Stars in a New Sky

Chapter 9: Repetition

Thyst ground his teeth together in an effort to control his temper. If there was one thing he hated most in all the universe, it was children. Noisy, obnoxious, petri dishes. He forced a smile at the impertinent nonsense spouted by one of the heinous creatures. What he really wanted to do was set one of his demons on the child to tear out its soul. Instead of watching demonic soul devouring, Thyst took a deep breath. 

"Mr. Hayashi went home sick. I'm just standing in for him today." He assured the nosy brats.

"Are you even qualified to teach this class? You barely look older than us!" Another student called from the back of the room.

Thyst clenched his fist and vowed the moment he was done with his mission here, he was going to drain this brat of every last drop of energy he possessed. It had seemed like such a stroke of genius on his part this morning. Track down the human Metalia possessed and follow him back to the princess. They'd come in contact once, it would no doubt happen again. Easy. 

The moon princess had access to the Silver Crystal, an incredible source of energy. Not to mention the princess herself. He remembered sensing her presence during the fall of Silver Millennium. All that untapped power had gone to waste on Beryl. Metalia had been a fool to empower that greedy mortal. Beryl had killed their golden goose before it could bear fruit. If anyone possessed large quantities of life energy it would be the reincarnated princess.

Two birds, one stone.

He'd gone so far as to put Mr. Hayashi out of commission and taken over his classes. He'd sensed the telltale energy signature of the moon princess the moment he arrived at Juban High School. He'd spent half the day scanning the crowds of students for the princess. However, she wasn't among them. 

"Excuse me, sir."

Thyst looked up, eyes widening in shock. Speak of the wicked sorceress herself. The spitting image of Queen Beryl stood before him. He almost spoke her name until he realized it was impossible for Beryl to still be alive. At least not in her previous incarnation. It seemed Queen Serenity had seen fit to allow Beryl a second chance at life. Giving his head a shake, he replied. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to say that I'll be available to help tutor students after school today." A light blush tinted her cheeks as her eyes strayed over her shoulder.

"Tutoring?" What the hell was she talking about?!

"Uh...yeah. Mr. Hayashi ran the tutoring program. Students from the junior high come here for subject based tutoring. I-I just wanted to say I'm available to volunteer." She fidgeted under his scrutiny. It felt odd to see her in this life...young and fragile. When Thyst had first met her, she was anything but fragile.

"Ah. Yes. Glad to hear it. Thank you, miss--?"

"Oh! Masako Mori!" She added nervously.

Thyst nodded. Masako Mori. If she was reincarnated, who else had been? Had every one who'd lost their lives in that last battle been reincarnated here on earth? He watched the girl return to her seat, her eyes once again straying over her shoulder. Frowning, he followed her gaze and froze.

Destiny was a cold-hearted bitch.

Prince Endymion...or rather, Thyst glanced at the seating chart, Mamoru Chiba sat at the back of the room. His attention was completely lost in thought and utterly oblivious to Masako's affections. History really did repeat itself.

***

"Are you sure this is the boy?" Nyx asked, running her finger around the edge of the mirror.

Selene glanced casually over her shoulder at Nyx's mirror. "Yes, that's him."

Nyx snorted. "He looks too serious for her."