Ohohoho… Thank you to my first reviewers, JohnPeaceKeeper-san and HeroGuardian-san. And also to Yuuji Sakai-san, thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Shakugan no Shana, but I can say that this storyline is mine.

Shakugan no Shana: Crimson Revelations

Chapter 2: A Dangerous Foe

Yuji gawked.

Shana gaped.

Satou's eyes almost bulged out from its sockets.

Eita's jaw hung open.

Needless to say, everyone who knew Margery Daw was shocked to see her inside their classroom.

Margery Daw smirked after seeing the stunned faces of the persons she knew inside the classroom. "Besides from being your homeroom teacher, I'll also be your History teacher, so let's all have a good school year together," she continued while eyeing everyone in the classroom. She's really having fun seeing their surprised looks and she knows that she'll be having so much fun this time, well minus the Tomogaras. Oh boy, this year will be a blast!

---

Their History lesson has just ended and they were having their lunch inside the classroom. Kazumi was handing out pudding to everyone when Shana commented, "What is the Interpreter of Condolence doing here?"

"Isn't she supposed to be looking through Outlaw reports about the Silver?" Yuji asked as he gave Satou an inquisitive glance. Shana and Kazumi looked at him too.

Satou waved his hands in defense in front of him and said, "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't know that she was going to teach here. She never tells me anything about her plans."

"I think the Interpreter of Condolence has her own reasons why she decided to have a teaching job here." A voice in Shana's pendant commented.

Kazumi Yoshida gave a brief nod and said, "Maybe Margery-san is just taking precautions. Remember what Hecate did before."

Murmurs of agreement passed over the small group as they continued to spoon puddings inside their mouth, remembering what had happened the year before. When the Supreme Throne Hecate sent over a faux vessel she created to keep an eye on the Reiji Maigo and its keeper. Few minutes of silence passed them by before Satou spoke up, "I think we need to talk to Margery-nee-san. I think something big is going to happen because she instantly decided to teach here."

Yuji was about to agree to what Satou had said when he felt something odd. He instantly sat up straight and swept his gaze throughout the room.

Shana, too, did feel the strong presence nagging inside her. "There's a Tomogara who just appeared and he seems strong," she mentioned after seeing the confused faces of Kazumi and Satou.

"That Tomogara must not be thinking. He shouldn't have showed up here when he knows that there are three Flame Hazes here in Misaki." Satou remarked, looking untroubled at all. He knew that they can handle that Tomogara.

"Iie. There are four Flame Hazes here in Misaki City." Yuji corrected Satou.

"Four? How come there are four Flame Hazes here?" Kazumi asked, "Unless—"

"—Unless there's still a Flame Haze out there that we haven't met." Shana supplied in for her. "The Flame Haze has been hanging around here for days already and we don't know what he wants."

Satou eyed Shana, "Is that a bad thing?" he asked.

"Not necessarily, unless he decides to fight the Manipulator of Ten Thousand Ribbons, the Interpreter of Condolence or the Flame-haired Burning-eyed Hunter," the Flame of Heaven, Alastor, answered Satou's question.

Ike suddenly appeared beside Kazumi and said, "Yoshida-san, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Kazumi looked bewildered for a moment but said "yes" afterwards and followed Ike outside the room. But Ike came back a moment later and said, "Yuji, Shana-san and Satou-san, Daw-sensei is looking for the three of you, she said she'll be waiting at the rooftop."

The three of them just looked at each other and headed towards the rooftop of Misaki High. When they reached the location, Margery was already waiting for them.

"Is there something wrong, Margery-nee-san?" Satou asked in alarm, sensing that there might be something big they're going to face.

But instead of answering Satou's question, Margery asked Shana and Yuji, "Have you felt it too? The presence?"

"Hai. And I think it's a strong Tomogara." Yuji replied, looking intently upon the Interpreter of Condolence. "I think we should do something about it."

Shana crossed her arms as she said, "Why don't let the other Flame Haze handle it. I'm sure he can do it even without our help."

Marchosias' laugh echoed throughout the whole rooftop, "Can't you feel it, kid? Her presence?"

"What do you mean by her presence, Claw and Fangs of Violation?" Alastor asked.

Margery looked quite grim at their ignorance. She massaged her temples before explaining it to them. "I'm quite disappointed that you didn't sense her aura."

Shana looked rather indignant on what Margery had said and she retorted, "I was aware of her, but I can't tell who exactly she is."

Margery chose not to comment on Shana's last remark but she just continued to tell them about the other Flame Haze, "The other Flame Haze is dangerous. She's an assassin. She kills both Tomogaras and Flame Hazes."

Satou and Yuji both looked confused as they looked back and forth between Shana and Margery. "Wait, what do you mean by dangerous? Is this Flame Haze isn't actually out there to maintain the balance of the world?" Satou blurted out.

"No, she doesn't care about the balance of the world. Nobody knows why she also kills Flame Hazes," replied Alastor, his voice sounding dark.

Shana gasped out loud as her eyes widen in realization. "Do you mean the Silent Assassin? The killer of both Tomogaras and Flame Hazes?"

Margery nodded, "Yes, and now she's here in Misaki City."

---

"Nox, remind me again why am I in such a filthy place?" a voice of a girl laced with pure irritation and contempt said out loud.

A deep voice of a man replied, and it was coming from the blue stone embedded on her bracelet, "You are here because you need to kill the Flame Haze who killed the Flame Haze Murderer."

The said girl let out a frustrated growl as she let out a streak of lightning from her staff and blasted it to the wall in front of her. A loud rumbling sound could be heard as the wall came crumbling down upon the street. She was furious. She was furious to the Flame Haze who dared to kill Friagne. She was the one supposed to do that. She was the one who was ordered to kill that Crimson Lord. That Flame Haze stole her thunder!

"Take it easy. You shouldn't be wasting your energy. You'll never know when you'll meet the Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite." The man known as Nox replied calmly, as if knowing that those words would actually soothe the raging girl.

Knowing that the Crimson Lord Nox was actually right on what he said, she had let out another aggravated snarl before throwing down her staff and venting out her annoyance to another wall, pounding it with her bare fists this time, not minding if it bled. "Argh! Kuso! Kuso! Kuso! KUSO! I WANT TO KILL HER! I SHOULD'VE BEEN THE ONE WHO KILLED FRIAGNE! ARGH! KUSO!"

"Calm down!" Nox roared and as soon as after he had uttered those words, the blue stone shone brightly and electricity suddenly formed around the figure of the rampant lass, but she didn't seem to mind for she continued to pummel the wall. But little by little, she seemed calming down; her shouts had subsided along with the loud thuds of her pounding fist against the wall. And after that, the bright light had disappeared.

Eerie silence followed soon after. Only the girl's pants could be heard throughout the street. But after a few minutes, she managed to stutter out, "Anata ga kirau desu. You drained my energy. You're so despicable, Nox."

"I had no choice, you need to calm down. And besides someone's watching you." Nox replied nonchalantly.

The girl whirled around behind her, and true enough, a young boy had been watching her. The boy is no older than nine and he was trembling with fear. He had witnessed what happened, from the lightning blast to the phantom voice to the bright light from the blue stone, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Grabbing her discarded staff, the Flame Haze stood up and smirked when she noticed the lad shivering. "Are you scared?" she asked him.

The boy shook his head firmly, hoping that he would look brave enough, "Iie. I'm not." That was a lie.

"Are you not scared when you saw me shoot a lightning blast?"

"No." Another lie.

"What about the voice? There's no one here besides you and me."

"No, I'm not scared." But truth to be told, he was frightened, but at the same time, he was curious. How could she manage to do what he had seen awhile ago? Curiosity began to fill his eyes as he looked upon the girl who was standing a few meters away from him. But in a split-second, she vanished from his eyesight and appeared behind him. He heard her whisper, "Well, I think you should be scared of me." Then darkness followed.

"I'm getting lousy nowadays. I didn't even felt that boy was standing there," she commented in annoyance as she made her staff vanish into thin air.

"You were just preoccupied, that's all." Nox replied rather wearily, knowing that the girl would make a big fuss out of it. "And don't bother to make a comment about it."

"Hmph. I wasn't going to," she retorted back. But her irritation melted suddenly when she remembered something, "By the way Nox, when are we going to attack?"

"Whenever you like."

---

"I asked the Manipulator of Ten Thousand Ribbons to scout around the city for me." Margery said as she turned her back from them, looking over the Misaki City.

Yuji briefly looked at Shana before turning again to the blonde Flame Haze and said, "So that's it for our plan."

Satou nodded, "I guess that's the best we could do right now. We can't provoke a fight."

Shana, with her hands crossed over her chest, frowned, "I still think it's—" but she never had the opportunity to finish off her sentence when she instantly felt a looming presence approaching them. And she immediately raised her right hand said shouted, "Fuzetsu!"

The time around them stood still and the entire place became crimson in color. And as swift as the wind, she came, striking down her staff towards Shana, but to her disappointment, her attack only to be blocked by the Nietono no Shana.

The Silent Assassin gave a feral growl as she leaped backwards and launched herself to an attack. Lightning bolt surrounded her as she assaulted Shana once more, but she was surprised when she stopped in her tracks, and was paralyzed all of a sudden. Her eyes widened in realization when she saw blue insignias enclosing her. She suddenly released her staff and it fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Her grey eyes narrowed upon towards the big-busted Flame Haze who was smiling in front of her.

"Well, I didn't think that our plan would go so well." Margery said out loud.

---

A/N: Ohohoho, there you go! Chapter 3! I really rushed this chapter because I intend to post it before Christmas, so that's why it's still short.

And geez, Daw-sensei… It feels so weird, calling Margery-san like that… But Ike doesn't exactly know Margery-san so he can't call her 'Margery-san' like the others.

Anyway, the phrase here, "Anata ga kirau desu," I'm not really sure about the translation. It's supposed to be 'I hate you' and since I'm using a jap-eng dictionary, I don't know if I got my translation correct.

Lastly, HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! :)

Yay! Kei-kun!