Tachibana Higuchi owns Gakuen Alice. Always has and Always will.
She was a widow.
At the age of twenty, Mikan Sakura was left alone in the world by her husband, Akira Tonochi who passed away due to a snake-bite.
Mikan was a beautiful brunette with lovely peach skin and fierce orbs of amber whiskey who decided to leave her hometown for she couldn't take in the pity she received, indeed, she loved Akira but in all accordance with reason, the woman needed a while to cope up with her husband's death, she had no children and Mikan was also afraid that she'd be accused of witchcraft and blasphemy which was untrue because Mikan was a firm believer of God.
Therefore, without hindrance, she left.
They say that if one is God-fearing then they could always be ensnared into a trap stitched by evil but however if one was God-loving, then you couldn't break the faith of that individual no matter how hard you'd try.
And Mikan was God-loving. May her virgin be impure but sacred was her virtuousness and holy were the course of her deeds.
Mikan had newly moved into a house at the town at a hundred miles away. People around her talked but never was she the base of their gossip and rumours, the house of white was small but extremely comfortable for only for one to live there.
Ofcourse, the house only grew considerably strange during a stormy night, it's always the stormy ones isn't it? But either way Mikan while doing her household chores noticed that the old oval vintage mirror with panels of silver and gold needed a bit of cleaning and after a bit of cleaning Mikan reckoned it would squeaky clean.
And so it was...though strangely, it was odd that it had been thrown away in the corner for her great aunt who had a penchant for trinkets of silver and gold, and while most of the antiques were well-preserved and showcased openly this particularly large mirror was left forsakened,
Was this intentional? Or was there more to it than Mikan could think of?
In any circumstance, Mikan lifted the mirror and with great effort she placed it in a spare room,where she always did her light reading writing of letters, it seemed to adorn the wall, but as soon as leaned it against the wall, an upsurge of electricity went up her arms and she withdrew her arms quickly.
The mirror ceased to show the reflection of the brunette and instead it showed her the garden surrounding her house which had three withered wallow trees at the back of her house which was an impossible occurrence for Mikan to believe because she had planted the saplings just yesterday and it took about 75-80 years for a Willow , a weeping willow at that, to die, which puts Mikan in a dilemma as she stares at the ominous picture engulfed in the mirror.
Was it the future? Could there be such a thing?
Abruptly, the scene changes with the background being the exact of the spare room Mikan was albeit it was more furnished but the bookshelf in the room remained the same, she realized that there was a bed now of a kind she had no clue of, there was a woman who was picking a book from the shelf, it was that of Jane Austen's book, Emma, she knew it well because she had been reading it a good of a few days ago.
And quite for a while, the baby blue eyes was reading it.
But something was odd,and as soon as the hazel eyed girl thought that, a raven haired man entered with odd clothes no less, and he seemed to be her lover by their conversations.
"But Natsume I want to be with you." The pinkette groaned."We need to elope!"
"And after this night we will." The raven haired man,Natsume replied, but his voice wasn't honest, she knew when a man was sincere, one of the many things Mikan was excellent at figuring out.
"But Natsume-" The pinkette moaned to the crimson eyed man.
"-Hush." He silenced her as he carried her to the bed. They began making love, Mikan averted her hazelnut gaze from the mirror to the flooring but stopped and furrowed her brows when her mind prodded to note something significant down.
The room looked dark in the mirror and Mikan knew it was and there was but a dim light coming from a lamp like object at the bed side table, see now the woman with pink, shoulder length hair was pinned down by the man, yes, their position was outrage but that didn't bother Mikan, what did bother her was that there was no shadow of the man falling back on the wall, Mikan was not a scholar but she knew that there had to be a shadow formed, because the lamp had been at a lower position.
Then just why?
That makes her look up to see that there was a shadow but not of a man, it was another being, a supernatural one, it reached upto the highest point of room with massive shady wings and this time she sees a symbol imprinted at the Man's back,a red pentagram, upside-down, she knew that symbol, that ...that...that..
Oh Lord!
...It was an Archstar, not just any Archstar,that was a symbol,for a particular Arch-Demon.
Lord of Darkness,
Prince of Hell,
The King of Fornication,
"Asmodeus."
And at the tick of clock she said that in a low whisper but the man stopped, letting his tantalizing crimson orbs search around as if he had heard something odd, his eyes narrowed when he saw her, and her heart was practically in her mouth as she felt him stare at her in suspicion but in his mind there was just an odd mirror hanging at the wall, but something regarding it was sneaky to him.
God help her! Even though she was at the other side of the mirror, there could have been something she could do for the woman, that man above the pink-haired was every bit of an unfaithful man, Demons weren't made to be loyal, unless made a contract to, but at any rate the pink-haired woman in the mirror seemed to be in a heap of trouble.
That man or Demon would leave her at the drop of a hat after she is done with, not only would the woman's heart break but her soul would be dragged to Hell, because she is not only breaking a commandment of God, but she is engaging in a Physical course directly with the Demon.
End point? She would be defiled.
Mikan took a parchment and a quill, wrote a letter of hope, in the letter she conjured a story of a woman eloping with her man, and that a family was left devasted due to it, and how the act of commiting Adultery before marriage was a sin against God.
However, Mikan was a forceful and prolific writer, she crafted her words in an extremely subtlety and manipulative method, And then she kept the letter 'tween the raked pages of Jane Austens's Emma. She didn't know if it was true, if the mirror was real, but if she could prevent the sufferings then darn her if she didn't try.
Mikan then put a cloth over the mirror, wishing to never see it again, if she had done a deed good, she'd rather not know about it but if she'd done a deed gone in vain, then she'd still rather not know about it.
The next night however was more different. The winds howled and cried, the moon appeared behind the mountains, the thunder banged its drums as lightning flashed in jagged direction of a monochromatic light severing the black darkness, the rain splattered and battered against the glass windows making a staggering sound of bullets being fired, the night was more ruthless and fierce than it had ever been.
But Mikan was oblivious to everything as she in her night gown with a shawl wrapped around her shoulder and hot cup of coffee resting on the table read William Shakespeare's Macbeth, and she had just reached the part where Macbeth kills the King with the help of Lady Macbeth, that there was a knock on the door. She listened carefully, it was still raining harshfully, who would, in their right sense of mind be out on a night as dark and stormy as this one?
Nonetheless, she vowed that at the knock of the second, Mikan would attend it, much to her dismay the person at the door knocked thrice, having no choice she got up to her feet and held a candlebra of ornamental and traditional carving consisting of three branches filled with three candles. She was at the door.
"Who is there?" Mikan called out with a hint of questioning.
"A stranger trapped in this torrent, would you find it in the means of your grace to provide shelter, kind lady?"
Absolutely No, her mind screamed at once. But Mikan was a compassionate one, a trait which could one day be the death of her. Undecidedly and stupidly, she opened the door, and a chill ran down her spine as she let the man in but had veiled her face and turned her back towards him.
Something however was terribly wrong, as if the odds played a turn of even, a churning, chilling and cold stream of air went past her neck.
Suddenly, the wrist of her hand, holding the candlebra was pulled and the light of flames from the candle revealed the pale as if snow skin, adorned with crystallined maroon eyes with a hint of reds, staring into her eyes of amber whiskey.
"You caused quite a problem for me, mortal, 120 years down the lane and you stole my prey, just how do you intend to rectify this error?" He wrapped his arm around her waist which had only the material of the nightgown as her shawl had fallen behind.
"You see."The Demon continued with a dry laugh, "Your letter happened to reach that whore who was supposed to be added to my eternal list of conquests and it changed her mind." He whispered, bending down to her, and his mouth nibbled on it.
Mikan widened her eyes in recognition, as she did Mikan could feel a smirk creeping onto his lips,"Apparently, your words defeated the charm of my temptation and she refused to indulge in me because it would be against the ten commandments, how that was possible ...is sort of beyond my comprehesion." , Natsume leaned away from her and then jerked his head smoothly to the Candlebra blew the flames of the candle out, and darkness engulfed them.
"Oh Sweetness, I hope you know how tough it was to track the writer of that letter down."
Mikan pushed him back and he staggered behind as she ran but make no mistake of the haunting laugh he gave away, Natsume walked casually, enjoying the mouse and cat run, he loved these little treats about humans, they thought that they could actually run away from a demonic being without being harmed.
How naïve.
And he found her kneeling before the small Crucifix hung on the wall above the fireplace and she thought that could protect her? Natsume was amused, she had pretty long brown hair, a fair skin of creme like vanilla, all in all, he would be damned (though he already was) if he didn't feel a string of temptation, he was the King of fornication, feelings such as these were his area of expertise.
Unknown to him, Mikan was not praying, though a normal human would probably be but so confident was her belief that her God would help her only if she helped herself, she was thinking of a way.
When she opened her shut hazel eyes, she saw the crucifix turn upside-down and her body was thrown carelessly on the wall and it stayed pinned, in a similar way that the Christ was crucified to the wall while Natsume smoothly strolled happily in front of her, a smirk adoring his lips while she stared at him in disgust and loathe.
He stopped abruptly and then glanced at the Vintage mirror, "Ahh that's how you knew." He made a sound of distaste, the mirror was an old trinket which showed people a future, any future how the Mirror felt befitting.
Why did Natsume know this? Because a Demon had been ensnared into it. And that Demon hated Natsume irrevocably for he was one among the highest orders in Hell, so technically, it wasn't really the woman's fault but then again, the woman did intrude.
So she ought to be punished. Natsumed's colossal, ashen black, wings clawed out of the skin of his back, and his black bellowing robes did very less to calm Mikan's already jittered nerves.
"I know your name."Mikan stated fiercely, her eyes showing fires made of gold and outlined with earthen brown.
"And what good of that ?" Natsume cocked his head to the side in unwavering vanity and confidence.
With tight clenching of teeth, she began a prayer, "..St. Michael the Archangel, illustrious leader of the heavenly army.."
"Oh Jolly me!" Natsume thundered sarcastically, "You think he would listen to you? Ain't no one coming to save you, not even good Ol' Michael. You are my prey, at my mercy, mortal."
At the disgust of his statement, she couldn't be more revolted, but she knew her God was listening, Mikan's love for him could be called Madness by some, but he was her creator, he made from dust and to dust she will return and not to the domain of Demon.
And definitely not this Demon.
Entreat the Lord of peace to cast Satan down under our feet, so as to keep him from further holding man captive and doing harm to the Church.
Natsume began stepping in closer to the woman clad in a white nightgown, her luscious skin shining as moonlight grazed it, he growled possesively, it seemed like she was tempting him on purpose.
Carry our prayers up to God's throne, that the mercy of the Lord may quickly come and lay hold of the beast.
She looked so desperate, but she believed so firmly in God, that he knew that desecration of her would be a memory cherished. And at last Mikan sobbed and a tear slipped past her eyes, her cry, it was laced with heart-wrenching call for help and so powerful that it lacerated the Darkened skies, and like a strike of lightning, penetrated the Gates of Heaven.
And that caught literally the attention of every Angel at work in Heaven.
The seven Archangels gathered around the the destruction caused, which was quite a scene to wonder upon.
Archangel Michael, Gabriel and Raphael in their robes of pure white lined with golden, looked down at Earth, to see what or who had a wish so deep that it actually pierced the Walls of Heaven.
No prayer was that powerful.
"In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit..."
"Oh you're going to condemn me to Hell, I would love to see you try, but after you fail, I'll claim you, sounds fair to me." He smiled malevolently at her.
"Demon Asmodeus, Prince of Lust, Ruler of Hell, The Arch-fiend." Mikan commanded as the thunder outside boomed and the lightning shivered in fear."I condemn you to be bound to the Gates of Heaven! To writhe in pain which would engulf your wings in fire and tear the black feathers, to be at a closer proximity of freedom but to never touch it!" Mikan cursed with a frightening, high-pitched scream.
The moment she said so her body fell to the ground and a line of white was drawn mysteriously around her, Natsume's ruby orbs widened in shock as everything floating held on a stance of halt, which meant...Time had stopped.
Seven figures of Holy white light appeared at different angles facing Natsume, it couldn't be, he thought, his eyes snapped back at Mikan who seemed just as shock as he was.
She couldn't have the power to summon an Angel, Natsume thought with his crimson eues widened, let alone seven or literally all the Archangels.
Before Natsume could think of escaping, a chain of Iron roped around his hands, "It is not that often that we can have an opportunity to tie a Demon to the Gates of Heaven..for this opportunity I thank you, Mortal." Archangel Raphael softly acknowledged while Mikan was gobsmacked.
Honestly, did they expect a 'Anytime, mate, I catch Demons for a living.'? Mikan hoped not because she was too mesmerized by the ethereal beings in front of her.
Natsume screamed in pain as the chains were ripping his skin and hanging on to the delicate flesh, his face reddening by pain, anger and fear, the chains tear away his darkened robes and clung tightly to his skin creating acrimonious bruises in the process, Mikan watched in uneasy, but she felt triumphant and proud of herself to condemn a demon not to Hell but banish him to the Gates of Heaven.
Archangel Michael smiled at the mortal, as did the other Archangels and blessed her soul, health and heart before they dragged the beast away in the chains of Iron.
"I will find you." Natsume swore as he angrily rebelled against the metal rings binding him which listed his feet off the ground.
Somehow, the fact that he was bound in chains and not running freely amok gave Mikan an assurance, a credence, and maybe she went a step too far owing to it.
"It might as well be a while till that occurs!" Mikan snorted arrogantly and she actually had the audacity to wave the demon adieu.
Natsume widened his dark,glowing rubescent eyes.
The cheek of the woman to...
Mikan beamed a smile at him something which he had the intense will to snatch it away from her lips.
She waved at him in mockery and continued to do so from her window until he became merely a dark speck being surrounded by 7 lights.
But almost abruptly, Mikan's body and mind lost consciousness.
And she fell to the ground.
Unknown to the fact that everything went back to its resemblance and the storm quietened down and left behind a vibrant string of colours falling one behind the other.
Oddly, the next morning Mikan recalled nothing what had happened previous night or the night before but she did remember till cleaning the vintage mirror, beyond that her memories were blank as sheets of paper, her neighbours asked what were the screams all about the previous night to which Mikan said-
"Screams? I was asleep past 10, perhaps it was just the dark and stormy night."
But when Mikan did come Home from the Market where she went to buy a few groceries, she noticed odd things in the house, The candlebra had melted and the wax was stuck on the floor, her book, the addition of Jane Austen's Emma had disappeared from her shelf and the Vintage mirror suspiciously was nowhere to be found.
But by far, the most strangest was the feather of obsidian black,laying on the floor,mocking her on how she would never remember what events had occurred the previous night.
Well, Mikan thought uneasily to herself, it was a dark and stormy night.
Meanwhile,
Natsume howled in agony as his flesh retaliated against the cuffs around his body, he knew he would get out one fine day but excruciating pain was unbearable.
Natsume thought about the reason, the reason why he was here was the hazel-eyed bitch.
How dare she?
And then he chuckled darkly sending an aura of black that made the Angels at guard stare at him in absolute wonderment as if thinking what had he up his sleeves now.
But Natsume knew something the woman didn't, that he would eventually be unbound and that he is Immortal, that he will live on till literally Thy Kingdom Come, but she was a mere mortal, yes, she would die but she also would be reborn.
And when that happens, he will be there.
Only until then would he writhe in vengeance.
Because after that he'd come hunting down doors for her.
Until then?
Until then he would wait.
Patiently.
The End.
No, there ain't a sequel or a chapter to this one, for the good of everything pure it is a one-shot.
Yes, this is probably my most strangest works yet.