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1 The hiss of metal scraping against metal roused Hotaru from her unconscious state.
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2 Violet orbs slowly opening to view a world that swirled around her, leading her head to
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3 begin pounding, though now all she heard was her own breathing. Groaning lightly, she tried
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4 to push herself up off what felt like the ground, but as she placed her palms to the floor, it
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5 was smooth, too much so to be anything natural, and thought it better to try to see where she
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6 was before risking another swoon. Unable to focus her eyes in the dim surroundings, she
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7 squinted in a vain attempt to see with any kind of clarity.
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8 The room had no visible walls, or ceiling, simply blackness lit with sparsely placed
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9 torches, their shadows slithering menacingly across the ground. Out of the corner of her eye,
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10 she saw a flash as the light from the torches reflected something. Her head turning in that
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11 direction, her eyes rested on two figures, vaguely human shaped, one living midnight, the
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12 other as crimson as blood. Not a word spoken between them as they stared each other down,
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13 with what appeared to be weapons held at the ready, the suspense was almost tangible. The
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14 red figure struck first, and once more they danced before her, the sharp, pronounced cry of
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15 metal meeting in a tango of death, which Hotaru wanted no part of.
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16 The figures moved at a blinding speed, ducking, jumping, stabbing, their motion left
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17 streaks of color behind them as they battled harder than she has ever seen anyone, anything
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18 fight before. Whoever they were, whatever they were, they seemed oblivious to her presence.
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19 She thanked the gods for that and tried to hold as still, and as silent as possible, to avoid any
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20 attention to herself, while she continued to watch on. There was simply nothing else she
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21 could do.
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22 The figure in red was obviously the aggressor; it gave the black shape no rest as it
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23 hacked at it mercilessly with what appeared to be a pole arm of some kind. Its relentless
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24 attacks were coupled with growls and grunts as the shots were either blocked or dodged
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25 completely. As the sparks from the clashing weapons flew, the black outline continued to be
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26 driven back, towards Hotaru's position on the floor. Was it defending her? Who was it?! She
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27 had to get out of there…
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28 Her heart began to race, as she looked around herself frantically for somewhere to
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29 hide, somewhere to get herself out of the open but saw nothing but blurry darkness. Closing
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30 her eyes to prevent the room from spinning, she focused herself, trying to will herself into
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31 lucid sight. Opening her eyes once more, she looked upon the room again, and by some
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32 miracle, her attempt worked. Vision slowly starting to clear, she could see a few details
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33 about each of the figures fighting before her. The black figure was obviously human, or
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34 humanoid and was dressed in dark clothing and what appeared to be a ninja's mask covering
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35 his face. He wielded a black bladed sword, which he handled as if it were an extension of his
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36 body, obviously having been doing it for quiet some time.
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37 Hotaru gasped as she looked upon the red figure. It was the same size as a human,
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38 but its face was distorted into a sick mockery of a person. The mouth was full of razor sharp
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39 fangs, dripping saliva onto the floor as it grunted and roared, angry that the man wasn't
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40 going down as easy as it hoped. It's eyes were two dried out sockets, a faint red glow seen
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41 from them in place of pupils, and the thing had no nose; it's entire body was dried, red flesh.
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42 Once more placing her hands to the ground, she pushed with all the strength she could
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43 muster, and barely managed to gain any kind of clearance from the floor before her hands
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44 gave out and she fell back to the ground with a loud thud. Both figures turned to her, neither
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45 of them speaking. The creature took advantage of this and thrust his pole arm at the man
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46 before he could have a chance to ready a defense, slamming him directly in the chest with the
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47 weapon. A sickening crunch was heard as the metal sunk into the man's rib cage, blood
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48 starting to seep over the silver blade and splattered onto floor. The man turned to look at the
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49 creature, his eyes narrowed as he dropped to a knee, the weapon embedded firmly in his
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50 body. Thick, red blood splattered from his wound onto the floor before he too slumped down
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51 motionless.
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52 "It lives!" the thing screeched, glaring directly at Hotaru. It's 'voice' was
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53 indescribable, the sound of a million souls screaming out in sheer agony at once. It chilled
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54 her to the bone, causing her to freeze in place; a tiny whimper her only viable action. She
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55 knew she had no defense. She was too woozy and disoriented to fight it hand to hand, it was
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56 just too fast for her in any state. It approached her, leaving the crumpled figure on the
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57 ground about 30 yards, or so, away.
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58 Picking up the man's sword, the creature did what could only be described as a grin,
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59 it's jagged, yellowed teeth bared further as it's mouth opened. "Now YOU die, girl." The
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60 creature laughed as it held the sword high in triumph, the black blade glimmered in the light
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61 of the torches. It hissed to Hotaru and began to slice the blade through the air, but was
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62 disrupted by the sound of the man behind them once more standing off the ground.
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63 "No…" the black clad man's voice sounded, "You know you can't kill her as long
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64 as I still breathe…" and he winced and grunted as he pulled the pole arm from his chest,
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65 leaving blood to spurt down the open wound. Hotaru's eyes went wide as she saw the
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66 weapon he was holding: The silence glaive.
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67 "WHY DON'T YOU DIE!!?" the monster glared at the youth, making an
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68 indistinguishable clicking noise before screaming at the top of its voice as it charged at the
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69 man, who was in no shape to fight it any longer. The man closed his eyes and held the glaive
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70 parallel to the floor. The light suddenly increased dramatically, as the torches flared, the
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71 sudden burst of light blinded the creature, causing it to scream in rage and fall to the floor,
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72 covering its face with it's clawed hands. Hotaru could now understand why the red beast
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73 didn't let the man have any kind of rest at all: he knew it's weak point. All the colors of the
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74 prism swirled from the flames into the glaive in his hands, the blood sizzling on the blade of
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75 the weapon from the intense energy that caused the metal to glow. The youth's eyes opened
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76 then, completely white with the energy feeding from the power of the torches, the light, and
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77 turned to the creature.
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78 "DEATH EVERLASTING…" The man screamed to the sky… Death everlasting?
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79 Is that like Death reborn?! Hotaru's head quickly snapped from the creature to the one who
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80 held her weapon. "REVELATION!"
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81 The blade flashed a single time in response to his call, and as he slashed the weapon
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82 vertically through the air, a crescent shaped sickle of energy screamed across the sky to the
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83 vulnerable creature on the floor. As it struck the writhing figure, what sounded like
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84 electricity began to crackle, causing the monster to scream only once before being cut off
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85 into silence. Its body quickly turned into nothing more than a pile of ash on the floor, a
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86 massive scorch mark surrounding its former position.
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87 "W—who are you?" Hotaru managed to ask, causing the youth to turn to glance at
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88 her, dropping back to a knee, and as the light from the glaive began to fade, she caught a
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89 glimpse of black colored irises.
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90 "You'll see in time…" he feel back into a sitting position raising his hand to the sky,
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91 his palm beginning to glow gently white. "Just go back to sleep, Hotaru…You need your
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92 rest." then all went black once more.
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93
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94 Red, watery eyes glanced at Hotaru's motionless body, which lay on the hospital bed
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95 in the silence of the night. Usagi hadn't returned from her run to the cafeteria yet, leaving
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96 Chibi Usa with ample time to take in every feature of the sleeping angel. Her hand caressed
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97 Hotaru's slender digits her own smooth palm,
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98 "You'll be okay, right Hotaru?" Chibi turned her eyes to Hotaru's expecting her to
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99 open them and reassure her that everything was just fine…. The only sound that was heard
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100 was the incessant beeping of the heart monitor and the hissing of the ventilator as it forced
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101 air into and out of her lungs.
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102 A click sounded behind Chibi, causing her to turn and look at the door, taking her
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103 eyes off Hotaru for a moment. In came Usagi, carefully holding two foam cups in her hands,
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104 and a bag in her mouth, carefully opening the door with her back. Chibi immediately went to
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105 Usagi and took a cup from her, not because she wanted to help, but she knew that Usagi
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106 can't be trusted to carry things… She has a tendency to fall and spill them.
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107 "Thanks," Usagi said, after removing the bag from her hand and moving to one of
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108 the three wooden chairs in the room that were stationed by the window. "Careful, it's really
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109 hot." She had already burned her tongue, and didn't want Chibi to do the same.
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110 "Ok…" was Chibi's response, as she set the drink down on the window sill, not
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111 really interested in it right now, and immediately turned her eyes back to Hotaru. "You like
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112 chocolate don't you? I know you don't like milk…" Usagi sighed, looking to the pink haired
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113 child speaking to the incapacitated girl on the bed. Silence followed for a moment, the
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114 sounds of the machines were the only things that broke the thick silence until Chibi spoke
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115 again, "Do you think she can hear me?"
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116 "I dunno…I think so…." She knew that it was doubtful, since she wasn't conscious
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117 and moving, that the receptors in her brain didn't register the words. "You should ask the
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118 doctor, he would know for sure." Chibi only sighed and picked up her chocolate and looked
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119 at it through the small drinking hole in the lid. "It's a bit on the sweeter side," Usagi relayed
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120 to Chibi, hoping that would coax her into drinking it.
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121 "She can hear every word you say," the doctor said as he entered the room via the
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122 door Usagi forgot to close, a few of the staff following suit. "She's not asleep, exactly…she's
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123 in a state of coma, her brain is active, but her body isn't…she doesn't know she can't move,
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124 she doesn't know she can't see, but she can hear you since sound is involuntarily heard."
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125 The doctor sat down on the chair opposite the girls, and crossed his legs, before opening the
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126 chart. The staff, on the other hand began to huddle around Hotaru, Chibi saw that most of
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127 them had needles.
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128 "It looks like your friend has spent a good few days in hospitals before," he pushed
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129 his glasses back and continued, "We have to run a few tests on her skin for feeling, and her
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130 lungs, her brain…it'll be done right now since this is still considered and emergency." Chibi
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131 winced lightly as they stuck Hotaru in her arm to take some blood samples, "We'll have to
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132 take her for another CT scan in the morning…it might take a while to get all the data, and
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133 you two should get some rest."
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134 "Another CT scan…and what is a CT scan?" Usagi looked to the doctor, rather than
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135 the group around Hotaru, not wanting to watch them poke and prod around on her.
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136 "A CT scan is a type of tissue scan…a CAT scan, you've probably heard of that."
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137 He looked at the chart again, then back to Usagi, "And she had one when she came in, and it
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138 showed no abnormalities." Usagi let out a breath that she felt like she had been holding since
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139 she heard that Hotaru was here. "Another one in the morning will confirm the results, as well
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140 as show any damage that might have occurred after the scan. She's not out of the woods yet,
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141 not by far, but if the scan is good she should recover just fine."
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142
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