Title: Love For All Time Part 17 Author: Jade Hunter A.N: It was wrong of me to stop before telling the dreadful tale last chapter, wasn't it? Well, here it is, in flashback form. It might not be as terrible as the Senshi made it seem, and yet, if we had to do it, we'd probably fear it more. And, in apology of the long time I did not update, I made this chapter longer. Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer is on Parts 1, 4, 8, 12, and 16. "talking" **thoughts** _emphasis_ <> ////memories//// ############################################################################# Setsuna's face peered omniously at them. The shadows played with her features, making her look darker. They all gulped, as they too, remembered that fateful day when they whitnessed their Sensei's malicious edge. Mamoru and the cats could not help but edge away from the aforesaid Sensei. And Ryuujin just kept on laughing. ////flashback//// Ryuujin sat on the ground, in lotus position, with closed eyes. He was in deep meditation, and had been up hours before. He was waiting for the newly appointed Senshi to get here for training. They had a few more minutes; the sun had yet to rise. He searched the castle with his spirit form, a slight smile on his physical body. He knew, and knew well, that there was no way that the eight Princesses had taken him seriously yesterday when he told them their appointed time, even if their answers had been enthusiastic. They had been flowing with the rush of the boosted power levels, and had just done what they had to in order to be dismissed. When he found their quarters, he came back into his body and stood up, staring at a spot just beyond the horizon of the Training Grounds. The first crack of sunlight peeped over the edge. "Time's up," he whispered, and then concentrated. His armour appeared, and he grinned maliciously as he pictured a ball of ice cold water over each of their heads. "This is your wake up call," he sing-songed quietly and let gravity do it's work. "Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The resulting screams were music to his ears. He laughed, quietly, so that none would hear and spoil his image of a stern and cold-hearted man. He scoured deep into his soul, and touched each of the differently colored strings that attatched him to them, excepting the silver one, having no need for the Queen to be here. As loud as he could, he sent his thoughts resounding through their minds with the link, <> He left his barrier down long enough to hear them cursing him in their minds, and then snapped up the mind sheild. Needless to say, less than five minutes later, eight _very_ unhappy Princesses were gathered in front of him, lined by rank. "Have a nice sleep?" he asked cheerfully, detransforming in a flash of silver-black light. Black trousers and a silver shirt appeared in place of the fancy armour. He was rather surprised when Princess Lita, he believed it was, literally growled at him. "How dare you wake us up so early and then give us no time but to dress in civilian clothes and rush down here?" Mina demanded haughtily. "We are Princesses," Amy stated logically. "We have to keep up appearances." Ryuujin frowned. They were more prissy than he had anticipated. **Ah well, more fun for me, then,** he grinned inwardly, getting a wild gleam in his eyes as he thought of the most dirty, down-to-earth, and humbling training he knew of. "I don't see why we have to obey you," Erika snarled, her previous respect gone and replaced by grouchiness at being drenched at a unsoundly hour. "There are a few things you have to know," Ryuujin started in a sharp voice, startling them. No one had ever talked to them this rudely, that much was apparent. "1) Starting from dawn till I say so, you strain with me. 2) During that time, you are not Princesses. You are nothing. 3) You will stop worrying about your appearances. Believe me, you'll learn to stop the hard way, if you don't get it the easy way. 4) I can tell you to do anything, and you'd have to obey me. I am the Sensei here, and the laws clearly state that I am in charge for the duration of the class. 5) You don't pull rank over me. EVER." Eyes narrowed, Michelle bit out, "We understand the laws, and they _do_ state that you have rank over us during your lessons. But the laws state that outside the lessons, we are Princesses, and that means we have rank over _you_." "No," Ryuujin smiled grimly. "It does not." "Why not?" Raye demanded. "We are Princesses." "You are Princesses," Ryuujin nodded. "But you have no rank over me. Your Princess, Serenity the fifth, has no rank over me. Your Queen, Serenity the fourth, has no rank over me." "How dare you?" Lita shouted. "That is treason! Traitor to the Queen, traitor to the people, traitor to the House of the Moon!" "I dare," Ryuujin said quietly, but in a powerful voice that radiated power and demanded obediance. "I dare, because it is true. I am no traitor to the House, to the people, or to the Queen." Hotaru interjected, "We just heard you say that you wouldn't listen if the Queen ordered you. That is treason. That is trechery." "You know so much, yet so little," Ryuujin stated. "I am no traitor. If the Queen asked me to do something, and I thought it sensible, I would. As best I could." "And if you thought it unsensible?" Setsuna asked, speaking up. "What then?" "Then I would refuse," Ryuujin answered calmly. "I have the right to do so." "No one has the right to refuse her order, not without punishment!" argued Raye. "No one!" "I am the Elemental Knight, girl!" Ryuujin raised his voice slightly, with a cutting edge in his voice. He was getting impatient. "I am older than you can imagine! I was the only one, the only one out of thousands, who held rank over the first Queen of the House of the Moon. Not even the other Kings, the other Queens, had any rank over her! But I did. Because I trained her. I raised her. I gave her the power with which she ruled the entire galaxy, minus Earth, in only a few years! I was the only one she could trust, the only one other than herself she let near her daughter, let alone train her, as she requested of me. And I did. I trained them all, _including_ Serenity the fourth. I knew her since she was born, I was the first person who's name she spoke, the first one she'd ever confide in! And _that_, girl, is the reason I out rank her!" His words echoed around the now bright grounds, and awed silence fell over the Senshi as they found a little about the man who spoke so rudely to them. And now they knew why. Why the Queen had been so happy to see him. Why the guards had been so afraid of him. Why he could be so rude to them without punishment. After all, how could anyone punish the man who had founded the kindgom? How would one go about punishing the man who gave the Silver Imperium Crystal to the very _first_ Selenity, from a line of over fifteen Queen Selenitys, the last one whom named the first Serenity? Suddenly, the respect was back, along with a tinge of fear, and more than a hint of idolization. Just as suddenly, Ryuujin calmed, and the stormy expression on his face gave way to a more neutral, but still stern, look. "We've wasted enough time," Ryuujin sighed. "To begin with, since you obviously have no conditioning whatsoever, we'll start of light." He looked around the Training Grounds - about the size of a football field - and shook his head. "A bit small, but it will have to do. Run around the edges of the Grounds once, and come back." Immediatly, they all took off, and although groaning and complaing about it inwardly, they dared not do anything outwardly except make pained faces. Hotaru, being the youngest and also the most weakest physically, was the first to get tired, and began to lag behind the others. A few more yards, and the Inners were not that far ahead of her. Michelle though healthier than the Inners, was in worst shape than Erika, who was a few feet ahead of her. Setsuna was in the best shape it seemed. "Oh boy," Ryuujin sighed, hanging his head as he mentally categorized what shape they were in. "This is going to be a long day." Almost fifteen minutes later, the eight Senshi truged in, jogging more slowly than Ryuujin walked. He sweatdropped as they all collapsed on the ground. He gave them a few minutes to cool down, and fought the urge to tell them that it was more better if they cooled down gradually by walking it off, not all at once by sitting down and making their blood pool in their legs. "Alright, that was.......um, well, acutally, I can't lie. It was pathetic," Ryuujin admitted. Glaring at him, Erika muttered curses underneath her breath. If she was able to, she would have liked to puch him, but her legs felt like mush. "Listen, you," Mina started, then stopped. "Hey, what is your name, anyways?" "You can all me Sensei," Ryuujin stated. Nodding, Michelle agreed, "Yes. During our lessons, we will call you Sensei. However, that is not appropriate outside of lessons, is it?" "It is if I say it is," Ryuujin countered. "And I say it is." "Aw, come on," Erika scowled. Ryuujin frowned heavily as they all agreed, and began to nag him for his name. He couldn't get a word in otherwise, and spent the next hour or so deflecting questions about his name. They were so annoying, and so consistant, that he became more and more angry. So angry, that he 'accidentally' forgot to dismiss them for breakfast. And since they had no way to tell what was going on in the castle, they never paused in bugging him. They only found out about breakfast when, an hour later, Queen Serenity came out. "My Queen," the Senshi said in unison, bowing. "What brings you here?" Ryuujin asked, not bothering to bow. That last time was only for the show of those who were fairly new to the Court of Serenity. "Shouldn't you be having a Council meeting?" "Yes," Queen Serenity nodded, smiling slightly. "But I was a bit curious as to why the Senshi missed breakfast today." "WHAT?" Raye shouted. "We missed breakfast!!" "Yes," the Queen nodded. She turned to Ryuujin and asked, "Didn't you tell them when it was time for breakfast?" "Nope," Ryuujin smirked. "And why not?" an enraged Erikaa snarled. Ryuujin scowled fiercely and answered, "You will have food only when I feel you earned it. All you did this morning was run a lap and then question me about my name." "The why didn't you stop us?" Michelle demanded. "I could have," Ryuujin agreed. "But what would you have learned? Nothing but dependance. You would expect me to tell you to take your training seriously and not waste time! If you do not want to train, then I will let you waste as much time as you want. You will just have to make it up, and without food!" "What kind of twisted logic is that?" Lita huffed. "I'm starving, and I thought it was just because I ran!" "It is true logic," Queen Serenity interrupted. At the same time, Ryuujin snorted and muttered, "All you did was run one measly lap. I've done more than that when I was a mere babe." Setsuna hesitated, not sure on what to say, and then asked, "What do you mean, my Queen?" "You see," the Queen began. "If Sensei must order you to stop dawdling and train seriously, then you are not entirely dedicated to training. If you are not entirely dedicated, then you cannot be trusted with protecting my daughter." Amy spoke up in protest, "But we would protect the Princess wth our lives!" "Yes," Ryuujin nodded. "There may be a time when you may have to do exactly that. However, before that time comes, I would prefer you protect the Princess with skill, and experience. You cannot learn skill and experience, you must earn it, through years of training. Serious training, which I found that none of you have a mind for." Queen Serenity took up the scolding, "And unless you train seriously, _without_ need of orders to, I can never entirely trust that you have the skill, the dedication, and the determination needed to protect Serena." Understanding shone in the Outer Senshi's eyes, and the more mature Princesses immediatly vowed to take their lessons seriously. Although not as forgiving or understanding as the Outers, the Inners had to admit that Sensei had made a very good point about protecting the Princess with skill first. They, while not comprehending most of the rules he had set up, still were determined to see things through. Upon noticing their renewed determination, Ryuujin let a small pleased expression come to his face. He heard in his mind, <> Knowing that the only one who was aware of his link to all of them was the Queen herself, he brushed his mind against the silver thread briefly, <> Sweatdropping, the Queen retreated out of the Grounds, sending back, <> <> he mentally grinned at her. He then turned his attention to the Senshi, who were all ears now that they understood. "You wasted over and hour of my time, and your time. Myself, I have all eternity to do this, but you don't, and more importantly, neither does your Princess." "Well, we're ready," Erika spoke up grimly. "Let's get started." "Not so fast," Ryuujin frowned. "I still have to repreimand you for that wasted hour. My duty as a teacher, you know." Mina blinked before flippantly saying, "Consider us reprimanded." "We'll never do it again," Lita nodded. "Ever," Raye grinned hopefully. Michelle agreed, "Yes, I sure learned _that_ lesson. Let's get on with this, shall we? Wasting valuable time here!" Ryuujin glowered at them in bored amusement, "Nice try. You still get punshied. Since it is your first day, I will give you an easy punishment. You get to do a Circuit." ############################################################################# To be continued in Part 18. ~~~~~Jade Hunter~~~~~