Getting everyone together to watch the meteor shower had been Ruby's idea. She had found a nice isolated spot in the country where they could watch the show without having to worry about the glare given off by city lights. At first she was worried that Kurumu and Mizore wouldn't show up, but then she received a call from Yukari saying that they had a little condition.
"Did you bring the female Queen Alexandra Birdwing butterfly wings?" asked Yukari.
"Gotcha covered."
It was nearly sunset when Kurumu and Mizore arrived.
"Nice to see that you two are still living."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" asked Kurumu.
"Well the fact that you're still alive obviously means that Tsukune wasn't your destined one after all. And Mizore… well… you've been known to have some very unhealthy tendencies."
"Are they here yet?" asked Mizore.
"Tsukune and Moka won't be here for at least an hour."
"Will Moka be bringing her little devil-spawn with her?"
"Takara is not a devil-spawn!" exclaimed Yukari.
"Don't let Moka hear you say that Kurumu, odds are you won't live to regret it."
"The last thing I heard before I left my village was my mother talking with the other snow fairies about how Moka's… baby… could threaten what's left of our kind." said Mizore.
"I've been watching Takara for three months." replied Ruby "And the only thing abnormal about her behavior is that when she really wants something she shrieks."
"Your mother's probably just jealous because Tsukune choose Moka over you. And you should both be glad he did, if he had given either of you a baby you probably wouldn't have survived giving birth to it."
"What are you talking about?" asked Kurumu.
"I was there when Moka gave birth. It wasn't pretty… She was screaming practically the whole time, and there was blood everywhere. Tsukune had to give her a lot of his blood just to keep her from exploding… I exaggerate, but it was pretty serious. And he looked like a raisin afterwards."
"Whatever… did you bring what we asked for?"
"We managed to find a spell that can show us what would have happened if Tsukune never met Moka, but I don't really get the therapy here." said Ruby.
"I just want to know who Tsukune would have chosen if not for her."
"Okay… but I think I should warn you that you probably won't like what you see."
"I'll take that risk." said Kurumu.
"Okay… just don't cry if I say I told you so."
Yukari started taking things out of her bag.
"Let's see… crystal ball… four wax candles…"
Yukari started mixing the other things in her bag in the cauldron she brought with her.
"The blood of a young goat… chameleon skin… mashed up rosewood seeds… lotus oil… ground up wings of a female Queen Alexandria Birdwing Butterfly… and the secret ingredient is… garlic."
"Do you expect us to drink that?" asked Mizore.
"Nope."
"Yukari smeared her concoction on the candles she brought. She then spaced them equally around the crystal ball and lit them."
"Okay… everyone hold hands a keep your eyes on the ball."
When everyone was hand in hand Ruby started chanting.
"Usamietihsemihs in ihcatihsataw o onom ianerihs omak attadiaab attakan ag otok atta in oirazor akoom aw onoa enukust arak ūyrōj iakuf on odiob urus ōyōyk o atana aw ihcatihsataw aw ātieiruk aniesnihs omottom."
The crystal ball started changing colors. When it turned red an image finally started to come into view.
"What the?"
In the crystal ball Mizore saw that her village had been completely vaporized, and Kurumu saw her dismembered body being burned.
"What the fuck is this?" asked Kurumu.
"What you asked for…" replied Ruby "Since Tsukune never met Moka he didn't stay at Yokai Academy. As a direct result he and Moka never became friends with the rest of us, so we never had all our adventures, consequently our world was exposed and a huge war broke out between humans and yokai. We had the advantage at first, but the humans just never quit."
"What happened to Tsukune?"
"He became the big war hero after his parents were killed in the crossfire. I'm pretty sure he killed all of us."
Mizore was silent, but Kurumu just looked angry
"This is ridiculous, show us something else!"
"Okay, don't blow a vein."
"Usamietihsemihs o iarim on usteb ag iesōnak urieteras in ihcatihsataw ogneb ot ahs-iesukas on ōn'nez atana ag ihcatihsataw."
This time when the ball stopped changing colors the girls all saw Tsukune, who looked like he just had the hell beat out of him. Then Moka came into the picture.
"My family sends their regards."
Everyone was shocked when they saw Moka kick Tsukune's head clean off his shoulders.
"What was that?" asked Mizore.
"Pretty much the same as the last one, only in this version yokai win the war, but not before Tsukune wiped out Moka's entire family, and after she kills him in the final battle she pretty much becomes queen of the universe."
Kurumu and Mizore both demanded to see another future. In the next vision they were shown the yokai world was never exposed, but after Tsukune escaped from Yokai Academy he was locked up in a mental institution till he died of old age. Next they were shown a future where Tsukune never went to yokai academy at all and was walking home from work one night when he got mugged. The muggers were dispatched by Kokoa, who tasted Tsukune's blood and took him to Moka as a present, who in turn made him her blood and pleasure slave, and despite the abuse she gave him they eventually fell in love. They were shown several more alternate futures that could have been, but none ended with Tsukune choosing one of the others over Moka.
"This is absurd…" said Mizore.
"Okay, I think we've seen enough."
"Tsukune and Moka should be along any minute now anyway."
"Remember, don't do or say anything stupid when you see Takara, Moka will kill you." said Ruby "And word of warning, if Takara likes the smell of your blood she'll bite your arm and go to town."
"What?"
"I speak from experience."
Ruby showed the others the bite marks on her arm.
"And if she does lay into you, it's best if you let her finish."
"And you're telling me that little girl isn't trouble?"
"No, it's perfectly normal behavior for an infant vampire." said Yukari.
"And here they come now."
The others looked up and saw Tsukune flying toward them in his Super Ghoul form; he was carrying Moka, who was in turn carrying a little bundle of her own.
"Tsukune wouldn't have to carry me…" said Kurumu under her breath.
Tsukune and Moka landed gracefully on the ground, and at that instant his Super Ghoul form just shed from his body, revealing the handsome young man they all knew and loved.
"Hi everybody! Long time no see."
Kurumu and Mizore didn't know what to say. They both still loved Tsukune, but seeing him and knowing they could never have him was a lot more painful than they were letting on.
"I missed you, Tsukune." said Mizore.
"You look good…" said Kurumu.
"You probably could have made better time if you teleported." said Yukari.
"Moka still isn't used to it. Besides, it's not just the two of us."
"There's someone we'd like you to meet." said Moka.
Now Mizore and Kurumu actually saw Moka and Tsukune's child. Takara may have only been three months old, but she already had silver hair and red eyes just like her mother's other self.
"I should be the one holding Tsukune's child… I worked so hard for it…"
Fortunately for Mizore those weren't the words that came out of her mouth.
"She's beautiful…"
"Takara, this is Kurumu and Mizore, some of mommy and daddy's dearest friends from school."
After all their adventures together Kurumu considered Moka her friend despite their rivalry for Tsukune's affection, but that was mainly because Kurumu never actually thought she'd lose.
"Kaa…"
"So… I take it she can't talk."
"Kurumu, she's only three months old." said Yukari.
"How long does it usually take them to learn?"
"About two years."
"Kaa…"
Takara's eyes got a little brighter and looked like she started jumping in Moka's arms.
"Takara, you can't still be hungry, you just ate."
Moka was holding Takara back, but apparently the little girl was determined because she started snapping her very little teeth.
"Takara you don't do that, it's impolite."
"KIIIYAAAAH!"
For a moment the others wondered if their ears were going to split.
"She has really powerful lungs, for an infant." said Mizore.
"Good thing we came prepared."
With a simple hand gesture Tsukune made a blood pack appear out of nowhere.
"You can create objects out of thin air?" asked Kurumu.
"No, I just teleported it from home."
"I didn't know you could do that."
"Neither did I, until just recently… So Yukari, when does the show begin?"
"In about an hour at the most."
While Tsukune and Moka attended to Takara, Mizore pulled Yukari aside.
"Maybe the oracle was right, maybe Tsukune and I were never meant to be… But can you use your cards or something to show me who is?"
"Well, I can use them to see what your future looks like, but I can't make any promises."
"All I need to know is if I'll find true love or not before it's too late."
"Okay, if you insist… I'll do a simple three card spread."
Yukari dealt out three cards.
"This card will be your past, this card will be your present, and this card will be your future. Each card means something different depending on whether it is right-side up or reversed. It's meaning will have some significance to you."
"You'll have to excuse me; I'm not very familiar with these cards."
"That's okay; I think I'll be able to interpret what they mean for you. Okay, here we go."
Yukari turned over the first card, but the look on her face did not inspire confidence.
"What is it?"
"The Two of Cups is in reverse… This means you've experienced love, but unfortunately your love was not returned… at least… not in the way you wanted it to be."
"Tell me something I don't know…"
Yukari turned over the next card.
"Death in reverse…"
"I'm dying?"
"No you're not gonna die, it just means you're going through a period of change that is painful and unpleasant, an agonizing period of transition."
"Well… that's not much help."
"And for 80,000,000 yen, the card of your future is…"
Mizore liked the look Yukari was wearing better than the one she had given for the last two cards.
"The Empress is right-side up."
"What does that mean?"
"Well… sometimes this card means marriage and pregnancy… I think you're about to get lucky."
(To be continued)
Illustrations now on deviantart
