So, the day had finally arrived.

Washu folded her night clothes slowly and methodically, pausing for a moment to glance at her reflection in the small, gilt-framed mirror that hung on the steel-panel wall across from her bed. For a moment she met shadowed green eyes with her own, and then she smiled ruefully, shaking her head.

"I suppose today we'll see what they're all made of." She murmured absently, setting the nightclothes to one side as she glanced around her chamber once more. Everything was impeccably in place, however, and she nodded in approval, pushing her hands together and flickering her form out of the bedroom. As she re-materialised within her laboratory, she was aware of voices and, muttering a curse under her breath, she pushed her body through the back wall into the secret annexe, leaning up against the panel divide as she did so and taking a deep breath of air into her lungs.

"She's not in her chamber, so I assumed that she must be here." A voice drifted through the wall, and she placed her ear up against the panels, narrowing her eyes as she strained to hear every word of the conversation. "Do you think she's absconded, Menori-sensei? Left the Academy altogether?"

"No." The second voice was more measured, arrogance oozing from every word, and despite herself Washu clenched her fists, fighting the urge to emerge from her hiding place to knock the smile off her colleague's smug face. "Washu won't run. She has nowhere to run to, after all. You know what's been said, don't you? This isn't any ordinary hearing. The woman obliterated a planet belonging to a Princess of Jurai. Where could she hide that Juraian hands couldn't reach?"

"True." The second voice acknowledged. "But if that's the case, where is she? If the Elders find that she's disappeared, there'll be more trouble."

"Well, I think Washu-sensei might be a mad woman and a pest, but I do think she has too much pride not to show up for her own hearing." Menoru spoke with conviction. "An opportunity to have everyone's attention focused solely on her and her abominable creations of mass-destruction? She'd never be able to pass that up. Come on, Hakiko. We want to get good seats, after all. Let Akira Itokawa and his droids locate the good Professor. She won't miss her cue."

There was the sound of a door sliding shut, and Washu knew that she was once more alone. She grimaced, muttering a few choice epithets under her breath as she did so.

"I didn't destroy any planet, but I don't suppose that it matters if I did or I didn't." She murmured. "I knew Kagato hadn't given up on me so easily. This has to be his doing. How else did that planet so conveniently disappear - and one of my prototypes along with it? I've grown careless...I've not been paying attention. So distracted by other things..."

She hesitated, then crossed the floor of the secret lab, running her palm over the control console of the big computer system that stood against the furthest wall. It glittered and hummed into life, and despite herself, a look of sadness touched Washu's eyes as she powered up her precious organic machine.

"You and I have almost been partners, these last two years. With noone else left, I've relied on you far more than I should have, and that's a fact." She murmured. "But today...I don't know what is going to happen. So I must lock you, once and for all, against enemy intrusion. If anyone was to break your seal and discover how you were created, you could be a dangerous weapon indeed and I won't allow you to be one in any hands but mine. If someone finds this room - you must be inaccessible to them. Much as it pains me, I have to shut you down."

The computer glimmered and clicked as if understanding her words, then, as she ran her fingers across a red dial, a bevy of images and files flickered up on the screen before her. For a moment, Washu gazed at them, her green eyes softening as she scanned through them one by one.

"Ryoko." She murmured. "Well, Kichi, it might just be that what I feared has finally come to pass. If Kagato still thinks I'm a threat, then he can't ever make a connection between us. That being so, I've taken steps. Your files have already been removed...but there is one more thing I must do, before I go and face the Elders. It might be for nothing, but just in case things go wrong, I have to protect what we've fought so hard to do. Too many people already died because of these gems. Now their location must be kept a secret - at all costs."

She drew her hand sharply across the computer dial, cracking through it with her nail as energy flickered across her palm, darting and flashing beneath the surface of the machine's outer panel and into the workings beneath. As the flare intensified, the files on the screen began to fade and disintegrate, one by one, until she was left with a completely blank screen.

"Well, so it's done." She said sadly. "Good luck, my daughter. I hope I've done enough to protect your location. One day you might be the difference between life and death of this universe. Whatever they do to me today, at least I'm still prepared. Kagato hasn't found my trump card yet, and he won't, with any luck. Not now I've erased any record of Ryoko's existance from my computer. And now, one final act, before I go."

She gritted her teeth, redoubling her energy as sparks danced along the underside of the computer's circuitboards, one by one shutting each and every function down. Eventually the machine's whirring ceased and it stood completely silent, almost eerily dead in the tiny, artificially lit room.

Washu stood back, placing her hands together briefly as if in imitation of some ancient prayer ritual. Then she smiled, looking rueful.

"What am I doing? For a computer?" She berated herself out loud. "But one whose operations have been more like a friend than anything else. I've sealed the dimensional doorway. I've erased Ryoko's records and shut down my machine. There's no paper trail now, to lead to Yubisu, Kichi and my baby. I've done all I can. It's time I gave them what they wanted. While they focus on me, I can divert their attention from Ryoko."

To think was to act, and she clenched her hands together once more, blurring out of the lab and back to her chamber, where she pushed back the sliding door, making her way slowly and sedately along the hallway towards the gathering group of scientists and officials that were surrounding the end of her corridor. At her arrival, one young man let out an exclamation of surprise.

"Washu Hakubi! But you weren't...we just..."

"I'm hurt. You overlooked little me?" Washu asked him lightly. "Do you want to be late? I have an appointment with the Elders - it would be rude to keep them waiting. Don't you think so, Akira-san?"

The man's face twisted into a look of dislike, and he nodded curtly.

"Come with me." He said quietly. "The Elders have asked that I escort you to the door, at least to make sure you get there safely, and are not tempted to flee your justice."

"I have no intention of fleeing." Washu assured him. "But company would be nice. That was thoughtful of the Elders, wasn't it, Akira-san? Always looking out for their personnel, huh?"

"Don't speak to me." Akira said flatly. "Unless you plan on telling me exactly what became of my sister, I have nothing to say to you. She trusted her scientific dreams in your patronage - I would dearly like to see the Elders give you the full thrust of their justice today, that's for sure."

"I have not seen Kichi in some time." Washu said levelly. "She and I parted ways. Unfortunately her work became such a deviation from my own, that she decided it was better to leave my mentorship. I can't tell you any more than that, because it's all I know. I'm surprised she hasn't been in touch, Akira-san. She seemed very fond of you, once upon a time."

Akira flinched, and Washu knew she'd hit a nerve. She offered him an opaque smile.

"You appear to have stopped." She added softly. "And I'd like us to be there in good time."

Akira's eyes narrowed, but he did not respond. Instead he gripped her firmly by the arm, almost marching her along the hallway to the blue-panelled walkway that led to the Elders' Court. Washu frowned at his roughness, but did not object to the man-handling, instead glancing around her as she registered who had turned out to see her face her demons. In the last few months, she knew, she had made few friends, and as she registered this, she felt a slight pang of regret for a life lost. After all, she reasoned, the Academy had once been her home. Then, as the memory of something else reared its head within her, she hardened herself, fixing her expression into an impassive smile as she did so.

"After all, regretting it won't change it." She muttered to herself inwardly. "And you have a role to play here and now, Washu-chan. Let's see what cards Kagato has laid down on the table this time, shall we? If his puppetry isn't blatant to anyone else, it is to me. He's tried and failed to eliminate me so many times since I first fled his stupid, tree-obsessed planet. I guess this is his next course of action. Frame me in the destruction of Lady Aiko's territory and press for me to be exiled. Well, and he might just have his way, too. But I suppose, considering everything, that's probably all right. I can't pretend I have anything here to cling onto any more, and if this is the way it is, so be it. Just make sure you put on a good show for the audience, Washu-chan. Let them feel your dismay and your fear. Let them believe it ends with you. After all, a lot of things depend on it."

"Washu-sensei!"

A young voice broke through her musings and she glanced up sharply, realising they had reached the entrance of the hearing chamber already. A dark haired woman had accosted them, an anxious expression on her cheeky features as she gripped Washu by the wrists, pushing Akira back against his guards. "Washu, how can you let them pull you along like that? You and I both know that this is stupid - you'd never do anything like they're saying you did!"

"Perhaps I did." Washu raised clouded green eyes to her companion's dark ones, shrugging her shoulders. "Perhaps I didn't. Following rules gets boring after a while, after all. But it won't do you any good to be seen talking to me now, Manami. I've offended Jurai in some way and if your secondment there is to go through, you have to turn right around and walk away. I'm not someone you should associate with, if you ever want to be in that planet's grace."

"But Washu-sensei!"

"But nothing." Washu's eyes hardened. "You don't need me to tell you how to behave. Leave me alone, Manami. You know that you can't do anything, and I don't need your help. What will be will be. Don't get pulled into my mess."

"Professor." Manami's eyes widened with surprise and hurt, and despite herself, Washu felt a pang of guilt at the look in the girl's dark gaze. She shook her head.

"Go." She said softly. "Your future is on Jurai, after all."

Manami bit her lip, then slowly, she shook her head.

"Whatever you say, I won't believe it of you." She said quietly. "And I know that Kichi wouldn't have, either. I don't know where she is, or why she's abandoned you. But I don't believe she'd ever stop believing in you. I know you, and I know what you're capable of."

"Do you?" Darkness snapped into Washu's expression, and she shook her head, bending close so that only Manami could hear her. "Do you really? I don't think so. Do you put so much faith in a centuries old demon who helped destroy the entire population of her own home world, Manami Kurashida? You don't know me at all, and neither does Kichi. Noone does. Considering that, do you really think that destroying an unpopulated world is beyond me? When I already have so many deaths on my conscience? And if you get too close to me, you'll also have your fingers burnt. So for your own sake, and while you still have life, step away. Your future is elsewhere. Not in the fate of a Kii demon with blood on her hands."

Manami's face drained of colour, and Washu stood back, meeting her gaze for one more minute. Then she turned, and as Akira's grip tightened once more around her wrist, she did not resist being led towards the light of the hearing chamber beyond. As she did so, she caught sight of a young man watching her from the end of the hallway. He was unfamiliar to her, yet something in the intensity of his gaze made her look twice. She frowned, taking in the unusual, bi-colour eyes and the physique which told of a life lived in action beneath his Science Academy uniform. Her eyes narrowed, as she registered what she was seeing.

"You don't belong here." She murmured. "But why...are you here? What do you...?"

"Will you stop stalling, and come with me?" Akira's voice in her ear made her turn, and she sent him a grimace.

"You never did have Kichi's good manners." She said scathingly. "That's no way to treat a lady, you know."

She turned her gaze briefly back in the direction of the stranger, but the corridor was empty, and her brows drew together thoughtfully as she contemplated what she had seen.

"A man? A demon? An avenging angel?" She murmured. "I don't know what he was, but I know I didn't imagine him. Right there, in the hallway - but could he have escaped so easily? I only turned for a moment...could there be someone else here who shares my ability to transport across space instantaneously? And if so, what brings him to the Academy just as I'm about to face the Elders? He was watching me - of that I have no doubt. But why? Is he part of Kagato's dark army of spies and minions, or something else completely? Dammit, and I don't have the time to find out."

"Professor Hakubi, stand before the Elders."

A voice echoed out from the gallery above and Washu gathered her thoughts, freeing herself deftly from Akira's angry grip as she made her way purposefully into the centre of the chamber, gazing up at the array of faces that stared down at her. A mixture of expressions met her impassive one, and as she took her position, two guards came forward to take her hands, fastening them securely with silver, magic-numbing cuffs. Her eyes widened, as she registered what the action meant, and the most senior of the Elders nodded.

"Concealing magical attributes from the Council is a severe enough crime." He rumbled. "But only one of the many reasons you have been brought before us today. Do you understand the charges being brought against your name?"

"I understand that I am innocent, Honourable Elder." Washu said evenly. "I did not seek to destroy any Juraian territory...do you believe me that much of a fool?"

"We have testimony concerning you and your recent technology." The Elder sounded regretful. "And we will call witness, soon, to hear the whole story. I wish to know everything, before I decide your fate. You have always been honest with me, Washu-sensei, and I have placed a lot of trust and faith in you and your words and deeds. To discover you were a mage in hiding has troubled me. It makes me wonder what else you have concealed from me."

"I'm no mage." Washu shook her head. "You're mistaken. If I had magic, do you think I would have so easily been brought before you today? This whole business is a set-up, and I'm being framed. I risk all kinds of things, if you decide to find me guilty. Wouldn't it have been easier, if I had such magic, to flee with it and escape this place while I still could?"

"Washu-sensei, think carefully about your words." The Elder cautioned her. "It will go better in your favour if you state for the court here and now the true nature of your abilities. Start honestly, at least...however it might continue."

Washu pursed her lips, and for a moment there was silence. Then, at length, she shook her head.

"I don't have the magic abilities you think I do." She said quietly. "I'm not of Jurai, or Airai, or any such world where magic runs freely through the veins of the children. I'm just an orphaned girl from an outpost planet, that's all."

"You are a Kii, Washu-sensei."

At this, gasps went up from around the court, and out of the corner of her eye, Washu was aware of Menori's eyes growing wide with surprise. His mouth curled in malicious pleasure at this revelation, and despite herself, Washu clenched her fists, fighting to keep her composure.

"I don't deny it." She said eventually. "But the Kii only possess one gift - one which is useless in itself, and not worth disclosing on official records. I have the sight of the Kii - I can read the true souls of those around me, sure enough. But that is all. The only family on Kihaku who possessed anything more died out a long time ago, with the last Priestess, Tokimi Inoue. I may be a Kii, but I have no ancient magic running through my veins."

"It is true that Tokimi-sama is the last recorded Priestess of Jurai, and she was the last of her line." One of the other Elders ruminated. "Perhaps Washu-sensei is correct."

"Either way, for the duration of the trial, we shall keep the cuffs on." The first Elder said firmly. "Just to be sure."

Washu sighed heavily, then nodded.

"As you will." She said resignedly. "I'm not in any position to do anything, cuffed or otherwise."

"Then let us begin proceedings." The Elder decided. His eyes flitted around the busy chamber.

"Where is Dr Clay?"

"Clay?" Washu's brows knitted together. "Well, now isn't that a surprise. Clay wants to testify against me...he's been trying to steal my department for as long as I've been in charge of it. He's not exactly what you might call an objective witness."

"He's also not here." The second Elder reflected. "Akira-san, will you go to Clay-sensei's chambers and fetch him to the court immediately? There is no excuse for such tardiness."

"Yes, sir." Akira bowed his head, withdrawing from the chamber, but no sooner had he stepped over the threshold than there was an immense explosion from further along the hallway, sending vibrations through the hearing chamber and causing Washu to stumble, unable to prevent herself from falling on account of her cuffed hands. She scrambled into a sitting position, glancing around her in surprise and confusion as a second blast rattled the room once more, and commotion began to rein free within the confined court.

"What in hell was that?" Menori exclaimed, and Akira's head reappeared around the door, his eyes wide with alarm.

"Sirs, an explosion in the fifth sector. In Washu-sensei's laboratory." He said frantically. "I've sent droids, but it would seem that something is attacking Washu-sensei's lab - something, or someone."

"Washu-sensei's lab?" The Elders looked stunned, and Washu found that she was scarcely any less so. "Send a full security patrol, immediately! Hearing is adjourned! We can reconvene - release the defendant. Washu-sensei, can you think of any reason why your lab would be attacked?"

"Perhaps to destroy evidence that might prove my innocence." Washu muttered, as reluctant guards dropped down at her side, reaching for her fastened wrists. "I told you, I've been framed. Will you believe me?"

"Sir, a report back from the droid party." Akira broke in excitedly once more. "I've given the orders to dispatch a full patrol, but it would seem that Washu-sensei's central computer has been vandalised. That's what likely caused the explosion. And sir, the lab wasn't empty. Dr Clay was there. They've found him, unconscious on the laboratory floor."

"Clay?" Washu's eyes opened wide. "What was he doing in my lab? He should have more sense than to mess with my computer systems!"

"I see." The Elder looked grave. "This will require further investigation. Is Dr Clay badly hurt?"

"Stunned and unconscious, but not killed." Akira reported. "I have had him transferred to the medical wing of the Academy, for the time being. Was that the right thing to do?"

"Yes...it was the right thing to do." The Elder agreed. "And until then, this hearing is adjourned."

"This might be seen as a further attempt to cover tracks, noble Elder." Menori spoke up now, seemingly deciding that the ensuing chaos broke down all usual rules of court protocol. "Since Clay-sensei obviously had evidence to give against Washu-sensei, this seems convenient."

"And how, exactly, am I supposed to have done anything to him?" Washu demanded. "I've been right here all the time. Surely even your beady little eyes have taken that in, Menori-san. I have rather a lot of witnesses to back up my case!"

"But the Elder mentioned dark magic." Menori's eyes narrowed. "That you were a witch. You may have denied it, but I'd believe it of you...you could have cast a spell on him, and lured him into your web of deceit."

"And even if your ravings had any basis in reality, you're forgetting something else important." Washu snapped back, holding up her arms to reveal the faint red mark the cuffs had made even in the small time they had been around her wrists. "If I had such powers, they would have been deadened by my restraints. I was cuffed during the explosion in the lab, and I was right here in front of all of you at the time. Stop trying to make the facts fit your story."

"Menori-sensei! Hakubi-sensei! Silence!" The principle Elder exclaimed, and Menori shot Washu a dark look, but made no attempt to respond. "Washu-sensei speaks true. Motive or not, even if she was in possession of dark magic, she would not have been able to use it to harm Dr Clay whilst cuffed before the court. We can only assume that Clay-sensei went to the lab for some other reason - and that reason has yet to be revealed to us. Since the major case against Washu-sensei relies on the testimony of Dr Clay, this incident casts doubts on the authenticity of his evidence. For the time being, Washu, you are free to resume your position. But you will be closely watched, keep that in mind. And if it is discovered you have lied to us - about your magic, or about your motives - you will face the full judgement of our hearing once more."

"Yes, sir." Washu bowed her head. "I understand. But you needn't worry. I've done nothing and I intend to do nothing to jeopardise anyone's safety. I'm not guilty...so you have nothing to fear from me. I might be eccentric and unconventional - but I'm not a threat."

"See that it is so." The Elder said quietly.

Washu raised her head, letting out a slight gasp as she caught sight of the young man again, right at the back of the hearing chamber. He had not been there a moment earlier, and as she glanced at him, she realised he seemed out of breath, as if he had been running. As she focused her full attention on him, she had the same strange impression that somehow he did not belong, and she wondered at it.

"Did he have something to do with this?" She murmured. "Is he here to help me? Or hurt me? Why is he here? This is strange...and I wouldn't bet against Kagato being involved somehow. I must tread carefully. It's hard to know who is and who isn't an enemy, now. Washu, be careful. This is a thin line you're walking. You couldn't do anything to save Mikamo from Kagato's greed. Make sure you don't make the same mistake with your little girl...Ryoko might be the only hope left against his influence and his grasping struggle for power. Whatever happens now, make sure you stick to your story and keep attention away from Kichi and Yubisu...after all, this may very easily be a trap."