Oysh, *hides from co-authors* I swear, I will start
working on the other 'shtuff'! See, lookie what you
guys have done... I'm now a fully fledged co-author...
the kind that leaves her readers hanging for months,
just like you all, Meredith, Mizu and Lelu have done.
For shame! *whacks self with ruler* ^^;;

It's taken me a while, I know *hangs head* I'm sorry!
It's just... *wrings hands* well.... you try taking
college classes and you'll see what life is like! ^^
But thanks to everyone who's continued to write to me,
I love e-mails.
Anyhoo, this is one of those eh...
boring-but-necessary chapters ^^;; At least to me it
seems that way. Enjoy reading!

Healer
Chapter 15
Author: Patch
E-mail: patchkhan1@hotmail.com
	kittiekat90@yahoo.com
Editor: Rei Kinneas *aka* Kaitou Comma
Rated: PG

	"I am..."
	"Nothing."
	"Serenity... I am Serenity."
	"No more."
	"Healer... I am Healer..."
	"No more..."
	"I am..."
	"Nothing."
	Serenity quieted and her tossing ceased as the
shrouded person above her stopped his hand motions
over her body. Lieutenant Odin pushed himself away
from the wall he was leaning against and came forward.
	"Are you finished?" he asked.
	The shrouded figure turned to him and nodded. "Once
she awakens, she will be weak and remember basically
nothing. Her memory will be very much like an empty
slate, ready for your bidding. She will be pliable;
moldable."
	"Excellent." Odin's grin was filled with menace and
his eyes gleamed with an unholy darkness. "She will be
an interesting and most beneficial venture for me." He
reached into his jacket and tossed a bag of gold to
the other man. "Not a word, old man," Odin warned,
"I've already done away with your two minions." The
other man turned to him in surprise and the Lieutenant
nodded in response. "I think you understand that they
weren't to be trusted."
	"But-"
	"And I also think you understand that if you stray in
your loyalties, you will answer to me." The gleam of a
lethal looking blade shined in the lowly lit room and
the other man took a step back. "You do understand,
old man. Now, let us go. I have great plans for our
lovely Moon Maiden."
	"Moon Maiden?" the shrouded man questioned, taking a
step forward.
	 Odin laughed heartily at his own secrets and
motioned the other man to walk with him. "Come! I will
tell you all about my plans."
	The two left the small room without a backward
glance. The body of Serenity lay cold and motionless
on the hard table in the center of the room.


	Kunzite looked down uncertainly at the woman in his
arms. He closed his eyes, clearly remembering only a
few hours before when he had told Jaedite to retire so
that he could finish up the night watch. He hadn't
been able to fall asleep, and feeling restless, he had
relieved Jaedite of his duties.
	Opening his eyes again, he took note of the yellow
blonde hair that fell across his left arm and sighed.
If he knew anything about how the Fates worked, he was
almost certain that this night would be a long for one
for him.
	He shifted Minako in his arms and sighed once more.
He had no idea where her room was and did not think it
too wise if he woke up one of the Senshi. Besides, he
didn't even know where any of their rooms were!
	He walked towards the rooms known as the Generals'
Quarters that lay near the Prince's. He stopped
outside of Endymion's room, hearing noises, but
shrugged and continued onwards, thinking it was
probably his sleep-deprived imagination. Speaking of
sleep...
	Kunzite yawned, wondering why he had volunteered to
take Jaedite's place. He entered his room and lay
Minako on the neatly made bed. He stared down at her
for a moment before shaking his head. What had this
woman been doing out in the hallways so late at night?
She had had a wild look in her eyes when she had
turned around. There had been fear and disbelief in
those beautiful blue orbs of hers.
	They were emotions he had never seen. Her sharp eyes
were usually filled with determination and were almost
always shooting sparks at either him, the Prince or
one of the other Generals. Whenever there was an
argument between one of the Generals and Senshi, she
knew about it and was always there, getting in the
middle of everything, defending her friends quite
adamantly.
	Kunzite knew she was the leader among the Senshi but
he honestly believed she was taking her role too far.
He also had a good idea that one of the main reasons
for her behavior had to do with the disappearance of
the Princess. How the two were connected was beyond
him, but he was almost sure of it that Minako had been
affected deeply by the events... more so than she let
on.
	He looked down at her once more, pulled a cover over
her, before turning away and leaving the room. But
then again, he thought, as he stepped out into the
hallway, he too showed little and
hid quite a lot.

	Morning had come too soon, Minako thought lazily, as
she turned under the covers, slowly waking. She
breathed in deeply and smiled slightly at the scent of
comforting maleness. It was such a nice, pleasant
smell.
	Wait a second.
	Comforting maleness? Her eyes popped open and she let
her gaze travel quickly around the room. The room that
was definitely not hers.
	Sitting up, she looked at the dresser across the room
that held an assortment of things that she certainly
did not own. They were all... male items.
	"Oh no!" she moaned, last night's events coming back
to her in a rush. She covered her face with her hands
when she realized she had no doubt of where she was.
This was so embarrassing, she thought. If the others
got wind of this, they would never let it go. She, the
leader of the Senshi, had fainted into the leader of
the General's arms. She moaned again, feeling her
face, even now, turn red.
	She suddenly stopped and lifted her head as she
thought of the other events before meeting Kunzite.
She remembered feeling so scared as she walked down
the quiet and dark hallways. She had seen something; a
figure of a woman.
	"Serenity..." Minako whispered, her eyes falling to
her open hands. She had seen her best friend, she
could almost swear it. But it was impossible, the
logical part of her mind told her. However, she had
been wide awake and very alert at the time, so how
could she have been dreaming it?
	Shutting her eyes tightly, Minako tried to conjure up
the images from yesterday. She had awoken from a sharp
pain. Where? Her hand drifted up to her chest. It had
felt as though it had come from her heart. She was not
seeing something, this much she knew.
	"Oh Serenity... why?"
	Why were they here? The question rang in her head for
the hundredth time. Because the Princess had chosen to
stay here, that's why. Minako knew that Serenity had
had the option of escaping from thecampsite. She was
the holder of the Imperium Silver Crystal, a crystal
that held a numerous amount of powers. Once Serenity
had discovered where she was, it wouldn't have been
difficult for her to teleport out of there. She and
the others, including the Queen had trained her to use
that ability well.
	However, Serenity had decided to forego that option
and she had stayed. Minako sighed and almost smiled.
She had done her best to introduce Serenity to almost
all the men who visited the Moon Court but the
Princess had to go and fall in love with the Earth
Prince. The irony of it all.
	And then, Minako had believed that it was just an
infatuation Serenity had had for the Prince. But on
that terrible day, when she had forced herself to look
into Endymion, she had realized with horror just how
wrong she had been. The two shared a love so deep, she
had only heard of stories about such a bond from her
mother. She, herself, could only hope for ever
attaining such a level of love with someone else.
	"Good morning."
	Minako gasped and looked towards the door. She hadn't
even heard it open and now it was closed with Kunzite
standing in front of it. When she didn't say anything
to him, he walked forward.
	"You looked so deep in thought, I didn't want to
disturb you. How are you feeling?"
	She watched him come closer and swallowed, suddenly
feeling nervous. "I'm... I'm fine. I apologize for
last night, I did not mean to be such an
inconvenience."
	He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "You were hardly
an inconvenience. I was on the night watch, so I had
no use for my bed."
	"Oh." They said nothing and Minako knew his eyes were
on her, even though her head was bent. This situation
is ridiculous, she thought. The longer she stayed, the
bigger the chance that someone would see her coming
out of this room. That got her moving.
	"Well, you'll probably be needing your bed now! I'll
just be going and leave you to get some… sleep." She
climbed out of the bed and walked towards the door as
he walked towards the bed. They passed each other and
Minako's bent head suddenly shot up when she felt a
hand enclose her wrist. She turned her head and met
Kunzite's eyes. To her, it seemed as though Time had
screeched to a halt. She could hear the thundering of
her heart in her ears and her throat went dry. She
swallowed to no avail and waited for Kunzite's next
move.
	He didn't make any; instead he spoke. And what he
said surprised her beyond belief. "If you ever need to
talk, Lady Minako, I'm always here to listen."
	She nodded mutely, and pulled her arm away and walked
to the door. Opening it, she looked back to see him
staring at her. "But we are not friends," she
whispered to him.
	"We do not have to be."
	And with that cryptic statement said by him, she
thought it best to leave the room.

	"Endymion, maybe it would be a good idea for you to
take a rest. You've done enough this afternoon."
	"But I'm not tired at all. I believe I have the
energy to keep going and I also need something to
occupy my mind otherwise…" the Prince trailed off, not
having to finish the sentence. His father knew what
his next words would have been. The King looked at his
son in concern, taking in the tired and exhausted look
on his face, the pain in his normally brilliant eyes
and there was so much more. Although he did not want
Endymion to burden himself so much with the kingdom's
affairs, it seemed to be the best thing for him.
	In the first two weeks that had followed the
Princess' disappearance, Endymion had used up any and
all resources available to him in order to find her.
He had been restless, short-tempered and panicked. The
royal family had sent out notices of a reward in an
unimaginable amount and it was then that things had
taken a turn for the worse.
	There had been so many false leads and each time,
Endymion would not let go until he was sure it was a
dead end. And with each successive failure, he
withdrew from those who surrounded him. In another few
days it would be a month since the kidnapping. There
had been no clues, no hints, nothing. They had never
moved from where they had started and King Terrance
knew it was tearing his son apart.
	"Well, the next case involves Lieutenant Potikin. You
know him, he was at that last campsite you were at. It
appears that he has been brought up on charges of
illegitimate use of authority and abuse of power. Are
you sure you're up to it?"
	Endymion nodded and sighed wearily. "Bring him in,"
he said, motioning to the guards to open the doors. He
hadn't seen the man since he had left and he would
rather not see the man either. Any ties to the past he
wanted to break. There were memories in almost
everything he saw or touched. And each time they
reminded him of the lost Princess. Even a man he
hadn't liked him very much would probable evoke some
memory and that was the last thing he needed.
	"Your Highnesses."
	His attention was snapped back to the matter at hand.
He took in the fact that Potikin showed no sort of
anxiety or fear at having to face the royal court on
some serious charges. He knew that there was just
something about this man that rubbed him the wrong
way.
	"Lieutenant Potikin, are you aware of the charges
brought forth against you?" Endymion asked, leaning
forward.
	The other man nodded in affirmation. "I am."
	"Do you have anything to say in defense?"
	At this question, Potikin's face broke into a smile
surprising both Endymion and his father. "I was only
following orders Your Highnesses." The statement was
said with an air of arrogance and mocking that was
certainly not to be tolerated.
	"Our orders did not allow you to reprimand soldiers
in the harsh manner as has been reported. And you were
certainly not permitted to attack enemy camps without
the permission of the authorities higher than you.
Your unnecessary actions and bad maneuvers resulted in
lives wasted. The punishment is not light."
	"I am willing to take on anything you have to give
me, Your Highnesses. However, there is one thing I
must point out. Has the war not ended? Beryl's forces
have retreated from attacking our
camps."
	"The situation has abated temporarily, Potikin," the
Prince answered. "Do not let yourself take that much
of an honor. What cannot be forgotten is your behavior
which cannot be tolerated."
	Endymion looked at his father who nodded. His face
was grim when he turned back to Potikin. But the other
man showed no emotions. "You will have to be
dismissed, Potikin. Your services are no longer needed
and you may not join any sector of the Earth's
military."
	There was no reaction. Nothing at all and Endymion
found himself wondering what Potikin was thinking at
the moment. After a moment of silence, the
ex-Lieutenant bowed and smiled once more.
	"I am happy that I was of service to the royal family
and their ventures. I will take my leave of your
presence, Your Highnesses. My deepest regrets for the
dead Princess." He straightened, made a sharp turn and
walked out of the room. As soon as the doors closed,
the King exhaled loudly and looked at his son who was
frowning slightly and appeared to be deep in thought.
	"The audacity of that man. Till the end, it appeared
as though he had no intentions of showing us respect.
I am glad that we are rid of him."
	Endymion nodded, not saying anything in response. He
suddenly stilled, remembering Potikin's last words. No
one knew if the Princess was dead or not, yet Potikin
had gone about saying the words in an almost smug way.
His eyes widened and he bounded forward from his seat.
He quickly ran down the few steps of the dais and
yelled for the guards to open the doors. Rushing
through them he headed for the entrance of the Palace.

	It was only a hunch but he had to follow it. It was
quite a possibility that Potikin had some sort of
connection to the kidnapping of Serenity. It certainly
wouldn't hurt to question the man more thoroughly. He
increased his speed, his footsteps quick and his
breathing fast. He rushed past Nephrite and Jaedite
who looked at each other for only a second before
running after their Prince.
 	The small group reached the outside of the Palace
and the two Generals found themselves halting sharply
when Endymion stopped suddenly.
	"Endymion, what is it?" Nephrite asked in alarm.
	"Potikin! Find him! He might be connected to
Serenity's disappearance."
	Shock on their faces, the two men ran in opposite
directions to alert the guards. Endymion stayed where
he was, scanning the surrounding area. A bead of sweat
trickled down the back of his neck and he rubbed the
area, feeling his heart pound against his ribcage. He
was almost certain that Potikin could give him the
answers that he so desperately needed.
	He saw Ami and Rei running towards them and decided
to meet them halfway. By seeing their expressions, he
deducted that they probably knew something had
happened.
	"There's a man by the name of Thomas Potikin who
might have some ties to Serenity's disappearance. He
was a Lieutenant in the army, and he was just
dismissed due to some unrelated charges. We must find
him."
	"How do we know what he looks like?" Rei asked.
	"Find Zoicite. He's in charge of all files that we
have on military personnel. He has access to the
system and he'll be able to pull up Potikin's
picture."
	The two women nodded and ran inside. He saw Ami flip
open a communicator and realized that she was
contacting the other two Senshi. He made a mental note
to ask her for more information on that gadget.
	But right now… he turned back around and rushed down
the Palace steps to find Kunzite. They were so close
to finding Serenity. So close…

	Luck was not on the side of Endymion when he met with
the Generals and Senshi later that night. Their
expressions of disappointment dampened his spirits and
any hope he had been harboring was slowly fading.
       	"We've looked Endymion. We've looked anywhere
and everywhere and it's like the man's disappeared
without a trace."
	The others all nodded dejectedly at Kunzite's
statement. But when Endymion's fist slammed down on
the wooden table, they all looked up in alarm.
	"I can't believe that and neither should any of you.
Potikin is out there and the fact that we supposedly
can't find him only makes him more of a suspect. There
is a way to get him and we will not give up until we
succeed. Am I understood?"
	They all nodded without a word of disagreement.
Endymion looked at his Generals, nodded and then left
the room determinedly. For a long moment, no one said
a word. None of them had seen Endymion so… livened up
since Serenity's disappearance. It appeared as though
the slump he had fallen into was long gone.

	"Wake up, brat! You'll 'ave to perform in just a few
so get your arse movin'!" A slap across the face got
the actions desired and Olga, an old hag of a woman,
shuffled to the other side of the room to wake up the
other girls. The girl she had so cruelly hit rubbed
her face, holding back the tears that threatened to
fall.
	She saw Olga slap another girl awake and tamped down
the curl of anger that rose within her when she saw
that the injured party was Judy, who was only of seven
years. She met the child's eyes from across the small
room, smiled and nodded, encouraging Judy to come to
her. The small girl did so, throwing back the blanket
and running to her.
	"Maiden! Will ye be doing yer magic today?" Judy
asked, settling herself in the women's lap. She nodded
and her smile became sad. "It appears so, little one.
Otherwise old Olga would have let me have a few more
moments of sleep. But since I'm up early just like
you, I'm afraid I'll be performing."
	Judy nodded but before she could say anything, Olga
interrupted the two. "Stop yer chatting you lousy
lumps! Get yerselves dressed and get a bite to eat
before we open."
	The two scrambled to do as they were told. Judy went
outside to wash up and Maiden went to the trunk that
held their costumes. She took out her outfit and
looking at it, sighed sadly. She hugged the dress to
her and walked towards one of the windows of the
trailer she and Judy shared. The sun looked awfully
hot today, she realized. It would be a long and
tiresome day. Her eyes took in the view of the green
hills in the distance. If only she had the strength to
escape, she would and take Judy with her too. And then
from there she would start find a home, find a new
job, and start a new life. And most importantly, she
would find a new name.
	Her circus name was Moon Maiden yet to all the
performers and insiders, her name was Maiden. She
hated the name but having no clue to her identity or
origins, she had no choice but to accept it. But one
day… One day she would be free.
	At the sound of Judy's voice, she turned away from
the small window and quickly changed. The tight
fitting costume made her feel uncomfortable yet by
orders of the Master she had to. He was in charge and
what he said was the law. And if one were to break the
laws he made, there was a price to pay, often from the
metal-tipped edge of a whip. She smoothed the gold and
white dress over her body. In her opinion, it showed
too much skin and would never be worn by a normal
person. But then again, she wasn't normal according to
the standards of the people here.
	"Can I brush yer hair, Maiden?"
	She smiled at the eagerness evident in Judy's voice.
Turning to the girl, she held the brush out and then
turned back around. "Go ahead, Judy. I have many
tangles from last night's sleep."
	"I'll make yer hair all smooth an' shiny so that
it'll glow when you do yer magic!"
	Her magic. Often she fell into deep thought about
this 'magical' power she had. It just seemed so unreal
and impossible to understand. Yet, when she
concentrated like the Master had told her to, an
unearthly glow would erupt from her hands and
amazingly fix a living being's ailments. How and why
had she been graced with such a gift? She feared she
would never know the answer. However, the Master had
found her, as he first told her, and seen that she
used her powers to good use. And here she was, one of
the many exotic and strange attractions at the Tarnum
& Tailey Circus (^^;;).
	"Are ye ready, Maiden?"
	She turned back around, a small smile on her face.
She took Judy into a warm hug. "I am, love. Thank you
so much." Poor Judy. The child had no hair. She had
been the victim of a great fire and it was a miracle
she had survived, as Maiden had learned. However, the
tragedy of it all was that although Judy lived, her
face had been horribly disfigured and the fire had
burned off all of her hair. As a result, she was the
Freak Child.
	Once again, a wave of anger washed through Maiden. It
was unfair that the child be put on show for others to
gawk at. If Maiden could, she would have helped Judy a
long time ago, however the Master forbid her to use
her powers on any of the performers. Her gift was to
be used as a means of making money. So she could only
help those who paid for her 'services'.
	"I love yer hair, Maiden. I wish I could have some
just like it!"
	"You wouldn't want my hair, love. It's so long and it
gets so many knots. My hair can be such a bother
sometimes."
	"But I still love it! It's such a pretty color! I've
never seen anyone with silver hair before!"

 End.
Hmm... silver hair? What happened to all the gold? The
answer will have to wait until next time ^^
Thanks for reading!