Frozen

~Frozen Heart~

A fortnight after the incident with Megumi's elder sister, she and her husband took precautions.

They began building a wall around the household, increased the security outside but not in, kept the gates closed at all times, and called upon the Head Captain for some support.

Hachiro left to meet with the old man personally and told him about the situation at hand. The elder captain said he would issue a captains meeting about it; inform them of what's happened.

The nobleman thanked the elder captain and returned home to tell his wife the good news. But upon arriving, he saw his wife's face dawned with a petrified expression once he reached their daughter's room upstairs.

"Hachiro!" she vociferated with anxiety etched into her tone, giving him a sense of trepidation at her urgent voice.

"What is it!?" he yelled as he ran towards her. "What's wrong!?"

"I can't get her door open!" exclaimed the brunette as she thrust her body on the door to pry it open; her husband emulating her actions.

With their strength combined, a cracking and shattering sound emitted throughout the hall as they, at last, were able to get the door open. What they saw in the room furthered their already horror-stricken faces.

The room their daughter owned was covered in a thick frost! Everywhere! The windows, ceiling, walls . . . everything! That's why they couldn't get the door open; the rime enveloped and locked it shut—and it was freezing.

The parents rushed towards their daughter's bassinet and saw her sleeping peacefully . . . on what seemed like a giant snowflake made of ice. Frost lined the walls of the child's crib, climbing up over the edges and draping the skirts; reaching the floor which turned it and everything else into frost.

Their child was only two weeks old! How could her power be this strong already!?

Megumi recalled her sister's words that the power would only grow stronger the older her daughter became . . . but this early?

No way . . . there has to be a way to balk the young girl's powers; but . . . how?

Too cold to think inside the frigid room, Megumi picked up her napping child—who didn't seem at all cold—and rushed out of the room before she or her husband would become frostbitten.

After much brooding, Hachiro came to a conclusion that they could conceal her powers by having her wear gloves.

And it seemed to work. That night, they placed gloves on her hands and prayed for the best.

The next morning, although the air did seem rather cool, her room wasn't covered in ice or anything . . . the gloves had worked.

From that day on, for eight years, Mizuki wore the gloves that hid her powers from everyone . . . including herself.

~:~

Never had she stepped outside the walls built around the castle. And constantly she would ask if she could go outside and play with the children nearby, but always received the same response: "You have plenty of toys in your room, go play with those."

Disappointed with her answer, Mizuki asked if she could at least remove her gloves, but was always told (rather more reminded) to stop asking if she could as the answer would always be no . . . and she abjured her inquiry when her mother rejoined for continuing to ask that question.

The young princess wished she would be able to go out and play—seeing the children run around with elated and tranquil faces—but as told, she was to never ask to go outside and play or remove her gloves. She was quite curious as to why she wore them, but she never asked. And sometimes when she awoke in the morning, she would find small piles of snow in her room, but her parents said it was just her reiatsu leaking.

And that was how her life was—full of questions she never knew the answers to, and the answers she did know, were no.

~:~

It was a normal day—unless you count normal as doing nothing all day and constantly watching children have fun while you're alone and have nothing to do—for Mizuki Osaka, and instead of being petulance all day, she decided to run around the halls of the castle. But something unexpected happened—Kurage appeared once more.

That was an utter enigma—about seven years prior, Yamamoto said the search party that was sent to extirpate her—led by a captain!—had found her and executed her . . . so then, how could she be standing here in front of the head and his wife of the Osaka?

"Kurage! What—how are you here?" Hachiro stuttered, eyes wider than saucers.

"What do you mean 'how am I here?'" the dark haired woman questioned in idiosyncrasy; as if she hadn't known she should be six feet under.

"Yamamoto . . . he-he said you were killed," the younger sister stated, making Kurage chuckled under her breath.

"And you honestly believed that? Oh how gullible the both of you are," she laughed. "I made them think that."

"What!?" the married couple exclaimed.

"I'm a sorceress! For God's sake are you people ignoramus!

"I can persuade the mind to think what they must. With some help, I was able to give them the impression that they cornered and killed me.

"Then on their own, they informed the Head Captain of the faulty news that I was dead and . . . I don't need to say anything more."

She had shrugged her shoulders and leisurely wove her hand through the air at that last sentence, as she brought her arm back to her and lazily closed her hand.

"So then what are you here for!?" Megumi demanded. They would call for the guards, but once again, Kurage had inhibited them . . . all.

Unknown to all three adults, Mizuki was hiding behind a wall, surreptitiously eavesdropping on the conversation at hand. She was strolling toward the ballroom to play or dance around when she heard her parents talking in distressed voices.

She was about to make her appearance and find out what was going on, when she heard another voice—one she didn't recognize, and began listening in on their conversation.

"Your daughter," Kurage said simply with a serene face. Mizuki flinched, who was this woman? And what did she want her for?

" . . . My daughter?" Megumi questioned, almost unable to repeat what her sister had said. The sorceress rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Yes! Do I have to spell every word out for you? Geez," she sighed, her face becoming dull and slightly aggravated.

"What for?" the noble man questioned.

The elder sister rolled her icy blue irises again, "Her powers, duh!"

'Powers? What powers?' Mizuki questioned in her head, then continued listening.

"Mizuki knows nothing of her ice abilities and she never will!" Hachiro stated potently as he defended his daughter—who, by their standards, was absent.

'Ice abilities?'

"Oh? And how have you done that?" the venal woman questioned sardonically.

"She wears gloves that conceal her powers"—Mizuki looks at her hand and begins removing her gloves—"She will never know of her control over ice and snow. And because of that, you will not take her from us . . . she's safe as long as she is kept ignorant of her curse."

As Mizuki hears this, she tests out to see if what they are saying is true; she shoots her hand toward a window—it becomes frozen over with ice as frost continued to grow inside the glass.

She stared shocked at it. They told her it was her reiatsu that was the cause of her room being covered in snow from time to time . . . how could they lie to her?

"And how have you kept it from her this whole time?" the evil woman asked. "She could've easily removed her gloves while alone and found out on her own, I'm sure you know that."

Hesitantly, he told her that they said it was her reiatsu that would leak occasionally, making Kurage guffaw at the idea.

"And she actually believed you. What a stupid girl . . ."

'I am not stupid,' Mizuki narrowed her eyes.

"But I'm not here to talk about her, I want to take her. Her powers are strong and I could use them."

"Use them for what?" the red haired man asked.

"My own benefit, that's all I'm telling you. Now either hand her over to me or I'll place another spell on her that will end up killing her," Kurage threatened.

"No!" Megumi pleaded.

"Then give her to me!"

Megumi and her husband exchanged looks, mumbled a few words, and were about to answer, but another voice interrupted them.

"Don't do it," the voice said.

The three of them turned their heads to see the young princess walk out from behind her hiding spot—her hands behind her back, head hanging low; omitting her face, and a deadly aura surrounding her.

"My, what a lovely girl," complimented the corrupt woman, opening her arms wide as if she expected a hug. However, Mizuki glanced up and glared and her.

"That's a bit of a scary look for you at your age sweetie," Kurage said in a mock sweet voice.

Hachiro and Megumi looked at each other, then back at their young daughter.

"Shut up," Mizuki growled causing her parents to widen their eyes in mild shock.

"Excuse you, that language is not lady-like young lady," her aunt scolded waving a finger in the air.

"You're one to talk," the princess spat.

"Mizuki . . .?" her mother whispered shakily; her daughter spared no glance towards her, keeping her glare on the evil woman in the room.

"Have you decided to come with your auntie?" the dark haired woman asked sweetly.

"As if," the young Osaka heir whispered harshly.

"Well, if you don't," Kurage took a look at her sister and husband, then changed her idea, "I'll recite an incantation that will kill your parents."

"Stay away from them!" Mizuki screamed. And that's when Megumi saw it—her daughter's bare hands as she swung one front of her causing ice to move at an incredible speed across the floor and nearly pierce the woman's heart with its dirk-like point.

Kurage dodged the attack, but her arm was grazed by the keen point and froze solid instantly.

"Ahhh!" she screamed as she tried to send her own attack of snakes, but they were frozen solid before they could even reach the young girl.

Other blasts of ice was sent her way and struck her leg, abdomen, then shoulders. Every time Kurage dodged the fusillade of ice, she would be grazed by it somehow, and each attack was getting closer to her heart.

How could she be this strong, is what Kurage thought, before fleeing from the scene so no more damage of Mizuki's ice could injure her, render her useless, and ultimately kill her. It was only her first time ever using them (in a fight) and it seemed as though she had known how to use them forever.

Ice and snow was covering the floor of which the family of three now stood in, Mizuki panting, an angry glint in her eyes as she watched the woman flee.

"Mizuki!" her parents called and rushed after her. "Are you alright?" her mother asked once she was close enough to touch her; she crouched and spun her around checking for any lacerations.

"Oh thank goodness!" the mother exclaimed standing on her knees and hugging her young child.

"How could you?" Mizuki asked; a betrayed tone in her voice.

"What do you mean sweetie?" her mother went to stroke her daughter's hair, but the blonde shook herself of her mother's embrace and glared at her parents.

"How could you lie to me about my powers!?" she cried, frustrated tears welling in her cerulean eyes. Her parents glanced at each other, then back to her.

"We wanted to tell you—"

"And when were you planning on doing that?" she asked acrimoniously, like she knew they hadn't planned on it anytime soon.

"We just wanted to keep you safe . . ." her mother looked down solemnly, placing her hands on her thighs as she sat on her legs.

"I was lied to by the people I'm supposed to trust most"—snow began falling in the room, as did her tears down her cheeks—"and now . . . I don't know who to trust anymore." She began backing away.

"Mizuki please, listen to us," her father reached out towards his daughter.

"No!" Mizuki yelled as she turned away from them; the snow began swirling perniciously around the young girl. "I'm tired of listening. I trusted you! What can you say for yourselves!?"

"Mizuki, calm down, please!" Hachiro tried to calm his potent child as he walked towards her. Megumi, however, was too shocked to do or say anything to calm her daughter and she just sat there, watching as the howling of the wind inside grew puissant and her vision became white from the swirling snow.

She barely heard her husband say not to worry and that everything will be alright, but Mizuki wouldn't listen and suddenly, the snow swirled into her body and she swung an arm in frustration, sending a huge blast of ice which struck her father right in his heart as she screamed, "NO!"

With her back turned after violently swinging her arm, Mizuki didn't see her father clutch onto his chest and fall to the floor, until her mother cried out: "Hachiro!"

The blonde then turned around and saw her mother helping her father struggle to stand.

"Daddy!" she gasped and rushed towards her father, her anger suddenly vanishing as she clutched onto him once he stood, oblivious as to what she had just done.

"It's alright, I'm fine," he reassured the only women in his life.

"Are you sure?" Megumi asked; consternation wedged into her soft voice. As her answer to say yes, he kissed her, and when they broke apart, he smiled.

"Daddy . . .?" the young child said. He bent down and looked into his child's glacier eyes. "Yes?" he inquired.

"I promise I'll be a good girl and hide my powers," she said, albeit a little hesitantly.

He smiled and kissed her forehead, "Conceal it just until you learn to control them."

Mizuki smiled, her father smiled, her mother smiled. Everyone was content.

Eleven hours later . . .

" . . . What?" a trembling voice asked.

"I'm sorry, ma'am but . . . he's gone," the maid informed the widow of the Osaka household. Her evergreen orbs were wide with disbelief, appall, and some other third word that could describe her dubious face. How could he have died? Was it because . . . Mizuki had . . .?

The questioned trailed off in her head, she couldn't finish it—she wouldn't believe it . . . it wasn't possible.

She passed the maid and ran into the room. She wouldn't believe it, it wasn't true, it was all a lie and she would throw that woman out for telling her that horrid lie.

. . . But it was true. Once she was at the bedside, she saw her husband, frozen solid.

"No . . ." she whispered shakily, pleading it wasn't true. "No . . ." she implored as her hands cupped his ice cold face and she wept over her frozen husband.

His eyes were closed and he looked at peace, "Please don't leave me . . . I love you." Megumi continued to ululate.

Across the hall in her in her room, hearing everything, Mizuki backed away from the door she stared at—her gloved hands held close to her chest. Snow was falling all around her as guilt, grief, and fear took over her emotions . . . she had done this—she had killed her own father! What a monster she was!

She backed away from the door as much as possible until she hit the wall . . . but even that distance wasn't enough. Staring at her hands, she began to wish that she was never cursed—or even born.

She covered her face with her hands and slid down the wall. Once she hit the floor, a snowflake made of frost shot out and spread across the wall and floor . . . and caused the snow to stand still in the air.

For days she wept non-stop, never removing her gloves for anything, never leaving her room for anything, then suddenly one day, just ceased crying. She became distant towards the maids, butlers, and guards she once used to ramble to all the time . . . including her mother.

Never did she step outside the walls of the castle or play. In fear of killing or hurting anyone else, like she did her father, the young noble stayed locked in her room, and away from everyone . . .

. . . to keep them safe.

A/N: Okay so here is the second chapter. It took me a little while to get it to flow right (I hope it did). I had everything jumbled up and I was like no that's not right; that makes no sense; I should put this here instead . . . O my gosh! My back hurts from sitting like this and just staring at the computer screen with the line blinking, waiting for me to type something up.

I hope you understand what's happening so far and that I didn't make Mizuki seem like a Mary-sue. If I did, tell me please. I just made it that she was powerful like that because she was angry and blinded by it and that her sole purpose was to get rid of Kurage. So she went all crazy like that.

I want to thank the three people who are following this story and the person who added it to their favorites and send out disappointed looks to those who are reading it and aren't reviewing (though no-one's reviewed yet), following and/or favoriting. Shame on you! XC

Anyway, until zeh next time.