Edit (12/05/15) CHAPTER REVISED - A few minor edits made, changes of wording etc. , small details changed to support removal of crossover feature (as it really didn't have enough of the second series to be a crossover), Original Chapter 1 & Prologue merged because Chapter 1 was really just Prologue Part 2. If a chapter (up to chapter 5 - this message will be removed later) doesn't have revision notes, it's probably gonna be bad so just bear with me :)

A/N: Hi guys! Hope you enjoy my story, whether you only read one chapter or decide to stick around to see where this goes :) Happy reading!

The small adolescent let out a pained cry as her eyes set on the mangled body in shock. Blood spattered the ground around them. She dropped to her knees, trembling, seemingly frozen on the inside. Her mind didn't want to register the facts. One word emerged from her incoherent thoughts. Dead. They were dead.

How could this happen? Why did this happen? She looked away from the disfigured bodies of her parents with a whimper, turning her head to the people behind. The villagers. They had done this. She felt a small pang of satisfaction as she saw that a number of them were wounded too. At least her parents.. they had not gone down without a fight. Her father was strong, but he kept peace for her mother's sake - she had always lived in fear that something like this would happen. The villagers feared the demonic ones - little did they care if they were peaceful or hostile - fear erased reason in both humans and demons alike.

One of the males staggered forwards, cradling a broken arm, eyes gleaming with contempt.

"We did it," he wheezed, "They'll never bother us again!" He barked a short laugh, his voice thick with malice. "And look at their poor little spawn... Such a being should not exist!"

The villagers in the mob yelled, raising their weapons with a war cry. "Kill her! Kill her!" they chanted, but she didn't miss the fear in their eyes. She knew the emotion was reflected in her own eyes. She quailed, fighting to keep her body under control as her knees threatened to give in.

"But we could use her," The leader said, a smug grin twisting his face, "It could help us find out what charms to use to protect ourselves!" The mob seemed more excited now. "Catch her! Catch her!" They chanted in unison.

'Be strong', the young girl thought to herself, reaching for something she could use as a weapon, anything that could be used to defend herself. Her claws scraped against a stick and she grabbed onto it, slowly straightening up. With a tiny cry, she flung herself at the crowd, all her training gone from her mind, blindly smacking anything she could with her stick. She screamed as a weapon of some sort hit her across her stomach, winding her. Arms grabbed her from behind. They secured her struggling form, then she felt something blunt hit her over the head. Tears streamed down her face, vision fading. She spat at them, one last sign of defiance before her vision went and she disappeared into the world of unconsciousness.

In her sleep, she dreamt. She dreamt that her parents were standing in front of her, their forms transparent and silent. "...Mom...Dad?" She whispered, reaching out to touch them but her hands went through their etherial bodies. Their mouths moved but she couldn't hear them. "I can't... I can't hear you..." she whispered, distress creeping into her heart. Only a couple of words made it through the chilling silence. "Aries. Take care." Her mother covered her mouth, tears dripping down her face, and her father stood there, hand on her mother's shoulder. They slowly began to fade away, leaving Aries alone in the darkness. Aries started to cry.

The darkness was suffocating. It paused and blocked off reality, leaving her in an unnatural state of unconsciousness. This wasn't sleep, sleep was never this... comatose. It hurt her mind to know that something could be so colourless. It was painful. The perverse shadows invaded her mind, dulling her thoughts and sending thin icy needles of fear through her brain.

She stepped forwards as a tiny pinprick of light appeared to her right. She tentatively stepped toward, and brushed her fingers against it. She yelped, pulling her hand back as the 'flame' burned her fingertips. The 'flame' pulsed twice, growing in size, sending glowing veins of light through her hand and circling her wrist, burning all the way. The light flared, banishing the darkness.

Aries sat up quickly, her whole body trembling. Her eyes darted around the room. Well, 'prison' would be more appropriate. The room was fairly dark; it was late. She took comfort in the fact that it was no where near as dark as the shadows in her 'dream'. She moved to rub her watering eyes and winced when she shifted her wrists. They were bound with some kind of rope. The skin on her right wrist was red and tender, and the rope chafed it badly. Her feet were also bound, tightly, but it caused her no pain as her legs had gone to sleep. The bonds on her wrists were no where near as tight; the ones who had placed her (assumedly the villagers) had not tightened them properly. They had probably feared that she would wake up and left hurriedly; humans were shallow in the respect that they did not care whether a human was good or bad, violent or peaceful. To the humans, they all looked the same. Either that or they had just been too stupid to tighten them properly. Another look at her bound ankles convinced her that it was probably the former.

Twisting her wrists gingerly, she managed to get her hands in the right position to start sawing away at the bonds with her claws. Once her wrists were free to move about, she reached down and began to work on the ropes around her ankles. She massaged her feet with a wince as the blood came rushing back, pins and needles prickling her legs.

Aries paused for a moment, properly taking in her surroundings. The room was most likely some form of hut. There was a small window near the roof, just large enough to let in a sliver of light and provide just enough ventilation to stop her from suffocating on the dusty air. Speaking of dust... she winced as the back of her throat burned from the dust. She coughed, doubling over and crossing her hands across her front, trying to catch her breath. But where there was one cough there was more. When she finally managed to regain her breath, Aries stood up slowly and glanced around.

The ground was littered with small rectangles of paper splashed with ink - supposed spiritual charms. She let out a quiet breathy laugh - villagers were so superstitious. As if tiny pieces of paper could be used to cause any more harm than the occasional paper cut? She shook her head, eyes trailing over to an exceptionally dusty draping that barely concealed the upright rectangular shape beneath. She grabbed a corner of the cloth, tugging it off. She had to shield her mouth and nose with her hands, but her eyes still watered. When the dust had settled, she rubbed her stinging eyes. She raised her eyes to the uncovered mirror. Mirrors were not common - they were expensive to make and the materials were in limited supply. Aries had no idea why something so valuable would just be here collecting dust. Its frame was rather intricately made - swirls of gold twisting around the glass. At the top, standing out from the curled metal was a golden triangle, made up of three smaller triangles. The workmanship was admirable. It was certainly one of the most beautiful works she'd seen in her life.

She rested her hand against it with a sigh, followed by her forehead. The glass was cool, smooth and... liquid? Aries shrieked as it began to glow and drag at her arm like quicksand. She had probably screamed more in the last few days than she had in the rest of her life. A shiver ran down her spine as she tried to resist the pull, but the cold molten metal/glass would not let go. Before it managed to take her completely, she caught a glimpse at her distorted reflection - her snowy hair looked more like grey, her soft pink skin a slightly a darker shade of grey than her hair, and her rose coloured eyes blood red. Were those glowing red runes around her arms? She couldn't tell, as the image was gone as quick as it came and her reflection returned to normal. The mirror gave one last tug and dragged her in completely.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Please R&R