered down in maintenance mode. Kate tried to work on a new composition, but the mojo was elusive. She noodled a little with her guitar, but her heart wasn't in it. She tried to read, but it was too passive a pursuit. Finally she ended up just sitting in the window seat with Serge curled up beside her, looking out at the lights of Port Jeradar. If she leaned a little to the right, putting her shoulder against the glass, she could see the just the edge of the light in the curved window of the North Tower. She sighed. "Grrrrmph," said Serge, sounding about as disconsolate as Kate felt. Kate scratched behind his ears. "You m-m-miss her t-too, d-d-don't you, Serge?" she asked softly. "B-but it's g-got to b-b-be this w-way. They c-c-could h-hardly be exp-pected to sh-share their l-living s-s-space... not n-now." Serge leaned closer, pushing his heavy head a little further into Kate's lap. "Anyw-way, she's j-j-just ac-cross the way," Kate went on, as much to herself as to the tiger. "We c-can s-see her l-l-light from here... " As she spoke, the light went out. Kate sighed again. "L-looks like an early n-n-night for them, t-too." She leaned back against the plastered stone of the window frame, looked up at Bajor, and softly began to sing a remembered snippet of a song: "We live as we dream, alone To break the spell we mix with the others We're not born in isolation But sometimes it seems that way We live as we dream, alone We live as we dream, alone We live as we dream, alone" Another sigh. All she was accomplishing with -that- was to make herself more melancholy. Oh well, the hell with it. She got up and said, "W-well, Serge, I g-g-guess maybe it's b-bedtime for us t-too." Serge yawned, stretched, and jumped down from the window seat, seeming to indicate that such a plan of action would be perfectly fine with him. Kate had just changed into her pajamas when there was a knock at the door. She gave Serge a curious look, as though -he- knew who it could be, and then went and opened the door. Utena and Anthy were out on the landing, dressed in nightclothes (blue flannel pajamas for Utena, nightdress and cap for Anthy) and looking relaxed and pleased with themselves. Anthy was carrying an oblong tray with a cover on it. "Evening, Kate," said Utena with a grin. "Nobody else around here seems to feel like celebrating, so we thought - " She noticed Kate's pajamas and skidded to a halt. "Oh, uh - sorry... were you about to go to bed?" Kate blinked, then said, "Wha? Oh! N-no, n-not at - " Then she paused, realizing she was about to lie, and said instead, "W-well, only b-bec-cause - uh - " Then she shook her head, grinned, and said, "Oh, j-j-just c-come in!" Utena smiled, hugged her former roommate, and entered her former room, remarking to herself as she did so that, after only a week, it still felt a lot like home, even with her possessions moved out. She greeted Serge, who seemed as happy to see her as Kate was. Anthy put the tray she was carrying on the vacant top of Utena's old desk. Utena glanced at her watch and said, "Hrmph. He's late." "Never!" came a voice from the bottom of the stairs. She turned to see the lanky blond form of Zach Stephens hustling up them, a stack of two pizza boxes balanced on one hand and a paper sack clutched in the other. Coming through the door with a clatter of sneakers on stone, he drew himself to a sort of attention, then presented the boxes with a flourish and his traditional motto: "Celestial Pizza! Delivered on the Wings of Angels!" Then he dropped his "official" pose and gave Utena a mock-hurt little smirk. "Late indeed," he said. "OK, so you're not late. Not quite," Utena allowed with a grin. She paid for the food and drinks. "Take it slow, you guys," said Zach as he turned to go. "You too, Zach," said Utena. "Sha, I wish," the deliveryman replied, grinning. "The night after finals? We're up to our asses." "At least business is good," said Anthy. "There is that," he allowed; then he slapped his forehead. "Aw man, I'm -such- an idiot. Hey, Kate, I got somethin' for you, but I'm a big idiot and left it back at my place. I'll swing by 'n get it after my shift if you're still gonna be up." Kate blinked. "F-f-for m-me?" "Yeah - new Crush album. Just came off the duper yesterday. Rez from HiFreq dropped a couple copies at B5 on their way through to their gig on Grand Teton and a buddy of mine brought 'em down with the mail this morning. Joe figured that'd be quicker'n shipping direct." Kate's eyes twinkled. "A-awesome. L-l-listened to it y-yet?" "Are you kidding?" Zach replied. "It's been locked in the Judgment-Mobile's player since oh-nine-hundred. I drove out to Botrell Beach and back this morning just to give it the proper volume without buggin' the neighbors," he added, grinning. "It's kickass. Two live tracks and - well, I don't wanna spoil it for you. Gonna be up when I get off, or should I bring it tomorrow?" "Y-y-you're off at m-midnight?" asked Kate. Zach nodded. "We'll be up," said Anthy with a smile. "'K, I'll swing by then. Prob'ly be around quarter past." Zach raised a hand in a two-finger salute. "Peace out, you guys," he said, and shut the door behind him before clattering down the stairs. "Does that guy -ever- stop moving?" Utena wondered. Kate gave her a look. "What?" Utena asked; then she realized that as she'd asked the question she'd been doing a series of hamstring stretches. Anthy giggled behind her hand and started taking the paper plates, napkins and sodas out of the bag. At about that same time, Corwin was lying on his back underneath an automobile, cursing the powdered bones of its previous owner, who had, by all appearances, been somewhat dubious in his maintenance habits. Kozue Kaoru, leaning against the fender, looked down and said, "How bad is it?" "Bad enough," Corwin's voice replied. "I don't know when the last time he changed the oil was, but he cross-threaded the drain plug when he put it back." He rolled out from under the red Corvette on a mechanic's creeper, wiped oil from his hands with a rag, and said, "I'm probably gonna have to drill it out." "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of machine god?" asked Kozue. "Why don't you just wave your hand and fix it?" Corwin got up from the creeper, stuck the rag into his hip pocket, and grinned at her. "Where's the sport in that?" he asked. The item on the tray Anthy had been carrying turned out to be a chocolate sheet cake emblazoned with the neatly iced words "WE SURVIVED C TERM". This was unveiled and enjoyed after the pizza had been put paid to, after which the three sat around being contentedly stuffed for a few minutes before rousing themselves to slightly less sedentary pursuits of celebration. Anthy was a little bit embarrassed about the state of her piano playing; she hadn't been able to practice in some time, and was therefore rather rusty. Still, it came back to her pretty fast, with the occasional suggestion from Kate, and her playing added a festive air to the proceedings as the former roommates sat on the floor and played a round of Knightmare Chess. After forcing a draw, Kate suggested that they play a game all three could participate in. Lying Bastard Scrabble was selected, and turned out to be a game that Anthy, with her sweet smile and guileless eyes, was admirably suited for. She took the round with a double word score on "nemozar" ("it's a type of tea server found in the East of Cephiro"). They played gin rummy, they played Robo Rally (Anthy seemed to take great delight in role-playing the Twonky, even though role-playing wasn't strictly necessary), they played Give Me the Brain (which was just about perfect, Utena thought, for Finals Friday). It was as they were finishing up this last game (complete with brain-shaped candle as token) when Zach reappeared, bearing with him Kate's copy of the new Crush of Love DC. He stayed just long enough to see the look on Kate's face when she noticed that track 7 was entitled "Nightingale of Avalon (A Song for Kaitlyn)", then left them to it. As Kate put the crystal on and she and Utena sat back against the side of her bed to listen to it, Anthy, who was sitting up on the spare bed giving a near-comatose Serge the absolute best tummy rub of his life to date, smiled and notched her impromptu term-end party a success. It had been bothering her since Monday, the realization that she, like all the rest of them, had failed to realize what her arrival on the scene would mean to this girl. Anthy had heard, during her long, long conversations with Utena over the weekend on Titan that had formed their abbreviated but blissful honeymoon, all about Kaitlyn. She knew that it was Kate who had been in such large part responsible for ensuring that Utena was still there to answer Corwin's desperate call the previous week. It seemed so terribly unfair to Anthy that, for all her unselfishly given love and compassion, Kate should be rewarded with loneliness and loss. Anthy knew loneliness and loss. She couldn't tolerate the idea that her presence would be the cause of them. She wasn't able to completely prevent that, of course - but she could mitigate it. Once, back in the bad old days, Juri Arisugawa had accused Utena of being so honest and uncomplicated that she was cruel to people without realizing it; and there had been, Anthy mused, some truth in that. Pragmatic and durable, Utena knew that Kate had those traits too, and as such, Anthy thought, it might have eluded her understanding just how alone Kate must be feeling on a night like this. Anthy knew that a natural balance would arrive in time, but until that time came, she was determined to do everything she could to make certain that all the beautiful things that had sustained her Rose Knight over the course of her long exile remained undamaged, and that included this bond. It wouldn't take much maintenance - the two girls were too kindred, too well-linked, for that - but the hardiest flowers need a little help now and then, as Anthy well knew. And so, this little party. Yawning delicately, Anthy lay down next to the tiger, snuggled against his warm, furry back, and closed her eyes, the sounds of the Crush of Love and the soft conversation of two best friends soothing her to sleep. A few minutes later, from her spot on the floor next to Kate's bed, Utena glanced over at the other bed, smiled, and observed, "I guess maybe we're staying over tonight, if that's OK with you." Kate grinned. "I th-think I c-c-can l-live with that... so l-long as you k-k-keep it down to a l-low m-m-mumble, as it w-were... " To Kate's unmitigated delight, Utena went very entertainingly red, smiling with obvious if pleased embarrassment. "B-by the w-w-way," Kate went on, putting an arm over her best friend's shoulders and joggling her a little, "h-how was your h-honeym-moon, b-besides short? I'm n-not asking for ch-chapter and verse, y'unders-s-stand, b-but I'm... " Kate trailed off, hunting for the best word. Still red, Utena offered, "Curious?" "C-c-concerned," Kate replied. "After all, y-you're b-both like m-m-me... h-haven't had the b-b-best of luck in that r-regard... " Utena nodded, acknowledging both the point and her friend's concern, then smiled with slight embarrassment again. "Well," she said, "you can imagine it was a little... awkward... at first. I mean, I'd never done anything like it before, and I don't think Anthy had either. So we really didn't have a clue what we were doing, but... " She sat back against the side of Kate's bed, put her hands behind her head, and smiled up at the ceiling. "We figured it out eventually. "There's a room in Corwin's castle," Utena went on, her tone of voice becoming reminiscent, "at the top of the East Tower... it has French doors onto a balcony that looks out over the Tsiolkovskiy Sea, and there are sconces and things all over the walls and stands and tables - places for about a hundred candles. When we got there, I don't know how, but they were all there, all burning - waiting for us. It was so beautiful... really... really set the mood." She chuckled at some remembered moment and said, "It took us a while, but... well, like the Minbari say, faith manages. "But - it's funny," she went on, frowning thoughtfully. "Looking back, the thing I remember most... is just the closeness and the quiet... you know, afterward. The feeling that everything was finally all right. That alone was worth the awkwardness at the beginning... everything else was... a bonus." Kate smiled and nodded, mirroring her former roommate's posture. "I kn-know just what you m-m-mean," she said. Utena slid her eyes sideways and smiled slyly. "Really? I had a feeling, at the end of the party, that you were really only half singing that song to -us-... I never did thank you for that, by the way, it was really beautiful." Kate smiled, a little shyly - whether at the compliment to her work, which often drew that sort of reaction, or at the earlier comment, Utena couldn't be sure - and replied, "You're w-w-welcome. I'm g-glad you liked it." Utena grinned and nudged her friend with an elbow. "So? Fair's fair. How'd it go?" Kate glanced at her, tried to hood her eyes suggestively, failed because she broke up giggling (which was contagious), then smiled an uncharacteristically wide smile and leaned back again. "It w-w-went," she answered, "s-s-spect-tacularly, if I'm any j-j-judge. B-but like you s-say... I think the b-b-best part was a-a-after. Kn-knowing that I c-c-could f-feel that way... t-trust someone th-that m-m-much... w-w-well... you kn-know." Utena's grin softened a little. "That's great, Kate. Really. If anybody's earned a little good luck, it's you. Hell, and Juri, come to that." She looked around the room. "I'm a little surprised she hasn't moved in here." Kate shook her head. "N-no," she mused. "That w-w-wouldn't be r-right for us. N-not right n-n-now, anyw-way. W-we're both v-very much 'space' p-people. G-got to have p-p-places we c-can c-c-call our own." She smiled nostalgically. "You kn-know, when you c-c-came to me, I d-didn't want a r-roommate. I s-still wouldn't b-be able to l-live with m-m-most." She put her arm around Utena again and squeezed her a little. "It w-was very s-special, having you f-for a r-oom-m-mate. Th-thanks for sh-sharing that t-t-time with m-me." "Hey, look... I'm sorry about - " "D-don't be," Kate cut her off, shaking her head firmly. "I kn-knew it would c-come someday. I'd l-like to th-think our l-living arrangem-m-ments don't d-define our f-f-friendship, any-way. And," she added with a smile directed toward the sleeping Anthy, "I s-somehow d-d-don't think your n-new b-b-bride is g-going to let us f-f-fall out of t-touch." Utena grinned fondly in the same direction and said, "No, now that you bring it up, I doubt that." Then she yawned hugely, stretching one fist high above her head, and said, "Man, I'm wiped out. That last final was -brutal-." She and Kate got to their feet. Utena went to the side of her old bed, looked at the sleeping girl and tiger on it, then turned back to Kate and whispered, "(God, that's cute. Get a picture, willya?)" Kate smiled, went and got her camera, and immortalized the moment; then Utena looked down at them again and sighed. "(I hate to disturb them,)" she murmured. "(W-well,)" said Kate, "(you d-don't n-necessarily h-h-have to.)" She gave a wry little grin and added, "(Th-think she'd b-be upset if she f-f-found you in b-bed with another w-woman in the m-m-morning?)" Utena snickered softly, then gently pulled a blanket over Anthy and the softly snoring tiger, turned off the room lights, and crossed back to Kate's bed. "All right - there," said Corwin. He closed the Corvette's hood, wiped his hands one more time, and sighed. "That's as good as I can get it with the stuff that's here. It really needs a valve job, but that'll have to wait until I can get parts." He realized as he said it that he didn't have an audience; Kozue was curled up in the passenger seat, asleep. Smiling, Corwin jostled the car a little on its suspension. "Hnn?" said Kozue, stirring. "Oh, sorry. Must've dozed off. Everything OK?" "As OK as I can make it without parts," he said. He went to the garage sink and washed his hands, took off his coverall and hung it on a nail, then shrugged back into his uniform jacket and left it unbuttoned over his t-shirt as he crossed back to the car. "You can head home if you want," he told Kozue. "I'm really sorry I kept you this long - I completely lost track of time." Kozue stretched, cracking her back, and gave a satisfied "Ahh," then said, "It's OK. It's Friday anyway." Corwin fished his watch out of his jacket pocket and looked at it: one-fifteen. He raised an eyebrow; it -was- later than he'd expected to be at this. But then, that always happened... "Anyway, -I- can head home? What were -you- planning on doing?" Kozue wanted to know. "Well, I get done doing a job like this," replied Corwin, "I usually take the car out for a little drive, just make sure I've got it right. Like I said, though, you can head home. I've kept you out later than I should've anyway." Kozue glanced at her watch, then grinned. "I used to get home a lot later than this on Fridays," she said. "If I came home at all. So I'd just as soon hang out, if you don't mind me tagging along." Corwin shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind." He slid behind the wheel, shut the door, and fired up the engine; it growled to life and sounded considerably healthier to Kozue's untrained ear than the frown on Corwin's face seemed to warrant. He feathered the throttle pensively for a moment, then shrugged, put the car in gear, and headed out. He kept things quiet while he was near campus, handling the powerful car with a certain calm assurance, his big hands deft on the controls. Not until they were well away from the sleeping school and out on the open highway did he really open it up. The unnatural winter had died hard, but when it had gone, it had gone in style; tonight was a beautiful, warm, star-splashed one. Kozue drowsed in the passenger seat, letting the wind rush over her face and ruffle her hair, and smiled to herself. He has no idea, she told herself with distinct amusement, that he's playing one of the oldest cards in the deck. No idea whatsoever. He'd be embarrassed and tongue-tied if I called him on it. Worse - he'd feel -guilty-. That's kind of cute. Corwin noted, as they touched 120 miles per hour, that the engine ran better than he'd expected once they got up to speed. Maybe a complete overhaul wouldn't be necessary after all; it could be that the poor, abused beast just needed to be driven by somebody with some idea of how to handle it. It was responding well now. "Listen," said Kozue sleepily over the wind, "you're not gonna jump on the hood, are you?" Corwin blinked and gave her a sidelong look. "Um... no." She smiled. "OK. Just checking." Yeah, she thought. Definitely kind of cute. He put the car back in its place under the Tower at around 1:45, then insisted on walking a now-very-sleepy Kozue home to the North Hall dormitory. All the way there, she kept chuckling to herself, but to his inquisitive looks and sounds, she'd just shake her head with an indulgent smile and say nothing. At the door, she produced her key, then turned and smiled. "You're really just exactly what you appear to be, aren't you, Corwin Ravenhair?" she asked. Corwin blinked. "Um... yeah," he replied, a bit puzzled. Kozue chuckled again, leaned forward, and kissed him on the cheek. "Maybe someday," she said softly, "you'll understand how special that makes you. Good night, Corwin." "Ah... good night, Kozue," he said, and remained standing there while she let herself into North Hall and shut the door behind her. Then, turning to face the Quad, he remarked softly to nobody, "Strange, strange girl." Hands in his trouser pockets, he walked alone across the empty campus, passing from one pool of yellow light to the next as he walked along the streetlamped walkways toward East Hall. The late-night drive had put him in a contemplative, melancholy kind of mood. Not that he hadn't been tending toward melancholy all week anyway. A week. It didn't seem possible that only a week ago... well, a little more, a week and a day, say... everything had been different. He'd never met any of the people who surrounded him every day now. He had no idea that he'd be soon parted from so many he knew and cared for. He had no inkling whatever that he'd suddenly find himself responsible for an -entire world-. He hadn't know that he'd feel so alone. As he crossed the Quad, his footsteps on the stone the only sound in the world but for the sighing of the night wind, he started to sing softly under his breath. "Now here I am again in this mean old town And you're so far away from me Now where are you when the sun go down? You're so far away from me You're so far away from me So far I just can't see You're so far away from me You're so far away from me Awright... " Repetitive song, but then, he was in kind of a repetitive mood. Chu Chu was all sacked out when he got in, and snoring surprisingly loudly for such a small creature. Corwin changed for bed in the dark so as not to disturb his impromptu roommate, climbed up into the top bunk, and sighed in the dark at the ceiling. Hell with it, Corwin, he said to himself. You'll see them tomorrow. Yeah. Utena, Anthy and Wakaba arrived on campus the following afternoon, just after lunch. At one-thirty, the new Trinity of Cephiro, dressed in their ceremonial finery, met with Master Mage Clef, his apprentice, Master Smith Presea, and the Trustees of the Academy in the big conference room one level up from the Student Council offices in the White Tower. It began as a rather boring meeting. The Trustees, including their Chairman, the current representative of the Ohtori family which had run the place for as long as anybody could remember, found themselves dismissed en masse by a very displeased Master Mage. The incensed sorcerer cited their utter failure to keep the Academy - "the crucible in which the heart of our world is forged," as Clef put it - out of the hands of "the most evil creature to tread the face of the Tenth World in a hundred generations." (Clef, Corwin noted, had a gift for rhetoric when he got really annoyed.) For their part, the Trustees accepted their dismissal meekly; over the previous week, they'd all had time to review the Master Mage's report on the subject, and were all quite embarrassed and appalled over what they had allowed to happen. The only request any of them made was the Chairman's request that his daughter, Kanae Ohtori, be allowed to resume and complete her interrupted education at the Academy - a request Utena, as the current Grand Duelist and the reorganized Academy's namesake, was pleased to grant. Kanae herself seemed only a bit confused. The confusion was understandable, and its mild degree remarkable, given that the last thing she remembered, she'd been a junior in the Academy's high school division, looking forward to college, wondering about her future - and now here she was having been present, but not particularly conscious, for her senior year and beyond. She had the impression that she'd been involved in some kind of... difficulty... but it was all very vague, and she didn't feel any great inclination to investigate it too closely. Once she and the ex-Trustees were gone, the Trinity and those who had historically served as their closest advisors turned to the business of putting things back together. Clef had, over the course of the last week, managed to accustom himself, if somewhat grudgingly, to the idea that the Trinity would not be living in Cephiro. Their lives were in Midgard, and though Cephiro had a special place in all their hearts, they had no intention of making their homes there. On the other hand, they also had no intention of abandoning the Tenth World to its fate; that fact had impressed itself upon the Master Mage sufficiently that he could -live- with their intended absence, even if he would never quite -accept- it. "OK," said Corwin once the preliminaries were out of the way. "I think the school experiment is going to work out; I've been here a week and nobody's showing much of an interest. I'm about ready to start the heavy calculations for the Engine. If everything goes well, I ought to have it ready to go online by the first of May." Utena, who had seen the World-Engine of Asgard, raised her eyebrows. "That fast!" she said. Corwin nodded. "It doesn't need to be anywhere near the size of Yggdrasil; it's only sustaining one world, and a small one at that, not nine." "What help will you need from us?" asked Clef. "From you, probably nothing. I'll need the Master Smith's help when it comes time to make some of the parts for the Engine itself, but that'll come after I've finished the calculations, the design, and the program. Construction itself won't start until the last week of April." Presea nodded. "I'll keep it free." "For the earlier stages," Corwin went on, "I've got all the help I need already. As for the school itself, well, that's not really my area... " Anthy spoke up for the first time in the meeting, her voice quiet but undeniable: "The sorcery department must be re-established. Under the old system, magic and technology were competing, and technology was driving magic from the world, to Cephiro's very great detriment. Our revolution has integrated the two very tightly - making the need for magical education in Cephiro's youth more critical than ever." Utena nodded. "That I agree with. I think a big part of the problem here, year before last, was the fact that we students didn't know how to even believe in, let alone recognize - much less defend ourselves against - sorcery." "Yeah, I had that same thought," agreed Corwin. "Ohtori was able to come in here and walk all over everyone largely because they didn't have the mental context to handle a few tricks that would have been fairly simple stuff for any schoolkid from Asgard or Alfheim. The place has tried for too long to be too much like Midgard. That has to change." Clef smiled faintly. "I will see to that." "Of course you will," Anthy replied with a smile. "You'll be department chair, after all." The smile vanished from Clef's face as the Priestess went blithely on, "The ruins of the old Sorcery building will have to go, too. I wouldn't recommend building the new facility on that site, though." The Master Mage shook off the nonplussed surprise that had greeted his "volunteering" as head of the new Department of the Sorcerous Arts; he shot a venomous look at Presea, who hadn't quite been able to stop herself giggling, before composing himself and telling Anthy, "Very well, High Priestess. If you wish it, I shall head the reconstruction of the Academy's Department of the Sorcerous and Alchemical Arts." Anthy nodded graciously. "Thank you, Master Mage." "It will be... interesting," said Clef diplomatically. "The Department will start small," he continued. "No great facilities will be needed in the first few years; I need only a secure place to set up my laboratory and an office. The upper levels of this tower would be ideal, but... " "Then use them," said Anthy. Clef looked a bit puzzled. "Very well, if you wish it. I had thought you would wish to reserve them for your own use when you visit Cephiro." Utena snorted. "Us, live up there again? When Hell freezes over." Clef blinked. "Er... of course. Forgive me. It was an insensitive assumption. However, it does bring to mind a question: that of the disposition of the late Deputy Chairman's personal effects. As his only living relative, Lady Anthy, it is to you this decision falls." "Aside from the Tower, which belonged not to him but the school, what did he have?" wondered Anthy. "I have no use for his clothes, they can be given to anyone who might need them. As for the rest... " Presea nodded, looking over an inventory list. "He didn't have a lot. The main things are a car and a horse." Utena gasped. "Thunderbolt!" she cried. "He still had Thunderbolt? He's still here?" Presea nodded. "He's in the Academy stables." "All right, then," said Utena. "I'll take him back to Jeraddo with me. I thought sure he'd be gone by now, sold or something, with everything that's been going on around here." "What about the car?" asked Presea. "I already have a car," replied Utena, a little too quickly. "I'll take it!" Wakaba interjected. At Utena's sidelong look, she shrugged. "What? I learned to drive in that car! It's not the car's fault it used to belong to a total creep." "Well, OK, if Anthy doesn't mind," said Utena, "but don't expect me to ride anywhere with you." "I have no objection," said Anthy. "I don't drive, and if Utena doesn't want it... " "Noooo thank you," said Utena, holding out her open palms. "Very well, then, Wakaba - it's yours." "Yay!" said Wakaba cheerily. "Thanks, Anthy. Do you know where it is, Presea?" "Downstairs," said Corwin, though he hadn't been asked. "I looked it over the other day; put new brakes in it, changed all the fluids, and gave it a tuneup. It could use a valve job sometime relatively soon, but other than that it's OK." Wakaba grinned, then hesitated. "Oh - so did you want it, then? 'Cause if you've already worked on it and everything... " Corwin made a dismissive gesture. "Nah, I just hated to leave it like I found it. There's something so forlorn about a nice car that hasn't had the maintenance it deserves. I've already got a car too, don't worry about it." "OK! Can you keep an eye on it for me? I might as well leave it here, since I'll be coming back to the Academy next semester anyway. You can use it if you need a car for anything while you're here." Corwin nodded. "Sure, I'll take care of it." "Thanks! Well, I guess that's all squared away, then," said Wakaba. "What's next?" "Who will run the Academy with the Trustees gone?" asked Anthy in reply. "The Student Council's been doing a pretty good job for the past year or so," Wakaba pointed out. "It's not like Akio paid the place any attention at all after Utena screwed up the end of his Tournament," she added with a grin. Clef considered this. "You may have a very good point," he told his apprentice, nodding. "Of course, final responsibility for the Academy rests with the Prince; such has it been since time immemorial, and the naming of the place in the wake of your revolution seems to indicate that it is to continue." "All right, then, how about this?" Utena asked. "The place needs an adult authority figure here to be the final stop for things that might get above the Council's heads. Well, Clef, you're going to be here anyway, right?" Clef tried not to scowl; it wouldn't do to scowl at the Prince. She was making it awfully difficult, though, especially in light of the fact that she was -right-. "Below that," went on Utena, "delegate things to the Student Council, and keep an eye on them - they can run the place for you. And if anything gets -really- out of hand, well, you know where to reach me." "A sound plan," said Presea, shooting the disgruntled Master Mage a glittering wink. "There's one other thing that has to be accounted for, though." "What's that?" asked Utena. "The Duelists' Code must be restored to its proper function," said Presea. "Do any of you know what it was originally created for?" Anthy nodded. "The Academy's Duelists were the guardians of the realm," she said. "The best among them each year would be Captain of the Pillar's Guards, a ceremonial order, also called the Order of the Rose. Only in years when a vacancy existed in the Trinity would a Grand Tournament be held; the normal function of the dueling cycle was to hone the skills and the morale of the Guards." "Of course," said Clef, nodding. "You would know all that - you watched the last true Grand Tournament, when your brother won the Prince's crown and his best friend the Priest's robes." Utena looked a little put out. "Hey," she said. "It may have been a little screwed up, but I think the one I fought in was plenty real enough, thank you." "Your pardon, Prince Tenjou, I meant no disrespect," said Clef. "Instead of 'true', say rather 'conventional'." Utena nodded, smiling to show there were no hard feelings, and Clef went on, "At any rate, Presea is right - the Code must be properly reinstated, and in order to do that, a new End of the World must be appointed." Utena blinked. "Uh, what?" she said. "Before Akio Ohtori, the End of the World was a title of honor," Presea explained to her. "It's the ceremonial title of the person who acts in the stead of the Grand Duelist, selecting the Student Council, overseeing and proctoring the duels among those of the Order of the Rose during any given school year. Sometimes the Grand Duelist serves as the End of the World personally, but most of the time, a proxy is selected." "Oh." Clef held up a hand, palm outward. "Before anyone thinks to mention it," he said, "I am -not- qualified to serve as the End of the World. I am not a Duelist; I am a sorcerer. Besides - it's traditional for the Deputy Chairman of the Academy to fulfil that role." "The Academy doesn't have a Deputy Chairman. It doesn't even have a Chairman anymore," said Corwin. "I suppose," said Clef a little stuffily, "-I- am the Chairman now." "Well, hang on," said Wakaba, grinning. "If you're the Chairman, well, I'm your apprentice, right? So I guess that makes -me- Deputy Chairman." "You're still a -student-," said Clef. "So? There's some reason why I can't be both? When Kozue and I switch schools at the end of the year, I'll probably get my old job on the Council back. Keiko and Tsuwabuki voted for me once, why not again? And Shiori doesn't want to be president anyway. Then, once I graduate, you name me your deputy and we're squared away. It's all good." Utena dropped her forehead into her hand. "Wakaba... " "What? I can run a dueling tournament, no problem. Sure, I only fought one duel, but it was a -big- one." Utena had to admit she had a point there. "Well, then, I guess it's all settled," said Anthy. "Things can take care of themselves for the rest of this year; we don't want to try reinstating anything in the limited time remaining, after all the confusion, anyway." "Mm," said Corwin, nodding. "Most of the kids are just hoping to get through the year without anything else blowing up or falling down." "Well, as Pillar, it's your job to see that they get their wish," said Clef, clearly enjoying the opportunity for irony, however mild. "Oh, I will," Corwin assured him. "Don't worry. I said I'd stay and take care of things until the Engine is built and tested, and I keep my promises." "Then Anthy's right - it's all settled," said Presea with a nod. Then, becoming more sober, she added, "And we have other business to attend to... considerably less pleasant business." They buried the previous Trinity in the Forest of Secrets, under a great steel monument wrested from the very earth beneath by Corwin's power as Rune Knight of Iron. The other Rune Knights and Nall Silverclaw had come from Midgard for the funeral. Hikaru Shidou, Knight of the Flame, lit the small brazier built into the monument's structure, providing a flame that would light the names of the three forever. Prince Dios wasn't there, of course; his body was long gone, and even if it could have been found, he wouldn't have wanted it buried here with his beloved half-sister Emeraude and his best friend Zagato after what it did to them in his absence - but nevertheless, as the bearer of his spirit and power, Utena felt a rightness about putting his name to the monument for his fellows that wouldn't be denied. The bells of Tenjou Academy tolled mournfully as the new Trinity, the Rune Knights, the White Dragon, and the Master Mage and Master Smith bowed their heads in silent prayer for the souls of the fallen three. The second monument they raised was somewhat less grand, but no less deeply felt. It was a slab of grey stone, polished to an almost mirror shine, and it lay on the ground surrounded by flowers in the corner of the little courtyard where stood the birdcage-like rose garden where Anthy Himemiya had toiled as the Rose Bride for countless identical days. In the Forest, away from prying eyes, Corwin found the stone; Fuu Hououji, Rune Knight of the Storm, sheared it into its proper shape with the force of the winds; Uum'y R'yuu-z'ky, Knight of the Sea, polished it with the relentless power of the ocean waves; and Hikaru etched the lettering into its face with fire. Then they changed from their ceremonial clothes to more ordinary ones, to preserve Corwin's cover, and Clef transported the heavy stone to its appointed place. Under that stone they laid to rest the only fallen foe for whose end any of them felt much remorse, who had sacrificed everything to do a favor for an enemy. Without Nanami Kiryuu's help, Anthy would never have reached Priest Zagato, never have bought the time and learned the strength she needed to survive until the day when salvation would come to her; and Nanami had been rewarded for that help with torment, violation, madness and death. It was the one thing about the rebirth of her life that left a bitter taste in Anthy Tenjou's mouth. They had all agreed that Nanami would not have wanted to be sequestered off in the Secret Forest, where all was quiet and remote. She had always liked to be right in the middle of things, her finger on the pulse of the Academy, in the thick of all the action. And so they laid her here, in the middle of the Academy, in a spot both respectfully secluded and yet central to everything, where passing students would notice the steel-grey stone in the corner of the flowered court and pause, perhaps reading the inscription and wondering at its significance: NANAMI KIRYUU AUGUST 8, 2391 - MARCH 16, 2406 STUDENT COUNCIL MEMBER DUELIST OF THE ORDER OF THE ROSE SHE GAVE UP HER FUTURE SO OUR FUTURE COULD BE BORN Their bowed observance over Nanami's grave complete, the nine split up, going their separate ways in melancholy moods. The Rune Knights, Wakaba, and Nall said subdued goodbyes and vanished back to Midgard; Presea and Clef excused themselves as well, leaving the Trinity alone to make their way out of the courtyard. As they passed the rose garden, Anthy paused and stood looking at it. Utena, noticing that she'd stopped, came back and stood next to her; Corwin paused on the other side, and all three of them stood in silence for a few minutes. Then Corwin rubbed at the back of his neck and mused, "I guess I should get somebody to start tearing this thing down... " Anthy turned to face him. "You will not," she said, a bit indignantly. "This garden house belongs to me, and I don't intend to see it destroyed." Corwin blinked. "Er - OK, sorry... I just assumed you wouldn't want it any more... you know, all things considered." Anthy's indignant demeanor softened. She smiled and put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry, Corwin. I didn't mean to snap at you, but no, you're wrong about that." She went to the door, opened it, and stepped inside, a pensive, worried expression coming onto her face. She turned to face the open door and tried to smile reassuringly at Corwin and Utena, who still stood outside. "You see?" she said. "The door is open now. I can leave any time I want - but I -choose- to come inside." Then the worry came onto her face again, and she made a tch'ing noise and leaned over one of the rose bushes. "My poor roses have been -shamefully- neglected. I don't think anyone's looked after them since I left the Academy. They're in desperate need of pruning and tending... and I do believe there might be aphids... " "Um, Anthy," said Utena, mirroring Corwin's hand-on-neck gesture. "How are you planning to look after them? Come back here and work on them every day?" Anthy looked up from her worried inspection of the plant. "Of course not," she said, "don't be silly. Corwin, I'll need your help." "Sure," Corwin said. "Anything you need." Anthy smiled. "Why don't we discuss it over dinner?" she asked. "I have to get back," said Utena. "I've got to get Thunderbolt squared away, and then I promised Miki I'd help him and Juri with the prep for next week's big fencing tournament." "That's all right, love," Anthy told her with a patient smile. "I'm a big girl. I can find my own way home." Utena scowled and said with mock sternness, "Well, you be careful." Anthy squared herself up into a good imitation of her old subservient Rose Bride posture, bowed, and said with feigned meekness, "I'll be home by nine o'clock, Lady Utena." Utena rolled her eyes. "Oh, for God's sake, quit that already," she said, grinning. Anthy gave her a kiss and said, "Well, I -will-, anyway." "OK, OK," said Utena, capitulating with good grace. "Have a good time hatching your nefarious plans," she added; then she hugged Corwin, instructed him to take it easy, and trotted out of the courtyard, heading across campus toward the stables. Corwin gazed after her for a moment, then turned to Anthy. "You know any good places to eat around here?" he asked. "I've been eating on campus, when Kozue reminds me to eat in the first place." Anthy smiled. "There are a few good places down in town," she said, "and, now that I think of it, a particularly fine Eastern restaurant in Mitsumaru. That's about an hour south, along the Coast Road." "Hmm," said Corwin, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I left my car in Midgard... " "Wakaba won't mind if we borrow hers," Anthy pointed out. "She said as much at the meeting. The drive along the Coast Road is a pleasant one, and you've made the weather mild enough that I'm sure it will be quite nice." Corwin blinked. "Uh... are you sure?" "Of course," she replied, and smiled again, putting her hand on his arm. "It's only a car, Corwin." The young god regarded the High Priestess of his inadvertently adopted world for a moment, then grinned. "Well, OK, then," he said. "Let's go." As they walked across the Quad toward the Tower where the car was garaged, Anthy took Corwin's arm and said, "You know, I'm glad we have this time together. I think it's important that we get to know each other in our own rights, not just because of the mystic ties that bind us, or our relation to Utena." "Mm," said Corwin, who hadn't really thought of that before. Then he chuckled wryly and said, "Utena told me so much about you, I feel like I've known you almost as long as I've known her." "After all I heard of you last week, I feel much the same," Anthy replied with a laugh, "but still - tell me something about yourself. Something you've never told Utena. I know you wouldn't hide anything from her, but there must be things that just never came up," she added, smiling. Corwin considered this for a moment, then smiled and said, "Well, once when I was five... " /* Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants To Rule the World" _Songs from the Big Chair_ */ Eyrie Productions, Unlimited Welcome to your life presented There's no turning back UNDOCUMENTED FEATURES Even while we sleep FUTURE IMPERFECT We will find you - Symphony of the Sword No .2 - Acting on your best behavior Coda: Welcome To Your Life Turn your back on Mother Nature Everybody wants to rule the world The Cast (in order of appearance) It's my own design Anthy Tenjou It's my own remorse Utena Tenjou Help me to decide Sergei Help me make the Kaitlyn Hutchins Most of freedom and of pleasure Juri Arisugawa Nothing ever lasts forever Corwin Ravenhair Everybody wants to rule the world Wakaba Shinohara Kozue Kaoru There's a room where the light B'Elanna Torres won't find you Chu Chu Holding hands while the walls Clarissa Broadbank come tumbling down Thomas J. Palmer When they do I'll be right behind you Zach Stephens Master Mage Clef So glad we've almost made it Master Smith Presea So sad they've had to fade it Kanae Ohtori Everybody wants to rule the world Nall Silverclaw Hikaru Shidou I can't stand this indecision Fuu Hououji Married with a lack of vision Uumy R'yuu-z'ky Everybody wants to rule the world and featuring The Deedlit Satori Mandeville Say that you'll never never never Memorial Institute never need it Duelists' Society and One headline, why believe it? Institute Musicians' Federation Everybody wants to rule the world and (albeit briefly) All for freedom and for pleasure The Ohtori Academy Nothing ever lasts forever Board of Trustees Everybody wants to rule the world Fighter Command Benjamin D. Hutchins Air Ministry Philip J. Moyer John Trussell Anne Cross Chain Home Low The Usual Suspects Knightmare Chess by Steve Jackson Games http://www.sjgames.com/ Robo Rally discontinued (boo) by Wizards of the Coast http://www.wizards.com/ Give Me the Brain by Cheapass Games http://www.cheapass.com/ This concludes Symphony No. 2... ... but the Symphony will return